In 1585 the Ottoman army entered Tabriz again — once again, after 1514, 1534 and 1548. But this time the townspeople took up arms and fought district by district, and the crown prince Hamza Mirza brought troops to free the city. This heroism could not save Tabriz: five years later the Safavids officially ceded most of the Azerbaijani lands to the Ottomans. Why did a strong state fall into such trouble only 14 years after Tahmasp’s death?
The struggle for the throne (1576–1578)
Among the Safavids the succession to the throne was not firmly regulated. As soon as Tahmasp died in 1576, the court split into two factions. The Ustajlu emirs backed prince Haydar Mirza, but he was killed in the palace. The winning faction — the emirs of the Rumlu, Afshar, Qajar and other tribes and the princess Pari Khan Khanum — put on the throne Ismail Mirza, who had been held prisoner in the Qahqaha fortress for about 20 years.
Shah Ismail II (1576–1577), to secure his power, had most of his brothers and relatives and the emirs he suspected put to death. He tried to soften the Shi‘ite policy, which angered the Qizilbash and the clergy. In 1577 he died suddenly. The throne passed to Tahmasp’s eldest son, the weak-sighted Muhammad Khudabanda (1578–1587). Under the weak shah the state was at first run by his wife Mahd-i Ulya, but in 1579 the Qizilbash emirs killed her. After that the feuds among the tribes flared up again.
The Ottoman war: from Childir to Ganja (1578–1588)
Sultan Murad III exploited the Safavids’ inner weakness and broke the Peace of Amasya. The Ottomans aimed to seize the South Caucasus, Shirvan and the Caspian trade routes. In August 1578, at the battle of Childir, Lala Mustafa Pasha defeated the Safavid army. The Ottomans took Tiflis, entered Shirvan, captured Shamakhi and left Osman Pasha in Shirvan. The army of their ally, the Crimean khanate, came to Shirvan by the Derbent road. The Safavid army beat the Crimean Tatars in Shirvan and captured the khan’s brother Adil Giray, but the Ottomans kept Derbent and part of Shirvan.
In 1585 Osman Pasha took Tabriz with a large army. The townspeople resisted heroically, but the city was sacked and the Ottomans built a strong citadel there. Khudabanda’s son, the crown prince Hamza Mirza, defeated Ottoman detachments around Tabriz several times and besieged the citadel, but because of the emirs’ feuds he could not free the city; Tabriz would be won back only in 1603, by Shah Abbas I. In 1586 Hamza Mirza was assassinated. The defence weakened: in 1588 the Ottomans took Ganja. At the same time, in the east, the Uzbeks broke into Khorasan and took Herat — the state had to fight on two fronts.
Shah Abbas I and the Treaty of Istanbul of 1590
Prince Abbas Mirza, who ruled in Khorasan, was backed by the Ustajlu and Shamlu emirs. In 1587 they brought him to Qazvin, Khudabanda gave up the throne and Shah Abbas I (1587–1629) came to power. The young shah could not go on fighting on two fronts: the Ottomans in the west, the Uzbeks in the east and unruly emirs at home. To gain time he agreed to make peace with the Ottomans.
On 21 March 1590 the Treaty of Istanbul was signed. By it the Safavids gave the Ottomans most of Southern Azerbaijan including Tabriz (except Ardabil and Talysh), Shirvan, Karabakh and Chukhur-Saad, Eastern Georgia and parts of Luristan and Kurdistan. The Safavids undertook to stop their propaganda against the first caliphs, and Hamza Mirza’s son was sent to Istanbul as a hostage. Most of the Azerbaijani lands stayed under Ottoman rule for about 15 years. Abbas used this time to rebuild the army — see «Shah Abbas I: accession and reforms».
The lessons of the crisis were clear. The feuds of the Qizilbash emirs had weakened the state in the face of a foreign enemy, and the Ottomans had used this to seize the Azerbaijani lands. In the war years towns and villages were laid waste, the caravan roads were cut, and the people suffered from heavy taxes and plunder. Yet the defence of Tabriz showed that the people were ready to fight the invaders. Shah Abbas I drew his conclusions: he prepared to create a standing army loyal to the shah, to end the emirs’ wilfulness and to win back the lost lands — see «Shah Abbas I’s foreign policy: liberating the lands and the treaties».
