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Capture of Tbilisi and Gökçe war
Part of Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–1618)
Date1616
LocationTbilisi, Nakhchivan, some districts of Armenia, near Lake Sevan (Gökçe)
Result Decisive Safavid victory
Belligerents
Safavid Empire  Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Shah Abbas I

Ottoman Empire Sultan Ahmed I
Ahmet Pasha

Mehmet Pasha
Casualties and losses
Not reported

In Capture of Tbilisi:
70,000 Ottoman warriors and Georgian people were killed.[citation needed]
100,000 internees moved to Persia.[1][2]
In Gökçe conflict:

4,000 Ottoman warriors were killed.[citation needed]

Capture of Tbilisi and Gökçe war occurred as a progressive combats in 1616. The capture of Tbilisi was a conflict between the army of Shah Abbas I against Georgian soldiers and the general populace. After the capture of Tbilisi, Abbas I confronted an Ottoman army. The battle took place near Lake Gökçe and resulted in a Safavid victory.

Background[]

In 1612, Shah Abbas I was informed that Teimuraz I of Kakheti with a couple of Christian citizens assaulted the Karabakh governor and killed him. Shah Abbas decided to confront him but Teimuraz I fled to Georgia towards Ahmed I in order to shelter from Safavid forces. This event brought an end to the Treaty of Nasuh Pasha.

Massacre and capture of Tbilisi[]

In 1616, Shah Abbas I dispatched his troops to Georgia. He aimed to suppress the Georgian revolt in Tbilisi, however the Safavid soldiers were defeated by the citizens of Tbilisi. Enraged, Shah Abbas ordered a massacre of the public. A large number of Georgian soldiers and people were killed and as many as 100,000 Georgians were deported to Persia.[3][4] The Persians supposedly massacred 6,000 Georgian monks and destroyed their temples.[5][6]

Conquest of Nakhchivan and Gökçe battle[]

This event caused Sultan Ahmed I to send an Ottoman army to confront the Safavid troops. He appointed Mehmet Pasha commander of the army. In 1616, the Ottoman army reached Aleppo. Numerous soldiers joined them from Asia Minor and parts of Iraq. Shah Abbas I's military strategies kept the Ottoman army in famine among other difficulties. Although Ottoman troops captured Nakhchivan, they failed to conquer Yerevan.

After the capture of Tbilisi, Abbas I moved to engage the Ottoman army. The battle occurred near Lake Gökçe and resulted in a Safavid victory.[citation needed]

See also[]

References[]

  1. Stalin and the Turkish Crisis of the Cold War, 1945-1953, by Jamil Hasanli, 2011, p.167
  2. http://www.tlg.gov.ge/content.php?id=119&lang=geo
  3. Stalin and the Turkish Crisis of the Cold War, 1945-1953, by Jamil Hasanli, 2011, p.167
  4. http://www.tlg.gov.ge/content.php?id=119&lang=geo
  5. Grand Tourist, by Ellen Boer, p.229-230, 2013
  6. The Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, Issues 7-12, 1986, p.80
  • Ghafouri Ali History of the Iran's battles, from the Medes up to today 2009 ISBN 9789644237386.
  • Asadollah Matoufi 4000 years history of Iran army, Persian title: Tārīkh-i chahār hazār sālah-i artish-i Īrān 2003 ISBN 9646820034.
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