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250 Years Ago in West Asia

The Grand Bazaar, main market, of old Istanbul, the capital of Ottoman Turkey, from around 1830

The Ottoman Turks attacked the Habsburg capital of Vienna in 1683, but were defeated. This marked the height of Ottoman power. While the Turks would remain a

dangerous military threat for most of the 1700s, the Ottoman state had begun its long decline. The Russians gained control of the Black Sea with a naval victory over the Turkish navy in 1770 at Chesme. On land the Russians gained the port of Azov. Peace was made in 1774, but a second war was fought against Russia between 1787 and 1792, but this resulted in more Turkish losses.

The Emperor Selim III (who ruled 1789 to 1807), attempted to reform the Ottoman state, but the war against France over Egypt between 1798 and 1801 cut these efforts short. A third Russian war between 1806 and 1812 was as disastrous for the Turks as the first two. Only the invasion of Russia by France saved the Ottomans from a serious defeat.

The kingdom of Afghanistan is founded by Ahmad Khan Durani in 1747, but local clan rulers remain important.

Safavid Persia, after the death of Shah Abas II in 1666, weakened under the rule of his son Shah Safi and grandson, Shah Hussein. Hussein was the last of the Safavids, overthrown by a small Afghan army of just 20,000 men in 1722. The Afghan conquest started a 15-year period of chaos and civil wars. One of the most successful generals to arise during this time of troubles, Nadir, took power as shah in 1736. He recovered all the land lost to the Turks, restoring the frontiers to their position before the Afghan invasion. At first popular, Nadir Shah becomes increasingly cruel. Finally, in 1747, he is assassinated at the age of 61 by the captain of his guard. But this only leads to more chaos, as each provincial governor becomes a virtually independent ruler. Persia is not reunited until Agha Mohammad, of the Turkoman Qajar clan, gains power in 1794.

Russia also fought Persia in a ten-year war between 1802 and 1812. The Russians had annexed the independent Christian kingdom of Georgia in 1801. From here they invaded Armenia, which was under Persian rule. The first Russian invasion is defeated, but the Persians are later forced to give up territory to the Russians.

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