27.3 The near east: a.d. 1201 to 1300

The near east

Back to The Near East: A.D. 1101 to 1200

If the reader is perusing this manuscript as a narrative and reading straight through, it is suggested at this point that he stop and turn now to CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA, this chapter, as the great Mongol invasions affected all parts of Eurasia and it will be important to have an understanding of the Mongol people, their organization and their homeland before attempting to interpret the remaining material in this 13th century.

Arabia and jordan

Except for the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, Arabia once again sank into oblivion and remained only on the fringe of world activity.

Coastal areas of israel and lebanon

This area and particularly Jerusalem, was the scene of the Moslem-Christian battles incident to the Crusades. The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, which had been established in 1099, lasted less than a hundred years, but the Ayyubid Sultanate of Syria still allowed Christians to have that city and a small coastal corridor to prevent additional pin-pricking crusades. (Ref. 137 ) The Knights Templar and Hospitallers order of Italian Christian Knights continued to dominate the narrow coastal area until Acre finally fell to the Turks in 1291.

The Hospitallers then withdrew to Cyprus, taking sugar, which they had encountered in Syria, with them. (Ref. 260 ) In the meantime the Mamluk Turks from Egypt had defeated the Moslem forces from Syria in the great battle at Ain Jalut, near Nazareth, on September 3, 1260.

Iraq and syria

The small Abbasid Caliphate, which had existed for about a century at the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates was brutally crushed by the Mongols in 1258. The advancement of the Mongols into Iraq at that particular time can be traced to the actions of Louis IX of France, who had sent a Crusade to Egypt on the assumption that Eljigidei, in control of Persia, had turned Christian and that the French from Egypt and those Mongols from Persia could crush the Moslems between them. Unfortunately, the Mamluk Baibars forced the starving French army to surrender and Mangku, the Supreme Khan after 1251, ordered Hulegu, a grandson of Genghis, to advance through Syria to Egypt. Syria had refused to be governed by anyone not descended from Saladin and had crowned al-Nasir, King of Aleppo, as their independent sultan. But Hulegu began the bombardment of Baghdad on January 1, 1258, and by February 13th the city was sacked and the Moslem population massacred. Some Christian soldiers from Georgia, who had joined forces with Hulegu, took part in this with relish. The caliph and his sons were sewn up in carpets and trampled to death by Mongol horses. Finally the Mongol armies, themselves, were forced to abandon the city because of the stench of the corpses. It is of interest that Hulegu was a Buddhist, his favorite commander, Ked-Buka, was a Christian and so was his senior wife, Dokuz-Khatun, a Nestorian. (Ref. 27 )

After Baghdad fell, Aleppo and Damascus sent word of surrender. It was at that time, however, that Mangku, the Supreme Khan, died of dysentery and Hulegu withdrew his army to Azerbaijan and the Syrian campaign was cancelled so that Islam was saved (A.D. 1259). Hulegu left for Mongolia, leaving Ked Buka in charge and it was the latter, with the remnants of the Mongol army that was defeated by the Mamluks at Ain Jalut, outside of Nazareth in 1260. The Mamluks were helped by a few Christians and a few tumen from the Golden Horde from Russia. But even with that defeat, Hulegu's soldiers stayed in Iraq and after his death in 1265 that area was ruled by his son, Abaka, who sent ambassadors to Europe several times to ask for a combined Christian-Mongol attack on Baibars, the Turk of Egypt. Finally Pope Gregory X replied that a campaign against the Moslems would be made within three years but it didn't materialize and in the meantime the Mongols lost control of Damascus. The last Christian garrison in Syria, at Crak des Cheoaliers, surrendered to Baibars in 1271 and the now militant Hospitallers moved to Cyprus and then to Rhodes. (Ref. 27 , 118 , 42 )