As a result of a successful Persian siege initiated by Shah Abbas the Great, Tabriz was returned to the Safavids after 18 years of Ottoman rule.

[1] The previous Ottoman–Safavid War of 1578–1590 had ended with Shah Abbas I being forced to cede their possessions in the Southern Caucasus and western Iran to the Ottomans.

The Ottoman historian Evliya Çelebi mentions the numerous buildings they had constructed in Tabriz and the surrounding area, particularly that of the governor, Ja'far Pasha.

Large-scale uprisings in Ottoman Anatolia had been sparked by discontent with the war and worsening economic conditions, and they persisted practically nonstop from 1596 to 1608.

Shah Abbas gathered the available soldiers, but hid his true motives by promoting the rumor that he was going south to thwart a Portuguese assault on Bahrain.