Area Alliances
In the second half of the 13th century, civil war had erupted in the Mongol Empire. In the Middle East, this manifested as conflict between the Mongols of the Golden Horde, and the Mongols of the Ilkhanate, who battled over claims on Georgia and Azerbaijan. Both the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate sought to strengthen their position via trade agreements or other types of alliances with other powers in the area. In 1261, Berke of the Golden Horde allied with the Mamluk Sultan Baibars, against their common enemy the Ilkhanate. This alliance was both strategic, and also in terms of trade exchanges, as the Egyptians had been the Golden Horde's long-standing trade partner and ally in the Mediterranean.
For their part, the Mongols of the Ilkhanate sought (unsuccessfully) an alliance with the Franks of Europe, but did form a Byzantine-Mongol alliance with the Christian Byzantine Empire.
Read more about this topic: Mongol Invasions Of Syria
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