Shortly before "Selim I" took power.. the Shiite Safavid state had arisen in "Iran" as we know it today.. and its relations with the Ottomans were cordial at the beginning.. then they became tense.. because Shah "Ismail al-Safavi" was expansionist like them.. and he destroyed the state of "Aq Qoyunlu" or the "White Sheep" - the one from which Erdogan comes today - and that was the last barrier between the Safavids and the Ottomans.
And before "Selim" took power.. he suppressed several revolts as a commander of the Ottoman army.. ignited by the Safavids in Anatolia.. and when "Selim" took the throne.. "Ismail al-Safavi" sent him neither congratulations nor a letter.. so "Selim" became certain that Shah "Ismail" was against him and would be neither friend nor ally.
As soon as "Selim" sat on the throne.. his brother "Ahmed" decided to declare himself sultan - as usual - and Ankara and Bursa recognised him.. so he set off to kill his brother "Ahmed".. but "Ahmed" learned of "Selim"'s approach through the vizier "Mustafa Pasha".. so he fled.. and "Selim" arrested "Mustafa Pasha" in his place.. and ordered him burned alive.
After that he set off to Bursa.. and found there a group of his brothers' sons.. and he slaughtered them all.. and then he found his brother "Korkud" hiding in the mountain.. so he seized him and gouged out his eyes.. and then buried him alive.
So only "Ahmed" remained.. who formed a small army of his followers.. and set off to fight "Selim".. and it seems God loved this "Ahmed".. because he died in the battle from a bullet.. and this saddened "Selim" greatly.. because he had wanted to capture him alive.. in order to kill him in a horrifyingly sadistic way.. he was a deranged sadist who never laughed.. and the historians of his era called him "Selim the Frowning" and "Selim the Butcher".
In fact, because of the law of fratricide that "Mehmed the Conqueror" invented.. they will reach a stage a generation after the period we are telling of.. and find that the dynasty of the "House of Osman" was close to extinction.. so a woman named "Sultana Safiye" will appear.. and invent a new nightmarish idea instead of killing.. we will talk about her in due course.
After that "Selim"'s rule became secure.. so he made treaties and a long truce with Europe.. and decided to devote himself to the Safavids.. the Safavids sent to the Mamluks in Egypt asking for support and alliance against the Ottomans.. and the Ottomans sent to the Mamluks in Egypt asking for the same thing.. but after the death of "Qaitbay".. Sultan al-Adil "Tuman Bay".. and after him Sultan al-Ashraf "Qansuh al-Ghuri".. they preferred to stand neutral.. allying with neither the Ottomans nor the Safavids.
After letters full of insults and vulgarity and slander against honour.. between "Selim" and Shah Ismail.. the Shah tells him.. that he has decided to bury him in the desert of "Yas Chaman" near the plain of Chaldiran.. and accordingly.. the Ottoman army moves under the command of "Selim" on the first of June in the year 1514.. and encamps there awaiting the Safavid forces.
But the Safavids never come.. and on 20 August information reaches "Selim" that the Shah had brought him here and worn him out and that was that.. and was waiting for winter to come.. and for the frost to finish off "Selim"'s forces all by itself!
Here "Selim" attacks.. and the "Battle of Chaldiran" takes place between the two sides.. in which the Ottomans prevail and "Shah Ismail" flees.. and "Selim" enters the Shah's capital "Tabriz".. and seizes the Shah's treasures and treasuries.. and ships them to Constantinople.. and he orders the skulls of the dead to be flayed and cleaned of flesh.. and a small pyramid built from those skulls.. in the middle of the battlefield.. and then he seizes the workers and craftsmen and thousands of concubines and ships them to Constantinople.. and after that.. he orders his men to amuse themselves.. so they kill about 40 thousand civilians.. in inventive ways.. between hanging and burning and impalement and burial alive.
And "Selim", in his war with the Safavids, had asked for the support of "Ala al-Dawla", emir of the Turkoman "Dhu al-Qadir".. but "Ala" refused.. because he recognised the sovereignty of the Mamluks, not the Ottomans.. so "Selim" goes and fights "Ala al-Dawla".. and defeats him.. and the latter falls slain in the battle.. and with the fall of "Dhu al-Qadir".. there remains no state separating the Mamluks and the Ottoman state.
