Battle of Chaldiran

The Battle of Chaldiran or Chaldoran (Persian: چالدران ‎, Turkish: Çaldıran) occurred on 23 August 1514 and ended with a victory for the Ottoman Empire over the Safavid Empire of Persia (Iran). As a result, the Ottomans gained immediate control over eastern Anatolia and northern Iraq. The battle, however, was just the beginning of 41 years of destructive war between the two Turkic empires that only ended in 1555 with the Treaty of Amasya. While the Ottomans often had the upper hand, the Persians for the most part held their ground. All Safavid losses in Shia-dominated metropolitan regions of Persia, such as Azerbaijan, Luristan and Kirmanshahan, proved temporary, being recovered from the Ottomans soon after each battle. The loss of Iraq, as well as Kurdish and Armenian eastern Anatolia, however, became permanent.

At Chaldiran, the Ottomans had a larger, better equipped army numbering 60,000 to 200,000, while the Kizilbash Turcomans numbered some 40,000. Shah Ismail I, who was wounded and almost captured in the battle, retired to his palace and withdrew from government administration after his wives were captured by Selim I, with at least one married off to one of Selim's statesmen. The battle is one of major historical importance because it not only negated the idea that the Murshid of the Shia-Qizilbash was infallible, but it also fully defined the Ottoman-Safavid borders and led Kurdish chiefs to assert their authority and switch their allegiance from the Safavids to the Ottomans.