The conquest of Shirvan was the first campaign of Ismail, the leader of the
Safavid order
The Safavid order, also called the Safaviyya ( fa, صفویه), was a tariqa ( Sufi order) founded by the KurdishFarrukh Yassar in a pitched battle, in which the latter and his entire army were killed. The conquest resulted in the toppling of the
Shirvanshah
''Shirvanshah'' ( fa, شروانشاه), also spelled as ''Shīrwān Shāh'' or ''Sharwān Shāh'', was the title of the rulers of Shirvan from the mid-9th century to the early 16th century. The title remained in a single family, the Yazidids, a ...
s as autonomous rulers, who had ruled large parts of the Caucasus for centuries, and the incorporation of their domain.
Background and war
Ismail's father
Shaykh Haydar
Shaykh Haydar or Sheikh Haydar ( ''Shaikh Ḥaidar''; b. 1459, Diyarbakır - d. 9 July 1488, Tabasaran) was the successor of his father (Shaykh Junayd) as leader of the Safavid order from 1460-1488. Haydar maintained the policies and political a ...
and his grandfather Shaykh Junayd had both been killed in battle by the rulers of Shirvan, in 1488 and 1460 respectively. In the summer of 1500, Ismail rallied a force of 7,000 Qizilbash forces at Erzincan consisting of the Ustaclu, Shamlu, Rumlu, Tekelu, Zhulkadir, Afshar, Qajar and Varsak tribes.Faruk Sümer, ''Safevi Devletinin Kuruluşu ve Gelişmesinde Anadolu Türklerinin Rolü'', Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları, Ankara, 1992, p. 15. Shortly before initiating his offensive, signalled by the weakness of the fragmented Georgian kingdoms, he looted Samtskhe. At the same time, he induced the Georgian kings Constantine II and Alexander I, of respectively Kartli and
Kakheti
Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region (mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises eigh ...
, to attack the Ottoman possessions near Tabriz, on the promise that he would cancel the tribute that Constantine was forced to pay to the Ak Koyunlu once Tabriz was captured. In December 1500, with the intention to avenge his murdered ancestors, Ismail crossed the Kura River into Shirvan with his 7,000-strong force, and decisively defeated and killed Farrukh Yassar, the then incumbent king of Shirvan and his entire 27,000-strong army in a pitched battle at Jabani, near the Shirvanshah capital of Shamakhi, or at Gulistan (present-day Gülüstan, Goranboy, Nagorno-Karabakh). He subsequently marched on to reach the
Caspian Caspian can refer to:
*The Caspian Sea
*The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea
*The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea
* Caspian languages, collection of languages and dialects of Caspian p ...
coast, and took
Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
.
Aftermath
By this victory, Ismail had toppled the Shirvanshahs, and successfully expanded his domains. After the conquest, Ismail had
Alexander I of Kakheti
Alexander I ( ka, ალექსანდრე I ) (1445 or 1456 – April 27, 1511), of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was a king of Kakheti in eastern Georgia from 1476 to 1511. Alexander's pliancy and flexible diplomacy earned him security from th ...
send his son
Demetre
Demetre is an Old Greek male name.
Examples
*Demetre Chiparus
*Demetre II of Georgia
*Demetre I of Georgia
* Demetre Kantemir
* Demetre of Guria
* Demetres Koutsavlakis
*Demetrescu-Tradem
Traian Rafael Radu Demetrescu (; also known under h ...
to Shirvan to negotiate a peace agreement. Ismail allowed the Shirvanshah family to remain in power in Shirvan for some more years, under Safavid suzerainty. In 1538, during the reign of Ismail's successor and son, Tahmasp I (r. 1524-1576), the Safavids completely removed the Shirvanshahs from power, and turned Shirvan into a fully functioning province governed by appointed officials.
Ismail's victory alarmed the ruler of the
Aq Qoyunlu
The Aq Qoyunlu ( az, Ağqoyunlular , ) was a culturally Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two tribal confederations: Akkoyunlu (Wh ...
, Alvand, who subsequently proceeded north from Tabriz, and crossed the Aras River in order to challenge the Safavid forces; a pitched battle was fought at Sarur in which Ismail's army came out victorious despite being outnumbered by four to one. After eventually conquering Tabriz and Nakhchivan, Ismail broke the promise he had made to Constantine, making the kingdoms of Kartli and
Kakheti
Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region (mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises eigh ...
Safavid dynasty
The Safavid dynasty (; fa, دودمان صفوی, Dudmâne Safavi, ) was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of th ...
Siege of Tabriz (1501)
The Siege of Tabriz (Persian: محاصره تبریز) took place in 1501 just after the Safavids had defeated the Aq Qoyunlu in the Battle of Sharur. In the preceding battle the Safavids were able to defeat the Aq Qoyunlus that had an army whi ...