Editing Ismail I (section)

===War against the Ottomans===
[[File:Battle of Chaldiran (1514).jpg|225px|thumb|right|Artwork of the [[Battle of Chaldiran]]]]
The active recruitment of support for the Safavid cause among the Turcoman tribes of [[Eastern Anatolia]], among tribesmen who were [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] subjects, had inevitably placed the neighbouring Ottoman empire and the Safavid state on a collision course.<ref name="Shah Ismail I">{{harvnb|Savory|Karamustafa|1998}}.</ref> As the ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]'' states, "As orthodox or Sunni Muslims, the Ottomans had reason to view with alarm the progress of Shīʿī ideas in the territories under their control, but there was also a grave political danger that the Ṣafawīya, if allowed to extend its influence still further, might bring about the transfer of large areas in [[Asia Minor]] from Ottoman to Persian allegiance".<ref name="Shah Ismail I"/> By the early 1510s, Ismail's rapidly expansionist policies had made the Safavid border in Asia Minor shift even further west. In 1511, there was a widespread pro-Safavid rebellion in southern Anatolia by the Takkalu Qizilbash tribe, known as the [[Şahkulu Rebellion]],<ref name="Shah Ismail I"/> and an Ottoman army that was sent in order to put down the rebellion down was defeated.<ref name="Shah Ismail I"/> A large-scale incursion into Eastern Anatolia by Safavid [[ghazis]] under [[Nur-Ali Khalifa]] coincided with the accession of Sultan [[Selim I]] in 1512 to the Ottoman throne. Such incursions were one of the reasons for Selim's decision to invade Safavid Iran two years later.<ref name="Shah Ismail I"/> Selim and Ismail had been exchanging a series of belligerent letters prior to the attack. While the Safavid forces were at [[Chaldoran County|Chaldiran]] and planning on how to confront the Ottomans, [[Mohammad Khan Ustajlu]], who served as the governor of [[Diyarbakır]], and Nur-Ali Khalifa, a commander who knew how the Ottomans fought, proposed that they should attack as quickly as possible.{{sfn|Savory|2007|p=41}} This proposal was rejected by the powerful Qizilbash officer [[Durmish Khan Shamlu]], who rudely said that Mohammad Khan Ustajlu was only interested in the province which he governed. The proposal was rejected by Ismail himself, who said; "I am not a caravan-thief; whatever is decreed by God, will occur."{{sfn|Savory|2007|p=41}}

[[File:Personal items of Shah Ismail I captured bu Selim I during Chaldiran Battle.jpg|thumbnail|Personal items of Shah Ismail I captured by Selim I during the [[Battle of Chaldiran]]. [[Topkapi Museum]], [[Istanbul]].]]
Selim I eventually defeated Ismail at the [[Battle of Chaldiran]] in 1514.{{Sfn|Axworthy|2008|p=133}} Ismail's army was more mobile, and his soldiers were better prepared, but the Ottomans prevailed in large part due to their efficient modern army and possession of artillery, black powder and muskets. Ismail was wounded and almost captured in battle. Selim entered the Iranian capital of [[Tabriz]] in triumph on September 5{{Sfn|Housley|1992|p=120}} but did not linger. A mutiny among his troops, fearing a counterattack and entrapment by fresh Safavid forces called in from the interior, forced the triumphant Ottomans to withdraw prematurely. This allowed Ismail to recover. Among the booty from Tabriz was Ismail's favorite wife, for whose release the Sultan demanded huge concessions, which were refused. Despite his defeat at the Battle of Chaldiran, Ismail quickly recovered most of his kingdom, from east of [[Lake Van]] to the [[Persian Gulf]]. However, the Ottomans managed to annex for the first time [[Eastern Anatolia]] and parts of [[Mesopotamia]], as well as briefly northwestern Iran.{{Sfn|Lapidus|2014|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkJpBAAAQBAJ&dq=battle+of+chaldiran+eastern+anatolia&pg=PA336 336]}}

The Venetian ambassador [[Caterino Zeno]] describes the events as follows:

{{blockquote|The monarch [Selim], seeing the slaughter, began to retreat, and to turn about, and was about to fly, when Sinan, coming to the rescue at the time of need, caused the artillery to be brought up and fired on both the janissaries [sic] and the Persians. The Persian horses hearing the thunder of those infernal machines, scattered and divided themselves over the plain, not obeying their riders bit or spur anymore, from the terror they were in&nbsp;... It is certainly said, that if it had not been for the artillery, which terrified in the manner related the Persian horses which had never before heard such a din, all his forces would have been routed and put to edge of the sword.{{Sfn|Savory|2007|p=43}}}}

He also adds:

{{blockquote|[...] if the Turk had been beaten, the power of Ismail would have become greater than that of Tamerlane, as by the fame alone of such a victory he would have made himself absolute lord of the East.{{Sfn|Grey|1873|p=61}}}}