The Battle of Çıldır was fought in 1578 during the

Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–1590) The Ottoman–Safavid War of 1578–1590 was one of the many wars between the neighboring arch rivals of Safavid Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Starting with several years prior to the war and up to including most of the war itself, the Safavi ...

Background

The peace between the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

and Persian (Safavid) Empire after the

treaty of Amasya The Peace of Amasya (; ) was a treaty agreed to on May 29, 1555, between Shah Tahmasp I of Safavid Iran and Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire at the city of Amasya, following the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1532–1555. Overvi ...

continued from 1555 to 1578. When

Murat III Murad III (; ; 4 July 1546 – 16 January 1595) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death in 1595. His rule saw battles with the Habsburgs and exhausting wars with the Safavids. The long-independent Morocco was for a time ma ...

of the Ottoman Empire ascended to the throne in 1574,

Tahmasp I Tahmasp I ( or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 until his death in 1576. He was the eldest son of Shah Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Tahmasp ascended the throne after the ...

of Persia sent presents to Murat III. But before the Persian delegation left

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, the Ottoman capital, Tahmasp died (1576). The new shah was

Ismail II Ismail II (; born Ismail Mirza; 31 May 1537 – 24 November 1577) was the third shah of Safavid Iran from 1576 to 1577. He was the second son of Tahmasp I with his principal consort, Sultanum Begum. On the orders of Tahmasp, Ismail spent twenty ...

who changed the peaceful policy towards Ottomans and began hostilities in the border area. Meanwhile, the governor of

Lorestan Lorestan province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Khorramabad. Lorestan is in the western part of the country in the Zagros Mountains and covers an area of 28,392 km2. In 2014 it was placed in Region ...

, a part of Persia, took refuge in Ottoman lands, an event which further created tension between the two empires. İsmail II soon died and during the interregnum following his death, the

Ottoman Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( or ''Babıali''; ), was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. It is particularly referred to the buildin ...

decided to declare war.Prof. Yaşar Yüce-Prof. Ali Sevim: ''Türkiye tarihi Cilt III'', AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, Istanbul, 1991 p. 21 The war continued during the reign of

Mohammed Khodabanda Mohammad Khodabanda (also spelled Khodabandeh; , born 1532; died 1595 or 1596) was the fourth Safavid shah of Iran from 1578 until his overthrow in 1587 by his son Abbas I. Khodabanda had succeeded his brother, Ismail II. Khodabanda was the son ...

in Persia.

Battle

After initial combat in so-called ''Cambaz Çukuru'', the main battle was around a small fort named

Çıldır Çıldır (, Husenian; meaning "North"; ka, ჩრდილი, Chrdili; meaning "Shadow") is a town in Ardahan Province of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a r ...

in north-eastern

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. The commander of the Ottoman army was

Lala Mustafa Pasha Lala Mustafa Pasha ( – 7 August 1580), also known by the additional epithet ''Kara'', was an Ottoman general and Grand Vizier from the Sanjak of Bosnia. Life He was born around 1500, near the Glasinac in Sokolac Plateau in Bosnia to the S ...

and the commander of the Persian army was

Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq Ustajlu Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq Ustajlu (), also commonly known as Tokhmaq Khan Ustajlu (), was a 16th-century Iranian official, diplomat and military leader from the Turkoman Ustajlu tribe. He was appointed as governor (''beglarbeg'') of Erivan Provi ...

who had represented Persia in Istanbul after

Murad III Murad III (; ; 4 July 1546 – 16 January 1595) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death in 1595. His rule saw battles with the Habsburg monarchy, Habsburgs and exhausting wars with the Safavid Iran, Safavids. The long-inde ...

's accession. Tokhmak Khan also had a Georgian army under his command, Georgia being a Persian vassal (and its royal families being related by marriage). Tokhmak Khan tried to encircle the Ottoman army and was about to succeed when Ottoman commander

Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha (; ; 1526 – 29 October 1585) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman statesman and military commander who also held the office of Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, grand vizier for one year. Origin Osman's father, Özdemir ...

intervened and defeated him.

Aftermath

Although

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

tried to attack Ottoman supply units after the battle, they were forced to retreat and when a bridge was wrecked during this retreat they lost further troops. These defeats left the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

to Ottoman conquest.

soon conquered

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, the Georgian capital.Joseph von Hammer: ''Osmanlı Tarihi Vol II'' (condensation: Abdülkadir Karahan), Milliyet yayınları, Istanbul. p. 96 The next step was the conquest of

Derbent Derbent, also historically known as Darband, or Derbend, is the southernmost city in Russia. It is situated along the southeastern coast of the Dagestan, Republic of Dagestan, occupying the narrow gateway between the Caspian Sea and the Caucas ...

(present

Republic of Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

in Russia). By this conquest Ottomans were able to reach the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cildir Conflicts in 1578 Battles involving the Ottoman Empire Battles involving Safavid Iran History of Ardahan Province Battles involving the Kingdom of Kartli History of Kars Province 16th century in Iran 1578 in the Ottoman Empire 16th century in Georgia (country)

Background

Battle

Aftermath

See also

References

Sources