This is the story of how the all-powerful might of the Mongol military campaigns, which lasted for a century, was exhausted among the sandy hills of Ain Jalut in the Sinai Desert. The heroic end of Kit Buk became the last song of Mongolian greatness. So today let this song be a call that awakens the courage that has died out in us, inspires our minds, restores lost faith and awakens the dormant strength within us.

For this historical essay, journalist and writer Baasangiin Nominchimid was awarded the Baldorj Prize in 2010, awarded in Mongolia for the best works of journalism. For the first time in Russian - translated by S. Erdambileg especially for ARD.

In the sands of distant Palestine the wind of victory subsides,

There the brave army dies under clouds of arrows.

The Cuman grooms stabbed daggers into the backs of their owners,

The knights, blinded by gold, exchanged friends for enemies.

The army fought valiantly, without losing courage -

Alas, the treachery that stole the victory took place there.

Let's honor their memory

About 750 years ago, on September 3, 1260, in the southwest of the city of Nazareth of the modern state of Israel, near the border with Palestine, the Mongol army was completely defeated by the united forces of the Islamic army. Approximately 10 thousand Mongol warriors, and among them the glorious commander of the Mongol Empire - Kit Buka, found eternal peace in that land.

Over the course of a whole century, the victoriously developing banner of the Mongol army bowed there for the first time, and the Mongol warriors, who had never known defeat before, tasted the bitterness of pogrom there for the first time.

Many historians evaluate the Battle of Ain Jalut as a historical event, where the Mongol aggressive campaigns were repulsed for the first time, a battle that brought salvation to the Arab-Muslim world from complete defeat. And we can agree with this.

But still, for the first time, the Mongol army suffered a major defeat during Genghis Khan’s campaign against Khorezm. This happened in the battle of the Mongol troops* with the army of Jalal ad-Din at Paravan, in 1221 on the territory of modern Afghanistan. Then the defeat was noticeable, but it had no impact on the outcome of the Khorezm campaign, the goal of which was the conquest of Khorezm and Iran. This defeat in no way weakened the offensive impulse of the Mongols. Their army, led by Genghis Khan himself, pursued the army of Jalal ad-Din to the banks of the Indus, where it was finally defeated in 1221.

As for Ain Jalut, the defeat of the Mongol forces undoubtedly saved the Arab world and Misir (modern Egypt) from final conquest. We can assume that from that moment the wheel of history began to turn in the opposite direction. After this battle there could no longer be any talk of the Mongols conquering Egypt. The final conquest of Syria, Phenicia, and Palestine not only was not completed, but they were completely lost. The army was forced to move back to the eastern bank of the Euphrates.

Various historical sources give rather contradictory estimates of the number of troops on both sides who participated in the Battle of Ain Jalut. Most historians agree that Kitbuk's army numbered from 10 to 15 thousand warriors. The Mamluk troops numbered much more warriors, maybe 2-3 times.

Thus, 6,000 kilometers away from their native steppes, approximately one tumen of Mongol warriors under the banner of the batyr Kit Buk, together with their few allies, met in a deadly battle with significantly superior enemy forces. The Mongols were opposed not by Arabs, but by warriors of Turkic blood under the command of Kutuz and Baybars - one might say, close relatives by origin, no less brave and skillful warriors, determined to die or win.

Storm clouds over the Islamic world

On February 13, 1258, completely exhausted, Baghdad knelt before the soldiers of Hulagu Khan. The Baghdad caliph, without food or water, was imprisoned in the storehouse of his treasures - Hulagu Khan advised him to eat gold, washed down with silver. In the Muslim world, the fall of Baghdad, unconquerable for 500 years, was like a bolt from the blue.

And it seemed to Christians that the sun was rising in the east, favoring their world. Europe rejoiced - finally their dream of many centuries would come true, Hulagu Khan was coming to liberate the Holy Land...

The Armenians also rejoiced. Their historian Kirakos wrote: “This city, like an insatiable, voracious spider, devastated the entire world for hundreds of years. For the blood he shed immeasurably, for extreme cruelty and despotism, for his grave sins, heaven punished this city, and it fell.”

