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The Safavid Siege of Baghdad 1623: Shah Abbas Takes on the Ottomans
In 1623, Shah Abbas I launched a daring campaign to recapture Baghdad from the Ottoman Empire, a city that had been lost since the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514. This episode dives into the military strategy, the use of siege cannons (tupchi), and the role of the gholam infantry in breaking through Ottoman defenses. We follow the two-year siege, from the initial blockade to the final assault in 1624, and explore how Shah Abbas used the capture of Baghdad to solidify Twelver Shiism as the state religion, converting Sunni mosques into Shiite shrines. The episode also touches on the diplomatic…
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