TR EN DE FR ARAtlas of the Sultans · Wars, battles and treaties

Battle of Bizani

Siege · 1913

In the First Balkan War the Greek army besieged Ioannina, the centre of Epirus. According to the TDV article on Ioannina, after a brave defence of nearly six months under Esad Pasha the city was taken by the Greek army on 6 March 1913 and became part of the Kingdom of Greece. According to the TDV article on the Balkan Wars, when the war resumed on 3 February 1913 after the Raid on the Sublime Porte, the Greeks occupied Ioannina, the Bulgarians Edirne (26 March) and the Montenegrins Shkodër (23 April). Almost all the city's Muslims emigrated to Turkey in the population exchange after the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923.

About the event

Date	1912 – 6 March 1913
Location	Ioannina, Epirus
Result	After a defence of about six months the city passed to the Greeks

Belligerents	Ottoman Empire	Kingdom of Greece
Commanders	Esad Pasha

This event in the atlas

Took place during the reign of Mehmed V (1909–1918). Mehmed V

The atlas records this territorial change for the year:

− Chios (loss, 1913)
− Northern Albania (Krujë–Shkodër) (loss, 1913)
− Ioannina (Epirus) (loss, 1913)
− Lahsa (Eastern Arabia–Qatar) (loss, 1913)

Open the reign of Mehmed V on the map

Context of the period

By the atlas's calculation the Ottoman lands covered about 1,532,000 km² in 1913; at the start of Mehmed V's reign they measured 2,996,000 km², at its end 742,000 km².

During Mehmed V (1909–1918) the atlas records 3 regions gained and 16 regions lost.

Regions gained: Kars–Ardahan–Artvin (1918), Batumi (Adjara) (1918), Akhaltsikhe (Childir) (1918).

Regions lost: Tripolitania (1912), Benghazi–Barca (1912), Fezzan (1912), Macedonia (Skopje–Bitola) (1912), Thessaloniki–Chalkidiki–Mount Athos (1912), Kosovo (1912), Southern and Central Albania (Vlorë–Berat–Elbasan) (1912), Aegean Islands (Lesbos–Lemnos–Samos) (1912), and 8 more.

Mehmed V in brief

The first Ottoman sultan whose powers were limited by the constitution; real power lay with the Committee of Union and Progress. In nine years the African and Balkan territories were lost and the empire entered the First World War.

Other battles and treaties of Mehmed V

Yemeni revolt (Imam Yahya) (1911)
Treaty of Ouchy (1912)
Battle of Kumanovo (1912)
Battle of Kunfuda Bay (1912)
Battle of Elli (1912)
Albanian revolts (1908–1912) (1912)
Battle of Lule Burgas (1912)
Siege of Adrianople (1913) (1913)
Treaty of London (1913) (1913)
Treaty of Bucharest (1913) (1913)
Treaty of Constantinople (1913) (1913)
Battle of Lemnos (1913) (1913)
Treaty of Athens (1913) (1913)
1913 Ottoman coup d'état (1913)
German–Ottoman alliance (1914)
Black Sea raid (1914)
Battle of Sarikamish (1914)
Gallipoli campaign (1915)
Naval operations in the Dardanelles campaign (1915)
Raid on the Suez Canal (1915)
Siege of Kut (1916)
Arab Revolt (1916)
Battle of Jerusalem (1917)
Battle of Imbros (1918)

In nearby years (1909–1920), under other sultans

Areas are land area computed from the atlas's region data; see Method and sources.

Source: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, “YANYA” (Turkish); text written for the atlas.

Cite as: Atlas of the Sultans, “Battle of Bizani (1913): Date, Commanders and Outcome”, https://padisahlaratlasi.com/en/events/battle-of-bizani/ (last updated 12 November 2026). Corrections

Terms on this page: Sublime Porte