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The Mongols had defeated the Khwarezmian Empire during the campaign of 1219 to 1221,
but there was more to gain to the east and the expedition of Jebe and Subutai across Iran and the Caucasus proved just that.
The Mongol Empire was slowly changing, but their desire for lands and riches was still strong.
The Seljuks and Mamluks were standing in their way
and they fought against Mongol expansion until it reached its peak at the decisive Battle of Ain Jalut.
After his defeat at the Battle of the Indus River in the spring of 1221,
the Prince of the Khwarezmian Empire, Jalal ad-Din, continued retreating deeper into Punjab.
Soon the Mongol troops stopped chasing him.
Jalal ad-Din spent the next three years gathering his forces in the area
and even took over most of Punjab.
He attempted to get the Mamluk Sultan of Delhi to ally against the Mongols
but the latter wasn't eager to draw the ire of Genghis.
Instead in 1224, the Sultan attacked Jalal ad-Din.
The Prince was forced to leave Lahore.
He raided Gujarat and then returned to Iran in the same year.
As his father was long dead, Jalal ad-Din claimed the throne of Khwarezm.
Iran and the Caucasus had been weakened by Jebe a and Subutai a few years before,
so he had an easy time consolidating the region.
He destroyed the state of the Atabegs of Azerbaijan and moved his capital to Tabriz
away from Mongol reach.
In the same year, he vassalized the Shirvan Shahs and attacked Georgia.
In 1226, the Georgians were defeated at the Battle of Garni.
Tbilisi was captured after that and both the Christian and Muslim population of the city were massacred.
The Mongols sent a small army to Iran in 1227
but Jalal ad-Din crushed it near Ray.
His activity in the area provoked a response.
The Sultan of the Seljuqs of Rum Kayqubad I,
Ayyubid Sultan Al-Kamil
and the king of Cilician Armenia, Hethum I, united their forces against him in 1228
and the Khwarezmian forces were soundly defeated near Erevan.
This war weakened him and all over Iran and the Caucasus
rebellions against him began.
The Great Khan Ogedei used this and sent an army under Chormaqan to conquer Iran once again.
The Mongols won a battle against the Shah somewhere in central Iran in 1231.
Jalal ad-Din retreated all the way to modern Turkey with the Mongols chasing.
Finally, Jalal ad-Din was assassinated in Sylvan and the Khwarezmian Empire ceased to exist.
The Seljuqs, Cilicia and Georgia became the vassals of the Great Khan.
Little of note happened in the region in the next decade as the Mongols were busy with the campaign in Eastern Europe.
But when Ogedei passed away in 1241, the Mongol governor of the region, Baiju,
asked the Seljuq Sultan, Kaykhusraw II, to renew his vassal oath.
The latter refused and raided another Mongol vassal, Georgia.
Baiju pushed the Seljuqs back and moved towards Erzurum.
The envoys sent to the city were not killed, but insulted.
Still Erzurum was taken and its population was massacred.
The Mongols then retreated to amass more troops in Georgia and Armenia.
Sultan Kaykhusraw II asked his allies to help and received minor assistance from Nicaea,
Trebizond, the Ayyubids and even recruited some mercenaries from among the Crusaders.
The 30,000-strong Mongol army moved into Seljuq territory in 1243
and Kaykhusraw's 60,000 met them in June at Köse Dağ near modern-day Sivas.
We know very little about the ensuing battle
but the Mongols feigned retreat yet again and forced the Seljuq vanguard
which had around 20,000 troops to chase them.
As soon as a significant gap formed between the vanguard and the rest of the Sultan's forces, the Mongols turned back,
surrounded and crushed the Seljuqs.
The Sultan and his advisors retreated and the Seljuqs were forced to become Mongol vassals yet again.
In Mongolia, Möngke became the Great Khan in 1251 and gave his brothers Kublai and Hulagu
supervisory roles in China and Persia respectively.
In 1256, Hulagu entered the Middle East with more than 100,000 warriors.
He conquered the remnants of the Khwarezmian Empire and then moved against the legendary Hashashin Order.
These renowned and feared assassins held dozens of fortresses
but a combination of infighting and the fact that by now the Mongols were experts at siege warfare
inflicted heavy casualties upon them.
Their Grand Master surrendered and handed all the fortresses to Hulagu.
With all of Iran secured, Hulagu sent words to the Abbasid caliph Al-Musta'sim
demanding his obedience, but the latter refused.
