I have written this article because of the Battle of Merv's importance in the history of Western and Central Asia. Shah Ismail Safavi's victory over Muhammad Shaybani of the Uzbeks ensured that Iran would be Shiah and not Sunni, this legacy would follow down to contemporary Iran. Firstly however it is important to give a background to the diplomatic relations between both the Safavids and Uzbeks.
Failed diplomacy
Shah Ismail had come to power in 1501, he had forced conversions of Muslims from Sunni Islam to Shiah Islam and many massacres had ensued. Muhammad Haidar Dughlat remarked that there was no shortage of misdeeds on his part. However as Ismail expanded his dominions, his frontiers soon bordered that of the Sunni Uzbek Khanate under Muhammad Shaybani. There was a diplomatic exchange between both rulers with gifts and this letter was sent by Shah Ismail:
Hitherto the dust of dissension has never settled upon the skirts of our thoughts to such an extent as to raise a cloud of enmity. Let the path of fatherly conduct be observed on your side, and on this side the bonds of filial relationship shall be established.
[VERSE]
"Plant the tree of friendship: for its fruit will be the desire of your heart;
Root up the sapling of enmity, which produces countless griefs"
Muhammad Shaybani however replied with contempt for Shah Ismail:
It is fitting that every man follows the profession of his father, If he follows his mother he is going backwards. For Uzun Hasan withdrew himself from the circle of kings, on the day that he gaves his daughter in marriage to your father, as did Sultan Yakub, son Hasan, in giving him his sister.You had a right to make claims on your mother's side, so long as there was no son in the world like me, Sultan son of a Sultan. As the proverb says "Let the song do the father's work, and the daughter the mother's"
[VERSE]
"Kings know the secrets of the business of the realm
Oh! Hafiz, thou beggars sitting in the corner, do not complain"
If you place your foot on the step of sovereignty think of your own danger
[VERSE]
"He may clasp the bride of sovereignty firmly to his breast,
Who dares to kiss her admit the clashing of keen swords"
Muhammad Shaybani sent a staff and a beggar's bowl to remind Shah Ismail of his Sufi background and to advise return to the profession of his ancestors as a Sufi pir (master).
Shah Ismail returned the compliment by sending a spinning wheel and spindle with the reply:
You wrote in your letter to me, "Whosoever would clasp the bride of sovereignty close to his breast...." I, too, say the same thing, and behold, I have bound on the girdle to offer your fight, and have placed the foot of contest in the stirrup of fierce warfare. If you come out to meet me face to face in battle, our claims shall be thereby decided. And if you will not fight go and sit in a corner and busy yourself with the little present I am sending you
[VERSE]
"We have had many experiences in this monastery of Recompenses.
Whosoever quarrelled with the Family of the Prophet was defeated"
This was a declaration of war between the Safavids and Uzbeks
The Battle
Muhammad Shaybani was now in Merv and had disbanded his army by the time Shah Ismail's reply had arrived. Muhammad Shaybani dispatched messages to assemble an army from neighbouring districts. At this time Shah Ismail had arrived and pitched his camp near Merv. For three days there were skirmishes however Shah Ismail had to move from the broken ground where his camp was, the Uzbeks interpreted this as a sign that the Safavids had given up and were now turning back. The Uzbeks then marched out with a force of 20,000 men however Muhammad Shaybani's advisers, Amir Kambar and Amir Rai told him:
"Today we had better suspend hostilities and not pursue Shah Ismail; for Ubaid Ullah Sultan and Timur Sultan are encamped with 20,000 men at one farsakh (6.24 kilometres) ; tomorrow they will come and join their force to ours. Moreover, it has been positively ascertained that the enemy, in thus returning, either means to retreat or to draw us on to battle. If they wish to fight, we had better wait until more troops have assembled from the surrounding districts and engage them with as large a force as possible. And if they are really in flight, there is no necessity for the chief to pursue them in person. Ubaid Allah Sultan, Timur Sultan, and a few other Amirs can follow them, while His Majesty the Khan (Muhammad Shaybani) can travel quietly and leisurely, stage by stage, right into Iraq. It is evident that in the case of his retreating from this place, our man can drive him forward and rout him, so that he will not have strength to establish himself in Iraq"
Muhammad Shaybani replied to this advice however:
"You have said well, nevertheless, to make war on Shah Ismail is a holy war, and one of importance: moreover there will be much plunder, and it would be a sacrifice of gain in this world advantage in the next, were I to share this undertaking with the Sultans. We must be bold"
Thus Muhammad Shaybani set out to pursue Shah Ismail’s army. The Uzbeks marched onto the open plain and saw that the Safavids had halted with a force of 40,000 men. However the Uzbeks didn't have time to get into battle positions, since a contingent of Turkmens charged them and were able to outflank them. This caused a panic in the Uzbek army and they soon fled while the leaders of the army, including Muhammad Shaybani stood their ground until he and his officers were killed by the Safavids.
Shah Ismail had won a great victory over the Uzbeks
Aftermath
Many of the Uzbeks fled after taking their families from the fort at Merv. When news of this defeat reached Muhammad Shaybani's advisers, they fled and afterwards Shah Ismail entered Merv, thus followed a massacre of the people of Merv. Then Shah Ismail returned to Herat and had the khutba read in his name to curse the names of the first three caliphs, symbolising the triumph of a Shiah army over a Sunni one. When news of this victory reached the Mughal Emperor Babur in Kabul, he was compelled to ally himself with Shah Ismail and attempt to retake his ancestral lands in Maveranahr (Transoxania).However Babur would not hold onto these lands for long especially due to the fact that Babur had to dress as a Safavid Qizilbash due to the terms of his treaty with Shah Ismail. This led to a revolt by the Uzbeks who deemed this heretical due to its Shiah connotations. Babur would now turn to the rich lands of Hindustan and look to forge a new empire there.
The Ottomans however felt threatened by the growing strength of Shiah Islam under Shah Ismail, thus in 1514 they sent an army to crush the Safavids at Chaldiran. Thus reversing the fortunes of the Safavid dynasty.
