Siege of Kemah

The Siege of Kemah resulted in the fact that the Ottoman Empire took the Kemah Castle under the direction of the Safavid State in 1515.

Siege

Bıyıklı Mehmed Pasha, who was currently the Governor of Erzincan, gathered his forces upon receiving the Sultan's decree and despite the winter, came to Kemah and started the siege.

The castle, which remained under siege throughout the winter, was not fired upon or attacked in general. The reason for this was the harsh winter conditions. It was impossible to bring siege cannons in the falling snow and the blizzard, as was the infantry attack. The siege had two aims: to stop the village raids of the Safavid forces in the castle and to prevent the blockaded castle from supplying food and ammunition.

When spring came, the Sultan, who was in Amasya himself, went to Kemah with the siege cannons. Thanks to the softening weather conditions, the siege army under the command of Bıyıklı Mehmed Pasha also launched attacks on the castle and reduced the resistance of the defenders. With the arrival of the Sultan and the main army, the old walls of the castle could not withstand the bombardments, and some places were breached. On Saturday, May 19, the castle was captured with a general assault on the breaches that were opened.

Hoca Sadeddin Efendi wrote the following verses for the siege in his book Tacü't-Tevârih:

Tüfenk dumanından bulut oluştu gökte
kötülükte azanın indi taş ensesine
Kızılbaş her yakadan başın çekti içe
Çünkü boğulayazdı o kan denizinde
Yedi muştayı bir anda parlak kılıçtan
Kalmadı kalede tek kişi kızılbaştanHoca Sâdeddin Efendi, Tâcü't-Tevârih, Number IV, PP. 231-235

See Also
Attack of Baghdad (1812)

References