Mamluk-Mongol alliance

A Mamluk-Mongol alliance [Ryley-Smith in "Atlas of the Crusades", p.112 (French Edition): "When the Golden Horde allied with the Mamluks, the Ilkhanate looked towards an alliance with the Chritians"] [”The alliance which Berke had created between the Mongols and the Mamluks against the Ilkhanate remained constant”, Morgan, p.144] [”The Mongols of Iran were all but encircled by a chain of alliances linking the Mamluks to the Golden Horde, and this power to Kaidu”, Setton, p.529] [”The friendship between Egypt and the Golden Horde, which would last until the conclusion of peace between the Mamluks and the Il-Khan in 1320” The New Cambridge Medieval History - Page 710by David Abulafia - History - 1999 – p.710] ["In order to fight their common enemy [the Ilkhanate] , the Kipchack Mongols and the Mamluks entered into an alliance." Luisetto, p.157] occurred during the second half of the 13th century, between the Mamluk government of Egypt and the Mongols of the Golden Horde. This alliance was strategic in terms of trade exchanges, as well as on military plane, as it functioned as a counterweight to the alliance between the Il-Khan Mongols and the Franks. Mamluk Egypt was the Golden Horde’s long-standing trade partner and ally in the Mediterranean. Berke, the khan of Kipchak had drawn up an alliance with the Mamluk Sultan Baibars since 1261. [Mantran, Robert (Fossier, Robert, ed.) "A Turkish or Mongolian Islam" in "The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Middle Ages: 1250-1520", p. 298]

These contacts were part of a broader web of Mongol alliances in the Middle-East which occurred throughout the second half of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century, and involved widely spread polities. These multiples alliances were organized between, on the one hand a North-South axis consisting of the Mongol Golden Horde, the Egyptian Mamluks and the Genoese, and on the other, a East-West axis consisting of the Mongol Il-Khanids, the Armenians, the Franks. The Byzantine Empire would ally with the two parties alternatively.

Conflict between the Golden Horde and the Il-Khans

The alliance occurred in the context of a strong rivalry between the two Western Mongol realms, the Golden Horde and the Il-Khanate. The conflict originated in a territorial dispute. Following the Mongol invasion of Central Asia, the Mongol Khagan Gengis Khan had attributed several of the territories south of the Caucasus to his eldest son Jochi, founder of the Golden Horde: specifically Georgia, and the Seljukid Sultanate. [Luisetto, p.155] The Il-Khan ruler Hulagu however invaded these territories in 1256 and took them for himself. He even installed his capital in the center of these disputed territories, at Maragha.

This led to a drawn-out conflict between the two Mongol realms, which would last well into the 14th century. [The Mongols, David Morgan, p.144] The conflict erupted under Berke, who could not tolerate this infringement of his inheritance. [Luisetto, p.155]

Ethnic affinities

The Mamluk ruler of Egypt were actually former slaves bought from the Kipchack territory of southern Russia, now an important segment of the Mongol Golden Horde. There were therefore strong cultural affinities between large segments of the Mongol Horde and the ruling elite of Egypt. [”It is a fact of crucial importance that the Mamluks of Egypt and the Mongols of the Golden Horde were natural allies (…) simply because the ruling class of Egypt and an important and influential segment of the Golden Horde belonged in fact to the same ethnic group.” A History of the Crusades, Kenneth Meyer Setton, p.527] Berke’s Turkic subjects also spoke the same Turkic language as the Mamluks. [Setton, p.527]

Religious affinities

The Golden Horde converted to Islam from the time of Berke, [The Mongols, David Morgan, p.144] and soon felt solidarity for the Islamic realms to the south. [By ultimately becoming Muslims, the Mongols of the Golden Horde conspicuously identified themselves with their Turkish subjects and with the people to the south, rather than with the Christian Russians to the North” Morgan, p.128] On the contrary, the Il-Khan rulers were highly favourable to Christianity, and would not commit to Islam until the very end of the 13th century. ["On the contrary, Hulagu, accompanied by Dokuz Khatun greatly favoured Christianity", Luisetto, p.155-156]

Mamluk-Golden Horde rapprochement

The Golden Horde entered into a defensive alliance with the Mamluks in Egypt. The agreement was that each realm would intervene if the other was attacked by the Il-Khan. ["In order to fight their common enemy [the Ilkhanate] , the Kipchack Mongols and the Mamluks entered into an alliance. This was based on a defensive rather than an offensive policy: if one of their territories was attacked, the second would fight for the other, on his own front, in order to create a diversion or weaken enough Persian troops so that their action would be stopped." Luisetto, p.157]

