siege, early modern

Siege of Basra

Name: Siege of Basra
Location: Basra, Iraq

Siege of Basra was a siege conducted in 1775 at Basra, in what is now Iraq; it ran into the following year. Its exact site is not recorded; the atlas places it at Basra. It was part of the Ottoman–Persian War, which ran from 1775 to 1776. The recorded result: Zand victory.

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Fought1775ran into the following year

WhereBasra, Iraq30.515N, 47.810E, placed at the location, approximate

OutcomeZand victory

Belligerents22px Ottoman Empire; 22px Pashalik of Iraq; 22px Al-Muntafiq; 22px Omani Empire; 22px East India Companyagainst22px Zand Iran; Bushehr Sheikhdom; Banu Ka'b; Supported by: 22px Al-Qasimi; 14px Khaza'il; Banu Khaled

Part ofOttoman–Persian War1775 to 1776

Where it sits in the Ottoman–Persian War

6 placed engagements of the Ottoman–Persian War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date	1775 (year precision) to 1776
Place	Basra, Iraq 30.515N, 47.810E
Kind	Siege, early modern
Territorial change	Basra occupied by the Zands until Karim Khan Zand's death
Strength	Land forces; 15,000 levies and tribesmen; 1,500 janissaries; 300 Montafiq tribesmen; 8 twelve-pounder cannons; 50 six-nine pounder cannons; Naval forces; ~70 gallivats, 70 trankeys, Rahmani, Eagle, Success, and Assistance ships, nine large ships and 35 smaller ships	Land forces; 30–50,000 or 45–60,000 (24,000 Lurs/Kurds, 3,000 Bakhtiari, 4,000 from other Lur clans, 12,000 troops from Ajam, and 6,000 Farsis). otherwise 30,000 strong; Naval forces; 16 ships including 10 gallivats and the ship Tyger, 14 gulf gallivants and 50 smaller ships
Casualties and losses	At least 30 men killed, a few wounded; entire garrison plus armaments eventually surrendered and 50–200,000+ civilian casualties from war and plague
Commanders	Ahmad bin Said al-Busaidi	Sadeq Khan Zand

Placed at Basra; the exact site is not recorded. with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

Battle of the Camel AD 656, 1.8 km S
Siege of Basra 1987, 1.9 km SW
Battle of Shaiba 1915, 21 km SW
Battle of Basra 1914, 23 km SE
Battle of Khorramshahr 1980, 35 km E

In the same war

Before: Battle of Ashar Creek 1775
After: Battle of Shahrezur 1777
All 6 engagements of Ottoman–Persian War

Elsewhere in 1775

Battles of Lexington and Concord United States
Battle of Bunker Hill United States
Siege of Boston United States
Battle of Quebec Canada
Capture of Fort Ticonderoga United States

Siege of Basra is one of 2,009 engagements of the 18th century in the atlas and one of 173 in present-day Iraq.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q141376638, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Siege of Basra (1775–1776), revision 1380681779, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.