In the preceding article, I discussed the reign of Sultan Qutuz who assumed governance of Egypt following the dethronement of Sultan Al-Mansour, at a juncture when the Mongol menace and their intimidations were drawing nigh, and the judges, jurists, and notables had reached a consensus to confront them. The article further elucidated the origins of the Mongols as a conglomeration of tribes residing on the Mongolian plateau, situated north of the Gobi Desert. These tribes subsequently unified under the dominion of Genghis Khan, who achieved victory over the Emperor of China and seized his capital, Beijing, leading to a continuous expansion of Genghis Khan’s realm. The Abbasid Caliph Al-Nasir had sought the assistance of the Mongols to assault the Khwarazmian state. However, as the Khwarazmians had previously entered into a commercial treaty with the Mongols, the Caliph’s missive garnered no attention. Nonetheless, the divergences between the Mongols and the Khwarazmians escalated in severity until war erupted between the two factions. Genghis Khan successfully brought the Transoxiana region under his control and subsequently seized the capital Khwarazm in 618 AH (1221 AD). Concerning this event, it is recounted: “The fall of Khwarazm is considered among the most momentous occurrences between the Muslims and the Mongols at that time. Upon their ingress into the city, the Mongols massacred all its inhabitants, with the exception of artisans and craftsmen, whom they relocated to their homelands. Furthermore, they enslaved women and children, plundered the city’s contents, and thereafter inundated it after demolishing the dam that regulated the flow of the Jayhoun River.” The Mongols then proceeded to seize the region of Khorasan and its constituent cities, meticulously devastating every locale traversed by their armies and incinerating surplus grain beyond their exigencies.
The Mongols encountered a series of internal conflicts, including the revolt of the Taiyigut tribes and military engagement with the Song Empire in southern China. Genghis Khan passed away in 624 AH (1227 AD), and his son Ögedei was elected Khan in 626 AH (1229 AD), who thereupon resumed westward expansion. This enabled them to subjugate Azerbaijan, Georgia, and subsequently Erbil. Historians recorded: “Their emergence in the upper Euphrates instilled dread and apprehension throughout the Levant, and their impending invasion of Iraq, the Jazira region, and Asia Minor became a foregone conclusion, serving as a preliminary step for their advance towards the Levant and Egypt.”
The prevailing conflicts and hostilities within the Jazira region (presently encompassing northeastern Syria, northwestern Iraq, and southeastern Turkey, forming the northern expanse of Mesopotamia) facilitated the progress of the Mongols, who marched towards regions of Western Asia after consolidating their dominance over: the Northern Chinese Empire, Central Asia, Iran, Georgia, the Caucasus, Russia, Poland, the Anatolian region which comprises eight nations: Thailand, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, and China.
In 648 AH (1250 AD), Möngke Khan was elected Great Khan of the Mongols. His objective was expansion, and he entrusted this formidable task to his brother Hulagu, who commenced the invasion of Iraq, then under the suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Musta’sim, at a period marked by intensified conflicts and conspiracies: “Indeed, at that time, multiple centers of power proliferated within the capital of the Caliphate, differing amongst themselves due to political and doctrinal factors. The wielders of authority, including the administration of public affairs, were locked in contention and mutual animosity, each meticulously orchestrating conspiracies against the other, and undermining their counterparts’ opinions before the Caliph, who stood incapacitated, unable to resolve these vexations.” During these tumultuous events, Hulagu entreated Caliph Al-Musta’sim to furnish him with an army, so as to participate alongside the Mongol forces in the eradication of the Ismailis “a Shia’ sect, also advocating for the Imamate, as their adherents attributed the Imamate after the sixth Imam, Ja’far al-Sadiq, to his son Ismail, from whom they derived their appellation, and who were occasionally referred to as Al-Batiniyya. It appears that the Caliph declined his petition. No sooner had Hulagu concluded the elimination of the Ismailis than the conflict with the Abbasids commenced, and the Mongol armies succeeded in entering and devastating Baghdad in 656 AH (1258 AD), thereby precipitating the collapse of the Abbasid Caliphate.
Subsequently, the Mongols directed their efforts towards assaulting the Levant. They successfully seized the cities of Mayyafariqin, Nusaybin, Harran, Edessa, Al-Bira, Harem, and then Aleppo in the years 657 AH – 658 AH (1259 AD – 1260 AD); this development engendered widespread terror throughout the Levant. Consequently, King Al-Nasir promptly solicited assistance from the Mamluks in Egypt.
And…Stories of Beautiful Egypt remain interminable!
General Bishop
President of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
