Hittite Wars of Survival
| Invasions of Hatti | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Kaskian-Hittite Wars | |||||||||
Hatti before the invasions | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Hittite Empire |
Kaška Arzawa Hayasa-Azzi Išuwa | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Arnuwanda I Tudḫaliya III Šuppiluliuma I |
Piyapili (Kaska) Karanni (Hayasa-Azzi) Tarḫuntaradu (Arzawa) | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Much of the lands of Hatti ravaged and in ruins. | Many taken as war captives to Hatti. | ||||||||
The Wars of Survival were a series of wars between the Hittite Empire and its neighbours including Arzawa, Kaška, and Hayasa-Azzi. The wars, which lasted from c. 1400 BC to 1350 BC proved to be an existential period for the Hittites, whose capital city of Ḫattuša was sacked and whose territory was reduced to a small area around Šamuḫa. However, the Hittite general and future king Šuppiluliuma regained all of their lost territory and embarked on punitive expeditions which firmly reestablished the Hittites as a major power.