Ottoman Crisis After Mehmed II - Mamluk Wars Begin

TL;DR

Bayezid II stabilized the Ottoman Empire after Mehmed II's death by fighting Moldavia, Hungary, and the Mamluks while containing his rival brother Cem Sultan.

Key Points

• 1.- Bayezid II secured a seven-year truce with Hungary in 1484, the first peace between Constantinople and Buda in over 30 years, ending decades of border conflict.
• 2.- In 1484, Bayezid led 20,000 troops into Moldavia, capturing the fortress of Kilia after a nine-day bombardment, his first major military victory as sultan.
• 3.- The Ottoman-Mamluk War (1485–1491) began when Karagoz Mehmed Pasha invaded Ramazanid territory, but local Ottoman armies were repeatedly defeated by Mamluk reinforcements.
• 4.- At the Battle of Ağaçayırı (1488), a Mamluk force of ~40,000 defeated an Ottoman army of ~60,000; Ottoman casualties reached 15,000–20,000 after the right flank collapsed when Karaman units broke.
• 5.- Emir Özbek's decisive maneuver — feigning a retreat then reinforcing his left flank with Damascus cavalry under Kansuh al-Yahyawi — shattered the Ottoman right wing and killed Sinan Pasha.
• 6.- Cem Sultan was held in European custody by the Knights Hospitaller for 40,000 ducats annually; Pope Innocent VIII eventually won custody, prompting Bayezid to pay 120,000 ducats and the Holy Lance to Rome to keep him confined.
• 7.- The Ottoman-Mamluk War ended in 1491 with a treaty restoring all captured territory to the pre-war status quo, after Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha was defeated and captured near Kayseri in 1490.