Cover photo: Persian miniature depicting the siege of Smyrna in 1402, from a manuscript of Zafarnama (1467), a biography of Timur. Created by the Persian royal painter Kamaluddin Behzad.

The Ottoman Sultan, known as the “Thunderbolt,” Bayezid I, appeared in Anatolia immediately after the bloody Battle of Kosovo. Through a swift campaign (1389-1390), he conquered the last Byzantine city, Philadelphia, and subsequently annexed the emirates of Aydin, Saruhan, Mentese, Hamid, and Germiyan. A few years later, before the end of the 14th century, the Karamanids and Eretnids in the regions of Kayseri, Sebasteia, and Amaseia, south of the Pontus area, suffered defeat. The relentless Bayezid, however, had yet to face another formidable adversary. The Turko-Mongol Timurids, led by Timur, also known as Tamerlane, responded to the pleas of the Turkish emirs for assistance. They marched, captured Sebasteia, and clashed with the Ottoman army at Ankara. In the tremendous battle that ensued, the Ottomans were defeated, and Bayezid was captured.

The leader of the Timurids, having dealt with the Ming dynasty’s rule behind him in China, faced a dilemma of whether to continue his expedition in Anatolia for a while. Ultimately, in order to become the “true son of Paradise,” a devout warrior of faith, Timur chose to attack Smyrna. He realized that by doing so, he could confront opponents from among the pious Muslims who accused him of weakening the Ottomans, causing a fatal blow to Islamic conquests. As a skilled diplomat, Timur turned the Anatolian campaign into a holy war against Christians, aiming to conquer Smyrna and succeed where the Ottomans had failed.

In late October 1402, the Knights Hospitaller were deliberating in Rhodes on whether to focus their efforts on Smyrna or mainland Greece. They decided that the defense of Rhodes and Smyrna should take priority, and the Order’s available forces should not be used for other ventures unless there were surplus funds beyond the needs of Rhodes and Smyrna—the last Christian stronghold in Anatolia. Weapons, supplies, money, and reinforcements were continuously arriving at the port, while the morale of the garrison remained high. The leader of the guard was the monk and Knight Hospitaller Inigo de Alfaro, originally from Aragon, with only 200 knights of the order and the inhabitants of Smyrna by his side.

Leaving Kütahya, Tamerlane continued his march, reinforced by the emirs Amir Suleiman and Sundjuk along the way. He immediately captured Altintas, south of Kütahya. With Güzël Hissar of Aydin, he proceeded towards Ephesus, which he took, and camped in the town of Menderes, between the ancient city of Colophon and Smyrna. Seeking to avoid the risks of a potential lengthy siege, he sent an ambassador to call on the knights to convert to Islam and pay tribute. Naturally, the Knights Hospitaller refused, determined to defend until the end. Tamerlane then advanced with all his forces and reached the city on December 2, 1402, deciding to launch a general attack from the beginning.

The catapults incessantly hurled large stone projectiles while his troops conducted assaults, and the diggers excavated trenches to undermine the walls. Tamerlane ordered the construction of a stable platform with wood to block the entry and exit of the crusaders from the harbor, a process that took three days. After several days of siege, during which fierce battles occurred at the city walls, new reinforcements arrived for Tamerlane from the Persian Sultan Mohammad and Shah Miran. New attacks on the city walls were repelled by the few exhausted defenders of Smyrna.

The Persian historian Sharaf al-Din, following Tamerlane, vividly describes the scenes of the battles: the siege engines pounding the gates, catapults demolishing the towers, intense hand-to-hand combat, frequent exchanges of arrows, the use of liquid fire, flaming arrows, and even explosive arrows (presumably with the missile technology of the time) without any respite. An extremely intense and continuous rainfall created an eerie war scene. The next day, the skilled diggers of the Timurids undermined the walls. The explosive bundles placed at the crucial point were immediately triggered. The walls were lifted into the air by the tremendous explosion, covering the warriors in the debris, and the adversaries rushed forward, clamoring into the ruins and invading the city.

Despite the fierce and desperate resistance, the knights retreated and sought salvation on the ships anchored in the harbor. Few of them succeeded, including their leader Inigo. Some ships that arrived for reinforcement reversed course and withdrew. The Christian population, attempting in vain to escape, was slaughtered, and the city was laid to waste.

Tamerlane made a 180-degree turn and hastened towards Mesopotamia, Persia, and then to Samarkand, where he celebrated his successes for 9 months and prepared the army for new campaigns in Mongolia and China. The Knights Hospitaller would now be limited to the acquisition of the Dodecanese Islands, where in the 15th century, they successfully repelled attacks from the Mamluks and Ottomans. On both occasions, they faced and successfully resisted the Sultan of Egypt in 1444 and the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror in 1480. In 1494, the Knights Hospitaller established a fortress on the peninsula of Halicarnassus and became a priority target for the Ottomans.

Their rule in Rhodes came to an end in 1522 when a massive army led by Suleiman the Magnificent besieged the castle of Rhodes for six months. Faced with the overwhelming numerical superiority of the enemy, they reached an honorable agreement to evacuate the island. They were allowed to take their weapons, ceremonial regalia, and religious artifacts with them.

Bibliography

L. Paul, “THE EMIRATE OF AYDIN, BYZANTIUM, AND THE WEST, RESEARCH ON THE DEEDS OF UMUR PACHA,” Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1957.

A. Luttrell, “THE HOSPITALLERS IN CYPRUS, RHODES, GREECE, AND THE WEST 1291-1440,” Great Britain and USA, 1979.

S. Bryonis, “THE DECLINE OF MEDIEVAL HELLENISM IN ASIA MINOR AND THE PROCESS OF ISLAMIZATION (11th-15th CENTURY),” Cultural Foundation of the National Bank of Greece, Athens, 2008.

A. Bulgaru, M. Mathilde, “TIMUR’S CAMPAIGNS IN ANATOLIA 1402,” London, 1942.