Battle of Sunzha River

The Battle of the Sunzha River took place between October 28 and 30, 1583, near the Sunzha River in the North Caucasus. The battle opposed a 4,000-strong Ottoman column led by Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha to a smaller force of Chechens and Don Cossacks, commanded by Shikh-Murza Okotsky.

As the Ottomans marched from Derbent toward Azov, they were ambushed during a river crossing. Although they managed to repel the initial assault and destroy a fortified Cossack camp, the Ottoman troops were subjected to three days of continued attacks and scorched-earth tactics, which significantly disrupted their advance and inflicted considerable losses. ^{[1] [2]}

During the Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–1590), one of the primary supply routes for reinforcements to Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha—stationed near Derbent (Demirkapı) and in Shirvan since the autumn of 1578—ran through the Kefe–North Caucasus corridor. This strategic line was regularly threatened by Russian forces and their allies operating near the Terek River, who persistently harassed Ottoman convoys.

In 1582, a supply mission dispatched by Serdar Ferhat Pasha succeeded in delivering treasury funds and provisions to Osman Pasha’s forces despite facing strong resistance. The convoy returned to Kefe under difficult conditions.^[3]

By 1583, tensions in the North Caucasus had escalated further, as local groups including Don Cossacks and Chechen fighters increased their attacks on Ottoman movements along this route.

Following the Battle of Torches in May 1583, which consolidated Ottoman control over Shirvan, Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha departed from Demirkapı on October 21 with an elite force of approximately 4,000 soldiers, mainly veterans of the Shirvan campaign.

On October 28, as the Ottomans attempted to cross the Sunzha River—a tributary of the Terek River known in Ottoman sources as Kanlı Sevinç Suyu—they were ambushed by a coalition of approximately 1,000 fighters, consisting of Don Cossacks and Chechens under the command of Shikh-Murza Okotsky. ^{[1] [2]}

According to Osman Pasha’s own account to a Russian envoy, the initial Cossack force was almost entirely wiped out, with only around 200 fighters escaping. However, the Ottomans soon found themselves under continued harassment: over the next three days, the retreating Chechen and Cossack forces launched guerrilla-style ambushes from the forests, and set fire to large sections of the steppe, slowing the Ottoman advance toward Azov and inflicting further losses. ^{[1] [2]}

Although the Ottomans succeeded in repelling the initial assault and destroying a Cossack fortified camp, the disruption and attrition they suffered led modern historians to interpret the outcome as a tactical Ottoman victory but a strategic success for the Chechen–Cossack coalition. ^{[1] [2]}

Although Ottoman troops succeeded in repelling the initial ambush at the Sunzha River and destroying a Cossack camp, the continued guerrilla attacks and scorched-earth tactics severely impeded their movement. The campaign toward Azov was slowed considerably, and the Ottoman column suffered substantial attrition during its withdrawal. ^{[1] [2]}

After regrouping, the Ottoman contingent passed through the northern Caucasus and moved westward across the Kuban River and the Taman Peninsula, eventually reaching Kerch and returning to Kefe. In the following year, elements of these forces participated in operations to suppress unrest in the Crimea.^[4]