Shah Ismail I – ‘I was born yesterday, I will die today’
Shah Ismail I – ‘I was born yesterday, I will die today’ (1520-1524)
Ismail had decided it was time for war. His eastern and western borders were both threatened by Sunni states - the Uzbeks and Chaigatai to the east and the Mamluks to the west. The loyalty of the Ottomans also had to be put to the test… east or west… west or east. Ismail just couldn’t decide…
The Uzbeks/Chaigatai alliance held Herat which was rightfully Persian and yet it would be a hard fight against both of them with the Ottomans so far away. On the other hand they must be dealt with at some point and his armies were far superior to theirs. In the west the Mamluks held Iraq… again rightfully Persian and they were closer so the Ottomans could assist. Ismail was however wary of the Ottomans benefiting too much from a potential conquest though.
Ismail was about to toss a coin when a messenger arrived. He brought a message from the Mamluks telling of how they were sick of Ismail’s ‘imperialistic heretical empire’ also known as the Safavids. It went on to state how they hoped Ismail and his children died in freak boating accidents leaving Persia free of his Shiite blasphemy. Ismail was displeased by this and in return sent a much more elegantly written reply…
I know the Truth as my supreme guide,
I would sacrifice myself in his way,
I was born yesterday, I will die today,
Come, whoever would die, here is the arena.
He also ordered his armies to move towards the Mamluk-Safavid border – his decision had been made for him.
The Mamluk State of Egypt
News also arrived about the rebellions across Portuguese Ormuz. Perhaps the riches of the Ormuz would be Safavid yet!
In the summer of 1521 Ismail ordered his forces into Mamluk lands, leading the Persian Army personally. Ismail himself won a hard fought victory in Allepo while the Qatar regiment flooded into Syria, slaughtering the small garrison. In Iraq however the Mamluk forces pushed back a 20,000 strong Safavid army from Khorasan.
1521 – Attack on the Mamluks
10,000 more men flooded into Iraq soon after the defeat however and drove the Mamluk forces out. A year later Damascus (Syria) and Allepo fell to Ismail’s forces. The Mamluks were desperately offering land and money for an end to the war as the Ottomans were also close to capturing Adana in the north. Ismail would have none of it though he ordered his men to march south… the Mamluks would be brought to their knees!
The march south
Judea, the Lebanon, Samaria and Jordan all fell with minimal resistance. Ismail started making preparations to assault the fortress at Sinai but after just 3 months rations were running short. The supplies needed simply couldn’t be brought in across the rocky desert that was the Sinai, filled with cut-throats and bandits. After council with his generals Ismail abandoned the siege there and marched on Cairo.
In the east a new threat was growing. From the ashes of the Timurid Empire a new force had a risen, the Mughals. Already they had run over the minor kingdoms on the eastern border and were preparing to flood over the Indus River and into India itself. The Mughals were Sunnis and would perhaps have to be dealt with sooner rather then later lest they grow into a major power.
Mughal (purple) expansion…
Such ponderings were fine while on the road but the great Mamluk capital of Cairo loomed on the horizon. Now was time to think of the present, the future could wait. The siege progressed well and nine months in the city looked as if it was about to fall. Ismail marched up to the walls of the city and demanded it surrender in the name of the Safavids and the true faith. The guards on the walls laughed and jeered. Ismail simply shrugged and began to ride back to his tent but as he did disaster struck. A stray arrow fired from the walls struck him in the back. Ismail fell from his horse. A few more arrows followed the first but his bodyguards had surrounded him and managed to drag him to safety, behind a palisade.
That night the doctor emerged from Ismail’s tent. He was alive but had a fever, only time would tell if he would live. Ismail survived the night and his condition was improving. Just a few days later the city fell. Ismail told his diplomats to settle for no less then a complete conversion of the Mamluks with Iraq being seceded to the Safavids. The Mamluk nobles begrudgingly accepted though three had to be executed before this happened. The Ottomans also gained control of Adana as a part of the treaty.
From his bed in Cairo Ismail also ordered that missionaries be sent to ‘Sunni Corner’ – the last Sunni area in the Safavid Empire.
’Sunni Corner’
In response to Ismail’s wish missionaries were sent to Kushka, Zanedan and Meched.
A week later on his deathbed in Cairo Ismail passed away in the night weak from the fever. His men took his body back to Azerbaijan where he was laid to rest. Ismail had been taken before his time but would forever be remembered as the Father of the Safavid Empire and all of Persia.