Siege of Baghdad (1733)

Siege of Baghdad
Part of the Ottoman–Persian War (1730–1735) and Nader's Campaigns
The campaign in the Eyalat of Baghdad from Nader's invasion up to his defeat at Samara which resulted in the lifting of the siege of Baghdad.
Date February–July 1733 Location Baghdad, Ottoman Iraq 33°19′N44°25′E / 33.32°N 44.42°E / 33.32; 44.42 Result Ottoman victory [1]
Belligerents
Safavid Iran	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Nader Qoli Mohammad Khan Baluch	Ahmad Pasha Topal Osman Pasha
Strength
100,000 or 80,000 [2] 70,000 marched north to Samarra 30,000 remained to maintain the siege	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Extremely heavy	Over 100,000 died due to disease and famine. [3] or 60,000 according to Axworthy. [4]

The siege of Baghdad in 1733 was a relatively short but intense siege of Baghdad in Ottoman Iraq by the Persian army under Nader Qoli. The outcome was determined not at Baghdad but ultimately far to the north near Samara where a large relief force commanded by the Topal Pasha inflicted a decisive defeat on Nader's Persian army (the only battlefield defeat of Nader's career). The Persian besiegers were forced away.

Commencement of the siege

Ahmad Pasha, the Mamluk ruler of Iraq, cautiously held to the left bank of the Tigris, knowing what a formidable barrier it posed to the invading Persian army. Nader camped on the east side and resorted to a ruse whereby he would fool the Ottomans by keeping a large portion of his men in and around the camp; but only to gather a small hand-picked group of soldiers to march north under the cover of night.

On February 15, Nader crossed the Tigris with 2,500 men and immediately moved south with another 1,500 men managing to make the crossing to follow Nader just before the bridge over the river collapsed into it. Nader also assigned a portion of his soldiers to protect the tomb of Abu Hanifa. ^{[5] [6]} Ahmad Pasha accelerated his force up the Tigris as soon as he heard of the Persian contingent's presence on the left bank of the river. Nader's small band included three fowj of Kurdish (each "fowj" being a unit of 1,000 soldiers), Turcomen and Abdali Afghan troops which he formed up against a formidable Ottoman assault containing artillery, cavalry and janissaries (infantry).

The Turcomen and Kurds were driven back but the Abdali held long enough for the 1,500 men that crossed the Tigris before the collapse of the bridge to come from the north. Nader drew them up in formation and fed them into the battle, gradually pushing Ahmad pasha's line back until it was broken and the remnants fled towards Baghdad leaving many guns and corpses behind. Nader ordered some of the Kurds and Turcomen hanged for their cowardice in the face of danger and conversely rewarded the Abdali.

The environs of Baghdad were soon swarming with Persian soldiers as they joined their comrades from the east bank of the Tigris and began a colossal effort constructing 2,700 towers around the perimeter of the city. It is estimated that a total of 300,000 Persians were besieging the walls of Baghdad although just a 100,000 of them were soldiers.

Topal Osman Pasha arrives

The outcome of the siege however was decided many miles to the north of Baghdad near a city called Samarra where Istanbul had sent the best army it could muster under the command of the best general it had: Topal Osman Pasha. Nader arrogantly marched north to attack the Ottoman relief force instead of choosing a suitable battlefield for a defensive battle. The result was one of the most bloody engagements of Nader's campaigns with almost half the Persian army becoming 'hors de combat' with even the Ottomans losing a quarter of their army leaving a terrifying 20,000 men as casualties of the debacle.

The battle was in fact so crushingly decisive that it forced the Persian from Iraq altogether, saving Baghdad from certain capture by Persia. Although Nader would make a miraculous comeback from his defeat, destroying Topal Pasha's army, he still failed to capture Baghdad in his subsequent campaign (mainly because of an insurrection in southern Persia which required his immediate presence).

