Mongol Battles, Battle of Ain Jalut Options

[Anda]

(IMG:http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e189/anda_mn/Mongol%20Chinggis%20History/Mongolvsadnik.jpg)

Battle of Ain Jalut

In 1259 Qutuz, a former slave (Mamluk) of Cairo, became Sultan. It didn't take him too long to become aquainted with Mongol influences.

From the King of Kings of the East and West, the Great Khan. To Qutuz the Mamluk, who fled to escape our swords. You should think of what happened to other countries and submit to us. You have heard how we have conquered a vast empire and have purified the earth of the disorders that tainted it. We have conquered vast areas, massacring all the people. You cannot escape from the terror of our armies. Where can you flee? What road will you use to escape us? Our horses are swift, our arrows sharp, our swords like thunderbolts, our hearts as hard as the mountains, our soildiers as numerous as the sand. Fortresses will not detain us, nor arms stop us. Your prayers to God will not avail against us. We are not moved by tears nor touched by lamentations. Only those who beg our protection will be safe. Hasten your reply before the fire of war is kindled. Resist and you will suffer the most terrible catastrophes. We will shatter your mosques and reveal the weakness of your God and then we will kill your children and your old men together. At present you are the only enemy against whom we have to march.

Hmm! Submit or fight? Quick in his decision, Qutuz had the Mongol letter-bearing ambassadors cut up with their heads placed on Cairo's Zuwila gate. This meant war.

As Hulegu was assembling a massive army to march onto Egypt, it was cut short of its goal due to the death of the Great Khan Monge. Hulegu would be needed elsewhere. He moved back to his Iranian base leaving two tumens under Kitbuqa. This general would be given the order to attack Egypt with about 20,000 troops.

In the mean time, Qutuz, with 20,000 men of his own, was trying to win favor of the Crusader states. The Crusaders were in a bind themselves. To ally with the moslems and face Mongol retribution or give aid and safe passage to Qutuz and the Mamluks? The latins picked sides with the Mamluks. Another important figure helped Qutuz and it was an old nemisis, Baibars. Realizing that the Mongols would pick each apart they decided to unit against them.

Instead of defensive battles, the Mamluks felt they would have a better chance if they were the aggressors. In 1260 the enlarged Mamluk army advanced to the gaza and the outskirts of Acre. Baibars' troops met and engaged triumphantly a small Mongol detachement. Qutuz ordered his army to procede southwest. At the Spring of Goliath of Ain Jalut the two armies would meet. This land was wide and suitable for steppe warfare.

The terrain suited the Mamluks first. They placed cavalry in the surrounding hills and Baibars vanguard into the front. Patiently they waited. Baibars made contact with a few Mongol troops. He chased them back to the top of a hill. There he saw the main contingent of Mongols watching and waiting. Before he could say "Oh Sh*t!", he turned his troops around and headed back to the main Mamluk army.

On this Friday of September 3, 1260 the battle raged. The alerted Mongols charged at the retreating Mamluks. Yet Baibars led them into disarray. He ordered the remainder of his men to turn around and face the enemy. It was a feigned retreat. The Mongols were lured into a familiar trap they so often had doomed others with. Realizing their committment in the engagement, Kitbuqa ordered his troops to charge into the Mamluk left flank. After a see saw swaying of sweat and steel, the defenders wavered. As the Mamluk's wing gave way it appeared that the whole army might lose its advantage and even the battle. Qutuz threw his helmut to the ground in front of his engaged troops and shouted three times, "O Moslems". The lines he stood by solidified. Qutuz led a countercharge that shook the Mongols. Shocked as they were the Mongols were still formidable. The Mamluks responded to their leader yelling again, "Allah, help your servant Qutuz against the Mongols". A final and decisive frontal attack finished off the Mongol soldiers. Kitbuqa was caught and defiant. "If you kill me now when Hulegu Khan hears of my death, all the country from Aerbyjan to Egypt will be trampled beneath the hoofs of Mongol horses. All of my life I have been a slve of the Khan. I am not, llike you a murderer of my master". Kitbuqa was executed and his head sent to Cairo to mark victory over the Mongols. His troops either killed or fled.

Tragedy of errors, Qutuz' victory was short lived as was his life. Baibars in one masterful stroke of murder and survival of the fittist, stabbed him to death. It would be Baibars who entered Egypt at the head of the victorious Mamluk army.

Though not the first, Ain Jalut showed the world that the Mongols could be defeated. The last defendable Islamic lands held out successfully. It would take the Mongols 21 years to exact their attempt at revenge. On 1281, October 29 - Mamluk sultan Qalawun would defeat an invasion of Syria by Mongol Ilkhan Abaqa Khan at the Battle of Homs.

