Turkish History Timeline

Events 1 - 200 of 468

• 0758-06-11 Diplomatic dispute at Tang Chinese capital Chang'an when Abbasid Arabs and Uyghur Turks both arrive to offer tribute. Settlement reached when both enter at same time through two different gates.
• 1071-08-26 Battle of Manzikert: Seljuq Turks led by sultan Alp Arslan beat and capture Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes
• 1098-06-03 After 5-month siege during the First Crusade, the Crusaders seize Antioch

• 1147-10-25 Seljuk Turks defeat German crusaders under Conrad III at the Battle of Dorylaeum
• 1176-09-17 At the Battle of Myriokephalon the Byzantines fail to recover Anatolia from Turkish rule

• 1371-09-26 Battle of Maritsa: Serbia-Turkey
• 1389-06-15 Ottomans defeat Serbian army in the bloody Battle of Kosovo, opening the way for the Ottoman conquest of Southeastern Europe. Large losses on both sides including Sultan Murad and Serbian leader Prince Lazar. (NS date)

• 1443-11-28 Albanian George Kastriotis Skanderbeg and his forces liberate Kruja in Middle Albania from the Ottomans and raise the Albanian flag.
• 1448-10-17 Second Battle of Kosovo, where the mainly Hungarian army led by John Hunyadi were defeated by an Ottoman army led by Sultan Murad II.

• 1453-04-21 Turkish fleet sinks ships Golden Receiver in Constantinople
• 1453-05-29 Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire falls to the Ottoman Turks under Mehmed the Conqueror, ending the Byzantine Empire after 1100 years
• 1475-01-10 Stephen III of Moldavia defeats the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Vaslui
• 1480-08-12 Battle of Otranto - Ottoman troops behead 800 Christians for refusing to convert to Islam
• 1493-09-09 Battle of Krbava field, a decisive defeat of Croats in Croatian struggle against the Ottoman Empire invasion.
• 1499-08-12 First engagement of the Battle of Zonchio between Venetian and Ottoman fleets
• 1499-08-25 Battle at Sapienza: Turkish fleet beats Venetians
• 1509-02-03 The Battle of Diu, naval battle at port of Diu, India between Portugal and the Ottoman Empire, establishes Portuguese trading control

• 1514-08-23 Battle of Chaldiran ended with a decisive victory for the Sultan Selim I, Ottoman Empire, over the Shah Ismail I, Safavids founder.
• 1516-08-24 Battle of Marj Dabiq: Ottoman forces decisively beat the Mamluk Sultanate
• 1516-10-28 Battle of Yaunis Khan: Turkish forces under the Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha defeat the Mameluks near Gaza
• 1517-01-22 Ottoman forces take Cairo, capital of the Mamluk Sultanate
• 1517-04-13 Ottoman army occupies Cairo

