Capture of Baghdad (1534) 1534
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1534 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Iraq | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Ottoman-Safavid War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Ottoman Empire, Safavid Iran | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 33.3500, 44.4167 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The 1534 capture of Baghdad by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent from the Safavid Shah Tahmasp I was part of his Campaign of the Two Iraqs during the Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–1555). The city was taken without resistance, the Safavid government having fled and leaving the city undefended.
Baghdad's capture was a significant achievement given its mastery of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and their international and regional trade. It represented, along with the fall of Basra in 1546, a significant step towards eventual Ottoman victory and the procurement of the lower Mesopotamia, the mouths of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, opening a trading outlet into the Persian Gulf.
The Ottomans wintered there until 1535, overseeing the reconstruction of Sunni religious monuments destroyed by the Safavids and initiating agricultural irrigation projects. Suleiman returned to Constantinople, leaving a strong garrison force. After the capture, Suleiman adopted the title “Shah of Baghdad in Iraq”. Hadım Suleiman Pasha was designated as Governor of Baghdad from 1535 to 1536, starting a long list of Ottoman governors of Baghdad.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Capture of Baghdad (1534) (revision 1370608286), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Baghdad (1638) 1638 · 0 km
- Siege of Baghdad (1157) 1157 · 0 km
- Siege of Baghdad (1733) 1733 · 0 km
- Siege of Baghdad (812–813) 812 · 0 km
- Capture of Baghdad (1624) 1624 · 3 km
- Revolt of Zulfiqar Khan 1524 · 3 km
Other battles of the Ottoman-Safavid War
- Siege of Van (1548) 1548
Browse more: battles in Iraq · Asia · Early modern battles