| Conflict: | Battle of Baghdad (1534) |
| Partof: | Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–55) |
| Date: | December 1534[1] |
| Place: | Baghdad province, Safavid Iran (now Iraq) |
| Result: | Ottoman victory |
| Territory: | Ottomans capture Baghdad, lower Mesopotamia, the mouths of the Euphrates and Tigris, and part of the Persian Gulf coast. |
| Combatant1: | Safavid Empire |
| Combatant2: | Ottoman Empire |
| Commander1: | Tahmasp I |
| Commander2: | Suleiman I Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha |
The 1534 capture of Baghdad by Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire from the Safavid dynasty under Tahmasp I was part of the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1532 to 1555, itself part of a series of Ottoman–Persian Wars. The city was taken without resistance, the Safavid government having fled and leaving the city undefended.[2] Baghdad's capture was a significant achievement given its mastery of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and their international and regional trade.[3] It represented, along with the fall of Basra in 1546, a significant step towards eventual Ottoman victory and the procurement of the lower Mesopotamia, the mouths of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, opening a trading outlet into the Persian Gulf.[4] The Ottomans wintered there until 1535, overseeing the reconstruction of Sunni and Shia religious shrines and agricultural irrigation projects. Suleiman returned to Constantinople, leaving a strong garrison force. Over the next few decades, the Ottomans solidified their control over the region, incorporating it into their empire until it was recaptured by the Persians in 1623.