The Battle of Urfa is a battle that took place between Aq Qoyunlu and the

Mamluk Sultanate The Mamluk Sultanate ( ar, سلطنة المماليك, translit=Salṭanat al-Mamālīk), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz (western Arabia) from the mid-13th to early 16t ...

in August 1480 at

Urfa Urfa, officially known as Şanlıurfa () and in ancient times as Edessa, is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. Urfa is situated on a plain about 80 km east of the Euphrates River. Its climate features ex ...

in Diyar Bakr (modern-day

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

). The reason was the invasion of the Mamluks into the territory of Aq Qoyunlu to capture Urfa. During the battle, the troops of Aq Qoyunlu inflicted a crushing defeat on the Mamluks.

Background and battle

The

was one of the external threats of Aq Qoyunlu, whose ruler was Sultan

Ya'qub Beg Yaqub b. Uzun Hasan ( fa, یعقوب بن اوزون حسن) or Abū al-Muẓaffar Yaʿqūb Bahādur Ḫān, commonly known as Sultan Ya'qub ( fa, سلطان یعقوب; az, Sultan Yaqub ) was the ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu from 1478 until his deat ...

. The Mamluk sultan,

Qaitbay Sultan Abu Al-Nasr Sayf ad-Din Al-Ashraf Qaitbay ( ar, السلطان أبو النصر سيف الدين الأشرف قايتباي) (c. 1416/14187 August 1496) was the eighteenth Burji Mamluk Sultan of Egypt from 872 to 901 A.H. (1468–14 ...

, took the advantage of the death of Aq Qoyunlu's previous sultan,

Uzun Hasan Uzun Hasan or Uzun Hassan ( اوزون حسن; fa, اوزون حسن; 1423 – January 6, 1478; where ''uzun'' means "tall" in Oghuz Turkic) was a ruler of the Turkoman Aq Qoyunlu state and is generally considered to be its strongest ruler. ...

, and sent a 100 thousand army led by

Pecheneg The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პაჭ ...

commander Yashbak al-Zahiri to invade Diyar Bakr. al-Zahiri, in 1480, crossed the Euphrates River and began the siege of Urfa. Sultan Ya'qub was soon informed about this and sent an army under the command of Bayindir Beg, Sulayman Beg Bijan, and Sufi Khalil Beg Mawsilu to protect Urfa. The Mamluk soldiers, who learned about the approach of the Aq Qoyunlu's troops, advised al-Zahiri to retreat, but he did not listen to them. Thus, the Mamluk army appeared before the Aq Qoyunlu army. The right side of the Mamluk army was commanded by Gansu Yakhyavi (the head of Damascus), the left side was commanded by Ozdemir (the Head of Aleppo) and the central side of the army was commanded by al-Zahiri. The battle ended with the victory of Aq Qoyunlu, during which the Mamluk troops were completely defeated. al-Zahiri, Gansu Yakhyavi and Ozdemir were taken prisoners. al-Zahiri was executed and his head was sent to Sultan Ya'qub. The Mamluk Sultanate, after this battle, received a heavy blow, and after the loss of the commanders of the troops, the state was greatly weakened.

References

Sources

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History of Turkey