mongol expansion & eurasian commercial axes 57
the great army invaded syria in september 1259.95 the principal cities
were quickly occupied in spring. while general Ket Bugha completed the
conquest of the country, a Mongol governor was installed in damascus.96
the gates to the final goal, egypt, were open wide.
however, the Mongol onslaught was turned from its expected path by
an event whose consequences could not at the time have been predicted:
in august 1259, the great Khan Möngke had died in china.97 the analogy
with the fateful year of 1241, when Ögödei died, is self-evident.98 the pros-
pect of an intra-Mongol war, such as had already broken out once before
over the succession to the imperial throne, was especially grim for hülegü,
since his political support collapsed with Möngke’s death. in the absence
of this support, the status—and the future—of the commander-in-chief
of the western campaign became entirely uncertain.
in order to be as close as possible to where the empire’s fate, and his
own, would be decided, hülegü left syria with the majority of his troops,
heading east. at most 20,000 troops remained behind in the garrisons,
under Ket Bugha’s command,99 which persuaded the Mamluk sultan in
cairo that the time had come to seek a battle with the Mongols. the deci-
sive battle took place in palestine at ‛ayn Jālūt (the “spring of goliath”) on
3rd september 1260. despite fighting fiercely, the Mongol contingent was
destroyed: their commander perished bravely and a few survivors man-
aged to flee northward. the sultan made a triumphant entry into damas-
cus, while his troops annexed Muslim syria as far as the euphrates.100
“won the immortal crown, as a faithful subject of god and the ilkhan” (dulaurier, “Mon-
gols,” 11, 1860, p. 294).
95 syria was divided between crusader rule and the ayyubids; the principality of anti-
och and county of tripoli in the north were ruled by Bohemond iV, while in the south
the Kingdom of Jerusalem was actually a federation of various entities, either aristocratic
(e.g. tyre) or communes (e.g. acre), but not including Jerusalem and not ruled by a king;
the interior of the country, with aleppo and damascus, belonged to the ayyubid dynasty,
descended from the famous saladin.
96 crossing Kurdestan, hülegü conquered the city of nusaybin and received the sub-
mission of edessa and harran; aleppo fell on 24th January to a joint Mongol-christian
siege; hama submitted, followed by damascus on 1st March 1260; abu ’l-Fidā’ gave a
detailed account of events (RHC HO, i, p. 143).
97 grousset, Empire, p. 351, spuler, Mongolen, p. 51, Jackson, “dissolution,” p. 230.
98 this led to the end of hostilities in europe and the rapid withdrawal of the Mongols
to the east (cf. pp. 43–44).
99 rashīd al-dīn/Quatremère, pp. 341–342; spuler, Mongolen, p. 56.
100 see the reconstruction of events and primary and secondary bibliographies in tho-
rau, “Battle,” pp. 91–108 (chapter ‘die schlacht von ʿayn Ǧālūt und sultan Qutuz’ ende’);
amitai-preiss, Mongols, pp. 26–48 (chapter ‘the battle of ʿayn Jālūt’) and idem, “after-
math,” pp. 1–21.