Qutuz

Mongol threat

Hulagu and his forces were proceeding towards Damascus. Some Syrian emirs suggested that an-Nasir Yusuf surrender and submit to Hulagu, as the best solution was to save themselves and Syria. Baibars, who was present at the meeting, was upset by the suggestion, and the Mamluks decided to kill an-Nasir Yusuf that night. However, he escaped with his brother to the citadel of Damascus. Baibars and the Mamluks then left Syria, traveling to Egypt where they were warmly welcomed by Sultan Qutuz, who granted Baibars the town of Qalyub. When an-Nasir Yusuf heard that the Mongol army was approaching Aleppo, he sent his wife, his son and his money to Egypt. The population of Damascus and other Syrian towns began to flee. After besieging Aleppo for seven days, the Mongols sacked it and massacred its population. When an-Nasir Yusuf heard about the fall of Aleppo, he fled to Egypt, leaving Damascus and its remaining population defenseless, but Qutuz denied him entry. An-Nasir Yusuf thus stayed on the border of Egypt while his emirs deserted him and proceeded into the country. Sultan Qutuz ordered the seizing of an-Nasir Yusuf's jewelry and money, which were sent to Egypt with his wife and servants. Sixteen days after the fall of Aleppo to the Mongols, Damascus surrendered without a fight. An-Nasir Yusuf was taken prisoner by the Mamluks and sent to Hulagu.

With the centers of Islamic power in Syria and Baghdad conquered, the center of the Islamic power transferred to Egypt and became Hulagu's next target. Hulagu sent messengers to Cairo with a threatening letter, urging Qutuz to surrender and submit to the Mongols. Qutuz's response was to execute the messengers. They were sliced in half, and their heads were mounted on the Bab Zuweila gate in Cairo. Then, rather than waiting for the Mongols to attack, Qutuz decided to raise an army to engage them outside of Egypt. Moroccans who resided in Egypt fled westward, while Yemenis escaped to Yemen and Hejaz.

Qutuz went to Al-Salihiyya and assembled his commanders to decide on when to march against the Mongols. But the emirs showed timidity. Qutuz shamed them into joining him with the statement, "Emirs of the Muslims, for some time now you have been fed by the country treasury and you hate to be invaded. I will go alone and who likes to join me should do that and who does not like to join me should go back home, but who will not join will carry the sin of not defending our women."

Qutuz ordered Baibars to lead a force to Gaza to observe the small Mongol garrison there, which Baibars easily defeated. After spending a day in Gaza, Qutuz led his army along the coast towards Acre, a city that remains a remnant of the Kingdom of Jerusalem Crusader state. The Crusaders were traditional enemies of the Mamluks and had been approached by the Mongols about forming a Franco-Mongol alliance. However, the Crusaders recognized the Mongols as the greater threat that year. Qutuz suggested a military alliance with the Crusaders against the Mongols, but the Crusaders opted to stay neutral. However, they allowed Qutuz and his forces to travel unmolested through Crusader territory and to camp and resupply near the Crusader stronghold of Acre. Qutuz and his army stayed there for three days until they heard that the Mongols had crossed the Jordan River, at which point Qutuz and Baibars led their forces to meet the Mongols at Ain Jalut.

Battle of Ain Jalut

The Battle of Ain Jalut was fought on 3 September 1260, and was one of the most important battles and a turning point in history. In 1250, only ten years before the battle, the Bahariyya Mamluks (Qutuz, Baibars and Qalawun) led Egypt against the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France. The Mongol army at Ain Jalut was led by Kitbuqa, a Nestorian Christian Naiman Mongol, and accompanied by the Christian king of Cilician Armenia and also by the Christian prince of Antioch. After the fall of Khawarezm, Baghdad and Syria, Egypt was the last citadel of Islam in the Middle East, and the existence of crusade beach-heads along the coast of the Levant presented a serious menace to the Islamic world. Therefore, the future of Islam and the Christian west as well depended on the outcome of that battle.

