Ottoman–Persian War (1730–1735)

Ottoman–Persian War (1730-1735)
Part of Naderian Wars
Date 1730-1735 Location Caucasus, Iraq Result Decisive Afsharid victory Treaty of Ganja Treaty of Constantinople Nader expels the Ottomans from western Persia and seizes Armenia & Georgia
Belligerents
Nader Shah's Forces	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Nader Shah	Topal Osman Pasha† Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha
Strength
100,000 men, of whom 80,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry, during the siege of Baghdad.	80,000 men and 60 cannons at the command of Topal Osman in Baghdad, 1733.
Casualties and losses
30,000 men killed 500 prisoners executed 3,000 men captured	60,000 civilians of Baghdad killed 20,000 men killed

The Ottoman–Persian War of 1730–1735 was a brief conflict between the forces of Nader Shah, a military leader and Shah, and the Ottoman Empire. As a result of the war, Nader gained control of almost all of the Caucasus territories.

Events

In the spring of 1730, Nader attacked the Ottomans and regained most of the territory lost during the recent chaos. At the same time, the Abdali Afghans rebelled and besieged Mashhad, forcing Nader to suspend his campaign and save his brother, Ebrahim. It took Nader fourteen months to defeat the Abdali Afghans.

Relations between Nader and the Shah had declined as the latter grew jealous of his general's military successes. While Nader was absent in the east, Tahmasp tried to assert himself by launching a foolhardy campaign to recapture Yerevan. He ended up losing all of Nader's recent gains to the Ottomans, and signed a treaty ceding Georgia and Armenia in exchange for Tabriz. Nader saw that the moment had come to ease Tahmasp from power. He denounced the treaty, seeking popular support for a war against the Ottomans. In Isfahan, Nader got Tahmasp drunk then showed him to the courtiers asking if a man in such a state was fit to rule. In 1732 he forced Tahmasp to abdicate in favor of the Shah's baby son, Abbas III, to whom Nader became regent.

Nader decided he could win back the territory in Armenia and Georgia by seizing Ottoman Baghdad and then offering it in exchange for the lost provinces, but his plan went badly amiss when his army was routed by the Ottoman general Topal Osman Pasha near the city in 1733. Nader decided he needed to regain the initiative as soon as possible to save his position because revolts were already breaking out in Persia. He faced Topal again with a larger force and defeated and killed him. He then besieged Baghdad, as well as Ganja in the northern provinces, earning a Russian alliance against the Ottomans. Nader scored a great victory over a superior Ottoman force at Baghavard and by the summer of 1735, Persian Armenia and Georgia were his again. In March 1735, he signed a treaty with the Russians in Ganja by which the latter agreed to withdraw all of their troops from Persian territory.

Aftermath

Nader Shah seized control of the Persian empire to make a power base, and invaded India several times. He and the Ottoman Empire would fight another war a few years later, the Afsharid–Ottoman War (1743–46), which ended in a stalemate. On his death, however, the Ottomans attacked the territory he had expanded, most frequently the Caucasus, which they used as a base to wage war against the Russian Empire.

See also

• Afsharid–Ottoman War (1743–46)
• Ottoman–Persian Wars