Before taking Baghdad, Hulagu Khan also put an end to the formidable force of the Islamic world - the Ismailis, led by their leader, the so-called Elder of the Mountain. The Ismailis were a guild of assassins who terrorized the Muslim world for centuries. Not to mention fighting them - anyone who dared to defy their will was doomed to certain death. But the Mongols dealt with them without much difficulty, mocked his heir, leading him around the city, and then executed him.

Fall of Baghdad. From miniatures of Mongolian Iran early. 14th century Illustrations for Jami at-tawarikh Rashid ad-din

Hulagu Khan, without staying long in the fallen Baghdad, moved to the other side of the Euphrates. By the beginning of 1260, Aleppo was taken, then nearby cities and fortresses fell one after another. However, Hulagu Khan was forced to return.

There were good reasons for this.

The great Khan Munke died, and the dispute over the succession to the throne between Hulagu's siblings, Kublai Kublai and Arigbukha came to the brink of civil war.

Berke, Khan of the Golden Horde, who converted to Islam, was dissatisfied with the oppression of Muslims and the destruction of Baghdad, the patrimony of the Islamic world.

In the Caucasus, mutual feuds created a real threat on the northern borders of the possessions.

Leaving Syria, Hulagu appointed his commander Kit Buk as the ruler of this country, instructing him not only to complete its conquest, but also to conquer Misir, for which purpose he left an army of one tumen under his command. Is it possible to conquer Syria, Palestine, the entire Arabian Peninsula and Misir with such forces? After all, the warriors of these lands gained considerable experience and became hardened in numerous difficult battles with the crusaders for more than a century. But to the Mongols, who were at the height of their power at that time, and who were invariably accompanied by a fair wind of victories and successes, nothing seemed impossible.

Without wasting much time, Kit Buka moved south, Homs, Baalbek, other cities and fortresses were taken, and it was Damascus’s turn. The famous Damascus steel swords did not help, the city submitted.

The Sultan of Aleppo, an-Nasir Yusuf, who had found refuge in Damascus, went on the run again. Warriors of Kit Buk pursued the Sultan, caught up with him and captured him on the territory of the modern Gaza Strip. Not only Syria, but Palestine as a whole was conquered. The cities of Sidon, Tours, Acre, located on a narrow coastal strip of the sea, and the adjacent Trifola region remained under the control of the crusaders.

Thus, by the middle of 1260, the entire Islamic world was on the verge of collapse. Their last hope was the Mamluk Turks in Misir. It is at this decisive moment that the Battle of Ain Jalut takes place.

The betrayal of the cynical barons who turned back the wheel of history

Kit Buka Noyon was located in the city of Baalbek, in the east of today's Israel. The Christian princes and barons - the Templars of the Middle East and Asia Minor - whether they wanted it or not, became allies of the Mongols. After all, their common enemy was the Islamic world. Before this, all of Europe had undertaken crusades four times to liberate the Holy Land, all without success. The offensive of Hulagu Khan awakened hope in them. At last the Holy Land will be free. Now the Arabs will not be able to drive the crusaders out of the lands they have conquered.

The image of Kit Buk noyon appears before us in the aura of military valor. He is seen triumphantly entering the main gates of Damascus, honorably accompanied by the Armenian king Hethum, a descendant of the ancient aristocratic nobility and Behomed VI, king of Antioch.

Here he sits majestically, comfortably located in a spacious, cool tent, set up for him as a sign of respect by the local crusader barons. And before him stands, kneeling, Sultan an-Nasir-Yusuf, captured in Gaza, the grandson of the famous Saladin, the conqueror of the crusaders.

Persian medieval miniature. Battle of two warriors. Early 15th century Persian-Mongolian school of painting.

