Turko-Persian Wars
The Turko-Persian Wars were a series of military conflicts primarily between the Ottoman Empire and the Safavid Empire of Persia, driven by both nationalistic ambitions and religious differences, particularly surrounding Sunni and Shia Islam. The wars began in earnest during the early 16th century, notably with Selim I's campaign against Ismāʿīl I, the Safavid shah, resulting in significant battles such as the one at Çaldiran in 1514. Over time, these conflicts saw the Ottomans capturing key cities like Tabriz and Baghdad, while Persia faced leadership challenges, including the death of Ismāʿīl I and the ascension of his young son.
The wars were marked by intermittent periods of peace and renewed hostilities, such as the brief truce following the treaty of 1555 and subsequent invasions in 1578 that led to a protracted struggle. The conflict trajectory shifted again with the rise of Abbas the Great, who regained lost territories in the early 17th century. Despite fluctuating power dynamics, both empires eventually established borders that largely mirrored pre-war territorial claims, although the influence of external powers like Russia began to emerge as a new concern. The Turko-Persian Wars left a lasting legacy, shaping the political and cultural landscapes of the region.
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Turko-Persian Wars
At issue: Boundary between Persia and the Ottoman Empire and religious differences
Date: 1514–1747
Location: Persia, Syria, the Crimea, Georgia, Azerbaijan
Combatants: Ottomans vs. Persians
Principal commanders:Ottoman, Selim I (1470–1520), Süleyman I (1494/1495–1566), Murad IV (1609–1640); Persian, Ismāʿīl I (1487–1524), ʿAbbās the Great (1571–1629)
Principal battles: çaldiran, Tabrīz, Baghdad, Crimea, Georgia
Result: Stalemate; Ottomans unable to control conquered territory and Persians unable to militarily defeat Ottoman forces
Background
These wars, motivated by both nationalistic and religious differences, occurred during the reigns of several sultans and distracted them from their efforts to conquer the central European nation of Austria. In 1502, Ismāʿīl I assumed the title of shah and declared Shīʿism as the official religion of Persia. The sultan Bayezid II showed support for Ismāʿīl’s religious policy and kept the Ottoman army away from Persia. Selim I, in an effort to secure his succession to his father’s throne over the claims of his brother, won the support of the Janissaries, who profited from fighting wars. After becoming sultan in 1512, he sought to eliminate the heresy of Shīʿism with the assistance of the Janissaries.
Action
The first campaign against the Persian empire occurred during the reign of Selim I (1512–1520). He executed forty thousand Shīʿites living in the empire and then campaigned against Ismāʿīl and defeated him in the valley of çaldiran (1514) then captured Tabriz (1514) and the high plateau of eastern Anatolia. Shortly thereafter Ismāʿīl died, leaving a ten-year-old son to rule Persia. For ten years, the new sultan, Süleyman I, distracted by annual campaigns into central Europe, ignored the Persian empire. Then in 1534, the shah arranged for the assassination of the pro-Ottoman governor of Baghdad. Süleyman ordered the execution of Persian prisoners at Gallipoli, then dispatched his grand vizier, İbrahim Paşa, to Persia. Through a combination of diplomatic and military maneuvers the Ottomans secured fortresses along the Persian frontier and entered the city of Tabrīz again. The shah fled. The Ottoman army marched south to Baghdad and entered the holy city in November, 1534. The following spring they marched back to Tabrīz, where they sacked the city. For the next twelve years, Süleyman focused his attention on Hungary.
The second campaign occurred in 1548 and was of little consequence. The sultan’s attention once again shifted back to Hungary where it stayed until 1553 when the last of Süleyman’s Asian campaigns took place. The shah captured Erzurum and threatened to advance into Syria, a region then under the control of the Ottomans. The following spring, the sultan’s troops retook Erzurum, then pushed into Persian territory. After reaching a stalemate, both sides agreed to a truce and signed a peace treaty in 1555.
The two countries remained at peace until 1578 when the Ottomans invaded the Crimea, defeating two of Persia’s armies, conquering Georgia, and advancing to the Caspian Sea. The Persian forces rallied and offered resistance, dragging the war out for another twelve years. In the formal treaty ending the conflict, the Ottomans retained control over Georgia, Azerbaijan, Shirvan, Tabrīz, the fortress at Kars, and many other provinces. In 1603, ʿAbbās the Great took the offensive and captured Tabrīz, Yerevan, and the fortress at Kars. By the signing of the peace treaty in 1612, the Persians had regained control over all the lands gained by the Turks in the treaty of 1590.
Murad IV was the last sultan to send troops against the Persians. The Persian shah took advantage of his regency and recaptured Baghdad and Yerevan. In 1635, Murad recaptured Yerevan, followed by Baghdad in the summer of 1638. The Persians regained control of Yerevan, and the two countries agreed to end hostilities, each retaining the lands in its possession.
Aftermath
For the next hundred years, the incursions into Persia revolved around the rise of the Russian empire under Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. While Turko-Persian animosities continued, the greater threat came from the north. After years of warfare, the Turks and Persians established boundaries that, with the exception of Baghdad, resembled those that existed before the wars had begun.
Bibliography
Goodwin, Godfrey. The Janissaries. London: Saqi, 1997.
Kunt, Metin, and Christine Woodhead, eds. Suleyman the Magnificent: The Ottoman Empire in the Early Modern World. New York: Longman, 1995.