to appoint sanjak-beys to the sanjaks of Aleppo, at that point there was little time for the new district governors to consolidate their position. His appointee to Marash, Haydar Bey, was unable to oust the grand vizier's general Zulfikar Pasha from the post and the latter's forces remained positioned north of the Taurus Mountains against Ali. He also could not rely on his ally Tavilahmedoglu Mehmed, who had been besieged in Baghdad by government forces led by Nasuh Pasha in April–July 1607 and eventually killed. Meanwhile, Ali's domination of Damascus had come to an end in April with the appointment of his enemy as beylerbey there, Sinan Pasha's son Mahmud Pasha. Military assistance from Tuscany in the relatively modest form of five cannons and 1,000 musket barrels was also not slated to arrive for another six to ten months, while a Tuscan attempt to invade Cyprus, partly to support Ali, was repulsed in August. Ali publicly proclaimed in Aleppo that he served only Sultan Ahmed and threatened the grand vizier "would taste the strength of his army" should he proceed toward his domains. Although an opportunity to attack Murad Pasha's army as it crossed eastward past Misis presented itself to Ali, he left such an opportunity open to Kalenderoglu, not knowing the latter had reconciled with Murad Pasha. Ali determined the most favorable place to assault the grand vizier was the mountain pass of Bakras, where he dispatched his sekban to fortify themselves. Murad Pasha departed Adana in late September, crossed the Ceyhan River at Misis, but took an alternative northern route instead of the road leading through Bakras; the alternative route was about longer than the southern Bakras route. Ali was taken by surprise upon Murad Pasha's arrival in the plains north of Kilis and compelled him to revise his strategy away from the familiar hilly terrain of Bakras where his sekbans were most accustomed to fighting to the plains of Kirikan or east banks of the Afrin River where the grand vizier's field artillery was most effective. Ali encamped with about 25,000 of his sekbans and other cavalries in the wide Amik Valley near Lake Amik. Zulfikar's patrols engaged with Ali's troops for three days while the grand vizier's army rested until 23 October when clashes culminated into a pitched battle. Although Ali's men killed the sanjak-beys of Kostendil and Selanik, his important lieutenant Jin Ali Bolukbashi was