This agreement effectively forced Il-Khan rulers to fight on two front everytime they tried to invade the Levant, ["Before invading Syria in 1299, Ghazan was forced to send troops in the Caucasus, in order to reinforce his Christian-Mongol troops. These were so many soldiers who could not fight in Palestine.", Luisetto, p.156] so that they could never use all their forces in the invasion. Typically, a ruler would start a campaign in Syria, only to be forced to recall his troops within a few months because he was being attacked by the Golden Horde in the north. Also, a large portion of the Georgian troops under the rule of the Mongols would have to man the northern Georgian frontier to protect from Golden Horde incursions. [Luisetto, p.158]

Trade relations

The Mamluks were highly dependent on foreign trade for their military industry. The Mamluk army itself was constituted of “Mamluk” slaves imported from the Kipchak region of the Golden Horde, and therefore totally depended on Mongol goodwill in these regions. Also various strategic materials such as iron and wood also had to be imported from the territory under the Golden Horde. The Mamluk alliance with the Golden Horde was therefore essential to such shipments: [Luisetto, p.126]

These shipments also had to transit through Constantinople, using a sealane which the Byzantine Empire had total control. For this reason, the Byzantine emperors (Michael VIII Palaeologus, and later his son Andronicus II) were highly involved in a relationship with both the Mongols and the Mamluks, and formalized alliances with them. [”Byzantium could not avoid being involved in this triangular relationship of the Mamluks and the two Mongol states”, Setton, p.529] [”Michael VIII Palaeologus … concluded an alliance with Hulagu, which despite passing tensions, remained effective even after the khan’s death.” Setton, p.529] [”Byzantium and the Rise of Russia: A Study of Byzantino-Russian Relations”by John Meyendorff - 1989 “The alliance with Genoa and the Golden Horde proved to be Michael's inheritance to his successors. It was to play a significant role in the politics of the 14th century also.”]

ee also

* History of gunpowder
* History of printing
* Al-'Āḍid, the teenaged Muslim caliph in Egypt, who entered into an alliance with the Christians in the 1100s

Notes

References

* The Mongols, David Morgan.
* The New Cambridge Medieval History, David Abulafia
* A History of the Crusades, Kenneth Meyer Setton.
* ”Byzantium and the Rise of Russia: A Study of Byzantino-Russian Relations”by John Meyendorff - 1989
* Frederic Luisetto, "Armeniens et autres chretiens d'Orient", Editions Geuthner, ISBN 9782705337919

Further reading

Medieval sources

*Adh-Dhababi, "Record of the Destruction of Damascus by the Mongols in 1299-1301" Translated by Joseph Somogyi. From: Ignace Goldziher Memorial Volume, Part 1, [http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/articles/somogyi1.htm Online] (English translation).
*Jean de Joinville, "The Memoirs of Lord of Joinville", translated by Ethel Wedwood [http://www.ordotempli.org/memoirs_of_the_lord_of_joinville.htm Online] (English translation).
*Le Templier de Tyr (circa 1300). "Chronicle du Templier de Tyr", [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/GuillaumeTyr5.html Online] (Original French).
*Hayton of Corycus (1307). "Flowers of the Histories of the East", [http://rbedrosian.com/hetumint.htm Online] (English translation).
*Guillaume de Tyr (circa 1300). "History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea", [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/GuillaumeTyr1.html Online] (Original French).
*Kirakos (circa 1300). "History of the Armenians", [http://rbedrosian.com/kg1.htm Online] , (English translation).
*cite book|author=|title=The history and Life of Rabban Bar Sauma|format=translated from the Syriac by Budge, Sir E.A.Wallis ( [http://www.nestorian.org/history_of_rabban_bar_sawma_1.html online] )

