| Battle of Sharur | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Safavid - Aq Qoyunlu Wars | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Safavid army  Kingdom of Kartli |  Aq Qoyunlu | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Ismail I | Alvand Mirza Qarachaqay Khan † | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 7,000 | 10,000 - 30,000 | ||||||||
The Battle of Sharur occurred in July 1501. It ended with a decisive victory for the Safavid army. After this victory, the way of the Safavids to Tabriz was opened. Alvand Mirza disappeared from the political scene. [1]
Ismail defeated Shirvanshah Farrukh Yasar in the Battle of Jabani in 1500 and captured Baku in the spring of 1501. While besieging the Gulustan fortress, he heard the news that Aq Qoyunlu Alvand Mirza had gathered troops and moved to fight him. Although Alvand advised him to stay in Shirvan and became its ruler.
Two armies met in the plain of Sharur. Ismail had an army of 7,000 and Alvand Mirza had an army more than 10,000. According to Roger Savory, the number of Alvand's army was 4 times more than the number of Ismail's army. Ismail won by showing great commanding ability. Seeing that his army was disbanded, Alvand Mirza fled to Erzincan. [2]
Ismail also killed in a one-on-one battle with the famous commander of the Aq Qoyunlus, Karachagay khan. Although Ismail was only 14 years old in that battle.
After victory, Ismail went to Tabriz. After entering Tabriz, he proclaimed himself shah and founded the Safavid Empire. With this battle, Ismail captured Azerbaijan. [3] Thus, he accumulated the rich resources needed to expand his state.
Ismail I was the founder and first shah of Safavid Iran, ruling from 1501 until his death in 1524. His reign is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires. The rule of Ismail I is one of the most vital in the history of Iran. Before his accession in 1501, Iran, since its Islamic conquest eight-and-a-half centuries earlier, had not existed as a unified country under native Iranian rule. Although many Iranian dynasties rose to power amidst this whole period, it was only under the Buyids that a vast part of Iran properly returned to Iranian rule (945–1055).
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Jalal al-Din al-Dawani, also known as Allama Davani, was a theologian, philosopher, jurist, and poet, who is considered to have been one of the leading scholars in late 15th-century Iran.
The Turkoman invasions of Georgia also Georgian–Turkoman wars, refers to invasions of various Muslim Turkoman tribes on the territory of the Kingdom of Georgia throughout the 15th century.
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Qazi Isa Savaji was a Persian bureaucrat from the Savaji family, who was among the leading figures during the reign of the Aq Qoyunlu rulers Uzun Hasan and Ya'qub Beg.
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Sharaf al-Din Shah-Mahmud Jan Daylami Qazvini, better known as Mahmud Jan Daylami was an Iranian bureaucrat from the Daylami family, who occupied high offices under the Aq Qoyunlu and the Safavids.
Sufi Khalil Beg Mawsilu was a Turkoman military officer from the Mawsillu clan, who served the Aq Qoyunlu. He was one of the leading figures during the reign of Sultan Ya'qub Beg, and played a pivotal role in the succession struggle that took place after the latter's death. He put Ya'qub's eldest son Baysunghur on the throne, ruling as the virtual ruler of the realm until he was defeated and killed by his rival, Sulayman Beg Bijan.
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