• 1521-08-28 Belgrade captured by troops of Turkish Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent
• 1522-12-25 Ottoman troops occupy the island of Rhodes after a six-month siege
• 1526-08-29 Battle of Mohács: In a decisive battle the Hungarian Empire is conquered by the Ottoman Empire led by Suleiman the Magnificent
• 1528-02-24 John Zápolya the disputed King of Hungary and Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent sign treaty
• 1529-09-24 Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his Ottoman troops arrive in Vienna, beginning of the siege
• 1533-06-22 Ferdinand of Austria and Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent sign peace treaty in Constantinople
• 1534-06-12 Turkish admiral Chaireddin "Barbarossa" allows Giulia Gonzaga to kidnap and plunder in Naples
• 1534-08-20 Turkish admiral Chaireddin "Barbarossa" occupies Tunis
• 1534-12-04 Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent occupies Baghdad
• 1536-02-18 Francis I, King of France and Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire sign military and trade agreement against King Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
• 1538-09-28 Battle at Preveza: Ottoman fleet under Barbarossa beats Papal alliance off Northwestern Greece
• 1540-05-04 Venice and Turkey sign Treaty of Constantinople
• 1540-07-23 Turkey recognizes John Sigismund Zápolya as vassal king of Hungary
• 1540-10-02 Venice and Turkey signs peace
• 1541-08-21 Ottoman Turks under Suleiman the Magnificent capture Buda, the capital of the Hungarian Kingdom and go on to dominate central Hungary for 150 years
• 1542-08-28 Turkish-Portuguese War (1538-1557) - Battle of Wofla: the Portuguese are scattered, their leader Christovão da Gama is captured and afterwards executed.
• 1543-08-05 French and Turkish troops occupy Nice
• 1543-09-06 French & Turkish fleet occupies Nice
• 1544-05-01 Turkish troops occupy Hungary
• 1547-06-13 Peace of Adrianople (Treaty of Edirne) King Ferdinand of Austria agrees to pay Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent 30,000 gold Forints for western Hungary
• 1551-08-14 Ottoman fleet under Dragut captures Tripoli from The Knights of Malta after a six-day bombardment
• 1560-07-29 Turkish fleet recaptures Djerba on Spanjaarden
• 1562-06-01 Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I and Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent sign treaty
• 1565-06-23 Turgut Reis [Dragut], commander of the Ottoman Navy, dies during the Siege of Malta
• 1565-09-08 Turkish siege of Malta broken by Maltese & Knights of St John

• 1573-03-07 Turkey & Venice sign peace treaty
• 1574-09-13 Turkish fleet recaptures Tunis
• 1593-06-22 Battle of Sisak: Christian Habsburg troops defeat the Bosnian Ottoman army under Hasan Pasha, in Central Croatia, wiping out the army and killing their leader
• 1595-08-23 Michael the Brave confronts the Ottoman army in the Battle of Calugareni.
• 1595-10-28 Battle at Giurgevo: Zsigmond Bathory of Transylvania beats Turks
• 1596-10-24 -26] Battle at Kerestes: Ottoman beat Austria-Hungary & Germany
• 1606-11-11 Turkey & Austria sign Treaty of Zsitva-Torok
• 1620-05-17 1st merry-go-round seen at a fair in Philippapolis, Turkey

• 1621-09-28 Battle at Chocim Dniester: King Sigismund III Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth defeats an invading Ottoman Imperial army
• 1621-10-09 Turkey & Poland signs Peace of Chotin
• 1654-05-13 Venetian fleet under Norwegian Admiral Cort Adeler beats Turkish fleet the near the Dardanelles, sinking 15 Turkish galleys
• 1663-09-25 Austrian Fort Neuhausl surrenders to invading Turkish army
• 1664-01-21 Count Miklos of Zrinyi sets out to battle Turkish invasion army
• 1664-05-14 Turkish Grand Vizier Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed attacks 120,000 Donau soldiers
• 1664-08-10 Austria and the Ottoman Empire sign the Peace of Vásvár
• 1669-09-06 The siege of Candia, on Crete, ends with the Venetian fortress surrendering to the Ottomans - second-longest siege in history (began 1648)
• 1672-10-18 Treaty of Buchach ends the first phase of the Polish–Ottoman War between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire
• 1673-11-11 Second Battle of Khotyn in the Ukraine, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth forces under the command of Jan Sobieski. defeat the Ottoman army. In this battle, rockets of Kazimierz Siemienowicz were successfully used.
• 1676-10-27 Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire sign the Peace of Warsaw
• 1676-11-03 Kara Mustafa succeeds Ahmed Kiprulu as Turkish grand vizier
• 1683-03-31 Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and King John III Sobieski of Poland sign a covenant against Turkey, beginning of the Holy League
• 1683-07-16 Turkish troops under Kara Mustafa reach Vienna
• 1683-09-03 Turkish troops break through defense of Vienna
• 1683-09-12 Austro-Ottoman War: Battle of Vienna - several European armies join forces to defeat the Ottoman Empire
• 1686-09-02 Habsburg armies take Buda from Turks
• 1687-08-12 Battle of Mohacs: Ottoman invaders of Hungary routed by forces of Holy Roman Emperor under Charles of Lorraine

