Ahmad Pasha, the Mamluk ruler of Iraq, cautiously held to the left bank of the Tigris knowing what a formidable barrier it posed to the invading Persian army.

Nader drew them up in formation and fed them into the battle, gradually pushing Ahmad pasha's line back until it was broken and the remnants fled towards Baghdad leaving many guns and corpses behind.

The environs of Baghdad were soon swarming with Persian soldiers as they joined their comrades from the east bank of the Tigris and began a colossal effort constructing 2,700 towers around the perimeter of the city.

The outcome of the siege however was decided many miles to the north of Baghdad near a city called Samarra where Istanbul had sent the best army it could muster under the command of the best general it had: Topal Osman Pasha.

Although Nader would make a miraculous comeback from his defeat, destroying Topal Pasha's army, he still failed to capture Baghdad in his subsequent campaign (mainly because of an insurrection in southern Persia which required his immediate presence).