But Kit Buka was only one of many noyons - temniks of Hulagu Khan. And Hulagu Khan himself was only the ruler of one of the wings of the Great Mongol Empire. At that time, this empire was comparable only to a boundless ocean and an immense sky. This was the moment of her highest power; she was at the zenith of her glory. At the same time, the last round of this power was coming. The inevitable sunset was approaching.

There are many cases in history when seemingly insignificant events turn its course in a different direction. In this case, it is associated with a Frankish knight, nicknamed Long-Legged Julien, ruler of the city of Sidon.

During the Crusades, the barons who came from Europe were famous for their treachery, greed and unscrupulousness. Long-legged Julien was no different from them. The Mongols, wherever they went, established their own rules, the strictest discipline, inexorably suppressing any violation. The arbitrariness of the barons was put to an end. That's why the barons hid - they seemed to have reconciled, because the Mongols are stronger and are going to war against the Muslims, their sworn enemies. However, greed failed the barons. And, as it turned out later, not only them, but the entire Christian world.

It happened that one day Keith Buka received a report that at first he could not believe. It would seem that the barons loyal to him stole all the reserve herds of horses, slaughtering the soldiers guarding them - simply put, they committed a robbery. This has never happened before, to encroach on the horses of your actual allies, while a common enemy stands at the doorstep. Impossible to believe. This is more than a violation of allied relations, it is not even a violation of neutrality. This is a treasonous act.

Louis IX with his troops on the Crusade.

The treachery was committed against Keith Book, a professing Nestorian Christian, in favor of a common Islamic enemy. It’s the same as turning your face away from your religion, at that very, perhaps, only real historical moment when Jerusalem, the place where the Holy of Holies was kept, the Holy Sepulcher, was at arm’s length. One joint campaign, and Jerusalem would have been returned to the Christian world. Such a stupid act cannot happen!

Again, betraying the Mongols at the height of their power means putting your own head in a noose. You can turn away from the Mongols, you can turn to the Mamluks, but will they accept them...

Kit Buka Noyon did not want to believe in treason and therefore sent his grandson, accompanied by a small detachment of 200 people, to Sidon to meet with Julien in order to eliminate the misunderstanding and return the herds of horses.

But a thief steals in order to steal, a robber robs in order to rob. It would be hard to expect Julien to say: “Excuse me, did these horses belong to the Mongols? I didn’t even know.” The soul of a thief remains a thief. Even worse: as the Mongols say, “the shamed can even lead to murder” - Long-legged Julien stabbed Kit Buk’s grandson (some sources say his son) along with the soldiers accompanying him, and ordered the horses to be driven to the seashore in Acre. He drove closer to the Mamluks, and agreed on this with the barons of Acre and Tire. What kind of barons are there - nobles of noble blood - “murderers and thieves of noble blood.”

Enraged by an act unthinkable for the Mongols, Kit Buka led his army to Sidon and besieged it. Although Long-legged Julien was treacherous and unprincipled, he could not be denied knightly courage. Desperately he defended his city, but in the end he and his entourage were forced to board a ship and flee to the island of Cyprus. The Mongols did not have ships to chase him.

In retaliation, Sidon was destroyed and burned to the ground. It turned out that Julien exchanged his city for herds of horses. The price for the herds turned out to be expensive. But their cost was not limited to this.

The crusaders, who showed themselves to be insignificant horse thieves, not only received the burning of Sidon, but subsequently lost all the lands that belonged to them in Syria. And one by one they themselves were destroyed by those to whom they sold the horses. Ultimately, the Crusaders' presence in the Middle East was completely lost. This will be written about here later.

The ashes of Sidon, which until recently was the main support of Christianity in the Middle East, scattered throughout Syria, aroused the anger of the barons of Acre and Tours.

The final selection of the Mamluk Turks

At this time, the Misir state, which received a letter from Hulagu Khan, was in turmoil. The writer, filled with confidence in rightness and power, demanded unquestioning submission. Hulagu Khan wrote: “By order of the Almighty Heaven, we – the Mongols – are entering your lands. Anyone who opposes us will be mercilessly put to death. You all only have two options. Either die resisting, or surrender while saving your life. There will be no other fate, so Heaven commands.”

