Battles & Wars › Medieval wars › Mongol conquests
Battle of Ain Jalut
September 3, 1260· Battle· Middle East & Africa
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
Egypt's Mamluk army defeated a Mongol force in northern Palestine, often called the first time a Mongol advance was stopped for good.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
After Baghdad, Hülegü's Mongols took Aleppo and Damascus. When news came of the Great Khan's death, Hülegü withdrew most of his army, leaving his general Kitbuqa with perhaps 10,000–20,000 men. Sultan Qutuz and his commander Baybars marched north from Egypt with a similar or larger army of Mamluks, slave-soldiers trained from boyhood as horse archers. At the Spring of Goliath (Ain Jalut) a feigned retreat drew the Mongols into an ambush, and Kitbuqa was killed.
Why it matters
It kept the Mongols out of Egypt and the holy cities of Arabia, fixed a Mongol–Mamluk frontier in Syria and made the Mamluk Sultanate the region's leading power.
How we know
Mamluk chronicles such as al-Maqrizi's, Rashid al-Din's Persian history from the Mongol side, and Hülegü's ultimatum to Qutuz, preserved by Mamluk writers.
Still debated
Army sizes are uncertain. Some Arabic sources mention hand-held fire weapons there; whether these were true early guns is debated.
Connections (2)
▸Battle of Ain Jalut halted the westward advance of Mongol conquestsWell documented
The connection
Ain Jalut drove the Mongols out of Syria and set a frontier along the Euphrates. Mongol armies from Iran invaded Syria several times over the next 40 years, winning at least once, in 1299, but never held it. Egypt, North Africa and the holy cities of Arabia stayed beyond Mongol reach.
When and how
Northern Palestine, September 3, 1260, followed by Mamluk campaigns into Syria; Sultan Qutuz and Baybars against the Mongol general Kitbuqa.
How we know
Mamluk and Persian chronicles agree on the battle and its result, and the later Mongol–Mamluk wars are well recorded on both sides.
Debates and open questions
Hülegü had left with most of his army; whether a full Mongol army would have lost, or Syria's limited pasture would have stopped it anyway, is debated.
▸Siege of Baghdad (1258) was followed by the Mamluk stand at Battle of Ain JalutWell documented
The connection
After Baghdad, Hülegü's army took Aleppo and Damascus in 1260 and sent envoys demanding Egypt's surrender. The Mamluk sultan Qutuz executed them and marched north. By then Hülegü had pulled most of his troops back east after news of Great Khan Möngke's death, leaving his general Kitbuqa a much smaller force to face the Mamluks.
When and how
Iraq and Syria, February 1258 to September 1260; Hülegü, Kitbuqa, Sultan Qutuz and the Mamluk commander Baybars.
How we know
Arabic and Persian chronicles record the sequence from Baghdad to Aleppo, Damascus and Ain Jalut; Mamluk historians quote Hülegü's threatening letter.
Debates and open questions
Whether Hülegü withdrew because of the succession crisis, a looming war with the Golden Horde, or a lack of pasture in Syria is debated.