In 1251, Tuolei's eldest son Möngke succeeded to the Khan's throne
。 The following year, the sixth brother Hulagu and his elder brother "from the banks of the Amu Darya River to the end of the land of Misal (Egypt) must follow the customs and decrees of Genghis Khan" and began a new round of western expeditions.
He led his army all the way across the Amu Darya River to the west, first surrendering and completely destroying the state of Murray (i.e., the Assasins,
Further reading:
History | The final fall of Assassin's Creed: Hulagu's Destruction of the Old Man in the Mountains
）。
Located in The Mesyaf Castle in Syria, it is also one of the bases of Assasin
At the end of January 1258, the Mongol armies launched a general offensive against Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid dynasty (the "Black Eater").
After the killing of the city archon Abbas Abdul Mutalib, the last caliph, Mustaisim, led the crowd to surrender, and was then "trampled to death by a felt-wrapped horse", the members of the caliph's family were killed, and the Abbasid dynasty was declared extinct.
The fall of Baghdad sent the entire Islamic world into panic that same year.
In August of the same year, the rulers of Mosul, Fars, and the Sultanate of Roma in Asia Minor, while "congratulating Hulagu on his successful occupation of Baghdad," took the initiative to demand their annexation. In addition, the Christian king of Minor Armenia, Haitun I (1215-1270), and Pochmund VI of the Principality of Antioch (son-in-law of Haitun I), also took the initiative to "submit" to Hulagu.
Hulagu's army besieges Baghdad (original image in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France)
In 1259, Hulagu's army divided into three routes and began a military campaign against the Ayyubid dynasty.
In January of the following year, the Mongols captured Aleppo, an important city in northern Syria, and more than 100,000 inhabitants of the city were taken prisoner. Other Syrian cities, intimidated by the Mongol military's might, took the initiative to surrender.
After a short rest, the army quickly moved south,
An attack was launched on the capital damascus.
Ironically, Nasir, the supreme ruler, fled to Egypt early after learning of the fall of Aleppo. At this point, Damascus was reduced to a "borderless city", and the residents of the city fell into endless panic.
The highest secret (minister), Zainudin Surieman, took the initiative to summon the city's officials and religious elders to a meeting to discuss countermeasures. In the end, everyone unanimously decided to take the initiative to "dedicate" the city to Hulegu "to avoid bloodshed". However, the garrison in the city was determined to fight to the end and rejected the "proposal" of surrender.
In March, the Mongol army defeated the defenders of the city and successfully captured Damascus.
According to historical records, Hulagu greatly appreciated Zainudin Surieman's attitude of "judging the hour and sizing up the situation", not only "giving him a golden robe" to show his closeness, but also making him the chief judge of Syria.
Damascus, 1997
After learning that Möngke died in Sichuan (August), Hulagu left the vanguard timidly to continue the march and personally led the main force back to Persia. On September 3, 1260, a decisive battle took place between the two sides on the plain of Ain Jalu near present-day Nablus, Palestine, and the Mongol army was almost completely destroyed, and the Third Western Expedition came to an end.
At the same time, the two sides have waged a bloody decades-long struggle over the "Syrian issue.".
So the question is, why do both countries "value" Syria so much? I checked some information, and then I will talk to you briefly.
Hulagu and his wife, TuchosHadun
Why were the Ilkhanates and the Mamluks so "unhelpful"?
In general, the root cause of the "inaction" of the two countries is Syria, the "place where soldiers must fight".
Why has the Ilkhanate been "undead" towards Syria? The academic circles mainly have the following views:
1) Find outlets for direct trade with the West
From a trade point of view, relying solely on the "indirect" trade routes of Anatolia and Little Armenia is far from "quenching thirst". Therefore, only by fully Syria and grasping the outlet for direct trade between the eastern coastal region of the Mediterranean and the West can we fully promote the country's trade economy and thus earn more commercial benefits.
Area of control of the Mamluk dynasty (1279)
2) Fear of a "powerful alliance" between the Mamluk dynasty and the Golden Horde
In fact, at the beginning of Möngke's reign, Hulagu and the Golden Horde Khan Berer (the brother of Batu,
？ —1267
The relationship was very bad, and later they were even more at war. Therefore, when Bergo took the initiative to seek diplomatic relations with the Mamluk dynasty, he received positive feedback from the other side.
This is what Ilhan did not want to see.
（
Why did the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate, as "brotherly states", always fight each other?
However, if Syria can be successfully occupied, it is undoubtedly equivalent to strangling the throat of the Mamluk dynasty. Needless to say that they no longer dared to "hook up" with the Golden Horde and "join forces" themselves; it was not impossible to completely destroy it, even "march into Africa".