Modern sources

*cite journal|author=Amitai, Reuven|title=Mongol Raids into Palestine (AD 1260 and 1300)|journal=JRAS|date=1987|pages=236–255
*cite book|author=Balard, Michel|authorlink=|title=Les Latins en Orient (XIe-XVe siècle)|edition=|date=2006|publisher=Presses Universitaires de France, Paris|isbn=2130518117
*cite book|author=Barber, Malcolm|authorlink=Malcolm Barber|title=The Trial of the Templars|edition=2nd edition|date=2001|publisher=University Press, Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-67236-8
*
*"The Monks of Kublai Khan Emperor of China", Sir E. A. Wallis Budge. [http://www.aina.org/books/mokk/mokk.htm Online]
*cite book|title=Les Templiers|author=Dailliez, Laurent|language=French|publisher=Editions Perrin|date=1972|isbn=2-262-02006-X
*cite book|title=Les Templiers|author=Demurger, Alain|language=French|publisher=Editions Jean-Paul Gisserot|date=2007|isbn=2877479552
*cite book|title=Histoire des Croisades III, 1188-1291|author=Grousset, René|language=French|publisher=Editions Perrin|date=1935|isbn=2-262-02569-X
*cite book|title=L'épopée des Croisades|author=Grousset, René|language=French|publisher=Editions Perrin|date=1935|isbn=2262018642
*Encyclopedia Iranica, [http://www.encyclopediairanica.com/articles/v10f2/v10f216a.html Article on Franco-Persian relations]
*Foltz, Richard (2000). "Religions of the Silk Road : overland trade and cultural exchange from antiquity to the fifteenth century". New York: St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-23338-8.
*cite book|author=Demurger, Alain|title=Jacques de Molay|language=French|publisher=Editions Payot&Rivages|date=2007|isbn=2228902357
*cite book|author=Eddé, Anne-Marie|title=L'Orient au temps des croisades|language=French|publisher=GF Flammarion|date=2002|isbn=2080711210
*cite book|author=Hazard, Harry W. (editor)|title=Volume III: The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries|series=A History of the Crusades|others=Kenneth M. Setton, general editor|publisher=The University of Wisconsin Press|date=1975|isbn=0-299-06670-3
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*cite book|author=Lebédel, Claude|title=Les Croisades, origines et conséquences|publisher=Editions Ouest-France|language=French|date=2006|isbn=2737341361
*cite book|author=Maalouf, Amin|title=The Crusades Through Arab Eyes|publisher=New York: Schocken Books|date=1984|isbn=0-8052-0898-4
*cite book|author=Maalouf, Amin|title=Les croisades vues par les Arabes|publisher=JC Lattes|date=1983|isbn=
*cite book|author=Michaud, Yahia (Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies)|language=French|title= [http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/it/works/ITA%20Texspi.pdf Ibn Taymiyya, Textes Spirituels I-XVI] |publisher="Le Musulman", Oxford-Le Chebec|date=2002|isbn=
*cite book|author=Mutafian, Claude|language=French|title=Le Royaume Armenien de Cilicie|publisher=CNRS Editions|date=1993, 2001|isbn=2271051053
*cite book|author=Newman, Sharan|title=Real History Behind the Templars|publisher=Berkley Publishing Group|date=2006|isbn=978-0-425-21533-3
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*cite book|author=Phillips, John Roland Seymour|date=1998|isbn=0198207409|publisher=Oxford University Press|title=The Medieval Expansion of Europe
*cite book|author=Prawdin, Michael (pseudonym for Charol, Michael)|date=1940/1961|publisher=Collier-Macmillan Canada|title=Mongol Empire|isbn=1412805198
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*cite book|author=Riley-Smith, Jonathan|title=The Crusades: A History|edition=2nd edition|isbn=0-300-10128-7|date=1987, 2005|publisher=Yale Nota Bene
*cite book|author=Riley-Smith, Jonathan|title=Atlas des Croisades|language=French|edition=|isbn=2862605530|date=1996, 2005|publisher=Autrement
*cite book|author=Riley-Smith, Jonathan (2002)|title=The Oxford History of the Crusades|isbn=0192803123|publisher=Oxford University Press
*cite book|title=A history of the Crusades 3|author=Runciman, Steven|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=9780140137057|date=1987 (first published in 1952-1954)
*cite book|author=Saunders, J. J.|title=The History of the Mongol Conquests|date=2001|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=0812217667
*cite journal|title=Gesta Dei per Mongolos 1300. The Genesis of a Non-Event|author=Schein, Sylvia|journal=The English Historical Review|volume=94|issue=373|date=October 1979|pages=805–819|url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266(197910)94:373%3C805:GDPM1T%3E2.0.CO;2-8|month=Oct|year=1979|doi=10.1093/ehr/XCIV.CCCLXXIII.805
*cite book|title=Fideles Crucis: The Papacy, the West, and the Recovery of the Holy Land|author=Schein, Sylvia|date=1991|isbn= 0198221657|publisher=Clarendon
*cite book|title=Gateway to the Heavenly City: crusader Jerusalem and the catholic West|author=Schein, Sylvia|date=2005|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=075460649X
*cite journal|author=Sinor, Denis|title=The Mongols in the West|journal=Journal of Asian History|volume=33|issue=1|date=1999|url=http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/articles/sinor1.htm
*cite book|author=Stewart, Angus Donal|title=The Armenian Kingdom and the Mamluks: War and Diplomacy During the Reigns of Het'Um II (1289-1307)|isbn=9004122923|publisher=BRILL
*cite book|author=Turnbull, Stephen (1980)|title=The Mongols|isbn=9780850453720|publisher=Osprey Publishing Ltd.
*
*cite book|author=Weatherford, Jack|title=Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World|date=2004|isbn=0-609-80964-4|publisher=Three Rivers Press
*cite book|author=Wood, Frances|title=The Silk Road|publisher=University of California Press|date=2002|isbn=0520243404
*Luisetto, Frédéric (2007). Arméniens & autres Chrétiens d'Orient sous la domination Mongole (in French). Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner S.A. ISBN 9782705337919

External links

* cite web|title=Alain Demurger interview, "La Chute du Temple"|date=11/08/2005|url=http://www.lepoint.fr/content/litterature/article?id=20765|publisher=Le Point|accessdate=2007-09-25