TRENDEFRARAtlas of the Sultans · Wars, battles and treaties
Siege · 1552
According to the TDV article on Eger, the first serious Ottoman attack on Eger came in 1552. The forces of the second vizier Ahmed Pasha and the governor-general of Rumelia Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, joined by the troops of the province of Buda, first took Temesvár and then Szolnok, and on 9–11 September marched on Eger at the urging of Hadım Ali Pasha, governor-general of Buda. The castle had about 1,800 defenders. The siege lasted longer than expected; after some forty days it was raised in the face of the disciplined resistance of the mostly Hungarian defenders, and the Ottoman forces withdrew. The castle commanders István Dobó, István Mekcsey and Gergely Bornemissza played a major part. Peçevi counts this siege among the three failed undertakings of Suleiman's reign. Eger was taken in 1596.
| Date | September – October 1552 |
|---|---|
| Location | Eger, Hungary |
| Result | The siege was raised; the Ottoman forces withdrew |
| Belligerents | Ottoman Empire | Habsburg Monarchy |
|---|---|---|
| Commanders | Kara Ahmed Pasha Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Hadım Ali Pasha | István Dobó |
Took place during the reign of Suleiman I (1520–1566). Suleiman I
The atlas records this territorial change for the year:
By the atlas's calculation the Ottoman lands covered about 5,067,000 km² in 1552; at the start of Suleiman I's reign they measured 3,034,000 km², at its end 5,127,000 km².
During Suleiman I (1520–1566) the atlas records 20 regions gained and 1 region lost.
Regions gained: Belgrade–Šabac (1521), Rhodes and the Dodecanese (1522), Eastern Slavonia and Syrmia (Osijek–Vukovar) (1526), Lika–Krbava (1527), Baghdad–Basra (1534), Požega (central Slavonia) (1537), Kars–Ardahan–Artvin (1537), Yemen–Asir (1538), and 12 more.
Regions lost: Kars–Ardahan–Artvin (1565).
With a reign of forty-six years he ruled longer than any other sultan. He brought the state to its military, legal and cultural peak; yet the executions of his sons Mustafa and Bayezid are the gravest instances of violence within the dynasty.
Areas are land area computed from the atlas's region data; see Method and sources.
Source: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, “EĞRİ” (Turkish); text written for the atlas.
Cite as: Atlas of the Sultans, “Siege of Eger (1552): Date, Commanders and Outcome”, https://padisahlaratlasi.com/en/events/siege-of-eger-1552/ (last updated 12 November 2026). Corrections
Terms on this page: Vizier