Aftermath

Michael Axworthy writes that about 60,000 people died in Baghdad by the end of the siege. ^[7] Whilist Stephen Hemsley Longrigg writes that over 100,000 people had died due to starvation. ^[8] Topal Osman Pasha's army entered Baghdad on the 24th of July, however he was forced to withdraw and send most of his forces to Kirkuk after a few days due to the city and its surrounding areas being left so devastated that they were incapable of supporting the large amount of men and animals. ^[9] Ahmad Pasha's men had also cut off the heads off of fallen Persian soldiers, threw the bodies in the Tigris river, and piled the heads as a memorial for the Ottoman victory. ^[10]

See also

• Battle of Samara
• Battle of Agh-Darband
• Topal Osman Pasha

References

1. Axworthy, Michael. "Nader Shah and Persian Naval Expansion in the Persian Gulf, 1700–1747" . Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 21 (1): 34. doi:10.1017/S1356186310000362. ISSN   1474-0591.
2. Clodfelter, Micheal (2008). Warfare and armed conflicts : a statistical encyclopedia of casualty and other figures, 1494-2007. Internet Archive. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland. p. 121. ISBN   978-0-7864-3319-3.
3. Stephen Hemsley Longrigg (1925). Four Centuries Of Modern Iraq. p. 143. From January to late July no food had reached the crowded city. More than a hundred thousand persons had died of starvation. Thousands had been thrown into the river, the bodies of the rest infected the air and brought disease in the wake of hunger.
4. Axworthy, Michael (2010-03-24). Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from Tribal Warrior to Conquering Tyrant. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 142. ISBN   978-0-85773-347-4. It was later estimated that 60,000 people died in Baghdad during the siege.
5. Ateş, Abdurrahman. "Avşarlı Nadir Şah ve döneminde Osmanlı – İran mücadeleleri". tez.yok.gov.tr (in Turkish). p. 61. Retrieved 2026-07-12. Ocak 1733... Adana Köprüsü'nü zapteden Nadir, bir kısım askerini İmam-ı Azam'ın kabrini korumaya tayin edip... 2500 askerini Dicle Nehri'nin batısına geçirdi.[In January 1733... Nadir, who captured the Adana Bridge with his forces, assigned a portion of his soldiers to protect the tomb of Imam al-Azam, and crossed 2,500 of his soldiers to the west of the Tigris River...]
6. Astarabadi, Mirza Mahdi Khan. Tarikh-e Jahangusha-ye Nadiri (in Persian). pp. 139–141 – via Internet Archive.
7. Axworthy, Michael (2010-03-24). Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from Tribal Warrior to Conquering Tyrant. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 142. ISBN   978-0-85773-347-4. It was later estimated that 60,000 people died in Baghdad during the siege.
8. Longrigg, Stephen Hemsley (2002). Four Centuries of Modern Iraq. Garnet. p. 143. ISBN   978-1-85964-169-9. More than a hundred thousand persons had died of starvation.
9. Axworthy, Michael (2010-03-24). Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from Tribal Warrior to Conquering Tyrant. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 146. ISBN   978-0-85773-347-4. Topal Osman's army entered the city in triumph on 24 July, but he was forced to withdraw most of his men to Kirkuk within a few days, because the city and surrounding area had been left so poor and devastated that they were incapable of supporting such a large number of men and animals.
10. Axworthy, Michael (2010-03-24). Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from Tribal Warrior to Conquering Tyrant. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 146. ISBN   978-0-85773-347-4. Ahmad Pasha's men, picking over the battlefield, cut the heads off the dead bodies of the Persians, threw the bodies in the Tigris, and piled the heads in heaps as ugly memorials to the Ottoman victory.

Sources

• Moghtader, Gholam-Hussein (2008). The Great Batlles of Nader Shah, Donyaye Ketab
• Axworthy, Michael (2009). The Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from tribal warrior to conquering tyrant, I. B. Tauris ISBN   978-1-84511-982-9
• Ghafouri, Ali (2008). History of Iran's wars: from the Medes to now, Etela'at Publishing^{[ verification needed ]}