In the same letter, Sultan Kutuz was called a Mamluk slave of slave origin, who, having killed his master, took possession of the throne through betrayal. Sultan Kutuz, as a slave, was ordered to immediately appear before the Great Khan to atone for his guilt.

The Mongolian ruler and his wife ascend to the throne. One of the few medieval miniatures of Persia where 100% Mongols are depicted. Illustration for Jami "al-Tawariq ("General History") by Rashid ad-din. Il-Khanid Tabriz, 1330.

The military council under the Sultan spent seven whole days in disputes, deciding whether to surrender to the mercy of the enemy or fight him. Sultan Kutuz, who considered himself to be the descendants of the Khorezm Shah, who was once defeated by the Mongols, and Baybars, who tasted all the hardships of fate, for he had previously fought with the Mongols, was defeated by them, was captured and even fought in their ranks, but was then sold into slavery to Livant - were determined to fight or die. The sad experience of some destroyed Syrian cities, which surrendered but received no mercy, tipped the scales in favor of battle. It is better to die with a saber in your hands than to die surrendering.

This decision was also influenced by a message from the Knights of Acre. The crusaders, not to mention the fact that they were extremely dissatisfied with the new order established by the Mongols in Syria, thirsted for revenge for the defeat of Julien and the fall of the crusader Sidon. Acra's envoy informed the Mamluks that: “The faithful servants of Christ are ready to join them in a joint fight against the Mongols.”

Most of the Mamluks** were Kipchaks who belonged to Turkic tribes. Hot blood flowed in their veins, they were warlike and proud. Among them were many Mongols, who for various reasons arrived from the Golden Horde. The last Khansha, Shagrat of the Ayyubid Misir dynasty, was of Mongol-Turkic origin.

Kutuz, having strengthened his main army with refugee soldiers from Syria and Palestine, set out from Cairo - he decided to fight the enemy not on his own land, but to go towards him. His army crossed the Sinai desert, entered the Gaza strip, where it came across an advanced patrol detachment of Kit Buk, led by Baydar Noyon. The forces were too unequal, Baydar’s detachment was covered and crushed in a short time. Despite the victory over a small enemy, success encouraged the military spirit of the Mamluks.

Kit Buka, who was in Baalbek, at a distance of 260 kilometers from Gaza, having learned from Baydar that the Mamluk Turks were crossing the Sinai Desert and approaching Gaza, hurried with his army to meet him. He led the army to Nazareth and chose the area of ​​Ain Jalut, with clear streams and good pastures for fattening horses. There he decided to wait for the Mamluks and give them battle.

Kit Buka Noyon hoped that the Mamluks would not go to the western bank of Gaza, where the crusaders ruled, but would directly cross the desert and head to this place, rich in water and meadows. The Mamluk horses must be tired from crossing the desert. Anyone else would have expected the same. This was an era when the endurance of war horses largely decided the fate of the battle. For the Mongol cavalry, Ain Jalut was convenient because it was protected by mountains on the left wing. The center and right wing were located on terrain with low hills, convenient for maneuvering.

At this very time, the knights welcomed Kutuz at the fortress walls of Acre, provided rest for his warriors, and invited the sultans and military leaders to a feast and sold them those very stolen reserve herds of Kit Buk's horses. The knights did not limit themselves to this, but even allegedly agreed to buy back the horses in the event of a victory over the Mongols.

Actions began to unfold according to a different scenario than the Mongols had planned. The cynical act of the knights, which did not fit into the minds of the Mongols, had a fatal impact on the historical event. L.N. Gumilyov wrote with great hostility about this treachery of the barons of Acre and Tire. Almost a century has passed since the Mongols, who adopted the concept of honor from their great Genghis Khan, forgot what betrayal was. When the Mamluks, having rested sufficiently and refreshed their horses, approached Ain Jalut, Hit Buqa was there, who had walked 130 km from Baalbek without replacement horses and had not yet had time to properly rest either the warriors or the horses.

