Colonial and World War I · 1915 to 1916

Siege of Kut

After a siege of nearly five months about 13,000 British and Indian troops surrendered, one of Britain's worst defeats of the war.

The site of the battle on the 1923 map. Shaded: Republic of Turkey, 1923, French mandate, British mandate or occupation, British protection or influence.

Key facts

When: 1915 to 1916
Where: Kut, Iraq
Sides: Ottomans vs British Indian army
Commanders: Khalil Pasha vs Charles Townshend
Result: Ottoman victory
Type: Colonial and World War I
Chapter: 5. The Ottomans

The wider picture: The end of the caliphate

The Ottomans entered the First World War on Germany's side and lost. Britain and France divided the Arab lands under the Sykes-Picot agreement and the mandates that followed, and British troops entered Jerusalem in December 1917. In Anatolia, Mustafa Kemal won the war of independence and declared a republic in October 1923.

See the 1923 map Read chapter 5

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