• 1687-09-28 Venetians take Athens from the Turks
• 1690-10-08 Siege of Belgrade, Ottoman troops capture Belgrade
• 1691-08-19 Battle at Slankamen: "the Bloodiest battle of the Century" Austrian Hapsburg force defeats Ottoman army, killing Grand Vizer Köprülü Fazıl Mustafa Pasha
• 1695-01-27 Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan in Istanbul on the death of Ahmed II. Mustafa rules until his death in 1703.
• 1697-09-11 Battle of Zenta: forces of Prince Eugen of Savoye defeat the Turks, ending Ottoman control of large parts of Central Europe
• 1699-01-26 Venice, Poland & Austria sign Treaty of Karlowitz with Ottoman Empire, ending the Great Turkish War (1683-97) - 1st time Ottomans concede significant territory
• 1700-07-13 Treaty of Constantinople establishes peace after Russo-Turkish war
• 1703-08-21 The Edirne Event: Turkish army removes Sultan Mustafa II, lessening the power of the sultans

• 1713-07-27 Russia and Turkey sign peace treaty
• 1714-11-22 King Karel XII leaves Turkish captivity to return to Sweden

• 1718-07-21 Treaty of Passarowitz is signed between the Ottoman Empire, Austria and the Republic of Venice
• 1724-06-23 Russia and Turkey sign Treaty of Constantinople
• 1730-09-17 Turkish coup under Mahmud I; Sultan Ahmed III flees
• 1737-07-18 Battle at Banja Luka: Turkish army beats Austrians
• 1738-05-27 Turkish troops occupy Orsova and Ochakov in eastern Europe

• 1739-07-22 Ottoman Empire defeats Austria at Crocyka (Krotzka) in Serbia and then successfully lays siege to Belgrade
• 1739-09-18 Turkey & Austria sign peace treaty - Austria cedes Belgrade to Turks
• 1739-10-03 The Treaty of Nissa is signed by the Ottoman Empire and Russia at the end of the Russian-Turkish War, 1736-1739.
• 1770-05-26 The Orlov Revolt, a first attempt to revolt against the Turks before the Greek War of Independence ends in disaster for the Greeks.
• 1770-07-05 First day of three day naval Battle of Chesma between the Russian and Ottoman Empires off the coast of Anatolia won by the Russians
• 1774-07-21 Russo-Turkish War, 1768-74: Russia and the Ottoman Empire sign Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji ending the war
• 1775-05-07 Turkish state of Bukovina secedes from Austria
• 1784-01-06 Turkey & Russia sign treaty in Constantinople
• 1787-08-16 Turkey declares war on Russia (Russo-Turkish War 1787-92)
• 1787-10-01 Russians under Suvorov defeat the Turks at Kinburn
• 1790-12-22 Supposedly impenetrable Turkish fortress of Izmail stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies during the Russo-Turkish War (1787–92)
• 1791-08-04 The Treaty of Sistova is signed, ending the Ottoman-Habsburg wars
• 1792-01-09 Russia & Turkey sign Peace of Jassy

• 1799-04-16 Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Mount Tabor - Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre
• 1799-07-25 French-Egyptian forces under Napoleon I beat Turks at Battle of Abukir
• 1800-03-20 French army defeats Turks at Helipolis & advance to Cairo
• 1804-02-14 Karadjordje leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire
• 1807-06-19 Russian Admiral Dmitry Senyavin destroys the Ottoman fleet in the Battle of Athos during Russo-Turkish War