And here.. the Safavids ask the Mamluks to mediate for peace with the Ottomans.. so "Qansuh al-Ghuri" sends an envoy to the Ottomans.. to hold them to account for the destruction of "Dhu al-Qadir" and inform them of the Safavids' desire for peace.. but "Selim" insults the envoy and expels him.. and in those ages this was considered a declaration of war.
And the truth is that "Selim" was looking for any pretext for war.. because if he controlled Egypt he would control the whole East.. and dominate the trade routes.. and occupy the entire peninsula.. and he could not find any justification to attack the Mamluks.. these were not Shiites after all.. these were Sunnis.. and they had not attacked the Ottomans nor threatened them.. so he took the affair of "al-Ghuri"'s envoy as a pretext.. saying that the Mamluks supported the Shiite Safavids.. and accordingly he expelled the envoy and insulted him.. and as we said this act was considered a declaration of war.
On the basis of "Selim"'s act.. "Qansuh al-Ghuri" moves from Cairo to the Levant.. prepared for the Ottoman attack.. and he brings the Mamluk commanders there.. and they were 6.. the Syrian emirs "Sibay", governor of "Damascus", and his aide "Sa'dun al-Ajami", and "Janbirdi al-Ghazali", and the Lebanese "Fakhr al-Din Ma'n I" and "Jamal al-Din al-Arslani".. and the Mamluk of Russian origin "Khayr Bey al-Circassian", governor of Aleppo.. each of these commanders with his army of Mamluks with which he protected his city.. ready to fight and prepared for battle.
The news reaches "Selim I".. so he sends his envoys to "Qansuh al-Ghuri".. demanding that he recognise the sovereignty of the Ottoman state over the Egyptian lands and the Levant, and pay an annual tribute.. but "Qansuh al-Ghuri" insults the Ottoman envoys exactly as "Selim" had done.. and expels them in the worst manner.
And here "Selim" meets with his commanders.. and decides to attack.. so he moves with his army on the road to the Levant.. natural Syria.. intending to occupy it.. and then head for Cairo.
And on 8 August, of the year 1516 AD.. corresponding to 25 Rajab of the year 922 AH.. in a valley called "Marj Dabiq" near Aleppo.. the two armies stand face to face.. to begin a terrible, decisive battle.. the battle that would determine the fate of all Syria and after it Egypt and the Mamluk state.. which had ruled this land for more than two centuries.. and the Ottoman army was about 100 thousand soldiers.. and the Mamluks about 50 thousand.. among them the force that "al-Ghuri" brought from Cairo.. numbering 10 thousand fighters.. and he was leading it himself.
History has preserved this battle for us under the name "the Battle of Marj Dabiq".. and it was begun by the forces coming from Cairo.. led by "al-Ghuri" together with the forces of Damascus, led by the Syrian emir "Sibay", governor of Damascus.. and they attacked the well-equipped Ottoman forces... while the forces of "Janbirdi al-Ghazali" and "Fakhr al-Din Ma'n I" and "Jamal al-Din al-Arslani".. and "Khayr Bey al-Circassian".. remained awaiting the signal to attack.
And the strange thing is that the Mamluks inspired awe in the hearts of the Ottomans.. because the attack of "al-Ghuri" and "Sibay", which lasted nearly two hours.. broke apart the Ottoman formations.. and caused enormous confusion in their midst.. and inflicted heavy losses on them.. and the Mamluks captured a number of Ottoman artillery batteries.. to the point that "Selim" ordered his commanders to fall back.. and he retreated.. and nearly asked for safe conduct.
And here.. Sultan "Qansuh al-Ghuri" signalled "Janbirdi al-Ghazali" to advance.. and he was the commander of the left wing.. and "Sibay" gave the signal to advance to "Khayr Bey".. from the right wing.. with the aim of outflanking the Ottomans.
But suddenly something strange happened, and a sudden development that had not been reckoned with.
And this sudden development would take long to speak of, so we will continue our talk about it later.
And there remains.. more to be said.
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Previous posts in the first comment.
The photo is of the al-Ghuri complex.. on al-Muizz Street - Cairo.
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#The_Ottoman_Caliphate 19