Fight to the death, no mercy

The battle began at dawn on September 3, 1260. Some historians believe that Kutuz was the first to attack. Maybe it was a pre-planned hoax attack. But this cost him dearly - his army was significantly battered. The Misyrian Sultan suffered significant losses.

The lifeless bodies of enemy soldiers, chopped by a Mongolian saber, pierced by Mongolian arrows, could not be a pretense. This deprived the Mongols of caution, and they rushed to finish off the enemy. And Kutuz, as was probably planned from the very beginning, retreating, drew his pursuers into an ambush, where Baybars was with his warriors. The Mongols were squeezed on both sides and defeated.

The Mongols are besieging the city. From the miniatures beginning. 14th century, Mongol Iran. Illustrations for Jami at-tawarikh Rashid ad-din.

During their campaigns in Asia and Europe, the Mongols repeatedly used the tactic of luring the enemy into a trap by attacking from an ambush. This is what Jebe-noyon did in 1217 in the Fergana valley against the Khorezem Shah, Jebe and Subedei in 1221 on the Kura River against the Georgian horsemen, in 1223 on the Kalka River against the united squads of the Russian principalities, in 1241 Baydar and Khadan against the joint troops of Europe under under the command of Duke Henry II, at Liegnitz, on the Shayo River, Batu Khan and Subedei against the King of Hungary Bela IV. Therefore, it is believed that the Mamluk Turks first successfully used this tactic against the Mongols themselves.

It is clear that the tactics of the Mongol horsemen, who shook Asia and Europe for a century, were sufficiently studied. And the talented Baybars, who once served in the Mongolian army, mastered this matter perfectly.

Be that as it may, the Mongols, despite the fact that the enemy significantly outnumbered them - perhaps twice as many - confidently accepted the battle. During military campaigns, Chinggis Khaan and his followers more than once encountered prevailing enemy forces, sometimes many times superior to them, and gained the upper hand. So for Kit Buk the number of Mamluk Turks did not seem to be a particularly significant circumstance.

At the first moment, Baybars was almost captured by the Mongols. The right wing of the Mongol cavalry crushed the left wing of the Mamluks, forcing them to retreat. It took Kutuz and Baybars a lot of work to again close the scattered ranks of their warriors, rebuild them and launch a counterattack. The fierce battle between the opponents resumed. Having repelled the onslaught of the Mamluks, the Mongols, in turn, launched a counter-offensive.

There came a moment when it seemed that the defeat of the Mamluks was very close. Kutuz loudly prayed to Allah and called on him for help. He implored his soldiers, who began to succumb to confusion, to fight to the end, assuring that if they fled, they would all die anyway, which is why it was better to die with honor on the battlefield. He did not think about victory, but was going to die with dignity in battle.

But in the protracted battle, the horses under the Mongol horsemen weakened; they did not have reserve horses. And the Mamluks moved to stolen fresh horses, they managed to rebuild again. The situation was now becoming dangerous for the Mongols themselves. At this critical moment, Sultan Musa from the Ayyubid dynasty of Syria, who had previously joined the Mongols, who was fighting on the left wing of the Mongols, fled, taking his army with him. Some researchers, not without reason, believe that Sultan Musa secretly met with Kutuz on the eve of the battle and agreed that at the decisive moment he would leave the battlefield, violating the plans and battle formation of the Mongols. This is quite similar to the truth because after Ain Jalut, Qutuz generously gifted Sultan Musa.

Musa's flight became the second for the Mongols, this time a fatal blow from a dagger in the back. Baybars with his best soldiers overthrew and surrounded the thinned left wing of the Mongol horsemen on tired horses.

The proud end of Kit Buka Noyon

The outcome of the battle was no longer in doubt. Keith Book's inner circle urged him to leave the battlefield, there was still a chance to save his life. But Keith Buka flatly refused.