| Person | Who | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Ismail II | shah (1576–1577) | killed his relatives, tried to soften the Shi‘ite policy |
| Muhammad Khudabanda | shah (1578–1587) | a weak ruler; abdicated in 1587 |
| Hamza Mirza | Khudabanda’s son, crown prince | fought for Tabriz; killed in 1586 |
| Lala Mustafa Pasha | Ottoman commander | won at Childir (1578) |
| Osman Pasha | Ottoman commander | fought in Shirvan, took Tabriz (1585) |
| Shah Abbas I | shah (1587–1629) | signed the Istanbul treaty to gain time |
| Cause | Result |
|---|---|
| no fixed rule of succession | the struggle for the throne in 1576–1578 |
| the Safavids’ inner weakness | Murad III broke the Peace of Amasya; war began in 1578 |
| the emirs’ feuds and Hamza Mirza’s murder | Tabriz was not freed, Ganja was lost (1588) |
| war on two fronts (Ottomans and Uzbeks) | the Treaty of Istanbul (1590) |
| Feature | Peace of Amasya (1555) | Treaty of Istanbul (1590) |
|---|---|---|
| Safavid shah | Tahmasp I | Abbas I |
| Azerbaijani lands | stayed with the Safavids | most passed to the Ottomans |
| Georgia | divided: the east Safavid | Eastern Georgia also went to the Ottomans |
| Why signed | both sides were exhausted | the Safavids fought on two fronts and needed time |
- 1576
Death of Tahmasp; Ismail II on the throne
- 1577
Death of Ismail II
- 1578
Muhammad Khudabanda comes to the throne
- 1578
Battle of Childir; the Ottomans enter Shirvan
- 1579
Mahd-i Ulya is killed
- 1585
The Ottomans take Tabriz; the city’s defence
- 1586
Hamza Mirza is killed
- 1587
Shah Abbas I comes to the throne
- 1588
The Ottomans take Ganja
- 1590
Treaty of Istanbul: lands lost
Most of the Azerbaijani lands pass to the Ottomans; Shah Abbas I gains time.
Interactive
Source (adapted): based on the work of Iskandar Beg Munshi, «Tarikh-i alam-ara-yi Abbasi».
The commander of the army of Rum entered the city with countless troops. The townspeople took up arms and fought in their quarters, but the forces were unequal: the city was sacked, and the commander had a strong citadel built there. The crown prince came with the Qizilbash army, besieged the citadel and defeated the enemy’s detachments several times. But the emirs envied one another and would not fight together, so the citadel was not taken. A year later the prince died at night by an assassin’s hand.
Source tasks
Problem
1. Which city and which event does the text describe? Who are the «commander» and the «crown prince»?
2. Explain one political and one military reason why the city could not be freed.
3. Name two consequences not stated in the text.
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Solution
2. Political: Shah Khudabanda was weak and the Qizilbash emirs were feuding. Military: the Ottomans had built a strong citadel in the city, and the Safavids were fighting the Uzbeks in the east at the same time. Marks: both — 1; one — ½.
3. For example: Ganja was also lost in 1588; the Treaty of Istanbul of 1590 made the loss of Tabriz official; Shah Abbas I began building a standing army independent of the Qizilbash. Marks: two correct consequences — 1; one — ½.
DIM-type task: chronological order
Problem
Put the events in chronological order:
1. the murder of Hamza Mirza
2. the battle of Childir
3. the Treaty of Istanbul
4. the Ottoman capture of Tabriz
5. the accession of Shah Abbas I
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Solution
Trap: 1585, 1586 and 1587 sit side by side — first Tabriz is lost, then Hamza Mirza, who tried to free it, is killed, and only after that does Abbas take the throne.
Answer: 2, 4, 1, 5, 3.
DIM-type task: «unlike X»
Problem
Unlike the Peace of Amasya, under the Treaty of Istanbul of 1590:
A) Baghdad stayed with the Ottomans
B) most of the Azerbaijani lands passed to the Ottomans
C) the treaty was made between the Safavids and the Ottomans
D) the treaty was signed after a long war
E) Western Georgia was in Ottoman hands
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Solution
Answer: B.
Remember
- With no fixed rule of succession, a struggle for the throne began in 1576: Ismail II (1576–1577), then Muhammad Khudabanda (1578–1587); the Qizilbash emirs fought for power.
- Murad III broke the Peace of Amasya: 1578 — Childir; the Ottomans in Shirvan; the Crimean Tatars came by the Derbent road.
- 1585 — Osman Pasha took Tabriz; the townspeople and crown prince Hamza Mirza defended it; Hamza Mirza was killed in 1586 and Ganja was lost in 1588.
- 1587 — Shah Abbas I took the throne; facing war on two fronts, he made peace to gain time.
- 21 March 1590 — the Treaty of Istanbul: Tabriz, Shirvan, Karabakh, Chukhur-Saad and Eastern Georgia passed to the Ottomans (except Ardabil and Talysh).