Battle of Sharur
The Battle of Sharur occurred in July 1501. It ended with a decisive victory for the Safavid army. After this victory, the way of the Safavids to Tabriz was opened. Alvand Mirza disappeared from the political scene.[1]
| Battle of Sharur | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Safavid - Aq Qoyunlu Wars | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Safavid army |
 Aq Qoyunlu | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Ismail I |
Alvand Mirza Karachagay Khan † | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 7,000 | 10,000 - 30,000 | ||||||||
Background
Ismail defeated Shirvanshah Farrukh Yasar in the Battle of Jabani in 1500 and captured Baku in the spring of 1501. While besieging the Gulustan fortress, he heard the news that Aq Qoyunlu Alvand Mirza had gathered troops and moved to fight him. Although Alvand advised him to stay in Shirvan and became its ruler.
Battle
Two armies met in the plain of Sharur. Ismail had an army of 7,000 and Alvand Mirza had an army more than 10,000. According to Roger Savory, the number of Alvand's army was 4 times more than the number of Ismail's army. Ismail won by showing great commanding ability. Seeing that his army was disbanded, Alvand Mirza fled to Erzincan.[2]
Ismail also killed in a one-on-one battle with the famous commander of the Aq Qoyunlus, Karachagay khan. Although Ismail was only 14 years old in that battle.
Aftermath
After victory, Ismail went to Tabriz. After entering Tabriz, he proclaimed himself shah and founded the Safavid Empire. With this battle, Ismail captured Azerbaijan.[3] Thus, he accumulated the rich resources needed to expand his state.
References
- Sümer, Faruk (1976). Safevi Devletinin Kuruluşu ve Gelişmesinde Anadolu Türklerinin Rolü. Ankara.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ROGER M. SAVORY. "ESMĀʿĪL I ṢAFAWĪ". iranicaonline.org.
- Woods, J. E. (1976). The Aqquyunlu: Clan, Confederation, Empire. Minneapolis and Chicago.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Sources
- Ghereghlou, Kioumars (October–December 2017). "Chronicling a Dynasty on the Make: New Light on the Early Ṣafavids in Ḥayātī Tabrīzī's Tārīkh (961/1554)". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 137 (4): 805–832. doi:10.7817/jameroriesoci.137.4.0805 – via Columbia Academic Commons.
- Roemer, H. R. (1986). "The Safavid period". In Lockhart, Laurence; Jackson, Peter (eds.). The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 6: The Timurid and Safavid Periods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 189–351. ISBN 0-521-20094-6.
- Woods, John E. (1999). The Aqquyunlu: Clan, Confederation, Empire (Revised and Expanded ed.). University of Utah Press. ISBN 978-0874805659.