The Battle of Otlukbeli or Otluk Beli was a battle between Aq Qoyunlu and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

that was fought on August 11, 1473.

Background

In autumn of 1463,

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

opened negotiations with Uzun Hasan. In 1464, Uzun Hasan intervened in central

Anatolian Anatolian or anatolica may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the region Anatolia * Anatolians, ancient Indo-European peoples who spoke the Anatolian languages * Anatolian High School, a type of Turkish educational institution * Anatol ...

affairs. Although Mehmed occupied

Karaman Karaman, historically known as Laranda (Greek: Λάρανδα), is a city in south central Turkey, located in Central Anatolia, north of the Taurus Mountains, about south of Konya. It is the capital district of the Karaman Province. According t ...

in 1468, he was unable to subjugate a number of Turkoman tribes living in the mountains which extended to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

coast. These tribes were not subdued for the next fifty years, and from time to time rose in revolt around pretenders to the throne of Karamanids. After the Ottoman occupation of Karaman, Uzun Hasan adopted a more aggressive policy. By 1471, the problem of Karaman had become a serious threat to the Ottoman power. Uzun Hasan formed alliance with the Venetians and established contacts with the Knights of Rhodes,

Kingdom of Cyprus The Kingdom of Cyprus (french: Royaume de Chypre, la, Regnum Cypri) was a state that existed between 1192 and 1489. It was ruled by the French House of Lusignan. It comprised not only the island of Cyprus, but it also had a foothold on the Ana ...

and the Bey of

Alaiye Alaiye () is the medieval Seljuq name for Alanya (on the southern coast of Turkey). It refers to the city-state in a specific period and the beylik which developed around there, at times under the Karamanid dynasty. After the 1242 Battle of Kö ...

. He also intended to establish a direct contact with Venice by marching on the Mediterranean coast through the

Taurus mountains The Taurus Mountains ( Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar'') are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean coastal region from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğird ...

, then controlled by the Turkoman tribes. Although a few Venetian ships landed on the coast, they could not find Uzun Hasan's men. In 1472, a crusader fleet attacked the Ottoman coasts. Uzun Hasan with Karamanid forces drove the Ottomans from Karaman and marched on Bursa. However, Mehmed repulsed the invasion, and formed an army of 70,000 men. In addition to his regular army, he had mercenaries from his Muslim and Christian subjects.

Battle

Mehmed II returned with his army in 1473 to defeat

Uzun Hasan Uzun Hasan or Uzun Hassan ( اوزون حسن; fa, اوزون حسن; 1423 – January 6, 1478; where ''uzun'' means "tall" in Oghuz Turkic) was a ruler of the Turkoman Aq Qoyunlu state and is generally considered to be its strongest ruler. ...

. The Turkomans had a traditional army that contained considerable amounts of light cavalry. On the other hand, the Ottoman army exploited the latest technology available at the time. They arrived with handguns and cannons. This difference between the natures of the two armies marked the result of the battle. The Ottoman side gained a decisive victory, whereas the Turkoman army was nearly destroyed in a single day.

Aftermath

Following the defeat of Uzun Hasan, Mehmed took over and consolidated his rule over the area. From he sent a series of letters announcing his victory, including an unusual missive in the

Uyghur language The Uyghur or Uighur language (; , , , or , , , , CTA: Uyğurçä; formerly known as Eastern Turki), is a Turkic language written in a Uyghur Perso-Arabic script with 8-11 million speakers, spoken primarily by the Uyghur people in the Xi ...

addressed to the Turkomans of

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

. The decree ('' yarlık'') had 201 lines and was written by on 30 August 1473: Ibn Kemal made the following statement on the capture of : Abu Bakr Tihrani in the '' Kitab-i Diyarbakriyya'': Ottomans nearly destroyed the power of the Aq Qoyunlu in the East. Aq Qoyunlu would be destroyed completely by

Ismail I Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Safavid Iran, Iran, ruling as its King of Kings (''Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His re ...

in later. This victory of the Safavid Empire would create a new enemy for the Ottoman Empire in the East. The race between the two empires ended with the fall of the Safavid dynasty from power in the 18th century.

Primary sources

* ''Târîh-i Ebü’l-Feth'',

Tursun Beg Tursun Beg ( tr, Tursun Bey; probably born in mid-1420s in Bursa)Woodhead, Christine. "Ṭūrsūn Beg." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Brill, 2011. was an Ottoman bureaucrat and historian who wrote a chronicle dedicated to Mehmed II. ...

* ''Tevārīḫ-i Āl-i ʿOsmān'',

Aşıkpaşazade Dervish Ahmed ( tr, Derviş Ahmed; "Ahmed the Dervish; 1400–1484), better known by his pen name Âşıki or family name Aşıkpaşazade, was an Ottoman historian, a prominent representative of the early Ottoman historiography. He was a descen ...

* ''Tevārīḫ-i Āl-i ʿOsmān'',

Ibn Kemal Şemseddin Ahmed (1469–1534), better known by his pen name Ibn Kemal or Kemalpaşazâde ("son of Kemal Pasha"), was an Ottoman historian,''Kemalpashazade'', Franz Babinger, ''E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936'', Vol.4, ed ...

* ''Cihannümâ'',

Neşri Mevlânâ Mehmed Neşri (born c. 1450 – died 1520?), also commonly referred to as Neshri ( ota, نشري), was an Ottoman historian, a prominent representative of the early Ottoman historiography. Very little is known about Neşri, which sugg ...

References

{{Authority control

Otlukbeli Otlukbeli is a town and district of Erzincan Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located main ...

History of Erzincan Province 1473 in the Ottoman Empire

Background

Battle

Aftermath

See also

Primary sources

References