The battle was the most decisive engagement of the war, and it saw the Ottomans suffer an overwhelming defeat by an Imperial force half as large sent by Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor.

In a surprise attack, Habsburg Imperial forces commanded by Prince Eugene of Savoy engaged the Turkish army while it was halfway through crossing the Tisza river at Zenta, 80 miles northwest of Belgrade.

Prince Eugene sent some troops north to Hegyalja to deal with anti-Habsburg Hungarian rebels while he worked on rebuilding the remainder of the army to face the Turks.

Palatine Paul Eszterházy of the Kingdom of Hungary contributed 12,000 soldiers;[12] the Serbian Militia, 10,000 men, a majority of whom were cavalry, under the command of Jovan Popović Tekelija, also joined Eugene's forces.

Prince Eugene followed, marching the Imperial army south from Petrovaradin, crossed the Tisza river and headed upriver along the east bank.

[12] As the light began to fall the entire Habsburg force, with cavalry on both flanks and the infantry in the centre, launched an all-out assault from the rear, attacking in a crescent shape movement against the defensive position of the Ottomans.

At the same time, Imperial forces led by Charles-Thomas de Vaudémont, attacked from the front and, after engaging in close-quarter fighting, broke through the trenches surrounding the Ottoman camp.

[12] The Imperial Dragoons of General Starhemberg dismounted and proceeded to the moat encircling and engaging the Ottoman camp and soon broke through the Turkish line of defence.

Escorted by a cavalry detachment and accompanied by his tutor and mentor Sheikh-ul-Islam Feyzullah Efendi, Mustafa set off for Temeşvar, without stopping along the way, taking only what horses could carry.

[9] The seal was inscribed with the words "Mustafa, son of Mehmed Han, always victorious" and the year of his accession to the throne "1106 of the Hejra" (1695 according to the Christian calendar).

[12] In total 30,000 Turks died, including many of the most senior figures in the Ottoman military-administrative establishment; the grand vizier was murdered on the battlefield by mutinous Janissaries.

On 22 October after Eugene mounted a raid with six thousand cavalry including Serbian Militia of the Sava, Sarajevo was captured; after the Ottomans killed the messengers sent to ask them to surrender, the city was plundered and burned to the ground.

A portion of the returned territories were reintegrated into the Kingdom of Hungary; the rest were organised as separate entities within the Habsburg monarchy, such as the Principality of Transylvania and the Military Frontier.

The victory ultimately formalised the withdrawal of the Turks from most of Hungary and the resulting treaty of Karlowitz marked the end of Ottoman dominance in Europe.