SAFEVÎ KUŞATMA SAVAŞLARINDA KULLANILAN SAHRA TAHKİMATLARI

Radical changes occurred in castle architecture and castle siege techniques along with the development of firearms in Europe. In the 16th century, a period in which such changes were most intense, the Safavid Empire, which was established on the Iranian territory, was able to maintain its competitive power against its strong rivals such as the Ottomans in the west and the Mughals in the east by adapting to the military developments of the period. The progress of the Safavids in the area of siege played a major role in this. While the Safavids would besiege the castles fortified with firearms, they understood the importance of contemporary siege techniques and field fortifications and reached a certain level of maturity by eliminating their deficiencies in time. They were able to apply successfully the sub-types of field fortifications such as trenches, gun emplacements, bastions and sewers, by relating them to each other in accordance with the changing war conditions in the field. The siege wars of the Safavids with the Ottomans and Mughals are full of examples which clearly demonstrate this situation. This article aims to explain the field fortification models used by the Safavids in sieges and the progress they made in the area of field fortifications with examples.