The Mongols were steppe warriors. They often faced enemies similar to them and had won. The Mamluk had a few major differences though that eventually lead them to victory.

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Mamluke numbers 120,000 from
http://www.lbdb.com/TMDisplayBattle.cfm?BID=337
http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9011508
Ain Jalut
War: Mongol Wars
Other name(s): Ayn Julut

Date: 3 Sep 1260
Location:
Outcome: Mamluk victory over Mongols Decisive battle

Overview: A decisive victory by the Mamluks led by Baybars over the Mongol army led by Kitbuga. Baybars' army of 120,000 troops were able to trap the 10,000 man Mongol army at Ain Julut. The Mamluks completely destroyed the Mongols. Their victory stopped the westward expansion of the Mongol empire.
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Qutuz and Baibars are said to have brought 20,000 Egyptian Mamluks with them into the battle. And these soldiers were joined by troops of Turcomans and Bedouins. The number of state owned Mamluks was very small back at the time of Qutuz. They were not over 20,000 well trained Mamluks. That number may even be too high. Most of the auxilliaries were from Arab and Turk tribes and Qutuz had much time to plan his advance. So it is concievable that he collected large numbers.

20,000 Mongol vs 120,000 Mamluke+Arab Turk tribes was too much of difference in numbers

[Kultigin]

number of mameluke soldiers are exaggerated i think :s

[Anda]

number of mameluke soldiers are exaggerated i think :s

I searched the numbers of both sides. I could not find anything significantly different. Certainly Mongols were lot less than opposition as usual.

1. Kitbuq-Mongol general was certainly overpowered and outnumbered by Baybars. By the way Kitbuq was a christian. From his last words "If you kill me now when Hulegu Khan hears of my death, all the country from Aerbyjan to Egypt will be trampled beneath the hoofs of Mongol horses. All of my life I have been a slave of the Khan. I am not, llike you a murderer of my master" -he is truly Mongol.

2. Kitbuqa tried to make ally from Crusader Templars. But templars refused to give supply of soldiers and horse. Templars allied with Baybars. Templars were punished for their malicious acts later on, all burned on stake centuries later in France.

3. Hulagu never take revenge of Kitbuqa as Kitbuqa hoped for. Hulagu was too busy with fighting fellow Mongolian Berke. I think Berke Khan and Mamlukes were coordinated the attack. Mamlukes were well prepared for the fight, they have managed to collect more than 100000 soldiers.
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We need real facts, date, data and maps would be great.

This post has been edited by Anda: Apr 27 2006, 01:53 PM

[Kultigin]

Anda Baybars didnt knowed arabic, even refused to speak arabic. His army whas fully Turkic, he tought arabs wherent so good as the steppe people and they didnt take them in their army. So i dont think he could get 120k of Turkic (even circassian) soldiers out there in Ain jalut.

I think they where equal by numbers of soldiers, or more but not 120k

[TeNGRiKuT]

yes he brought turk soldiers from caucausus and noth of black sea. mostly kıpchak turks. he was also a kıpchak turk. anyway mamelukes are a turkic government in an arabic country

[M-warrior]

I heard different side of this story. Just before the battle of Ain-Jalun. Crusaders were supposedly ally Mongolian forces in this war. But, Hulagu actually didn't concern much about conquering Egypt. Although, it was Mongol principle to crush anyone who opposes them, and crush them good, even if you have to chase them million miles like the chasing of Kipchaks refugees into Europe or chasing Kworezma shaqs into palestine. Hulagu actually concerning about the civil war in Mongolia, between Khubilai Khan and Arigh Bukhe. So he dispached small number of troops with Khit Buga, christian mongol general aided by Georgians, Armenians and Syrian christians. European crusaders should join them in the fight. But they did the unthinkable, and stole some horse from Mongolians. Betrayel is something Chinggis Khan and mongolians hated the most and they sacked a several christian crusader castle. That is a cultural clush between steppe warriors and europeans. If you steal from a friend in europe, probably court will fine you, or if you bribe the court or church, you can get away with it. For Mongolians, why do you think they have been chasing their enemies: mergets, kipchaks, turkomans for a generations long war? We finish the enemies for good. Otherwise, they will haunt you back in the future. It was the law of the Mongol and turkish tribes.
Back to the story, when Mongols reached Ain Jalun, Mongolian horses were tired of the desert crossing and the templers' castle Acre, near the Ain Jalut, refused to assist Mongolian army. But they opened their gate to Mamluks and welcomed their guests possibly with intelligence and supplies. Also, importantly they fed and rested mamluk horses from the fatique of Sinai desert crossing. It's also possible that exactly same time, Batu Khan was in Europe and the whole Europe was almost under Mongolian conquest, and Templers and other european crusaders might have heard of this situation in Europe. The number of the army is never very relevent to Mongol army success. They always had small number of troops who achieved the victory through brilliant tactics. But there was some kind of influence from betrayel of crusaders.
Just a few years after the Ain Jalut's battle, mamluks sacked crusaders and the Acre and other crusader castles have conquered by muslims. They paid the price of that betrayel.
Anyway, this was the first ever Mongolian loss in 100 something years of campaign that started by the great Chinggis Khan. After "Ain Jalut", expansion of Mongols stopped, and the internal struggle has begun. Mamluks were the only muslim nation that didn't lost to Mongol power and survived muslim. Can you believe this story? Mongolians fighting with Egyptians and the head units of Mongol army appeared near the Gaza sector and Sinai peninsula. No nation from central, south, northeast or east asia ever reached that far. Maybe Tamerlane, but he was also part of the Mongol liniege.

