DOCUMENTS ON THE OTTOMAN CONQUEST OF NIŠ IN 1690

Abstract

Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha’s march to Vienna in 1683 marked the beginning of the war between the Ottoman state and the Habsburg monarchy. From the beginning of the war until 1689, the Ottomans lost a large part of the territory, including two important strategic and administrative centres, Buda and Belgrade. In the conquered territory, the Habsburg army was also helped by the people, who slowed down and hindered the movement of the Ottoman army with uprisings. With the help of the rebellions, during 1689, the Habsburg army continued its advance towards the south, and under the command of Ludwig Baden, succeeded to conquerNiš in September, and Vidin was conquered in October. In order to stop further Habsburg moving forward, Sultan Suleiman II appointed Köprülüzade Fazıl Mustafa Pashaas grand vizier at the end of 1689, who tried to improve the situation in the Ottoman military ranks with reforms. In 1690, Mustafa Pasha organized a military campaign, during which he first managed to occupy Pirot and Bela Palanka, and then attackedthe fortress of Niš. Attacks on Niš began much earlier, in the fall of 1689, in which Tatars played a major role. In order to conquer the fortress, it was necessary to suppress uprisings in the surrounding area and to prevent the activities of the bandits and rebels named hajduks. During the military campaign, in addition to the Tatars, the Kurds, who made up the majority of the army of the governor of Diyarbekir, Ahmed Pasha, played an important role.The siege of the fortress lasted from August 16 to September 9, but most of the documents were created during the preparations for the siege, while a small number of documents were preserved from the period of the siege.The siege lasted longer than expected, due to which there was a shortage of food in the army, and due to which military discipline was affected. After the fortress was conquered, repairs were carried out by the reaya, while more serious repairs of the fortress were carried out only in the 18th century.