Baibars, known to be a swift commander, led the vanguard and succeeded in his maneuver and lured the Mongol army to Ain Jalut, where the Egyptian army led by Qutuz waited. The Egyptians at first failed to counter the Mongol attack and were scattered after the left flank of their army suffered severe damage, but Qutuz stood firm; he threw his helmet into the air and shouted "O Islam", and advanced towards the damaged side, followed by his unit. The Mongols were pushed back and fled to the vicinity of Beisan, Qutuz's forces quickly followed them, but they managed to gather and returned to the battlefield making a successful counterattack. Qutuz cried loudly three times, "O Islam! O God grant your servant Qutuz a victory against the Mongols". The Mongols with their Christian allies were then defeated by Qutuz's army and fled to Syria where they became prey for the local population. Qutuz kissed the ground and prayed while the soldiers collected the booty. Kitbuqa, the Commander of the Mongol army, was killed, and his head was sent to Cairo.

This was the first defeat suffered by the Mongols since they attacked the Islamic world. They fled from Damascus, then from the whole of the northern Levant. Qutuz entered Damascus with his army and sent Baibars to Homs to liquidate the remaining Mongols. While Qutuz nominated Alam ad-Din Sonjar as the sultan's deputy in Damascus, Qutuz granted Aleppo to al-Malik al-Said Ala'a ad-Din as the Emir of Mosul; also a new Abbasid Caliph was about to be installed by Qutuz. The Levant region from the border of Egypt to the river Euphrates was freed from the Mongols' control. After this victory, the Mamluks stretched their sovereignty to the Levant and were recognized by the Ayyubids and the others as legitimate rulers. When Hulagu heard about the defeat of the Mongol Army, he executed An-Nasir Yusuf near Tabriz. Hulagu kept threatening the Mamluk Sultanate, but soon he was struck hard by conflicts with the Mongols of the Golden Horde, in the western half of the Eurasian Steppe during the Berke–Hulagu war. Hulagu died in 1265 and would never avenge the defeat of the Mongols at Ain Jalut.

Some of the earliest explosive hand cannons (midfa in Arabic) were employed by the Mamluk Egyptians during the battle to frighten the Mongol horses and cavalry and cause disorder in their ranks. The Mamluks under Qutuz then went on to take back all of Iraq and Syria. The last city the Mamluks retook before his assassination was the grand city of Baghdad.

Assassination

On his way back to Cairo, Qutuz was assassinated while on a hunting expedition in Salihiyah. According to both modern and medieval Muslim historians such as al-Maqrizi, Baibars was involved in the assassination. Al-Maqrizi further explains that the emirs who struck down Qutuz were Emir Badr ad-Din Baktut, Emir Ons and Emir Bahadir al-Mu'izzi. Western historians mention that Baibars was in on the conspiracy and assign him direct responsibility. Muslim chroniclers from the Mamluk era stated that Baibars' motivation was either to avenge the killing of his friend, the leader of the Bahariyya Faris ad-Din Aktai during Sultan Aybak's reign or due to Qutuz's decision to grant Aleppo to al-Malik al-Said Ala'a ad-Din the Emir of Mosul, instead of to Baibars as had promised to him before the Battle of Ain Jalut.

Qutuz was first buried in Al-Qusair and then reburied in a cemetery in Cairo, Egypt. Baibars returned to Cairo, which was undergoing celebrations on the victory over the Mongols, where he became the new sultan. The people at once admired Baibars as he revoked the war taxes that Qutuz had imposed.

Coins

The coins during the reign of Qutuz are unique in the history of Mamluk coinages as no other names except his names and titles were inscribed on them: al-Malik al-Muzafar Saif al-Donya wa al-Din ("The victorious king, sword of the temporal world and of the faith") and al-Muzafar Saif al-Din ("The victorious sword of faith").