Battle of the Ialomița

Battle of the Ialomița
	Part of the Hungarian–Ottoman Wars
	; The battle of John Hunyadi against Şehabeddin Pasha (at the Iron Gate in the chronicle) (Chronica Hungarorum, 1488)
Date	July 1442; 2 September 1442; 6 September 1442
Location	The exact place is a matter of debate among historians: Iron Gate Pass of Transylvania, Zajkány, Kingdom of Hungary (now Zeicani, Romania) (by older historiography); Ialomița River in Wallachia (now Romania) (by modern historiography); Lower Danube (now Călărași, Romania);
Result	Hungarian victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Hungary	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
John Hunyadi	Şehabeddin Pasha
Strength
15,000	80,000 (older sources); 16 sanjak beys, 15,000 akinji, 2,000–4,000 janissaries
Casualties and losses
Heavy casualties	Heavy casualties, about half the army; All 16 sanjak beys were killed, representing around half of the sanjak beys in the empire (some Ottoman sources); 28,000 (chronicle from Messembria)

The Battle of the Ialomița was fought in early September 1442 between the army of the Kingdom of Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. The Hungarian army, led by John Hunyadi, defeated the forces of Şehabeddin Pasha, the Provincial Governor of Rumelia, in the upper valley of the Ialomița River, located south of the Carpathian Mountains in Wallachia. Şehabeddin, overconfident and seeking to avenge Mezid Bey's defeat at the Battle of Iron Gate, instead suffered an even more disastrous defeat.

The Ottoman advance against Hungary, which began in 1438, was halted at the Siege of Belgrade in 1440, which castle was regarded as the southern gate of the Hungarian Kingdom. While Turkish raids into the Kingdom of Hungary continued intermittently over the following years, up until the crushing defeats of Ottomans in several battles in 1442. In the year of 1442, John Hunyadi won four victories against the Ottomans, two of which were decisive. This reversed the dominance of the war party at the Ottoman court in Edirne, particularly when its most ardent supporter, Şehabeddin Pasha himself was defeated, he was called as "vice-emperor" in some contemporary Christian sources.

After the battle, the name of Hunyadi became famous and generally respected in the Christian world and became feared by the entire Ottoman Empire. This was the first time a European army had defeated such a large Ottoman force, composed not only of raiders but also of provincial cavalry led by their own sanjak beys and accompanied by the elite, formidable janissaries. The victories over Mezid Bey and then over Şehabeddin brought Hunyadi international fame and undermined the growing belief in Ottoman invincibility.

The victory of John Hunyadi against Şehabeddin Pasha and a large Ottoman army was his greatest battlefield victory, and his second greatest military accomplishment after the defense battle during the Siege of Belgrade in 1456.

Hunyadi's victories in 1442 were a primary motivation for the anti-Ottoman Hungarian expedition known as the Long Campaign of 1443.