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Searching for an alliance: Habsburgs, Rurikids, and the Third Ottoman-Safavid War (1578–1590)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 October 2025
Abstract
This study explores diplomatic negotiations that took place between the Safavids, Rurikids, and Habsburgs during the last years of the Ottoman-Safavid War (1578–1590). The primary objective of these negotiations was to establish an anti-Ottoman alliance, with each participating party pursuing its own foreign policy interests. Drawing on various documents, it can be argued that the initiative for this new round of Safavid-Rurikids-Habsburg diplomacy originated from Shāh Muḥammad Khudābanda. In 1586, the shah dispatched envoy Hādī Beg to Moscow, seeking Russia’s assistance in countering the Ottomans. Subsequently, diplomatic negotiations between the three parties ensued. Through a comprehensive analysis of both archival and published documents, this article aims to uncover and examine the goals and attitudes of all negotiating parties around the formation of an anti-Ottoman alliance by the late 1580s.
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- © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Association for Iranian Studies.
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