Battle of Dilman

Battle of Dilman
	Part of the Persian Campaign of World War I
Date	April 15, 1915
Location	Dilman (modern Salmas, Iran)
Result	Russian victory
Belligerents
Russian Empire Armenian volunteer units; Armenian fedayi; Assyrian volunteers;	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Tovmas Nazarbekian	Halil Pasha;
Strength
10 battalions of Russian Caucasus Army ; 1 battalion of Armenian volunteers	248 Officers; 10,920 troops; 12,000 irregular Kurdish cavalry
Casualties and losses
Unknown	3,500 killed

The Battle of Dilman (April 15, 1915) took place during World War I fought at Dilman between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire.

Despite having the larger forces, the Ottomans suffered 468 dead, 1,228 wounded, and 370 missing in the first day. Many injured Ottoman soldiers were abandoned on the field of battle.^[1] More than half of the Ottoman troops were Kurdish, almost all of whom deserted.^[3] By the end of the battle, the Ottomans had 3,500 of its soldiers killed.^[1]

The result was a Russian victory under Tovmas Nazarbekian.^[4] Armenian and Assyrian volunteers had an important role in the victory.^[1]

One month later, Halil Kut abandoned Persia with his army reduced to half of its original size. Halil blamed his defeat on the Christians and ordered the execution of all Armenians and Assyrians among his own soldiers. German military advisors reported the murder of several hundred unarmed Armenian and Assyrian soldiers and officers. The Armenian and Assyrian civilians of northwestern Persia were also massacred by Ottoman troops.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g The Ottoman Treatment of the Assyrians, David Gaunt, A Question of Genocide, ed. Ronald Grigor Suny, Fatma Muge Gocek, Norman M. Naimark, (Oxford University Press, 2011), 255;"In size, Halil's was definitely the superior force, but his army was badly mauled in a decisive battle near Dilman that left thousands of casualties on the battlefield."
^ World War I and the End of the Ottomans, ed. Hans-Lukas Kieser, Kerem Oktem and Maurus Reinkowski, (I.B. Tauris, 2015),42;"The Ottoman forces were decisively defeated in the battle of Dilman in mid April."
^ Trapped between the map and reality. Geography and perceptions of Kurdistan. Maria T. O'Shea. Routledge 2004. ISBN 0-415-94766-9 p. 95
^ America and the Armenian Genocide of 1915, p. 95 by Jay Murray Winter