Safavid conquest of Shirvan

<h2 id="background-and-war">Background and war</h2>
Ismail's father <a href="/facts/Shaykh_Haydar/yMNs4Kea">Shaykh Haydar</a> and his grandfather <a href="/facts/Shaykh_Junayd/QEPcVlmS">Shaykh Junayd</a> had both been killed in battle by the rulers of Shirvan, in 1488 and 1460, respectively.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1">1</a> In the summer of 1500, Ismail rallied a force of 7,000 <a href="/facts/Qizilbash/LK4jgns1">Qizilbash</a> fighters at <a href="/facts/Erzincan/Y9sbJ7A2">Erzincan</a> consisting of the Ustajlu, <a href="/facts/Shamlu/cM69q3wX">Shamlu</a>, Rumlu, Tekelu, Dulkadir, <a href="/facts/Afshar_tribe/R3IY7XeK">Afshar</a>, <a href="/facts/Qajars_(tribe)/LY8Ft8c3">Qajar</a> and Varsak tribes.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2">2</a> Shortly before initiating his offensive, seeing the weakness of the fragmented Georgian kingdoms, he looted <a href="/facts/Samtskhe/e3lsUS5Q">Samtskhe</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">3</a> At the same time, he induced the Georgian kings <a href="/facts/Constantine_II_of_Kartli/Dm7lzcGD">Constantine II</a> and <a href="/facts/Alexander_I_of_Kakheti/lSHY44g5">Alexander I</a>, of respectively <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Kartli/ubRuJvtu">Kartli</a> and <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Kakheti/E6y7sAW9">Kakheti</a>, to attack the <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman</a> possessions near <a href="/facts/Tabriz/9aPM2trV">Tabriz</a>, on the promise that he would cancel the tribute that Constantine was forced to pay to the <a href="/facts/Aq_Qoyunlu/WHpGCujF">Aq Qoyunlu</a> once Tabriz was captured.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a> In December 1500, with the intention to avenge his murdered ancestors, Ismail crossed the <a href="/facts/Kura_(Caspian_Sea)/AcuEbVpv">Kura River</a> into <a href="/facts/Shirvan/ahQsTV1a">Shirvan</a> with his 7,000-strong force, and decisively defeated and killed <a href="/facts/Farrukh_Yassar/7MkDRf8X">Farrukh Yassar</a>, the then incumbent <a href="/facts/Shirvanshah/brmuTfTX">king of Shirvan</a> and his entire 27,000-strong army in a pitched battle <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Jabani/Is8bc4l4">at Jabani</a>, near the Shirvanshah capital of <a href="/facts/Shamakhi/GqVqXTS5">Shamakhi</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a> or at Gulistan (present-day <a href="/facts/G%25C3%25BCl%25C3%25BCstan%2c_Goranboy/KxIBvsgS">Gülüstan, Goranboy</a>, <a href="/facts/Nagorno-Karabakh/c85rk9Xk">Nagorno-Karabakh</a>).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a> He subsequently marched on to reach the <a href="/facts/Caspian_Sea/Ymc08gkR">Caspian</a> coast and took <a href="/facts/Baku/oUVVcRN1">Baku</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a>