So here's the interesting question! What if Baybars lost to Khit Buga? What if Mamluks lost in "Ayn Jalut"? What if crusaders aided Mongolian forces fully?

There's a one fortress at the Nile river in Egypt dated back to the time of pharoahs, and that's only historcal defence of Egypt. If you take that then "it's smooth ride" all the way to Morocco. There was no strong force on the way from Egypt to Morocco. Hulagu's empire then might expand to Spain! and so on...

Oh... reference: Leo Gumilev's book "Black Legend"

[Anda]

Oh... reference: Leo Gumilev's book "Black Legend"

Thx for good post


I could not find that book in English online. Please let me know what is the web link?

[Anda]

Mamlukes-
- The Mamluke Period in Egypt (1250-1517)
Baybars, one of the great Ayyubid commanders, seized power in the aftermath of Shajarat Ad-Durr's murder but his heirs were murdered by Qalawun, another Mamluke who established the Bahri Mamluke dynasty, named after the Mamluke garrison along the Nile River (Bahr Al-Nil).
During his reign Sultan Qalawun became a great patron of architecture and constructed mosques, fortresses and other buildings in Cairo. Qalawun also established relations many foreign countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. Qalawun's son and successor, Mohammed An-Nasir who reigned for nearly half a century, from 1294-1340, was also a great patron of architecture.
The Mamluke armies of Sultan Mohammed An-Nasir shocked the seemingly unstoppable Mongol armies by defeating them on the Syrian battlefield. The descendants of Mohammed An-Nasir were weak and the Turkish Bahri Mamluke dynasty gradually lost control of the sultanate which was seized by the Circassian Mamluke Barquq who established the Burgi Mamluke dynasty, named after the Mamluke garrison set beneath the Citadel In Cairo. Although Sultan Mohammed An-Nasir had made a treaty with the Mongols, they remained on the borders of Syria and Sultan Barquq campaigned against the Mongols to drive them out of the Near East altogether.
Heavy taxation was levied to pay for these campaigns, debilitating the economy of Egypt. Conditions were exacerbated by a plague that swept through the country during the reign of Barquq's son Farag. It was not until the reign of Sultan Barsbey that Egypt regain its power. Barsbey recognized the rising power and potential threat of the Ottoman Turks and established good relations with them. He also extended Mamluki trade. Nevertheless, the Mamluke economy remained unstable for nearly a century until the reign of Sultan Qait Bey, another great Mamluki builder, who constructed mosques, madrassas and other buildings throughout the empire.
The 46th Mamluki sultan was Qansuh Al Ghuri who continued the Mamluki architectural tradition but saw his economy crash after European traders began using the Cape of Good Hope for their spice trade rather than trading through Cairo. To add insult to injury, the Ottomans attacked Mamluke Syria and Sultan Qansuh fell in battle in 1516. The following year Tuman was executed by the Ottomans, signaling the end of the Mamluke Empire and the beginning of Ottoman rule, but the Mamlukes remained a powerful force within Egypt throughout the Ottoman period and beyond.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamluk

[Suren911]

I learned about this in my nomadic empires class. It's very interesting and amazing at the same time that people fought on daily basis back then. I come back from a football game and I'm all tired and sore all over, let alone imagining daily wars lol. Kudos to our warrior ancestors.

[lovelytruth]

ok good tnk u