Ottoman–Safavid War (1623–1639): the 1623–1630 phase

Timeline

1. 1623Azerbaijan–Anatolia frontier · CaucasusIn 1623 the Safavids exploited Ottoman internal turmoil following the assassination of Osman II, pushing toward the Azerbaijan and Iraq frontiers; both sides accused each other of violating the 1618 Treaty of Serav, and after diplomatic protests failed the truce formally ended, launching the great eastern war of 1623–1639.
2. 1623–1624Baghdad · IraqFrom late 1623 to early 1624 Safavid forces under Abbas I besieged Baghdad, capturing the city on January 14, 1624, ending Ottoman control since 1534 and carrying out large-scale massacres of Sunni residents, a decisive early victory of the war.
3. 1625–1627Mesopotamia and the direction of Erzurum · MesopotamiaAfter 1625 Murad IV gradually consolidated domestic power and launched a counteroffensive against the Safavids; Ottoman forces advanced toward Baghdad and Erzurum, but the Safavids resisted stubbornly behind fortresses and local alliances, and both sides fell into a war of attrition along the Caucasus and Iraq frontiers without decisive breakthroughs.
4. 1628–1630Isfahan and the entire frontier · IranBetween 1628 and 1630 Abbas I personally oversaw the eastern front in his final years; after his death in January 1629 the Safavids under Shah Safi I maintained control of Baghdad, and although the Ottomans attacked repeatedly they failed to retake it, the war entering a stalemate that built up forces for larger campaigns in the 1630s.