The Mamluk dynasty and the Golden Horde showed a "pinch" against the Ilkhanate
3) Inherit the great cause of "Genghis Khan"
Frankly, hulagu's western expedition was motivated by more than one.
In other words, the Western Expedition not only has the harvest of material wealth, but also has spiritual satisfaction, that is, the glory of "further inheriting and carrying forward the golden family". Apparently, the Mamluk dynasty, which had let itself touch the nail, was the biggest obstacle to the Ilkhanate's "further progress". But
The first thing to completely destroy the Mamluk dynasty is to completely occupy Syria.
4) Innate "natural contradiction"
For the Mamluk dynasty, which has always been the "guardian of The Muslims", the Ilkhanate, which nearly destroyed Islamic civilization, was its greatest "mortal enemy".
If Syria falls, its fate will be even worse than that of the Abbasids.
Thus, during the reign of the three sultans of Baibers (1260-1277), Qaravin (1279-1290) and Nasur (1293-1340), they not only successfully resisted the attacks of the Ilkhanate on many occasions.
In addition, it implemented a diplomatic strategy of long-distance and close attack, aimed at "counter-encircling" the Ilkhanate.
At the moment of the great enemy, the Mamluk dynasty adopted a diplomatic strategy of "peace before war" against the "infidel" Crusaders and Western Christian countries.
They signed truces with the Knights Templar, knights hospitaller, teutonic knights, and commercial cities such as Genoa and Venice, which not only greatly weakened their possibility of allying with the Ilkhanate, but also bought valuable time for the stabilization of the regime (
The Magical Drift of the Yuan Dynasty Chinese: The Adventures of Legan Saoma and Ma Kusi's Journey to the West
The instrument of Ilkhan Aruhun to Philip IV of France intends to unite against the Islamic world
After the country became increasingly stable, the Mamluk dynasty launched a series of planned military operations.
They not only completely uprooted the Crusaders' military fortresses along the Syrian coast, but also completely expelled the Crusaders from the east in 1291. meanwhile
Brutal acts of revenge were also launched against the "little brothers" of several Ilkhanates.
In 1266, for example, they reduced the capital of the Lesser Armenian Kingdom to ruins in present-day Kozan, Turkey.
For the Initiative of the Golden Horde, the Mamluk Dynasty gave quite positive feedback. In 1320, Princess Bald of the Golden Horde married the Mamluk Sultan Đại Nasser, and relations between the two countries took to a new level.
After some operation, the Mamluk dynasty had a great posture of "becoming bigger and stronger".
In the face of the aggressive posture of the Mamluk dynasty, the Ilkhanate also adopted a diplomatic strategy of long-distance and close-range attacks.
This included breaking their strategy of "attacking together" with the Golden Horde by frequently launching wars in Syria.
In other words, the Ilkhanate's war against Syria was not only a military act of territorial expansion, but also a military means of maintaining and consolidating its rule.
Mamluk cavalry, which frequently caused the Ilkhanate to suffer
The main war between the Ilkhanate and the Mamluk dynasty
The Ilkhanate's war against Syria focused on the reigns of Hulagu (1256-1265), Abaha (1265-1282), Ghazan (1295-1304), and Wanddu (1304-1316).
1) Hulagu period
After the death of Möngke Khan, Hulagu took the initiative to stop the war in accordance with the Mongol "customary law" and led the main army back to Persia, entrusting the vanguard to stay in Syria without spending time. The French historian René Grüsser argues that because of "the cowardly non-spending and the fierce conflict of interest with allies",
The Mongol army guarding Syria "may be less than ten thousand."
Such a situation undoubtedly gave the Mamluk dynasty a good opportunity for "revenge".
In September 1260, the two sides fought a decisive battle on the plains of Ain Jalu, near present-day Nablus, Palestine.
The Mongol army suffered a tragic defeat, almost the entire army was destroyed, the commander was cowardly killed, and all the Syrian cities were lost. The fiasco at the Battle of Ain Jaru not only meant that Syria and Egypt, which had been separated for 250 years, were "broken and reunited", but also meant that the Third Western Expedition of the Mongols was completely over.
Siege of the Ilkhanate army
However, the defeat at the Battle of Ein Jaru did not deal a decisive blow to Hulagu's Western Expedition.
On the contrary, the merger of Syria and Egypt and the cowardly death of the army further stimulated Hulagu's "desire for revenge" to attack Syria.
