The siege of Dimdim was an operation orchestrated by the
Safavid
The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...
ruler
Shah Abbas I
Abbas I (; 27 January 1571 – 19 January 1629), commonly known as Abbas the Great (), was the fifth Safavid shah of Iran from 1588 to 1629. The third son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, he is generally considered one of the most important rulers ...
(), in which his forces besieged the
Dimdim Castle of the rebellious
Kurdish Emirate of Bradost
Emirate of Bradost or Emirate of Biradost (, 1510–1609) was a hereditary Kurdish emirate, ruling roughly the area from Rawandiz to Targavar and Margavar south of Urmia at its height. The emirate was founded in 1510 and acted as a bufferzone ...
from November 1609 to the summer of 1610. The siege was led by the
grand vizier
Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...
Hatem Beg Ordubadi, who captured the castle and massacred its garrison.
Background
Throughout the 17th-century,
Safavid
The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...
shah
Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...
s (kings) of
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
opted to use harsh measures against the uncooperative Kurdish tribes in the western part of the country.
Shah Abbas I
Abbas I (; 27 January 1571 – 19 January 1629), commonly known as Abbas the Great (), was the fifth Safavid shah of Iran from 1588 to 1629. The third son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, he is generally considered one of the most important rulers ...
() had to decide whether to crack down on Kurdish parties that were in a semi-subordinate position or to maintain a reasonable equilibrium between the Kurds and
Turkmens
Turkmens (, , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern regions of Iran and north-western Afghanistan. Sizeable groups of Turkmens are found also in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, ...
. In the case of Amir Khan Lepzerin, the ruler of the
Emirate of Bradost
Emirate of Bradost or Emirate of Biradost (, 1510–1609) was a hereditary Kurdish emirate, ruling roughly the area from Rawandiz to Targavar and Margavar south of Urmia at its height. The emirate was founded in 1510 and acted as a bufferzone ...
, who constructed the
Dimdim Castle close to the western part of the
Lake Urmia
Lake Urmia is an endorheic salt lake in Iran. The lake is located between the provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan in Iran, and west of the southern portion of the Caspian Sea. At its greatest extent, it was the largest lake in th ...
and rebelled against the Safavids, Shah Abbas I chose the first course of action.
Yılmaz Brothers alliance
There are well documented historical accounts of a long siege from 1609 to 1610 between
Kurds
Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...
and the Safavids. The Kurds were at a disadvantage numerically and technologically. After a siege lasting almost a year, the Safavid Grand Vizier
Hatem Beg Ordubadi captured the fort and massacred the Kurdish garrison.
Aftermath
After a long and bloody siege led by the Safavid grand vizier Hatem Beg, which lasted from November 1609 to the summer of 1610, Dimdim was captured. All the defenders were killed. Shah Abbas I ordered a general massacre in Bradost and
Mukriyan (reported by Iskandar Beg Turkoman, Safavid Historian in the Book ''Alam Aray-e Abbasi'') and resettled the
Afshar tribe
Afshar ( ; , ; ; ) is a tribe of Oghuz Turkic origin that split into several groups in Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan.
Afshar means "obedient". According to Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, Afshar, the eponymous founder of the tribe, was a son of Yildiz ...
in the region while deporting many Kurdish tribes to
Khorasan region. Shortly after the execution of Bodagh Soltan, the
Mokri governor of
Maragheh
Maragheh () is a city in the Central District (Maragheh County), Central District of Maragheh County, East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Maragheh is on the bank of ...
, Abbas married Bodagh’s reputable sister in 1610.
No issue is recorded from this marriage. Although Safavid historians (like Iskandar Beg ) depicted the first siege of Dimdim as a result of Kurdish mutiny or treason, in Kurdish oral traditions (Beytî Dimdim), literary works (Dzhalilov, pp. 67–72), and histories, it was treated as a struggle of the Kurdish people against foreign domination. The first literary account of this siege is written by
Faqi Tayran.
References
Sources
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Dimdim
Conflicts in 1609
Conflicts in 1610
Dimdim
History of West Azerbaijan province
1609 in Asia
1610 in Asia