The siege of Baghdad (1625–1626) began as an Ottoman re-conquest attempt against the Safavids. The Safavids took Baghdad in 1624, leading to the Ottoman

Grand Vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

Hafız Ahmed Pasha Hafiz Ahmed Pasha (1564 in Plovdiv, Ottoman Empire – 10 February 1632 in Istanbul), also known by epithet Muezzinzade ("muezzin's son"), was an Ottoman grand vizier.İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, Türkiye Yayınevi, İsta ...

forming an expedition to retake

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

in 1625. Although they breached the outer fortifications,

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

reinforcements under Shah Abbas stopped them. Unsuccessful assaults and supply issues led to the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

lifting the siege in July 1626 and retreating to

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

, resulting in a strategic

victory.

Background

The fall of Baghdad in 1624 dealt a significant blow to Ottoman prestige, leading to the defection of Ottoman garrisons and local tribes in the region. Subsequently, the

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 ...

, under Shah Abbas, swiftly capitalized on the Ottoman weakness, capturing most of Iraq, including key cities such as

Kirkuk Kirkuk (; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate. The city is home to a diverse population of Kurds, Iraqi Turkmen, Iraqi Turkmens and Arabs. Kirkuk sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Cit ...

and

. Additionally, they seized control of the Shia holy shrines of

Najaf Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...

and

Karbala Karbala is a major city in central Iraq. It is the capital of Karbala Governorate. With an estimated population of 691,100 people in 2024, Karbala is the second largest city in central Iraq, after Baghdad. The city is located about southwest ...

, symbolizing a significant loss for the

. In 1625,

, serving as the

Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire The grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire ( or ''Sadr-ı Azam'' (''Sadrazam''); Ottoman Turkish language, Ottoman Turkish: or ) was the ''de facto'' prime minister of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, sultan in the Ottoman Empire, with the absolute p ...

, led an expedition to retake

and reclaim Ottoman territory in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Siege

In November 1625, Hafız Ahmed Pasha's Ottoman forces reached

, investing the city from three sides despite a "scorched earth" policy implemented by the

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

to hinder their advance. The

managed to breach the outer fortifications of Baghdad but failed to capture the city before the arrival of a relief army under Shah Abbas. Faced with the arrival of

reinforcements, the

retreated within their heavily fortified camp and continued their siege of

. In response, Shah Abbas devised a strategy to intercept Ottoman supply convoys, disrupting their logistics and weakening their position. This strategy proved effective, compelling the Ottomans to risk an attack on the

army. However, their assault was repelled with significant casualties. As a result, on July 4, 1626, the Ottoman army lifted the siege of

and withdrew to

, marking a strategic victory for Shah Abbas and the Persian forces.Savory (2007), p. 90

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baghdad 1625-1626 Sieges involving Safavid Iran Sieges involving the Ottoman Empire Conflicts in 1625 Conflicts in 1626 Sieges of Baghdad Baghdad 1625 1620s in the Ottoman Empire 1625 in the Ottoman Empire 1626 in the Ottoman Empire