Battle of Ankara

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Contents 1 Background 2 Forces 3 The battle 4 Aftermath 5 Notes 6 External links

Battle of Ankara
Part of the Ottoman-Timurid wars
Date July 20, 1402 Location Çubuk Ovasi field, near Ankara Result Decisive Timurid victory
Combatants
Timurid Empire	Ottoman Empire
Commanders
Timur	Beyazid I
Strength
140,000 men	85,000 men [1]
Casualties
15,000-25,000 killed and wounded[citation needed]	15,000-40,000 killed and wounded[citation needed]

The Battle of Ankara or Battle of Angora, fought on July 20, 1402, took place at the field of Çubuk Ovasi (near Ankara) between the forces of the Ottoman sultan Beyazid I and the Turko-Mongol forces of Timur, ruler of the Timurid Empire.

[edit] Background

As the Turko-Mongol leader, Timur was the most powerful Mongol ruler since Jenghis Khan's time. He came from a branch of minor Turkish noble family in Turkestan and after long and relentess fighting he succeeded in rehabilitating the vast empire of Jenghis Khan. Timur had conquered Georgia and Armenia in 1390, and the Ottoman Empire became his neighbour and the two powers soon came into direct conflict. When Beyazid demanded tribute from one of the Turkish emirates who had pledged loyalty to Timur and threatened him to invade; Timur interpreted this action as an insult to himself and in 1400 sacked the Ottoman city of Sebaste (modern Sivas). Beyazid was stung into furious action and when Timur invaded Anatolia from the east, Beyazid summoned his forces and confronted him near Ankara. Also, years of insulting letters had been sent between Timur and Beyazid increasing the tension.

[edit] Forces

As per [1], the armies were about equal in size; though some eyewitnesses report over one million troops in Timur's horde, the real number is probably closer to 200,000. While Bayezid's army was approximately equal to Timur's, but was mainly infantry, while Timur's forces were almost entirely mounted; he even counted a few Indian war elephants amongst his numbers.

[edit] The battle

The battle began with a large-scale attack from the Ottomans, countered by swarms of arrows from the Timurid horse archers. Several thousands were killed and many surrendered to Timur. During the battle, the main water supply of both armies, Cubuk Creek was diverted to an off-stream reservoir near the Town of Cubuk by Timur, which left Ottoman army with no water. The final battle took place at Catal hill, dominating the Cubuk valley. The Ottoman army, both thirsty and tired, was destroyed and Sultan Beyazid was captured while he was retreating.

[edit] Aftermath

European nations had, at first, encouraged Timur for his invasion; the Genoese were said to be flying the Mongol standard from the walls of Galata in support of Timur. However, after a few months following his destruction of the Ottoman power in Anatolia, fear of being the next target had gripped the European people.

The Battle of Ankara had a temporary effect on the political ground of the Balkans where the Ottomans had the initiative. The siege of Constantinople was lifted and the Timurids descended on Brusa and laid waste to most of Anatolia.

This event had split the Ottomans into fractions since Bayezid's sons were still alive and free after he himself was captured. Most of the Ottoman Turks had fled into Europe. The result was a civil war among Bayezid's four sons. This temporary weakening of the Ottomans resulted in delaying the end of the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman conquest of Balkans.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• DBA Battle Scenario: The Battle of Angora
• Encyclopedia Britanica: Ankara, Battle of
• Military Engineering Strategy used by Timur