Battle of Niš
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Medieval Serbian-Turkish Wars
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At the Battle of Niš (Battle of Nissa) (early November, 1443), crusaders[7] led by John Hunyadi,[8] captured Ottoman stronghold Niš and defeated three armies of the Ottoman Empire. The Battle of Niš was part of Hunyadi's expedition known as the long campaign. Hunyadi, at the head of the vanguard, crossed the Balkans through the Gate of Trajan, captured Niš, defeated three Turkish pashas, and, after taking Sofia, united with the royal army and defeated Sultan Murad II at Snaim (Kustinitza). The impatience of the king and the severity of the winter then compelled him (February 1444) to return home, but not before he had utterly broken the Sultan's power in Bosnia, Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Albania.
Background
In 1440 John Hunyadi became the trusted adviser and most highly-regarded soldier of the king Władysław III of Poland. Hunyadi was rewarded with the captaincy of the fortress of Belgrade and was put in charge of military operations against the Ottomans. The king Władysław recognized Hunyadi's merits by granting him estates in Eastern Hungary. Hunyadi soon showed and displayed extraordinary capacity in marshalling its defenses with the limited resources at his disposal. He was victorious in Semendria over Isak-Beg in 1441, not far from Nagyszeben in Transylvania he annihilated an Ottoman force and recovered for Hungary the suzerainty of Wallachia. In July 1442 at the Iron Gates he defeated a massed Ottoman formation of 80.000 led by Sehabbedin. These victories made Hunyadi a prominent enemy of the Ottomans and renowned throughout Christendom, and was a prime motivator to undertake in 1443, along with King Władysław, the famous expedition known as the long campaign with Battle of Niš as one of the battles of this campaign. Hunyadi was accompanied by Giuliano Cesarini during this campaign.[9]
Battle
There was no one major battle for Niš but five different battles. The first was a battle against small garrison in Niš and capture of the town, three different battles against three different Ottoman armies advancing to the Niš and last, fought against the remnants of all three of them.
The battle took place in the plain between Bolvani and Niš on November 3, 1443.[10] Ottoman forces were led by Kasim Pasha, the beglerbeg of Rumelia, Turakhan Beg and Isak-Beg.[11] After Ottoman defeat retreating forces of Kasim Pasha and Turakhan Beg burned all villages between Niš and Sofia.[12] The Ottoman sources justify an Ottoman defeat by lack of cooperation between the Ottoman armies led by different commanders.[13]
Aftermath
George Kastrioti Skanderbeg deserted the Ottoman army along with 300 other Albanians and started a twenty-five year long Albanian rebellion against the Ottoman Empire.[14] Murad II signed a treaty for ten years, and abdicated in favor of his son Mehmed II. When the peace was broken the next year, Murad returned to the Balkans and won the Battle of Varna in November 1444.[15]
References
- ^ Riley-Smith, Jonathan, The Crusades: A History, (Continuum International Publishing Group, 1987), 275.
- ^ Skënderbeu: Jeta dhe vepra by Kristo Frashëri, p. 130.
- ^ Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (1993) First encyclopaedia of Islam: 1913-1936 VIII Netherlands: E.J. Brill and Luzac and Co. p. 466 http://books.google.com/books?id=ro--tXw_hxMC&pg=PA876&lpg=PA876&dq=Pasha+Yigit+Beg&source=bl&ots=VsIOV9u8BG&sig=aMPS1pECgYmbxxriLBF3ZoMP42k&hl=en&ei=EHYUTej7M4ea8QP_w_CEBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Pasha%20Yigit%20Beg&f=false ""In the beginning of November 1443, Turakhan Beg commanded one of the Ottoman corps in the battle against John Hunyadi."
- ^ Babinger, Franz (1992), Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time, Princeton University Press, p. 25, ISBN 9780691010786, http://books.google.com/books?id=PPxC6rO7vvsC&pg=PA25&dq=battle+of+Zlatitsa&hl=en&ei=i8XsTdOcAs7usgbUstTnCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CE4Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=battle%20of%20Zlatitsa&f=false, "The combined host met Ottoman forces first on November 3, 1443, between the castle of Bolvan (near Aleksinac) and the city of Niš. Here Kasim Bey, then governor of Rumelia, Ishak Bey and other standard bearers were defeated."
