Hulagu Khan - Conquest of Syria (1260)

Conquest of Syria (1260)

In 1260 Mongol forces combined with those of their Christian vassals in the region, including the army of Cilician Armenia under Hetoum I and the Franks of Bohemond VI of Antioch. This force conquered Muslim Syria, domain of the Ayyubid dynasty. They took the city of Aleppo and, under the Christian general Kitbuqa, also took Damascus on March 1, 1260 . A Christian Mass was celebrated in the Grand Mosque of the Umayyads (the former cathedral of Saint John the Baptist), and numerous mosques were profaned. Many historical accounts describe the three Christian rulers (Hetoum, Bohemond, and Kitbuqa) entering the city of Damascus together in triumph, though some modern historians such as David Morgan have questioned this story as apocryphal.

The invasion effectively destroyed the Ayyubid Dynasty, theretofore powerful ruler of large parts of the Levant, Egypt, and Arabia. The last Ayyubid king An-Nasir Yusuf was killed by Hulagu in 1260. With the Islamic power center of Baghdad gone and Damascus weakened, the center of Islamic power transferred to the Egyptian Mamluks in Cairo.

Hulagu's intent was to continue south through Palestine towards Cairo to engage the Mamluks. However, Great Khan Möngke had died in late 1259, requiring Hulagu to return Karakorum to engage in choosing the next Great Khan. He departed with the bulk of his forces, leaving only about 10,000 Mongol horsemen in Syria under Kitbuqa to occupy the conquered territory. Kitbuqa's forces engaged in raids southward towards Egypt, reaching as far as Ascalon and Jerusalem, and a Mongol garrison of about 1,000 was placed in Gaza, with another garrison located in Naplouse.