Samagar, also Cemakar, was a Mongol general of the Il-Khan ruler

Abaqa Khan Abaqa Khan (27 February 1234 – 4 April 1282, , "paternal uncle", also transliterated Abaġa), was the second Mongol ruler ('' Ilkhan'') of the Ilkhanate. The son of Hulagu Khan and Lady Yesünčin and the grandson of Tolui, he reigned from 1265 ...

(1234–1282), mentioned as leading a Mongol invasion force in 1271, in attempted coordination with the

Ninth Crusade Lord Edward's Crusade, sometimes called the Ninth Crusade, was a military expedition to the Holy Land under the command of Edward I of England, Prince Edward Longshanks (later king as Edward I) in 1271 – 1272. In practice an extension of t ...

Background

Little is known about Samagar, but he is mentioned in the context of attempted collaborative operations of the Mongols and the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

. In 1269, the English Prince Edward (the future

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

), had led a small force to the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

as part of the

. When he arrived in Acre on May 9, 1271, the situation in the Holy Land was particularly critical, as the

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

leader

Baibars Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari (; 1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), commonly known as Baibars or Baybars () and nicknamed Abu al-Futuh (, ), was the fourth Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, of Turkic Kipchak origin, in the Ba ...

was besieging the Frankish noble Bohemond VI in the city of Tripoli.

Samagar's campaign

As soon as Edward arrived in Acre, he immediately sent an embassy to the Mongol ruler

, leader of the southwestern

Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...

. Edward's plan was to use the help of the Mongols to attack Baibars."Edward was horrified at the state of affairs in Outremer. He knew that his own army was small, but he hoped to unite the Christians of the East into a formidable body and then to use the help of the Mongols in making an effective attack on Baibars", Runciman, p.335 Abaqa answered positively to Edward's request in a letter dated September 4, 1271: In mid-October 1271, the Mongol troops under Samaghar arrived in Syria and ravaged the land from

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

southward. Abaqa, occupied by other conflicts in

Turkestan Turkestan,; ; ; ; also spelled Turkistan, is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its ...

, had only sent a minimal force of 10,000 Mongol horsemen under Samagar from the occupation army in

Seljuk Seljuk (, ''Selcuk'') or Saljuq (, ''Saljūq'') may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * S ...

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, plus auxiliary Seljukid troops. However, the Mongol advance triggered an exodus of Muslim populations (who remembered the previous campaigns of

Kitbuqa Kitbuqa Noyan (died 1260), also spelled Kitbogha, Kitboga, or Ketbugha, was an Eastern Christian of the Naimans, a group that was subservient to the Mongol Empire. He was a lieutenant and confidant of the Mongol Ilkhan Hulagu, assisting him ...

) as far south as

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

.Grousset p. 653 The Mongols defeated the Turcoman troops that protected Aleppo, putting to flight the Mamluk garrison in that city, and continued their advance to Maarat an-Numan and Apamea.Runciman p. 336 The Mongols stayed only briefly, and never combined forces with Edward. When Baibars mounted a counter-offensive from Egypt on November 12, 1271, the Mongols under Samagar had already retreated beyond the

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

With the Loot, unable to face the full Mamluk army. Edward returned to England in September, 1272.Hindley, pp. 207-208 Samagar later expressed his willingness to the Mamluk Sultan

Qalawun (, – November 10, 1290) was the seventh Turkic Bahri Mamluk sultan of Egypt; he ruled from 1279 to 1290. He was called (, "Qalāwūn the Victorious"). After having risen in power in the Mamluk court and elite circles, Qalawun eventually hel ...

that he could help him negotiate terms with Abaqa.

Coup

According to Marco Polo, Samagar was one of Mongol nobles who assisted Arghun's escape from the captivity of Ahmed Tekuder. Buqa noyan persuaded him and others to help Arghun. Tekuder was defeated by Arghun's army, and eventually executed on August 10, 1284.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * *

Jean-Paul Roux Jean-Paul Roux, PhD (5 January 192529 June 2009) was a French Turkologist, specialist in Islamic culture and an Armenian genocide denier. He was a graduate of the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales, the École du Louvr ...

, ''L'Asie Centrale'', Paris, 1997, * * {{cite book, author=Tyerman, Christopher, author-link = Christopher Tyerman , date=2006, title=God's War: A New History of the Crusades, publisher=Harvard University Press, isbn=0-674-02387-0, url=https://archive.org/details/godswarnewhistor00tyer Generals of the Mongol Empire