Latest / The Safavid Empire: Persia's Return to Greatness — Fexingo History
The Fall of Baghdad 1638: Safavid Loss of Mesopotamia
In 1638, after a brutal forty-day siege, the Ottoman sultan Murad IV recaptured Baghdad from the Safavids, ending a fifteen-year occupation. This episode follows the final days of the Safavid garrison, the devastating use of Ottoman cannon and sappers, and the fall of a city that had once been Abbas I’s greatest conquest. We explore how the Ottoman victory led to the Treaty of Zuhab in 1639, a peace that fixed the borders between the two empires for centuries—borders that still shape Iran, Iraq, and Turkey today. Along the way, we discuss the decline of the ghulam infantry, the role of Shah…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.