TRENDEAtlas of the Sultans · Wars, battles and treaties
Battle · 1514
The Battle of Chaldiran took place on 23 August 1514 and ended with a decisive victory for the Ottoman Empire over the Safavid Empire. As a result, the Ottomans annexed Eastern Anatolia and Upper Mesopotamia from Safavid Iran. It marked the first Ottoman expansion into Eastern Anatolia, and the halt of the Safavid expansion to the west. The Battle of Chaldiran was just the beginning of 41 years of destructive war between the Safavids and Ottomans, which only ended in 1555 with the Peace of Amasya. Though the Safavids eventually reconquered Mesopotamia and Eastern Anatolia during the reign of Abbas the Great (r. 1588–1629), they would be permanently ceded to the Ottomans by the 1639 Treaty of Zuhab.
| Date | 23 August 1514 |
|---|---|
| Location | Chaldiran plain, Azerbaijan, Safavid Iran, |
| Result | Ottoman victory |
| Territorial changes | Ottoman conquest of Eastern Anatolia and northern Iraq · Ottomans briefly occupy and plunder the Safavid capital, Tabriz |
| Belligerents | Ottoman Empire | Safavid Iran |
|---|---|---|
| Commanders | Selim I Bıyıklı Mehmed Pasha Hasan Pasha † Dukaginzade Ahmed Pasha | Ismail I (WIA) Abd al-Baqi Yazdi † Husayn Beg Shamlu † Saru Pira Ustajlu † Durmish Khan Shamlu Nur-Ali Khalifa Mohammad Khan Ustajlu † Sayyed Sharif al-Din Ali Shirazi † Seyid Sadraddin † |
| Strength | 60,000 or 100,000 100–200 cannons 100 mortars | 40,000 or 55,000 or 80,000 |
| Casualties | Heavy losses approx. 3,000 or up to 40,000 | Heavy losses approx. 2,000 to 5,000 or up to 80,000 |
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).
Took place during the reign of Selim I (1512–1520). Selim I
The atlas records this territorial change for the year:
Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), adapted for the atlas.