For the last time he addressed his khan and his warriors with the words:

“Running for your life, showing your back to your enemies - this will not happen. I don’t want to embarrass myself like that in front of my descendants. I will not disgrace the valor of the Mongol warrior. Although defeated, he will not run away like a beaten dog with his tail between his legs. As a warrior who swore allegiance to his master, I will fight to the end. If anyone happens to survive in this battle, let him inform my khan that I did not flee, disgracing the honor of the Great Khan. Let my Great Khan not be angry, thinking that he had a warrior running away. Let my Master not be sad that his warriors died here. Let my Khan think that the wives of his warriors did not get pregnant once, that the mares from his herds did not foal once. May our Hulagu Khan be glorified at all times.”

The Mongolian banner was close to being captured by enemies. The noble warrior would consider it an honor to die under his banners, and Kit Buka, cutting through the ranks of the enemy, rushed to his standard-bearers, but the horse under him fell, struck by an arrow. Then he continued to fight on foot. They compared him to a hunted tiger, besieged by hyenas, no one could approach him, his smashing saber spun in the midst of his enemies like a tornado.

Many Mamluk Turks, thirsting for the glory of slaying the Mongol warrior, found their death from his saber. The chronicler wrote that Kit Buka alone fought like a thousand warriors. Kutuz and Baybars, who had seen enough of various bloody battles and had crossed swords with skilled fighters more than once, observed Kit Buk’s fearlessness and amazing skill in saber fighting. They certainly wanted to take the hero alive.

Only when the Mamluk archers pierced him in the thigh with an arrow and he fell to his knees did the enemies manage to fall on him and capture him.

Once a high school student, curious about everything, I read about Keith Book, the story of his heroic and tragic end sank deep into my soul. Then the image of an old warrior often appeared before me, kneeling, but without bending his back, like a string stretched to the limit. His gray hair flutters in the wind, he firmly holds a sparkling sword made of khural steel in his hands, his eagle gaze pierces the surrounding Mamluks. If I were a tolerable artist, I would paint his image, just as Repin in his time painted the impressive image of Taras Bulba.

N.V. Gogol wrote a wonderful story “Taras Bulba”, which inspired me - for many years I had the idea of ​​writing a similar story about Kit Buka, I believed that descendants should perpetuate the memory of him...

The image of the noyon Kit Buk - an ordinary military leader, a temnik of the Great Mongol Empire, is in no way inferior to the image of that daring Zaporozhye Cossack.

Kit Buka at that time was at least 60 years old, maybe more - after all, he sent his grandson to Sidon to retrieve stolen horses.

While Kit Buka Noyon fought off the enemy, like a wounded tiger surrounded by hyenas, his warriors sought to rescue the warlord. Several warriors led by Baydar Noyon - the same one who was at the head of the patrol detachment in Gaza and was the first to fight the Mamluks and who managed to elude them - gathered a group from the scattered warriors near the Baysan area and launched a reckless attack to save their commander.

Although the forces were too unequal, and the men and horses were extremely exhausted, this last desperate attack of the Mongols greatly disturbed Qutuz. But the Mongols failed to overthrow the ranks of the Mamluks, who had a clear numerical advantage and were inspired by the anticipation of an imminent victory. Almost all the Mongols perished on the battlefield. A few warriors took refuge in the reed beds of the Jordan River, but Baybars ordered the reeds to be set on fire, leaving them no chance to survive.

The bound Kit Buk was dragged to Kutuz's tent, placed on the top of the hill.

The once famous Saladin, in 1187, at the Battle of Hatin near Ain Jalut, having completely defeated the crusaders, forced the captured barons and princes to kneel before him, including Guy de Lusignan himself, the king of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Kutuz, following his example, also intended to bring Kit Book to his knees. But he failed. “It has never happened that a master kneels before his servant,” Kit Booka answered him contemptuously.

Kutuz did not receive the pleasure of seeing the kneeling Kit Buk in front of him, he had to humble himself and pass judgment on the enemy standing proudly before him: “You, wild pagan, shed a countless sea of ​​​​innocent blood, destroyed many genealogies of nobles and noble warriors! Know that now your turn has come, you will be martyred.”

