Battle of Ayn Jalut

Background

After taking Baghdad and killing the Abbasid caliph in 1258, the Mongol ruler Hülegü seized Aleppo and Damascus in 1260. The king of Armenian Cilicia and Prince Bohemond VI of Antioch had declared allegiance to the Mongols. But on news of the death of the Great Khan Möngke, Hülegü returned east with most of the army, leaving a smaller force in Syria under Kitbuqa. Hülegü sent a letter demanding the submission of the Egyptian sultan Qutuz; Qutuz had the Mongol envoys killed.

Course of events

Qutuz left Egypt with his army in July 1260. The Latin barons of Acre allowed the Mamluk army to pass through their territory and obtain supplies, but did not join the fighting. Baybars found the Mongols with the vanguard and drew them to Ayn Jalut, the area of springs in Galilee.

In the battle on 3 September, the Mamluk cavalry met the Mongol charge and then counterattacked. Kitbuqa was killed on the field, or captured and executed. The Mongol army broke up, and within weeks the Mamluks took Damascus and Aleppo.

Outcome and significance

Ayn Jalut halted the Mongol advance from Syria toward Egypt and was celebrated as a great victory in the Islamic world. But Qutuz was killed in October 1260 by Baybars and other emirs on the way back to Egypt; Baybars became sultan.

For the Latin states, the battle meant paying in the long run for their neutrality in the Mongol–Mamluk conflict: a powerful Mamluk state uniting Egypt and Syria eliminated the Latin coastal cities one by one over the next thirty years.

Sources and debates

Mamluk sources, especially Ibn Abd al-Zahir and al-Maqrizi, emphasise Baybars's role. Mongol and Armenian sources stress Kitbuqa's courage. The permission the Franks gave the Mamluks and the reasons for their neutrality are briefly described in Latin sources. Army sizes are disputed.