In November 1260, Hulagu took advantage of the civil unrest of the Mamluk dynasty and sent a Mongol army of about 6,000 men (only 1,300 mongols according to Umar's Chronicle of the Kingdoms) to Syria again, and at one point conquered the cities of Aleppo and Hama. However, in the first Battle of Holmes, which broke out in December, the Mongol army was again severely damaged, and Hulagu had to stop the continuation of the attack.
By 1262, the Ilkhanate and the Golden Horde were mired in infighting, and Hulagu had to shift its focus to the Caucasus, and the situation in Syria and Egypt was temporarily "turned around".
In fact, during Hulagu's Western Expedition, he incidentally "took" a lot of the territory that belonged to the Golden Horde
2) The Abaha period
Through the Battle of the Kula River (1266) and the Battle of Herat (1273), the second-generation Ilkhan Abaha successfully relieved the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate of the military threat.
However, the Mamluk dynasty has been frequently launching military strikes against the Lesser Armenian Kingdom and the Rumu region.
In April 1277, the Mamluk army and the Mongol garrison of about 14,000 men in the Rumu region fought a fierce battle in the area of Abrustin (present-day Albistan, Turkey). The Mongol army suffered another tragic defeat, not only the commanders Bald Anduan were killed, "the Mongol army was defeated, and there were only a few survivors", and the losses were extremely heavy.
After hearing the news, Abaha quickly led his army to aid Rumu.
He first ordered the execution of some of the Turkic barbarians who colluded with Mamluk, and left the Jongmyo King HongjiRatai in charge of the town guard, and soon restored local order.
The rider is Abaha, the child is Ghazan Khan (the eldest son of Aruhun), and the bearer is Aruhun (son of Abaha)
After the death of Bybers, the Mamluk dynasty entered a period of turmoil.
In 1279, Qaravin usurped the throne, and the damascus governor Song Huo'er rebelled and defected to the Ilkhanate. In retribution for Abruristan's defeat, Abbaha decided to send troops to Syria.
In 1281, he commissioned Dzongkh Thammar to command 50,000 Mongol troops, and with the assistance of 30,000 Armenians, Georgians, and The French of Bohemond VII, he launched an attack on Syria.
In September, Qalavin personally led an army of 80,000 to fight the Mongol coalition in Homs, known as the Second Battle of Homs.
In this battle, because the wounded busy brother Timur escaped from the battle, the coalition forces had to withdraw from the battlefield early, once again bearing the outcome of defeat.
However, Gailawen, who had a certain upper hand, did not choose the "all-army counter-offensive", but accepted it as soon as it was good, and quickly withdrew from the battlefield.
Mongol nobles of the Ilkhanate
3) The period of Ghazan Khan
After Abaha's death, the Ilkhanate entered a period of turmoil.
At the same time, the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate attacked the borders of the Ilkhanate from time to time, forcing them to turn their attention to northern Transcaucasia and the Khorasan region, and the advance into Syria was put on hold (
The "loser" who could not afford to be hurt: "The empress dowager" suddenly pushed Hadun's practice of "making up the pot" in the Ilkhanate
）
After Hezan Khan took the throne, through a series of effective reform measures, the country's comprehensive strength has been significantly improved in a short period of time (
How did the "Lord of ZTE", Ghazan Khan, save the Ilkhanate?
）。 He then resumed the diplomatic efforts of Hulagu and Abaha, and used troops in Syria three times between 1299 and 1303.
Ghazan Khan who converted to Islam
In October 1299, Ghazan Khan personally led 90,000 cavalry to invade Syria on the grounds that the Mamluk dynasty frequently harassed the border
。 In the face of the tide of the Ayzan Khan's army, the cities of Aleppo and Hama fell without a fight, and the Mamluk dynasty fell into a serious crisis.
In December of the same year, the Third Battle of Holmes broke out
。 Unlike the previous two times, Ghazan Khan won a complete victory with absolute superiority, the Mamluk Sultan Nassur was defeated in Cairo, and cities such as Homs and Damascus took the initiative to pay for surrender.
In 1300, due to the hot weather and the raiding of the border by the chagatai queen Kudulu Fireman, Ghazan Khan returned to the Persian garrison with his troops after appointing a local governor. Not long after, rebellions were launched again in Damascus and other places, and the Ilkhanate occupied Syria for less than 100 days.
In September 1300, the Khan of Ghazan sent Kudu Rusha to lead an army of 30,000 men to lead the way in another conquest of Syria.
At the same time, the Mamluk army, led by Nassir, set out from Cairo and arrived at Damascus. However, because of the cold winter that has not been encountered for many years, many soldiers and livestock have died of frostbite.
Therefore, the second military operation of Ghazan Khan in counterattacking Syria had to be terminated.