Kit Buka answered: “I fought worthily for my master and I will die worthily for my master, you cannot be equal to me. For you are a vile slave who vilely seized the throne, the murderer of your patron. I don't kill like you - from behind. I fight honestly for my master.”

Mongols in a miniature from the early 14th century, Mongolian Iran. Illustrations for “Jami at-tawarikh” by Rashid ad-Din.

He knew that Kutuz and Baybars came from Kipchak-Turkic tribes that were defeated by the Mongols and found refuge in Misir. He also knew how they became the sultan and military leader of the Misyrian state.

And Kit Buka continued: “You can kill me, I will not bend before you, know that it is not you who kill me because of your strength, but because it pleases the Eternal Sky. Don’t flatter yourself for a moment, don’t boast even for a moment. When the Great Khan finds out about your atrocities - despised slaves - he will burst into anger like a raging sea. Our warriors will rush here, and the hooves of the Mongol horses will level the lands from Azairbajan to Misiri. I am an ordinary warrior Hulagu Khan. People like me - he has a great darkness, they will come to exact an answer from you.”

His words conveyed the conviction that the Mongols were destined to rule the whole world, and they were endowed with the right to be masters of all nations. For this is how they perceived the purpose of the Great Mongol Empire.

Kutuz, burning with hatred and thirst for revenge, quartered Kit Buk and, as he had done before with the messenger of Kublai Khan, put Kit Buk's head on a pike and carried him throughout Palestine, Syria and Misira.

The Mongols were alien to a disrespectful attitude towards captured enemies of noble families and their military leaders. They did not allow themselves to torture them or mock their remains. According to their concept, only traitors, insignificant slaves deserve a humiliating death. Valiant warriors and noble noyons were awarded an honorable death without shedding blood and with a solemn burial.

We know well how respectfully Genghis Khan put to death Jamukha, his andu**, who later became the main rival in the struggle for the khan's throne. Prince Mstislav of Kiev was also executed without shedding blood after the Battle of the Kalka River in 1223. Admired by the valor of the Khorezm Sultan Jalal ad-Din, Genghis Khan forbade his archers to shoot him as he swam across the Indus River.

Batu Khan granted freedom to the governor Dmitry as a sign of respect for his heroism during the defense of Kyiv in 1240. Khan Hulagu executed the Caliph, the ruler of ancient Baghdad, without shedding blood.

After the battle of Unegen Daba, Tolui and Subedei were buried with honors by the Khitan commander Altyn Ulus. The Mongol commander Soritai Khorchi, during his campaign in Korea, was admired by the valor of the military leader Hong Myong, who fearlessly defended the Chazhu fortress, and released him to freedom.

And Kutuz, who carried out the vile execution of the Mongol commander, found an inglorious death a short time later.

And there, on the Golan Heights of Israel - the cursed land, where the smoke of war always swirls and blood is shed - for the last time a warm wind caressed the gray hair on the temples of the Mongol warrior, who proudly met his tragic death.

The end of the traitor

Almost none of the Mongols survived that bloody battle. Those who miraculously managed to stay alive fled to Damascus, Homs, and Baalbek. The Mongol governors appointed in many cities and settlements of Syria and their few guards were defenseless, and a widespread retreat began.

The main forces of Hulagu Khan were located far away, in Northern Armenia and Iran. Baybars pursued individual retreating convoys of the Mongols all the way to Aleppo, destroying everyone without sparing their families. The family of Kit Buka, who was in Hamad - his wife and his children - were taken to Kutuz, who, without a moment’s hesitation, ordered them all to be killed. Those from the local nobility who at one time joined the Mongols were also executed.

"Miniature image of a noble Mongol on horseback." Reza Jahangir Shah. From miniatures of medieval Iran.

