Battle of Samarra (1733)

Battle of Samarra
Part of the Ottoman–Persian War of 1730–35
1 Nader fails to gain an advantage on the Ottoman left due to Topal Pasha's hidden reinforcements which arrived secretly the night before 2 Nader, frustrated by this failure, forms up the core of his army and unleashes an overpowering onslaught on the main Ottoman line pushing the Turks back to very near their encampments 3 Topal Pasha brings forth his reserve line of 20,000 men and restores the situation by driving the Persians back. A brutally intense fight develops with the momentum of the battle swinging like a pendulum in both directions until the Persian army's morale collapses leaving the Ottomans as the clear yet bloodied victors.
Date July 19, 1733 Location Baghdad Vilayet Result Ottoman victory[1] Territorial changes The Siege of Baghdad is lifted and Ottoman Iraq remains under Turkish rule
Belligerents
Safavid Empire	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Nader	Topal Osman Pasha
Strength
70,000[2] few score cannon & zamburaks[3]	80,000[4] 60 cannon
Casualties and losses
30,000[5] 3,000 captured 500 executed all the cannon & zamburaks	20,000[6]

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The Battle of Samarra was the key engagement between the two great generals Nader Shah and Topal Osman Pasha, which led to the siege of Baghdad being lifted, keeping Ottoman Iraq under Istanbul's control. The armed contest between the two colossi was very hard fought with a total of roughly 50,000 men becoming casualties by the end of the fighting that left the Persians decimated and the Ottoman victors badly shaken. Other than its importance in deciding the fate of Baghdad, the battle is also significant as Nader's only battlefield defeat although he would avenge this defeat at the hands of Topal Pasha at the Battle of Agh-Darband where Topal was killed.