Below is the list of wars between the Ottoman Empire and Persia in the 16th–19th centuries. The Ottomans consolidated their control of what is today Turkey in the 15th century, and gradually came into conflict with the emerging Persian state, led by Ismail I of the Safavid dynasty. The two states were also divided by religious grounds, the Ottomans being staunchly Sunni and the Safavids being Shia. A series of military conflicts ensued during which the two empires competed militarily for control over eastern Anatolia, Mesopotamia (Iraq) and the Caucasus). Hostilities continued during the reigns of the Persian Hotaki, Afsharid, Zand and Qajar dynasties.
| Name of the war | Ottoman sultan | Persian shah | Treaty at the end of the war | Victor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| War of 1514[1] | Selim I | Ismail I | None | The Ottoman Empire |
| War of 1532–1555[2] | Suleyman I | Tahmasp I | Treaty of Amasya (1555) | The Ottoman Empire |
| War of 1578–1590[3] | Murad III | Abbas I | Treaty of Istanbul (1590) | The Ottoman Empire |
| War of 1603–1618, first stage | Ahmet I | Abbas I | Treaty of Nasuh Pasha (1612) | Persians |
| War of 1603–1618, second stage[4] | Ahmed I, Mustafa I, Osman II | Abbas I | Treaty of Serav (1618) | Persians |
| War of 1623–1639[5] | Murad IV | Abbas I, Safi | Treaty of Zuhab (1639) | The Ottoman Empire |
| War of 1722–1727[6] | Ahmed III | Mahmud Hotaki, Ashraf Hotaki | Treaty of Hamedan (1727) | Ottoman victory due to Persia being occupied by the Russians from the north |
| War of 1730–1736, first stage | Ahmed III, Mahmud I | Tahmasp II | Treaty of Ahmet Pasha (1732) | Stalemate |
| War of 1730–1736, second stage[7] | Mahmud I | Abbas III, Nader Shah | Treaty of Istanbul (1736) | Persian victory due to the Russian's invasion of Ottoman states |
| War of 1743–1746[8] | Mahmud I | Nader Shah | Treaty of Kerden (1746) | Stalemate |
| War of 1821–1823[9] | Mahmud II | Fat′h-Ali Shah Qajar | Treaty of Erzurum (1823) | Persians |
Among the numerous treaties the Treaty of Zuhab of 1639 is usually considered as the most important one, as it fixed present Turkey–Iran and Iraq–Iran borders were agreed on. In the later treaties there were frequent references to Treaty of Zuhab.