Battle of Chaldiran

Background

After Selim I's successful struggle against his brothers for the throne of the Ottoman Empire, he was free to turn his attention to the internal unrest he believed was stirred up by the Qizilbash, a Twelver Shi'i warrior-dervish group who had sided with other members of the dynasty against him and had been semi-officially supported by Bayezid II. Selim now feared that they would incite the population against his rule in favor of their leader, who was now the Safavid emperor. His partisans believed he was descended from Muhammad and infallible. Selim secured a jurist opinion that described Isma'il and the Qizilbash as "unbelievers and heretics," enabling him to undertake extreme measures on his way eastward to pacify the country. Selim accused Ismail of departing from the faith:

Before Selim started his campaign, he ordered the execution of some 40,000 Qizilbash in Anatolia "as punishment for their rebellious behaviour." He then also tried to block the import of Iranian silk into his realm, a measure which met "with some success".

Selim sent the following letter to Ismail, which outlined both Selim's claim to the caliphate and Ismail's heresy:

When Selim started his march east, the Khanate of Bukhara invaded the Safavids in the east. This Uzbek state had been recently brought to prominence by Muhammad Shaybani, who had fallen in battle against Isma'il only a few years before. Attempting to avoid having to fight a war on two fronts, Isma'il employed a scorched earth policy against Selim in the west.

Selim's army was discontented by the difficulty in supplying the army in light of Isma'il's scorched earth campaign, the extremely rough terrain of the Armenian highlands, and that they were marching against Muslims. The janissaries even fired their muskets at the Sultan's tent in protest at one point. When Selim learned of the Safavid army forming at Chaldiran, he quickly moved to engage Isma'il, partly to stifle his army's discontent.

Battle

The Ottomans deployed heavy artillery and thousands of Janissaries equipped with gunpowder weapons behind a barrier of carts. The Safavids, who did not have artillery at their disposal at Chaldiran, used cavalry to engage the Ottoman forces. The Safavids attacked the Ottoman wings to avoid the Ottoman artillery positioned at the center. However, the Ottoman artillery was highly maneuverable and the Safavids suffered disastrous losses. The advanced Ottoman weaponry (cannons and muskets wielded by janissaries) was the deciding factor of the battle as the Safavid forces, who only had traditional weaponry, were decimated. Unlike the Ottomans, the Safavids also suffered from poor planning and ill-disciplined troops.

Aftermath

Following their victory, the Ottomans captured the Safavid capital city of Tabriz on 7 September, which they first pillaged and then evacuated. That week's Friday sermon in mosques throughout the city was delivered in Selim's name. Selim was however unable to press on after Tabriz due to the discontent amongst the janissaries. The Ottoman Empire successfully annexed Eastern Anatolia (encompassing Western Armenia) and Upper Mesopotamia from the Safavids. These areas changed hands several times over the following decades; however, the Ottoman hold would not be set until the 1555 Peace of Amasya following the Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–1555). Effective governmental rule and eyalets would not be established over these regions until the 1639 Treaty of Zuhab.

After two of his wives and entire harem were captured by Selim Ismail was heartbroken and resorted to drinking alcohol. His aura of invincibility shattered, Ismail ceased participating in government and military affairs, due to what seems to have been the collapse of his confidence.

Selim married one of Ismail's wives to an Ottoman judge. In contrast to their previous exchanges, Ismail sent four envoys, gifts, and, in contrast to their previous exchanges, words of praise to Selim to help retrieve her. Instead of giving his wife back, Selim cut the messengers' noses off and sent them back empty-handed.

After the defeat at Chaldiran, however, the Safavids made drastic domestic changes. From then on, firearms were made an integral part of the Persian armies, and Ismail's son, Tahmasp I, deployed cannons in subsequent battles.

During the retreat of the Ottoman troops, they were intensively harassed by Georgian light cavalry of the Safavid army, deep into the Ottoman realm.

The Mamluk Sultanate refused to send messengers to congratulate Selim after the battle and prohibited celebrating the Ottoman military victory. In contrast, the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople had led to days of festivities in the Mamluk capital, Cairo.

After the victorious battle of Chaldiran, Selim I next threw his forces southward in the Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–1517).

Battlefield

The site of the battle is near Gal Ashaqi, a village around 6 km west of the town of Siah Cheshmeh, south of Maku, north of Qarah Zia ol Din. A large brick dome was built at the battlefield site in 2003 along with a statue of Seyid Sadraddin, one of the main Safavid commanders.

References

Sources

• Yves Bomati and Houchang Nahavandi,Shah Abbas, Emperor of Persia,1587–1629, 2017, ed. Ketab Corporation, Los Angeles, , English translation by Azizeh Azodi.

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