• 1820-04-12 Alexander Ypsilantis is declared leader of Filiki Eteria, a secret organization founded in Odessa to overthrow Ottoman rule of Greece
• 1821-02-21 Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire begins
• 1821-03-25 The Greek revolution against the Ottoman Turks is officially declared, with hostilities having started two months earlier
• 1821-04-10 Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is hanged by the Turks from the main gate of the Patriarchate, his body thrown into the Bosphorus
• 1821-05-08 Greek War of Independence: Greeks defeat the Turks in Gravia
• 1821-05-12 The first major battle of the Greek War of Independence against the Turks occurs in Valtetsi
• 1821-06-14 King of Sennar, Badi VII surrenders his throne and realm to general Ismail Pasha of the Ottoman Empire, bringing the 300 year old Sudanese kingdom to an end
• 1821-06-19 Decisive defeat of the Greek revolutionary society Philikí Etaireía by the Ottomans at Drăgăşani (in Wallachia)
• 1821-09-23 Fall of Tripolitsa, Greek forces massacre 30,000 Turks during Greek War of Independence
• 1822-03-31 Massacre of the population of the Greek island of Chios by soldiers of the Ottoman Empire following a rebellion attempt, (later depicted by artist Eugène Delacroix)
• 1822-05-16 Greek War of Independence: Turks capture the Greek town of Souli
• 1824-08-04 Battle of Kos is fought between Turks and Greeks
• 1826-04-10 10,500 inhabitants of the Greek town Messolonghi start leaving the town after a year's siege by Turkish forces. Very few of them survive.
• 1826-04-23 Missolonghi, Greece captured by Turks
• 1826-06-15 Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II abolishes the elite Janissary corps executing thousands for treason to make way for a more modern army
• 1827-06-05 Turks capture the Acropolis and take Athens during the Greek War of Independence
• 1828-04-26 Russia declares war on Turkey to support Greece's independence
• 1828-08-27 The Russians defeat the Turks at the Battle of Akhalzic.
• 1829-09-14 Peace of Adrianopel: ends Russian-Turkish war
• 1829-09-24 Russia & Ottoman Empire sign Peace Treaty of Adrianople
• 1831-03-29 Great Bosnian uprising: Bosniak rebel against Turkey.
• 1833-07-08 Russia and Turkey sign defense treaty
• 1839-07-01 Abdul-Medjid succeeds Mahmud II as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
• 1839-11-03 Palace of Gulhane Turkey, freedom of religion proclaimed
• 1847-04-14 Persia & Ottoman Turkey sign 2nd Treaty of Erzurum
• 1863-09-16 Robert College of Istanbul, Turkey, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist.
• 1870-02-28 The Bulgarian Exarchate (Orthodox Church) is established by decree of Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz of the Ottoman Empire
• 1875-06-19 The Herzegovinian rebellion against the Ottoman Empire begins
• 1876-05-30 Ottoman sultan Abd-ul-Aziz is deposed and succeeded by his nephew Murat V.
• 1876-06-30 Serbia declares war on Turkey
• 1876-07-03 Montenegro declares war on Turkey
• 1876-08-31 Ottoman sultan Murat V is deposed and succeeded by his brother Abd-ul-Hamid II
• 1876-12-23 Turkey's 1st constitution proclaimed, transferring more power to elected representatives
• 1877-04-24 Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78: Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire
• 1877-07-31 Russo-Turkish War: Second Russian assault on Plevna, Ottoman Empire (now Pleven, Bulgaria) fails; 7,300 Russian and over 2,000 Turk casualties
• 1877-11-17 Russia launches a surprise night attack that overruns Turkish forces at Kars, Armenia
• 1878-01-04 Sofia is emancipated from Ottoman rule
• 1878-01-16 Captain Burago with a squadron of Russian Imperial army dragoons liberates Plovdiv from Ottoman rule
• 1878-02-02 Greece declares war on Turkey
• 1878-03-03 Treaty of San Stefano signed by Russian and Ottoman empires grants independence to Bulgaria after 500 years of Turkish rule
• 1878-06-04 Cyprus ceded by Turkey to Britain for administrative purposes
• 1878-06-13 Congress of Berlin begins, determines the territories of the states in the Balkan peninsula following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78
• 1878-07-13 Congress of Berlin ends, redrawing the terms of Treaty of San Stefano to give Russia less influence in old Ottoman Empire
• 1881-05-24 Turkey cedes Thessaly and Arta back to Greece.

