PORTEKİZ KAYNAKLARINDA ÇALDIRAN SAVAŞI’NA AİT BİR ANLATIM

Abstract

The Battle of Chaldiran is one of the wars that changed not only the Ottomans and the Safavids but also the whole world, both because of the changes it caused on the world military literature and its effect on the political structure of an important geography such as the Middle East. The Portuguese, who came from far away, from the westernmost tip of Europe, by exploring the sea route to India, tried to control not only the coast of India, but also the entire Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, so they extended their dominion to the Sultanate of Hormuz, located at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, which made them neighbors with the Middle East. Since one of the main aims of the Portuguese, who came to India with a Crusader mentality, was to undermine the Muslim trade, the developments related to the Ottoman State and the Safavid State were among the issues that this Western European state tried to follow closely. The Portuguese later learned about the sectarian wars between the Islamic states and tried to use this information for their own interests. The speech of a commander of Shah Ismail, whose name is not mentioned in Portuguese sources, with the famous Portuguese governor, Afonso de Albuquerque, constitutes one of the most important examples of this effort. As a result of this talk about the Battle of Chaldiran, the Portuguese began to see the Safavid State as an ally against the Ottoman Empire, and even described Shah Ismail as "a lightning bolt sent by God on the Muslims", as Afonso de Albuquerque put it.