Mongols and Mamluks Meet

Issues of dynastic succession are generally accepted as the root determiner of the end of western expansion for the Mongol “Horde”, but the Mamluk forces were certainly another important factor. In February of 1258, Mongols sacked Baghdad and advanced into the Levant. In a few months, they captured Damascus and Aleppo. Alarmed by the speed and viciousness with which the Mongols seized the Islamic heartland, Mamluk factions in Egypt put aside differences and united. Envoys demanding Mamluk submission to the Khan were executed; the Mamluks mobilized numerically superior forces and resisted the Mongol onslaught. With smallish horses the least of which were larger than the largest the Mongols rode, and metal armor, better bows, expert training with long lances, some kind of small, loud cannon and other makers of great noise, they prevailed. Explosive noise may have been the determining factor in this success. The Egyptian Mamluk army further defeated Mongols at the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, in southern and central Anatolia, at the Baybar Sultenate of Rum, and in many other battles, including at Homs, Safar, Birecik, Harran, and in Yeman. They assassinated leaders of the Seljuk, Abbasid, Fatimid, and Crusader states and ended the Nizari Ismaili state in the Levant.
Historian Ahmad Y. al-Hassan claimed that, during the 1260 Battle of Ain Jalut, the Mamluks used a cannon against the Mongols, and that this was “the first cannon in history” and used a gunpowder formula almost identical to the ideal composition for explosive gunpowder. Some have referred to the Mamluk weapon as a hand-cannon.
Arabian horses, long revered for their beauty, endurance, and intelligence, are one of the most esteemed horse breeds in the world, particularly valued for endurance riding. Their stamina and ability to thrive in harsh conditions shine. Between 57 to 61 inches, 145 to 155 cm, tall, relatively small but with a greater density of bone than other breeds, even a small Arabian can carry a heavy rider.
Mongol horses, of a stocky build with relatively short but strong legs and a large head, range in size from 48 to 56 inches (122 to 142 cm) high. Mongol warriors used crossbows for infantry and cavalry, but they were rarely used in battle, where carrying at least 2 bows, a long one for long-range work and a shorter one for mounted combat, was the norm. The population of Mongolia in 1200 when Genghis Khan set out to conquer the world was about 800,000. Because of outflow of soldiers, that was down to about 600,000 when Chinese established control there in the 1700s.
Mamluks, originally enslaved people of non-Arab origin purchased by Muslim rulers to serve in their armies, were ethnically diverse. Turkic Mamluks may have regarded Mongols as co-ethnics, but large numbers of Kurds and Khwarazmians who fled from them took refuge in Egyptian Syria and became Mamluks; other Mamluks had Albanian, Greek, Slav, Circassian, Georgian, Hungarian, Italian, and even German backgrounds. Not all were emasculated, though emotionally dependent from Spartan-like training. Many WERE ex-slaves, and castrated; it is a challenge to separate fact from legend in this. At any rate, the Mamluks lasted, all told, a millennia.
Camels played a role in wars as a means of transporting war equipment, food, and a pot of water. Large numbers of camels would go out with the army. Usually, each Mamluk would take two camels, and the non-Mamluk soldiers each two of them take three camels. Camels also participated in battles, and large drums were placed on them and beaten during battle, intimidating unaccustomed horses and riders. Trumpets and cymbals might also have been used; homing pigeons were. The cavalry was well-trained with lances and for archery.
Not very far from the Nizari fortress at Masyaf is the plain of Ain Jalut; it and Masyaf lie about equidistant from Damascus (Masyaf 173 km or 107 miles north; Gideon's Spring, at Ain Jalut, to Damascus 218 km south).