• 1887-03-24 Oscar Straus appointed 1st Jewish ambassador from US (to Turkey)
• 1890-09-19 Turkish frigate "Ertogrul" burns off of Japan, kills 540
• 1894-11-16 6,000 Armenians massacred by Turks in Kurdistan
• 1896-08-26 Armenian Revolutionary Federation assaults the Ottoman Bank in Constantinople to draw attention to the mass-pogroms and massacres of Armenians instigated by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul-Hamid II
• 1897-04-05 The Greco-Turkish War, also called "Thirty Days' War", is declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.
• 1897-05-12 Battle at Thessalie: Turkish army beats Greece
• 1897-05-15 The Greek army retreats with heavy losses in the Greco-Turkish War.
• 1898-08-25 700 Greeks and 15 Englishmen are slaughtered by the Turks in Heraklion, Greece.
• 1899-12-23 Tentative Turkish & German treaty on construction of Baghdad railway
• 1900-06-23 The Young Turks present a manifesto to the major foreign embassies in Constantinople demanding that these foreign powers end the Ottoman Sultan's rule
• 1901-04-05 Under threats from the Ottoman Turkish Government, Bulgaria is forced to arrest the leaders of the Macedonian Committee
• 1901-11-07 A French fleet seizes the customs house on the Turkish-ruled island of Mytilene after Turks refuse to settle France's indemnity claims for losses suffered by French subjects in 1896
• 1902-03-10 Earthquake destroys Turkish city of Tochangri
• 1902-03-18 Turkey grants Germany syndicate the first concession to construct a railroad through Turkish territory to Baghdad, to be linked to Berlin
• 1902-07-24 In Turkey, the Sultan Abdul-Hamid, under pressure from within the Ottoman Empire, appoints a commission to consider reforms that might pacify Macedonian revolutionaries
• 1903-08-02 Unsuccessful uprising of Macedonians against Turkey
• 1906-05-03 British-controlled Egypt takes Sinai peninsula from Turkey
• 1908-07-05 Niazi Bey, a chief organizer of the revolutionary movement in Turkey, raises the standard of revolt at Resna, Macedonia
• 1908-07-08 Uprisings spread throughout Turkey
• 1908-07-24 After days of discussion with his ministers, Sultan Abdul Hamid of Turkey announces he is restoring the liberal constitution of 1876 and will become more responsive to demands of dissidents

• 1908-09-22 Bulgaria declares independence from the Ottoman Empire (Turkey)
• 1908-10-05 Bulgaria declares independence from Turkey, Ferdinand I becomes Tsar
• 1908-10-07 Crete revolts against Turkey & aligns with Greece
• 1908-12-17 In Turkey the new parliament convenes with reformist Young Turks as the majority
• 1909-02-26 Austria and Turkey conclude an agreement in which Turkey recognizes Austria's 1908 annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and is to receive compensation
• 1909-03-18 Russia and Bulgaria reach an agreement in which late 19th century Russian financial claims are cancelled to meet compensation due to Turkey from Bulgaria
• 1909-04-13 In Constantinople the primarily Albanian First Army Corps seizes the parliament building and telegraphs offices, forcing the Ottoman statesman Hilmi Pasha to resign
• 1909-04-19 A convention with Turkey recognizes Bulgarian independence
• 1909-04-27 Sultan of Turkey Abdul Hamid II is overthrown
• 1910-08-28 Nicholas I of Montenegro again proclaims himself king (first assumed power 1860) after his reign interrupted by Turkish rule
• 1911-02-06 Great fire destroys downtown Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey)

• 1911-11-05 Italian forces take Tripoli & Cyrenaica, declaring suzerainty over Ottoman-controlled Libya

• Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next

• Bülent Ecevit
• Enver Pasha
• Mahmud II
• Mehmed the Conqueror
• Mehmet Ali Ağca
• Mustafa Kemal Atatürk