| Battle of Merv | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of thePersian–Uzbek wars | |||||||||
 A fresco "Battle of Merv between ShahIsmail I and the Uzbek khan Muhammad Shaybani in 1510" inChehel Sotoun palace in Isfahan. | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Safavid Iran | Khanate of Bukhara | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Shah Ismail I | Muhammad Shaybani † | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 17,000[3] | |||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | 10,000 killed[4] | ||||||||
TheBattle of Merv (Persian: نبرد مرو) occurred on 2 December 1510 as a result of theSafavid Persia invasion of theKhorasan region ofUzbek. It ended withSafavids annexation of theKhorasan region.
Shah Ismail reached Khorasan with great speed; Shaybani Khan retreated to Merv castle to await reinforcement from Uzbek tribes. The Safavid army then pretended to retreat, encouraging the Uzbeks to leave the castle in pursuit, only to be ambushed and destroyed by theQizilbash ("Red Heads") troops of Shah Ismail once they were too far from the castle to regain its safety. The Safavid forces were reportedly heavily outnumbered by the army of Shaybani Khan, who was caught and killed trying to escape the battle. Shah Ismail had his body parts sent to various areas of the empire for display, while famously having his skull coated in gold and made into a jeweled drinking goblet.[5]