<h2 id="aftermath">Aftermath</h2>
By this victory, Ismail had toppled the Shirvanshahs, and successfully expanded his domains. After the conquest, Ismail had <a href="/facts/Alexander_I_of_Kakheti/lSHY44g5">Alexander I of Kakheti</a> send his son Demetre to Shirvan to negotiate a peace agreement.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a> Ismail allowed the Shirvanshah family to remain in power in Shirvan for some more years, under Safavid suzerainty. In 1538, during the reign of Ismail's successor and son, <a href="/facts/Tahmasp_I/9IQ7FK4T">Tahmasp I</a> (r. 1524-1576), the Safavids completely removed the Shirvanshahs from power, and turned Shirvan into a <a href="/facts/Safavid_Shirvan/m3F74CAy">fully functioning province</a> governed by appointed officials.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10">10</a>
Ismail's victory alarmed the ruler of the <a href="/facts/Aq_Qoyunlu/WHpGCujF">Aq Qoyunlu</a>, <a href="/facts/Alvand_Beg/y2PHuynY">Alvand</a>, who subsequently proceeded north from Tabriz, and crossed the <a href="/facts/Aras_River/Cs9jTTlL">Aras River</a> in order to challenge the Safavid forces; a pitched battle was fought at <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Sharur/d9eN7IeR">Sharur</a> in which Ismail's army came out victorious despite being outnumbered by four to one.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11">11</a> After eventually conquering Tabriz and <a href="/facts/Nakhchivan_(city)/oSbqswmK">Nakhchivan</a>, Ismail broke the promise he had made to Constantine, making the kingdoms of <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Kartli/ubRuJvtu">Kartli</a> and <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Kakheti/E6y7sAW9">Kakheti</a> his <a href="/facts/Vassal/LKfLc2Cz">vassals</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12">12</a> In Tabriz, he was crowned king (<a href="/facts/Shah/5fHmcDtU">shah</a>), marking the beginning of the <a href="/facts/Safavid_dynasty/QmhkbI06">Safavid dynasty's</a> rule.

<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Siege_of_Tabriz_(1501)/K4BBDKW2">Siege of Tabriz (1501)</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="sources">Sources</h2>
<ul><li>Fisher, William Bayne; Avery, P.; Hambly, G. R. G; Melville, C. (1986). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=fY01Tc2SZVEC&q=battle+of+jabani">The Cambridge History of Iran</a>. Vol. 6. Cambridge: <a href="/facts/Cambridge_University_Press/fgEBSSRq">Cambridge University Press</a>. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0521200943.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Donald_Rayfield/T7JrlL1l">Rayfield, Donald</a> (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. Reaktion Books. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1780230702.</li>
<li>Roy, Kaushik (2014). Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships. Bloomsbury Publishing. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1780938004.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Roger_Savory/z57KvckH">Savory, Roger M.</a>; Karamustafa, Ahmet T. (1998). "ESMĀʿĪL I ṢAFAWĪ". <a href="http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/esmail-i-safawi">Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. VIII, Fasc. 6</a>. pp. 628–636.</li>
<li>Sicker, Martin (2000). The Islamic World in Ascendancy: From the Arab Conquests to the Siege of Vienna. Greenwood Publishing Group. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0275968922.</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">Sicker 2000, p. 187. - Sicker, Martin (2000). The Islamic World in Ascendancy: From the Arab Conquests to the Siege of Vienna. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0275968922. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">Faruk Sümer, Safevi Devletinin Kuruluşu ve Gelişmesinde Anadolu Türklerinin Rolü, Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları, Ankara, 1992, p. 15. (in Turkish) <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">Rayfield 2012, p. 164. - Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1780230702. <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Rayfield 2012, p. 164. - Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1780230702. <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">Fisher et al. 1986, p. 211. - Fisher, William Bayne; Avery, P.; Hambly, G. R. G; Melville, C. (1986). The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 6. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521200943. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=fY01Tc2SZVEC&q=battle+of+jabani" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=fY01Tc2SZVEC&q=battle+of+jabani</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">Roy 2014, p. 44. - Roy, Kaushik (2014). Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1780938004. <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">Sicker 2000, p. 187. - Sicker, Martin (2000). The Islamic World in Ascendancy: From the Arab Conquests to the Siege of Vienna. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0275968922. <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">Sicker 2000, p. 187. - Sicker, Martin (2000). The Islamic World in Ascendancy: From the Arab Conquests to the Siege of Vienna. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0275968922. <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">Rayfield 2012, p. 164. - Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1780230702. <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:10">Fisher et al. 1986, pp. 212, 245. - Fisher, William Bayne; Avery, P.; Hambly, G. R. G; Melville, C. (1986). The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 6. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521200943. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=fY01Tc2SZVEC&q=battle+of+jabani" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=fY01Tc2SZVEC&q=battle+of+jabani</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:11">Sicker 2000, p. 187. - Sicker, Martin (2000). The Islamic World in Ascendancy: From the Arab Conquests to the Siege of Vienna. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0275968922. <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:12">Rayfield 2012, p. 164. - Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1780230702. <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Safavid conquest of Shirvan open-in-new

Safavid conquest of Shirvan