Battle of the Samara River
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
changes Destruction of the Golden Horde
| Battle of Samara River | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Moldavian–Horde Wars | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Moldavia Crimean Khanate |
 Golden Horde | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Stephen III Meñli I Giray |
Sheikh Ahmed | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | Most of the army destroyed[1][2] | ||||||||
The Battle of the Samara River took place in June 1502, during the attempted Great Horde invasion of southern Moldavia. It took place between the Moldavian–Crimean army of Stephen the Great and Meñli I Giray against the Golden Horde forces of Sheikh Ahmed, resulting in Moldavian–Crimean victory that led to destruction of the Golden Horde.[1][2]
In 1502, Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II wanted to bring the Principality of Moldavia under full control. The Sultan wanted to avoid direct conflict and instead requested for Khan Sheikh Ahmed to attack and occupy southern Moldavia. Khan Ahmed agreed to attack, in exchange for a promise of Ottoman military support of 40,000 troops. Bayezid II believed that "we ourselves would be able to advance unhindered to all parts of the world" if the Tatars of Great Horde defeated Moldavians.[2]
Khan Sheikh Ahmed dispatched the armies led by his sons Bagatır-saltan, Hoziak-saltan and Enai-saltan against the Crimean Khanate and to southern Russia. For this reason, Stephen III negotiated with Crimean Khan Meñli I Giray to coordinate their defense, in the case of Great Horde Tatars trying to cross the Dnieper.[2]