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Battle of Merv

Part of the Persian–Uzbek wars

👁 Image

A fresco "Battle of Merv between Shah Ismail I (center) and the Uzbek khan Muhammad Shaybani in 1510" in Chehel Sotoun palace in Isfahan, painted circa 1647.

Date	2 December 1510^[1]
Location	Merv, Khorasan (now Turkmenistan)
Result	Safavid victory^[2]
Territorial changes	Safavids regain control of Khorasan

Belligerents

👁 Image
Safavid Iran

👁 Khanate of Bukhara
Khanate of Bukhara

Commanders and leaders

Shah Ismail I

Muhammad Shaybani †

Strength

17,000^[3]

Unknown

Casualties and losses

Unknown

10,000 killed^[4]

v t e Persian–Uzbek wars
Marv Turkestan Kul-i-Malik [ru] Ghazdewan Jayhun River [ru] Jam 1st Khorasan 2nd Khorasan [fa] 1st Herat 3rd Khorasan [fa] 2nd Herat Balkh 4th Khorasan [fa] 5th Khorasan [fa] 6th Khorasan [fa] Nader Shah's campaign Pitnak Bukhara Samarkand

v t e Campaigns of Shah Ismail I
Safavid conquest of Shirvan (1500) Battle of Jabani (1500) Battle of Sharur (1501) Siege of Tabriz (1501) Battle of Hamadan (1503) (1503) Battle of Tabriz (1503) Battle of Nakhchivan (1500s) Safavid conquest of Fars (1503) Safavid conquest of Mazandaran (1504) Safavid conquest of Gorgan (1504) Safavid conquest of Yazd (1504) Battle of Najaf (1507) Battle of Karbala (1507) Battle of Van (1508) Battle of Erzurum (1508) Capture of Baghdad (1509) Battle of Merv (1510) Battle of Chaldiran (1514)

Campaigns of Shah Ismail I

v t e Campaigns of Muhammad Shaybani
Chirciq River 2nd Samarkand Bukhara 3rd Samarkand Sar-e-Pul Akhsi 1st Balkh Andijan Hissar Kunduz Khwarezm Khorasan 2nd Balkh Kandahar 1st Kazakhs 2nd Kazakhs Sighnaq Ulytau Firuzkuh Marv

The Battle of Merv (Persian: نبرد مرو) occurred on 2 December 1510 as a result of Shah Ismail I's Safavid invasion of the Khorasan region of Uzbek. It ended with Safavid annexation of the Khorasan region.

Battle

[edit]

Shah Ismail reached Khorasan with great speed; Shaybani Khan retreated to Merv castle to await reinforcement from Uzbek tribes. The Safavid army then pretended to retreat, encouraging the Uzbeks to leave the castle in pursuit, only to be ambushed and destroyed by the Qizilbash ("Red Heads") troops of Shah Ismail once they were too far from the castle to regain its safety. The Safavid forces were reportedly heavily outnumbered by the army of Shaybani Khan, who was caught and killed trying to escape the battle. Shah Ismail had his body parts sent to various areas of the empire for display, while famously having his skull coated in gold and made into a jeweled drinking goblet.^[5]