On 20 July 1402, the Battle of Ankara was fought between the Timurids under Timur and the Ottomans under Bayezid I during the Conquests of Timur.
Why did it happen?
At the beginning of the fifteenth century, the two most powerful empires in the Muslim World were the Ottomans under Bayezid I and the Timurids under Timur. In 1400, Timur conquered Syria from the Mamluks and encountered the Ottoman Empire, which was besieging Constantinople. Timur and Bayezid sent each other hostile and insulting messages to each other until 1402, when Timur invaded eastern Anatolia, forcing Bayezid to break off the siege of Constantinople to face the Timurid army. The Timurids outmanoeuvred the Ottomans and appeared behind them, forcing Bayezid to turn around and march towards Ankara. Timur then diverted the course of the Cubuk Creek and destroyed the wells surrounding Ankara, forcing the tired and thirsty Ottoman army’s morale to sink lower. The two armies met northeast of Ankara.
Who was involved?
The Timurid army at Ankara numbered 8,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, and 32 war elephants. Justin Marozzi claims the Timurid force numbered 80,000 infantry and 120,000 cavalry, but this is an exaggeration. The Timurid infantry and war elephants were positioned in the centre, with 10,000 cavalry under Timur and Mohammad Sultan stationed behind. The Timurid left and right wings were divided into a vanguard and rear. Husayn led the vanguard on the left wing, while Shahrukh and Khalil Sultan commanded the rear. On the right wing, Abubakr led the vanguard and Miranshah the reserve. The Ottoman army at Ankara numbered 5,000 infantry and 20,000 cavalry. The infantry was comprised of Janissaries, and the cavalry consisted of Sipahi and Serbian cavalry. The Janissaries were stationed in the centre, while Bayezid I commanded a reserve of 1,000 cavalry behind them. On the left wing was Sipahi cavalry under Sulayman Chelebi, while the right wing consisted of Serbian cavalry under Lazarovic of Serbia.
What happened?
The Ottoman right wing charged the Timurid left wing, which was forced back and defended itself with volleys of arrows and naphtha flames. The Timurid right wing charged and broke the Ottoman left wing. At that point, the Tatar cavalry under Sulayman Chelebi switched sides and attacked the Ottoman left wing from the rear before it fled the battlefield. Timur’s grandson, Mohammad Sultan, led a division of 10,000 cavalry against the Serbian cavalry on the Ottoman right wing, which buckled and fled the battlefield. With both wings of the Ottoman army routed, the Timurid infantry and war elephants advanced against the Ottoman centre, which stood its ground and fought to the last man. With his entire army killed or routed, Bayezid I fled with his 1,000-strong bodyguard before being pursued and captured by the Timurid army. The Ottomans lost 15,000 killed during the battle, while Timurid losses numbered 7,500 killed.
What changed as a result?
The Battle of Ankara was a decisive Timurid victory. It was a crushing blow to the Ottoman Empire, with Bayezid being the first and only Ottoman Sultan to be captured in battle. Bayezid was kept prisoner in an iron cage until he died in 1403. Timur ravaged Anatolia before returning to Samarkand, where he began preparations for the conquest of Ming China. However, after he died in 1405, the Timurid Empire quickly collapsed into a civil war, with his son Shah Rukh ruling over a much-diminished state from 1409 to 1447. At the same time, the Ottoman Empire plunged into civil war until 1413, when Mehmed Celebi emerged victorious. The Ottoman Empire continued to expand into Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East until its advance was halted at Vienna in 1683, at which point it went into decline until its collapse following the First World War.
Bibliography
Grant, R.G. Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5,000 Years of Combat. London, Dorling Kindersley, 2005.
Marozzi, Justin. Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World. London, Harper Perennial, 2005.
Webb, Jonathan. “Battle of Ankara, 1402.” The Art of Battle. Last revised 2009. www.theartofbattle.com/battle-of-ankara-1402/
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