Draft:Battle of Diyarbakır (1458)
What happened before the battle[edit]
During the winter of 1457, Aggoyunlu-Garagoyunlu forces entered into small clashes. We can show that the reason for the absence of a decisive battle is that Arabshah, the emir of Karagoyunlu, avoided a decisive battle and did not engage in a head-to-head battle with Uzun Hasan. However, Jahanshah's most capable emir Rustam-i Tarkhan moved to the region with a force of 20 thousand people, changed everything. Meanwhile, Aggoyunlu's forces totaled no more than 12,000 people, while 6,000 troops were in Uzun Hasan and 6,000 troops were under the command of Jahangir Mirza. However, Jahangir Mir
za's reluctance to resist and his cowardice caused him to change sides. He went to the side of Rustam-i Tarkhan with his 6,000 troops and declared his obedience to the Karagoyun people. This was the worst possible situation for Uzun Hasan, because the Sultan of the state going over to the enemy's side could cause the morale of the Aggoyunlu soldiers to drop.
What happens during battle training[edit]
| Battle of Diyarbakır | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Aq Qoyunlu |
 Qara Qoyunlu | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Uzun Hasan |
Jahangir Aq Qoyunlu | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 3.800 | 30.000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1.000 | +15.000 | ||||||
Thus, the army of Garagoyunlu and Aggoyunlu, moving from Iraq and equipped with armor, moved on Uzun Hasan, to Diyarbakir. Uzun Hasan's emirs suggested him to strengthen the fortresses and retreat towards Damascus. However, he declared that this was cowardice and declared that he would protect his country until his death. While the battle preparations were going on, news came that the Garagoyunlu army had crossed the Tigris and entered Diyarbakir. After that, Uzun Hasan mobilized the guards and followed Rustam-i Tarkhan's army from moment to moment. Rustami Tarkhan made a logical move and led the guards to the mountain and started watching Uzun Hasan's army from a high point. This is how Uzun got all the information about Hasan's army. But Uzun Hasan drove the guards away from there[1].On top of that, the army changed its order and destroyed most of the information obtained by Rustam-i Tarkhan. But at this time, a very bad news came. 2,200 Turkmen who joined the Aggoyunlu army left the army and 3,800[2] people remained in the Aggoyunlu army this was a great blow to Uzun Hasan, but it was not enough and 4000 more people joined the Karagoyunlu army, and the Karagoyunlu reached 30 thousand people. Despite this, Uzun Hasan decided to continue the battle and continued his preparations.
Battle[edit]
The party that started the battle was Karagoyunlu. Rustam-i Tarkhan and Jahangir Mirza attacked from the center. In the first minutes when the Aggoyunlu were engaged in a battle with the front central enemy, they had to disperse and retreated towards the center. On the right flank, the Garagoyunlu destroyed almost the entire Aggoyunlu army and forced them to retreat to the banks of the riverThis meant that the Aggoyunlu right flank could be drowned in the river at any moment and the Aggoyunlu center could be squeezed from two sides. can But Uzun Hasan rushed forward with his elite forces as the first attack in the center and defeated the armored group of Karagoyunlu[3]. This created a gap in the center, Uzun Hasan used the time and concentrated elite horsemen in the center and attacked Jahangir Mirza, who was a cowardly enemy commander. was So he succeeded and Jahangir Mirza's natural cowardice spoke for itself and he fled the battle. Uzun Hasan's analysis of the battle to this extent was quite remarkable, and it is worth remembering that he had no military training.But Uzun Hasan did not stop there and chased Jahangir Mirza's fleeing army to the right flank. Because of this, the Aggoyunlu army, which was divided, thought that the enemy's center had been divided, and attacked, and the Karagoyunlu army, demoralized, thinking that the center had been disintegrated, began to split. Rustam-i Tarkhan was captured during this terrible incident in the center and the center was completely destroyed. Later, Uzun Hasan attacked the left flank,[4]but Aggoyunlu refrained from attacking the center. After that, Uzun Hasan attacked with a part of his soldiers, and the left flank, which was surrounded on two sides, was soon destroyed. Thanks to this, Uzun Hasan won the biggest second field battle
Battle Results[edit]
This battle had a great impact on the Karakoyunlu and increased the fame of Uzun Hasan.[5]