page_title: Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–1618)
section_title: Safavid attack and early successes (1603–1604)
hierarchical_section_title: Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–1618) / Course / Safavid attack and early successes (1603–1604)
caption_attribution_description: English: Historical Tblisi Русский: Тбилиси. Гравюра 1673 г. из книги Ж. Шардена 'Путешествие в Персию и другие страны Востока
context_page_description: The Ottoman–Safavid War of 1603–1618 consisted of two wars between Safavid Persia under Abbas I of Persia and the Ottoman Empire under Sultans Mehmed III, Ahmed I and Mustafa I. The first war began in 1603 and ended with a Safavid victory in 1612, when Persia regained and reestablished its suzerainty over the Caucasus and Western Iran, which had been lost at the Treaty of Constantinople in 1590. The second war began in 1615 and ended in 1618 with minor territorial adjustments.
context_section_description: As a result of the Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–1590) the Ottomans had gained swaths of the Safavid territories in the northwest and west, including Shirvan, Dagestan, most of Azerbaijan, Kartli, Kakheti, Luristan and Khuzestan.
  Abbas I had recently undertaken a major reform of the Safavid army through the English gentleman of fortune Robert Shirley and the shah's favorite ghulam and chancellor Allahverdi Khan.
  When Abbas I decided to attack on Ottomans to recover the large territories lost in the previous war, the Ottomans were engaged heavily in the European front due to the Long Turkish War started in 1593. Furthermore, the Ottomans were troubled in Eastern Anatolia because of the Jelali revolts, the Karayazıcı rebellion (1598–1602) being the most destructive one. Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire was also in turmoil in the beginning of 1603 as the tension between the Janissaries and the Sipahis were only to be eased temporarily with the intervention of the Palace.
  Thus, the Safavid attack on 26 September 1603 caught the Ottomans unprepared and forced them to fight in two distant fronts. Abbas I first recaptured Nahavand and destroyed the fortress in the city, which the Ottomans had planned to use as an advance base for attacks on Iran. The Safavid army was able to capture Tabriz on 21 October 1603. For the first time, the Iranians made great use of their artillery and the town – which had been ruined by Ottoman occupation – soon fell. Local citizens welcomed the Safavid army as liberators and took harsh reprisals against the defeated Ottoman Turks who had been occupying their city. Many unfortunate Turks fell into the hands of Tabriz’s citizens and were decapitated. The Safavids entered Nakhchivan at the same month soon after the city was evacuated by the Ottomans. The Safavid army then laid siege to Yerevan on 15 November 1603. Safavid armies captured Tbilisi and both Kartli and Kakheti became Safavid dependencies once again.
caption: View of Tbilisi as per French traveller Jean Chardin, 17th century
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