An-Nasir Yusuf - The Sack of Aleppo

The Sack of Aleppo

The Mongols arrived at Aleppo in December 1259. Turanshah, the uncle of an-Nasir Yusuf, refused to surrender. After a siege of seven days, the Mongols stormed Aleppo and massacred its population for another five days. Turanshah left the city and died a few days later. When the news of the sack of Aleppo reached an-Nasir Yusuf, he and his army fled towards Gaza on January 31, stopping at Nablus for several days and leaving a contingent which may have been intended as a rearguard. After the capture of Damascus, some of the Mongol troops raided Palestine, and fought with an-Nasir's troops in the olive groves of Nablus, defeating the entire force.

Damascus fell to the hands of the Mongols, under general Kitbuqa, 16 days after the sack of Aleppo. The Emirs of Damascus surrendered without resistance.

Once arriving at the border with Egypt, some Emirs of an-Nasir Yusuf abandoned him and joined Qutuz. An-Nasir Yusuf, his son al-Aziz, and his brother al-Zahir were abducted in Gaza by one of his servants and were sent to Hulagu, An-Nasir and his brother were executed after Hulagu heard the news of the defeat of the Mongol army at Ain Jalut by an Egyptian army led by Qutuz and Baibars on September 3, 1260.

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