Battle of Ankara

The Battle of Ankara was a massive military conflict fought on July 28, 1402. It took place on the Çubuk plain near the city of Ankara. This battle involved two very powerful rulers from different parts of the world. On one side was Sultan Bayezid I, who led the Ottoman Empire. On the other side was Timur, the emir of the Timurid Empire. Timur was a Turco-Mongol leader from Transoxiana, which is now part of Uzbekistan. He had built a massive empire in Central Asia. He was the most powerful ruler in that region since Genghis Khan. Timur sought to rebuild the once great Mongol Empire through many conquests.

Before the battle, tensions grew between the two empires. The conflict began after Bayezid demanded tribute from an emir loyal to Timur. Timur viewed this demand as a personal affront. In response, Timur began moving his forces toward Anatolia. During the summer of 1402, Bayezid was campaigning in Europe. He had to break a blockade of Constantinople to march toward Ankara. He moved his troops through intense midsummer heat. By the time the Ottoman forces reached the battlefield, they were exhausted and thirsty. They were not given any time to rest or recover their strength.

The two armies were very different in size and composition. Modern historians estimate that Timur brought approximately 140,000 soldiers to the fight. In contrast, Sultan Bayezid I led no more than 85,000 troops. The Ottoman army was made up of many different groups. These included Janissaries, Ghazis, and Anatolian Muslim vassals. Bayezid also relied on various European vassals from the Balkans. These included Serbian and Albanian contingents. The Ottoman force even included 32 war elephants to assist them. Some historical sources from that time claimed much larger numbers, but these are considered unrealistic today.

Strategic decisions played a major role in the outcome of the battle. When the Ottomans arrived, Bayezid's generals advised him to take defensive positions. They suggested withdrawing into the mountains to use the terrain against Timur. However, Bayezid chose an offensive stance and marched eastward instead. Meanwhile, Timur used a clever tactic to weaken his opponent. He diverted the Çubuk creek, which was the main water supply. He moved the water into an off-stream reservoir near the town of Çubuk. This left the Ottoman army with almost no water to drink during the fight.

The actual fighting was intense and involved many different types of combat. The battle began with a large Ottoman attack. Timur countered this with swarms of arrows from his horse archers. Some Ottoman units, like the Serbian knights, were very effective. These Serbian troops wore heavy black plate armor. This armor protected them well against the Timurid arrows. Stefan Lazarević led these troops and successfully fought off several assaults. Timur was so impressed by their bravery that he said they "fight like lions." While the fighting continued, some Serbian soldiers managed to save Bayezid's son and the treasury. They escaped the battlefield and made it to Constantinople.

As the battle progressed, the Ottoman lines began to fail. The army was weakened by desertions from the Black Tatars and the Sipahis. These soldiers left Bayezid to join Timur's forces instead. The final fighting took place at Catal hill, which overlooks the Çubuk valley. The Ottoman army was too tired and thirsty to hold their position. They were defeated by the much larger Timurid force. Bayezid attempted to escape into the nearby mountains with a few hundred horsemen. However, Timur had already surrounded the mountains. Timur's forces captured the Sultan, who died in captivity three months later.

The aftermath of the Battle of Ankara was catastrophic for the Ottoman Empire. The defeat caused the empire to fracture and almost collapse entirely. This period of instability is known as the Ottoman Interregnum. Because the central leadership was gone, a civil war broke out among Bayezid's sons. This conflict lasted for 11 years, finally ending in 1413. The battle remains a significant moment in history because it is the only time an Ottoman Sultan was captured in person. Following his victory, Timur continued his campaign through western Anatolia. He even besieged and took the city of Smyrna from the Christian Knights Hospitalers.