TRENDEFRARAtlas of the Sultans · Wars, battles and treaties
Battle · 1770
In the Ottoman–Russian war that began in 1768, the vizierate of İvazzade Halil Pasha saw two great failures. According to the TDV, the first was the burning of the fleet at Çeşme on the night of 6–7 July 1770, the second the battle of Kartal (Larga), in which the army led by the grand vizier as commander-in-chief was defeated by the Russian forces and had to abandon its camp (2 August 1770). Historians stress not only the losses but the dangerous retreat: crossing the Danube though floodwaters prevented a bridge from being built is regarded as a tactical error, and some contemporaries called the defeat “Halil Pasha's rout”. The disaster was reported to Istanbul in a detailed petition dated 13 August 1770; Halil Pasha wrote to the sultan that “nothing can be done with this army” and asked for peace talks.
| Date | 2 August 1770 |
|---|---|
| Location | Near Lake Kagul (Kartal), Budjak |
| Result | The Ottoman army was defeated, abandoned its camp and fell back across the Danube |
| Belligerents | Ottoman Empire | Russian Empire |
|---|---|---|
| Commanders | İvazzade Halil Pasha | Pyotr Rumyantsev |
Took place during the reign of Mustafa III (1757–1774). Mustafa III
Open the reign of Mustafa III on the mapBy the atlas's calculation the Ottoman lands covered about 4,753,000 km² in 1770; at the start of Mustafa III's reign they measured 4,753,000 km², at its end 4,612,000 km².
During Mustafa III (1757–1774) the atlas records 0 regions gained and 2 regions lost.
Regions lost: Crimean Khanate (Crimea and the Nogai steppe) (1771), Azov–Kuban (1771).
The sultan who seriously restarted military reform. But the war with Russia he entered in 1768 became the empire's heaviest defeat; he died before the peace was signed, and his brother paid the price.
Areas are land area computed from the atlas's region data; see Method and sources.
Source: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, “İVAZZÂDE HALİL PAŞA” (Turkish); text written for the atlas.
Cite as: Atlas of the Sultans, “Battle of Kagul (1770): Date, Commanders and Outcome”, https://padisahlaratlasi.com/en/events/battle-of-kagul/ (last updated 12 November 2026). Corrections
Terms on this page: Grand vizier · Vizier