The Second Battle of Homs was fought in western Syria on 29 October 1281, between the armies of the

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

dynasty of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

and the

Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm ...

, a division of the

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, ...

centered on

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. The battle was part of

Abaqa Khan Abaqa Khan (27 February 1234 – 4 April 1282, mn, Абаха/Абага хан (Khalkha Cyrillic), ( Traditional script), "paternal uncle", also transliterated Abaġa), was the second Mongol ruler (''Ilkhan'') of the Ilkhanate. The son of Hul ...

's attempt at taking

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

from the Egyptians.

Prelude

After the Mamluk victories over Mongols at Ain Jalut in 1260 and Albistan in 1277, the Il-khan Abaqa sent his brother

Möngke Temur Möngke Temür ( or ) or Dudu Mengtemu (Manchu: ;遼寧省檔案館『滿州實錄上函』 ) (1370–1433) was a Jurchen chieftain of the Odoli tribe, one of the three tribes of the lower Sunggari river valley in Manchuria. In the 1380s the tri ...

at the head of a large army which numbered about 40–50,000 men, chiefly

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

under Leo II and

Georgians The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, ...

under Demetrius II. Homs was the first time that the Mamluks faced the Mongol army at full strength. On 20 October 1280, the Mongols took

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

, pillaging the markets and burning the mosques. The Muslim inhabitants fled for Damascus, where the Mamluk leader

Qalawun ( ar, قلاوون الصالحي, – November 10, 1290) was the seventh Bahri Mamluk sultan; he ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1290. He was called (, "Qalāwūn the Victorious"). Biography and rise to power Qalawun was a Kipchak, ancient Turki ...

assembled his forces.

Battle

On 29 October 1281, the two armies met south of

Homs ar, حمصي, Himsi , population_urban = , population_density_urban_km2 = , population_density_urban_sq_mi = , population_blank1_title = Ethnicities , population_blank1 = , population_blank2_t ...

, a city in western Syria. In a pitched battle, the Armenians, Georgians and

Oirats Oirats ( mn, Ойрад, ''Oirad'', or , Oird; xal-RU, Өөрд; zh, 瓦剌; in the past, also Eleuths) are the westernmost group of the Mongols whose ancestral home is in the Altai region of Siberia, Xinjiang and western Mongolia. Histor ...

under King Leo II and Mongol generals routed and scattered the Mamluk left flank, but the Mamluks personally led by Sultan Qalawun destroyed the Mongol centre. Möngke Temur was wounded and fled, followed by his disorganized army. However, Qalawun chose to not pursue the defeated enemy, and the Armenian-Georgian auxiliaries of the Mongols managed to withdraw safely.

Aftermath

The following year, Abaqa died and his successor,

Tekuder Ahmed Tekuder ( Mongolian: ''Tegülder'', meaning “perfect”; fa, تکودر) (c.1246 10 August 1284), also known as Sultan Ahmad (reigned 1282–1284), was the sultan of the Persian-based Ilkhanate, son of Hulegu and brother of Abaqa. He w ...

, reversed his policy towards the Mamluks. He converted to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

and forged an alliance with the Mamluk sultan. According to Nicholas Morton, the Battle of Homs was an important turning point in the expansion of the Mongol Empire, as it was the first time that a full-scale Mongol invasion could be repelled on the western frontier.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Cite book, last=Waterson, first=James, title=The Knights of Islam: The Wars of the Mamluks, publisher=Greenhill Books, location=London, year=2007, ISBN=978-1-85367-734-2 Homs 2 1281 in Asia 13th century in the Mamluk Sultanate Homs

Homs 2 Homs 2 1281 in the Mongol Empire

Prelude

Battle

Aftermath

See also

Notes

Bibliography