Eger, Ottoman eyalet of

The Ottoman Empire is a world power when Suleyman dies in 1566.

Most of the great cities of Islam—Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Damascus, Cairo, Tunis, and Baghdad— are under the sultan's crescent flag.

The Porte exercises direct control over Anatolia, the sub-Danubian Balkan provinces, Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia.

Egypt, Mecca, and the North African provinces are governed under special regulations, as are satellite domains in Arabia and the Caucasus, and among the Crimean Tartars.

In addition, the native rulers of Wallachia, Moldavia, Transylvania, and Ragusa (Dubrovnik) are vassals of the sultan.

The Austrians have thus been able to take much of central Hungary and the region of present Romania.

Following the Ottoman loss of Gran (Esztergom) in 1595 to the Christian allies, ...

...Mehmed himself participates in the campaign of 1596, which sees the Ottoman conquest of Erlau (Eger) and ...

...a near miraculous victory on October 24-26 at Hachova (Mezo-Kersztes), where the Ottoman infantry deserts en masse and Mehmed urges retreat.

However, his war council demurs, and the sultan, angered, takes the prophet’s standard, positions himself with his remaining troops, and turns the tide of battle, in which thirty thousand Germans and Hungarians die.

Mehmed returns to Istanbul.

Early firearms (cannons, rifles) were used extensively in the battle.

Lord Kinross said of the battle that had the Turks been defeated, they would have lost Bulgaria and part of Hungary.