Siege of Tabriz (1501)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Siege of Tabriz | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ismail declares himself shah of Persia by entering Tabriz, painter Chingiz Mehbaliyev, in private collection. | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Safavid dynasty |
 Aq Qoyunlu Dulkadirids | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Shah Ismail I Khalvachi Oghlu Ghoraberi-Qajar † |
Alvand Beg Osman Sultan Torkaman Ala al-Dawla Bozkurt | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
500–5,000[1] |
10,000–40,000[1] 20,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
Unknown |
5,000 killed[1] 10,000 killed, thousands captured or executed | ||||||||
The siege of Tabriz (Persian: محاصره تبریز) took place in 1501 just after the Safavids had defeated the Aq Qoyunlu in the Battle of Sharur. In the preceding battle the Safavids were able to defeat the Aq Qoyunlus that had an army which was 4 times bigger than the Safavid army.[2] After the siege Ismail I chose Tabriz as his capital and proclaimed himself Shahanshah of Iran.[3][4][5]
The two armies met on the plain of Sharur. Ismail Mirza had 7,000 men while Sultan Alvand Beg had more than 10,000. According to Roger Savory, Alvand Beg’s army was four times the size of Ismail’s. Ismail Mirza, by showing brilliant courage, won the battle, and Alvand Beg, seeing his army collapse, fled to Erzincan.[6]
