Siege of Mosul (1261)

Siege of Mosul (1261)
Part of Mamluk–Ilkhanid War

A Persian miniature depicting the siege of Mosul in 1261–63 from Rashid-al-Din
DateLate 1261 – July/August 1262
Location
Mosul, Jazira Region (modern-day Iraq)
36°20′N 43°08′E / 36.333°N 43.133°E / 36.333; 43.133
Result Ilkhanid victory
Belligerents
Ilkhanate Zengid dynasty
Mamluk Sultanate
Commanders and leaders
Samdaghu Al-Salih Isma‘il 
Al-Barli
Strength
10,000 Mosul garrison, and a 1,200–1,400-strong relief force
Casualties and losses
Unknown Heavy
Location of the siege in modern-day Iraq

The Siege of Mosul took place from late 1261 to July–August 1262, during the Mamluk–Ilkhanate War.

Mosul's ruler Badr al-Din Lu'lu' had made a gesture of submission to the Ilkhanate of Hulegu Khan by 1243.[1] But after his death in 1261, his son and successor Al-Salih Isma'il repudiated Mongol sovereignty and entered into relations with Baybars, ruler of the Mamluk Sultanate, which led Hulegu to dispatch a Mongol army against Mosul.[2][3]

Mosul was placed under siege by a Mongol army commanded by Samdaghu in early 1261. The siege continued until July–August 1262, during which the garrison and local population suffered greatly.[4] During the siege, the Mamluk commander Al-Barli marched to aid Mosul with about 1,200–1,400 men, while the Mongol army was reportedly around 10,000 strong. Some Mongols considered withdrawing when they learned of his approach, but Al-Zayn Al-Hafizi, the former official of Al-Nasir Yusuf, urged them to confront the relief force. The two sides fought near Sinjar on 7 May 1262, where Al-Barli's relief force was defeated, although he escaped wounded and with a small part of his army.[5]

Mosul fell to the Mongols when Al-Salih Isma'il surrendered in the summer of 1262. Isma'il was later subjected to a harsh death,[4] and much of the rest of the population was massacred, although many craftsmen were spared. The fall of Mosul marked the end of organized resistance to the Mongols in Kurdistan, thus securing Ilkhanid control over the region.[6]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Jackson 2017, p. 453.
  2. ^ Jackson 2017, p. 168.
  3. ^ Boyle 1968, p. 361.
  4. ^ a b Amitai-Preiss 1995, pp. 60–61.
  5. ^ Amitai-Preiss 1995, p. 61.
  6. ^ Atwood 2004, pp. 322–323.

Sources

  • Amitai-Preiss, Reuven (1995). Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War, 1260–1281. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521471329.
  • Atwood, Christopher P. (2004). Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. Facts On File. ISBN 9780816046713.
  • Boyle, J. A. (1968). Boyle, J. A. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 5: The Saljuq and Mongol Periods. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521069366.
  • Jackson, Peter (2017). The Mongols and the Islamic World: From Conquest to Conversion. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300227284.
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