4 August 1473
The ambush on the Euphrates
The Ottoman camp stands on the west bank of the Euphrates near Tercan, at the edge of banks of sand where the river spreads out and can be crossed. The Ottomans expect Uzun Hasan's army to cross there from the far bank and decide to cross first. Has Murad Pasha, the young beylerbey of Rumelia, a nephew of the last Byzantine emperor who has grown up at Mehmed's court and is his favourite, leads the way, and the grand vizier Mahmud Pasha goes with him.
The caravanserai of the Mama Hatun complex at TercanWikimedia Commons, Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Tercan Mama Hatun hamam 2793.jpg)
On 4 August 1473, or 1 August by Theoharis Stavrides, the 10,000 horsemen of Uzun Hasan's son Uğurlu Mehmed ride away before them as if in flight. Mahmud Pasha suspects a trick and tells Has Murad to stay where he is, but Has Murad follows the horsemen into the plain. There they turn, and men hidden in ambush close in behind him. His troops are driven back into the river, and Has Murad drowns with about 4,000 men.
The Euphrates (Karasu) in its valley near KemahWikimedia Commons, Volker Höhfeld, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Kemah 09 1984 Karasutal.jpg)
Mahmud Pasha pulls back across the river, and Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey is taken prisoner with other commanders. Uğurlu Mehmed sends the prisoners to his father and asks him to attack Mahmud Pasha at once, while the Ottomans are shaken. By the account of Abu Bakr Tihrani, Uzun Hasan refuses because his wife Seljukshah, the mother of his son Khalil, does not want Uğurlu Mehmed to win more fame.
Sources
- Tursun Beg, Tarih-i Ebü’l-Feth (about 1490).
- Aşıkpaşazade, Tevârîh-i Âl-i Osmân (late 15th century).
- Mehmed Neşri, Kitâb-ı Cihan-nümâ (late 15th century).
- Abu Bakr Tihrani, Kitab-i Diyarbakriyya (late 15th century).
- Giovanni Maria Angiolello, Historia Turchesca (about 1490).
- Ibn Kemal, Tevârîh-i Âl-i Osmân (early 16th century).
- Franz Babinger, Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time (1978).
- John E. Woods, The Aqquyunlu: Clan, Confederation, Empire (2nd ed., 1999).
- Theoharis Stavrides, The Sultan of Vezirs: The Life and Times of the Ottoman Grand Vezir Mahmud Pasha Angelovic, 1453–1474 (2001).
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