On January 11th, 1258, the Mongols approached Baghdad, the biggest and most prosperous city of its time.
Al-Musta'sim finally decided to meet them in battle and sent out a force of 20,000 cavalry to attack the Mongols.
These troops defeated the Mongol vanguard
but rather than retreat to the safety of the city walls, they set up camp and enjoyed a feast of celebration.
The next morning, they were surrounded by the Mongols on one side and by the river on the other.
Those who were not killed in the slaughter drowned.
The Mongols built walls around the city to provide safety for the siege engines
as well as to prevent the defenders from breaking out.
Al-Musta'sim made attempts to negotiate peace, but that ship had already sailed.
By February 10th 1258, the city surrendered under a constant barrage of catapult fire.
The sacking continued for seven days and only the Christian population of the city was spared.
The Grand Library of Baghdad was burned to the ground.
This destruction put an end to the Islamic Golden Age and moved the center of power from Baghdad to Cairo.
For the first time in Muslim history, Islam had no caliph.
Hulagu didn't intend to stop as he pushed forward toward Syria.
Aside from the coastal territory belonging to the Crusader States,
most of the Levant was still under the control of the Ayyubid Sultanate,
which was weakened by the loss of Egypt to the Mamluks.
The Ayyubids offered to pay tribute, but Hulagu was not interested.
He was joined by the Georgians, Armenians and the troops of the Crusader Prince Bohemond VII
and on January 18th 1260, Aleppo was besieged and suffered the same fate as Baghdad.
This caused massive panic and resulted in the cities of Homs and Damascus
willingly surrendering sparing themselves from destruction.
But suddenly grave news was delivered to Hulagu.
The Great Khan Möngke died of sickness during the war against the Song Dynasty in China.
This sent a ripple through the empire and halted the massive campaigns.
The Empire was on the brink of civil war and Hulagu left the Levant for Mongolia.
One or two tumens stayed in the region under the command of Kitbuqa.
The Mamluks were offered peace, but they knew that Hulagu left with the majority of his troops,
so the Mongol envoys were killed.
Kitbuqa tried to form an alliance with the Crusader States.
However, that attempt failed.
Mamluk Sultan Qutuz assembled his army and moved to Palestine.
When news of this reached Kitbuqa, he prepared to meet the Mamluk army,
but a rebellion in Damascus slowed him down.
Meanwhile, the Mamluks moved north and camped outside of Acre.
Mongol spies reported back to Kitbuqa that the enemy army outnumbered his at least 2 to 1.
Still the Mongol general left Damascus with an army of some 25,000 men
made up of Mongols, Georgians and Armenians.
In early September 1260,
he crossed the Jordan River and entered the valley near the village of Ain Jalut,
where according to legend David slew Goliath.
The Mongol cavalry charged the Mamluk vanguard commanded by Baybars.
This group broke under the charge and fled up the valley.
Kitbuqa gave chase but in reality, the Mongols were falling for their own trick
as Baybars was luring his enemies in with his retreat.
The Mongols pursued the broken vanguard to the valley where Qutuz awaited with most of his forces.
Baybars' troops finally reached the main line.
Despite having vastly superior numbers, the Sultan was cautious and stayed in position.
Kitbuqa used that and decided to commit all of his troops.
The Mongols were to engage the entire Mamluk army.
The Mongol second line was ordered to wheel right and run the Mamluk front ranks towards Qutuz's left wing.
The entire left flank of the Muslim army started crumbling under the Mongol pressure.
The Sultan tried to regain his left side for hours.
His troops from the right flank were sent to the left
and eventually, the Mongols were pushed back and the left side was restored.
Qutuz sent his reserves to the extreme wings.
It was the moment for the final attack and Qutuz personally led his bodyguards into battle.
The Mongol army fought well, but they were pinned in place by the overwhelming numbers of their foe.
When all the Mongol troops were engaged, Qutuz sent his extreme flanks into the attack.
The Mongols were close to being surrounded and when their leader died in the center, they started to flee.
They lost between 5,000 and 10,000 warriors.
The Mamluks won at Ain Jalut using their superior numbers and by mirroring the usual Mongol tactics.
Ain Jalut also made the Mamluks into the most significant Muslim power of its time.
Internal conflicts over the succession delayed the Mongol response and while they didn't know it yet,
this would be their zenith and the beginning of the end of the greatest empire the world had ever seen.
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