The Mongol prince who is studying the Quran
In 1301, the Ilkhanate sent envoys to the Mamluk dynasty to propose unequal terms of peace, which were rejected.
Ghazan Khan, who had been eyeing Syria for a long time, decided to go to Syria for the third time.
In March 1303, the Mongol vanguard commander Kudu Rusha attacked Aleppo and the cities of Hama, and Ghazan Khan then oversaw his division.
In April, Kudu Rusha arrived in Damascus with his army. Soon, the two sides fought a decisive battle in the steppe of Ma'er-Only Sufar.
At the beginning of the war, the Mongol coalition army had a certain advantage, but due to insufficient logistical supplies, it was eventually completely defeated by the Mamluk army. According to historical records, more than 10,000 Mongol allies were captured and more than 20,000 warhorses were lost.
With the total defeat of the Battle of the Sufar Steppe, the Ilkhanate was no longer able to expand outward.
Miniature painting of the Ilkhanate theme
4) All are finished
After the completion of the throne, they followed the foreign policy of their brother Ghazan Khan as always.
However, at this time, the military operations of the Ilkhanate can only be regarded as "small fights" compared with before. In 1312, the Jurchens sent a small Mongol army to attempt to conquer Syria, but to no avail.
Since then, the Mongol army has never crossed the Euphrates River, and the plan to "conquer Syria" has finally become a mirror flower.
Although he ruled the Ilkhanate for 17 years (1317-1335), "he was a puppet of the Mongol feudal lords who ruled in his name and fought for power and profit from each other".
At the same time, along with the covetousness and profligacy of nasturm in the late period of his reign (1309-1340), the Mamluk dynasty no longer had any intentions against the Ilkhanate.
In 1322, the two countries finally signed a peace treaty, and decades of hatred and attack finally came to an end.
Shortly after Bussein's death, the Ilkhanate quickly disintegrated,
It perished in 1355
。 By the end of the 14th century, the Mamluk dynasty had entered a period of turmoil, and was once suppressed by Timur "unable to lift his head" (
Reading Notes: The Timurid Empire in Central Asia, was it the "little brother" of the Ming Dynasty?
In January 1517, the Mamluk dynasty was finally destroyed by the Ottoman Turks.
Ottoman Turkey from 1359 to 1856
epilogue
There is no doubt that the Ilkhanate's military campaign against Syria has caused great loss of property and life to the local and even domestic military and civilians.
In Syria, tens of thousands of people have been killed or taken into slavery, many cities have been destroyed, and social productivity and industries have been severely damaged.
Mongol cavalry
During the reign of Ghazan Khan, although all Mongols in the territory of the Ilkhanate were forcibly "converted" to Islam,
But in the process of attacking Syria, these "Mongolian Muslims" were "not at all soft.". For example, after the Third Battle of Holmes,
The inhabitants of Damascus not only paid "war reparations" of 1 million dinars, but were also frequently severely killed by the Mongol coalition.
Islamic sources write,
"For there were nearly 100,000 dead, and the amount of praise offered was 300,600,000 black wood. In addition, 20,000 cuckoos and camels were supplied daily, and the needs of the Court of Hezan, The Qibuchak and the Mongol generals were supplied day by day, until ordinary soldiers and pawns were plundered for their own sustenance. ”
In 1301, Ghazan Khan attacked Syria for the second time.
Although the two sides were unable to engage due to weather conditions, the Mongol army still plundered the cities of northern Syria. The Dosan Mongol History writes,
"When the Mongol army arrived, the horses, cattle and sheep were not counted, and there were many men, women, and children, and so many were captured, and only ten men and women were sold for a price of ten black wood."
Looking back, for a long time,
The Mamluk dynasty assumed the responsibility of "guardian of Islamic civilization",
Not only has it been widely recognized by the Muslim world, but its status image has also taken a qualitative leap.
Ghazan Khan on horseback
In addition, frequent conquests with the Mamluk dynasty also caused heavy losses to the Mongol population.
The Battle of Ain Jaru, the First Battle of Homs, and the costly Second Battle of Homs all ended in defeat in the Ilkhanate.
According to the data, in the Battle of Abrustin in 1277, the Mongol army lost 6770 people; in the Battle of the Sufar Steppe in 1303, more than 10,000 Allied soldiers were captured, and countless people died.
You know, at the beginning of Hulagu's reign as Khan, the Mongols (including old, weak, women and children) who entered Persia added up to only 200,000.
The frequent Syrian wars not only seriously weakened the strength of the Ilkhanate, but also consumed a lot of money, and the internal contradictions became more acute, further shaking the "national fundamentals".
Less than a hundred years of rule fell apart
。