- ^ Setton, Kenneth Harry W. Hazard, Norman P. Zacour (1989) A history of the crusades : Volume VI: The impact of the crusades on Europe Madison, Wis. : The University of Wisconsin Press p. 270 ISBN 9780299107406 OCLC 475548809 http://books.google.com/books?id=TKaPrQPFIAMC&pg=PA270&lpg=PA270&dq=turakhan+beglerbeg+rumelia&source=bl&ots=4FY7tr9Kq4&sig=-dah7t3UKE8h7RnVI9apgkQbDxM&hl=en&ei=epTsTby7M4_t-gbakLTpDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=turakhan%20beglerbeg%20rumelia&f=false "The whole army estimated to consist of 25,000 men, included an important mercenary force hired with funds given by Serbian despot, and in addition, a contigent of 8,000 Serbs and 5,000 Polish soldiers"
- ^ Babinger, Frank and Ralph Manheim, William C. Hickman, Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time, (Princeton University Press, 1978), 25.
- ^ Riley-Smith, 275.
- ^ Hupchick, Dennis P., The Balkans: From Constantinople to Communism, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), 117.
- ^ Babinger, Franz (1992), Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time, Princeton University Press, p. 25, ISBN 9780691010786, http://books.google.com/books?id=PPxC6rO7vvsC&pg=PA25&dq=battle+of+Zlatitsa&hl=en&ei=i8XsTdOcAs7usgbUstTnCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CE4Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=battle%20of%20Zlatitsa&f=false, "John Hunyadi accompanied by the cardinal-legate Giuliano Cesarini."
- ^ Setton, Kenneth Harry W. Hazard, Norman P. Zacour (1989) A history of the crusades : Volume VI: The impact of the crusades on Europe Madison, Wis. : The University of Wisconsin Press p. 270 ISBN 9780299107406 OCLC 475548809 http://books.google.com/books?id=TKaPrQPFIAMC&pg=PA270&lpg=PA270&dq=turakhan+beglerbeg+rumelia&source=bl&ots=4FY7tr9Kq4&sig=-dah7t3UKE8h7RnVI9apgkQbDxM&hl=en&ei=epTsTby7M4_t-gbakLTpDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=turakhan%20beglerbeg%20rumelia&f=false "the most important battle of the whole campaign took place at Bolvani, in the plain of Nish on November 3, 1443"
- ^ Babinger, Franz (1992), Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time, Princeton University Press, p. 25, ISBN 9780691010786, http://books.google.com/books?id=PPxC6rO7vvsC&pg=PA25&dq=battle+of+Zlatitsa&hl=en&ei=i8XsTdOcAs7usgbUstTnCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CE4Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=battle%20of%20Zlatitsa&f=false, "The combined host met Ottoman forces first on November 3, 1443, between the castle of Bolvan (near Aleksinac) and the city of Niš. Here Kasim Bey, then governor of Rumelia, Ishak Bey and other standard bearers were defeated."
- ^ Imber, Colin (2006) The Crusade of Varna, 1443-45 Aldershot ; Burlington (Vt.) : Ashgate, cop. p. 16 ISBN 9780754601449 OCLC 470458159 http://books.google.com/books?id=xeuaoghuq3cC&pg=PA49&dq=kasim+pasha+nish&hl=en&ei=3UHnTZzaHtSs8QPU7Nz8Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=snippet&q=kasim&f=false "In the course of their flight Kasim and Turahan burned all villages between Niš and Sofia."
- ^ Imber, Colin (2006) The Crusade of Varna, 1443-45 Aldershot ; Burlington (Vt.) : Ashgate, cop. p. 270 ISBN 9780754601449 OCLC 470458159 http://books.google.com/books?id=xeuaoghuq3cC&pg=PA49&dq=kasim+pasha+nish&hl=en&ei=3UHnTZzaHtSs8QPU7Nz8Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=snippet&q=kasim&f=false "The Ottoman sources in general emphasize the disagreement and lack of cooperation between frontier Ottoman forces under Turakhan and sipahi army under Kasim"
- ^ Encyclopaedia of the Muslim World, Ed. Taru Bahl, M.H. Syed, (Anmol Publications, 2003), 45.
- ^ The Historians' History of the World By Henry Smith Williams - Page 439
Further reading