Persian-Uzbek wars

### Capture of Herat

Shaybani captured the Timurid southern capital at Herat in 1507.

### Battle of Marv

The scene depicts the battle between the Safavids under Ismail Shah I (reg. 1502-24) and the Uzbeks near present-day Merv in December 1510. Shah Ismail reached Khorasan with great speed; Shaybani Khan retreated to Merv castle to await reinforcement from Uzbek tribes. The Safavid army then pretended to retreat, encouraging the Uzbeks to leave the castle in pursuit, only to be ambushed and destroyed by the Qizilbash ("Red Heads") troops of Shah Ismail once they were too far from the castle to regain its safety. The Safavid forces were reportedly heavily outnumbered by the army of Shaybani Khan, who was caught and killed trying to escape the battle.

#### Killing of Muhammad Shaybani

In the Battle of Marv (1510), Muhammad Shaybani was defeated and killed when trying to escape. Shaybani Khan's army was surrounded by Ismail's 17,000 strong army and was defeated after fierce resistance. The remnants of the army ended up dying under enemy arrows.

### Battle of Ghazdewan

Early in the autumn the army advanced to Khozar, ultimately seizing the city. They then proceeded to Qarshi, which had been strongly fortified and garrisoned by Sultan Ubaydullah Sultan, the chief of Bukhara. It was proposed to leave Karshi behind as had been done with success in preceding campaigns, but Najm, believing it was Sultan Ubaydullah Sultan's lair, declared that it must be taken. The city was therefore besieged and carried by storm with all inhabitants, Uzbek or not, being put to the sword regardless of age, sex, or sanctity. The circumstances of this massacre disgusted Babur, who found himself playing a subordinate role in an army that was professedly acting under his authority. In his desire to save the inhabitants, who were Chaghatai Turks of his own race and sect, he earnestly besought Najm to comply with his wishes. But the unrelenting Persian, deaf to his entreaties, let loose all the fury of war on the devoted city. Among the casualties was the poet Maulana Binai, one of the most eminent minds of his time who happened to be in the town when it fell in the indiscriminate slaughter, along with many Sayyids and holy men. From that time forward, Najm failed to prosper in any more of his undertakings. The Uzbek chiefs, after the massacre at Karshi, appeared for some time to have retired and fortified themselves in their strongholds. Najm eventually moved on to attack Ghazdewan, on the border of the desert, without having taken Bukhara. The Uzbek sultans now had time to assemble under the command of Ubaydullah Sultan. Joined by Timur Sultan from Samarkand, they threw themselves into the fort the very night that Babur and Najm had taken their ground before it, preparing their engines and ladders for an assault.

In the morning, the Uzbeks drew out their army and took up a position among the houses and gardens in the suburbs of the town with the confederates advancing to meet them. The Uzbeks, who were protected by the broken ground and by the walls of the enclosures and houses, had posted archers in every corner to pour a shower of arrows on the Qizilbashs as they approached. Once Biram Khan, the chief military commander of the Qizilbash troops, had fallen off his horse and had been wounded, the main body of the army fell into disorder. In the course of an hour the invaders were routed with most of them falling in the field. Babur routed and discomfited fled back to Hissar. It is said that the Qizilbash chiefs, disgusted with the haughtiness and insolence of Najm, did not use their utmost efforts to assist him and he was eventually taken prisoner and put to death. Many of the Persian chiefs who fled from the battle crossed the Amu Darya at Kirki and entered Greater Khorasan.

### Amu Darya and Shah Ismail's Turkestan Expedition

Shah Ismail first sent an ultimatum to all Sunni leaders and went on a campaign against the Black Sheep who did not comply, then he organized a series of campaigns against the Sunni Sheibanis and Turkistan and won this campaign.

## Infobox (military conflict)

- **conflict**: Safavid-Uzbek Wars
- **partof**: the Ismail I, Campaigns of the Shah Ismail I
- **image**: File:Battle of Marv (1510).jpg
- **image size**: 300px
- **caption**: _Battle of Marv (1510) between Shāh Ismā'īl and Shaybāni Khān_. From Chehel Sotoun palace, Isfahan.
- **date**: 1502-1513
- **place**: Khorasan, Turkmenistan and Turkestan
- **result**: Safavid Empire, Safavid victory
- **combatant1**: Safavid Empire
Timurid Empire
- **combatant2**: Uzbekistan, Shaybanids
Kazakhstan, Kazakh Khanate
- **commander1**: Ismail I
Babur
- **commander2**: Shaybani Khan
Abdulkhair Sultan
- **strength1**: 77,000
- **strength2**: 15,000
- **casualties1**: High
- **casualties2**: High