But the most cruel fate awaited the Christians of Damascus. Kutuz, entering the city in a victorious procession, celebrated his triumph, subjecting them to total extermination. The cultural values ​​of the Christians of Syria were incinerated to the ground, which even the most fanatical adherents of Islam from the Arab Umayyad dynasty and the semi-wild Kurds from the Fatimid-Ayyubids left untouched. He didn't stop there. Persecution of Christians unfolded throughout Syria.

An eyewitness of that time wrote that the blood shed by the Crusaders far exceeded the blood of Muslims shed during the invasion of Hulagu Khan. The greed of the crusaders of Acre, Tire and Sidon resulted in a flow of Christian blood throughout Syria, the destruction of the cultural and religious values ​​of Christianity. The Crusaders finally lost their possessions in the southwestern part of Syria.

All the sultans who participated on the side of Qutuz in the Battle of Ain Jalut were awarded land holdings. Sultan Musa, who at a critical moment of the battle abandoned the right wing of the Mongol troops, which had a decisive influence on the outcome of the battle, retained the right to own his lands. These lands were left to him by the Mongols because he expressed loyalty to serve them. The double betrayal was rewarded.

But Baybars, the closest companion at the battle of Ain Jalut, who achieved success by pursuing the Mongols across the entire territory of Syria, and captured many Mongol garrisons in various cities up to Aleppo, was deprived of the mercy of Qutuz. Since ancient times, there has been a knot of contradiction between them.

Kutuz at one time participated in a conspiracy to assassinate Aktay, the ruler of the Bahrainis. And Baybars was one of Aktai’s trusted representatives. Their mutual feuds temporarily subsided in the face of the urgent need to unite against a common strong enemy - each of them had scores to settle with the Mongols. As recorded in the sources, Baybars hoped that Kutuz would appoint him Sultan of Aleppo, but this did not happen. And the old enmity flared up again, but became even more irreconcilable. One of them will have to give in; two sultans cannot sit on the same throne. Kutuz was rightly wary of strengthening the power-hungry and strong Baybars.

The sources describe that upon completion of a successful campaign in Syria, Kutuz finally decided to return back to Misir. Along the way I had fun hunting. Once I shot either a hare or a fox with a bow. When he galloped up to the killed prey, someone ran up to him, apparently prepared in advance by Baybars. That man had previously been sentenced to death, but Kutuz pardoned him. In gratitude for his salvation, he vowed to be faithful to him forever and asked permission to touch his right hand to receive a blessing.

Suspecting nothing, Kutuz extended his hand to him, and then Baybars, who was standing next to him, grabbed a saber from its sheath and cut off this hand. Then he cut him down completely. Those close to Kutuz who accompanied him were taken by surprise and shocked. Surely there were supporters of Baybars among those accompanying Kutuz. Upon returning to Misir, all the glory of the great victory over the Mongols went not to Kutuz, but to Baybars; the crowd greeted him with jubilation in Cairo.

Kutuz ended ingloriously, hacked to death by the hands of his own people. The conqueror of the Mongols was not worthy of dying on the battlefield. Once he overthrew his Sultan Ayyubid, who raised him and entrusted him with command of the Mamluk army. Having overthrown the Sultan, Kutuz then mercilessly killed his son. Kit Buka Noyon was right, having no doubt at all that, by the will of Huh Tengri, the life of the traitor would end in a miserable death. Traitors are killed by traitors.

Why was there no retribution from Hulagu Khan for the death of his commander

Hulagu Khan was greatly saddened when he was informed of the death of his faithful commander. But he could not go to war against Misir, to avenge the death of his nuker. Khan faced an even greater challenge than the defeat of his separate army at Ain Jalut.

After the death of the Great Khan Mongke, a struggle for the khan's throne broke out between Hulagu's siblings, Kublai Kublai and Arigbukha. In the very domain of the Mongols, the flames of internecine war flared up, siblings took up arms against each other, and mutual massacres began.

This feud lasted four years. But resistance to Khubilai's policy, which moved the center of the Mongol Empire to China, continued on varying scales over the next 40 years. Khaidu, a descendant of Ogedei Khan, could not reconcile with Kublai.

The son of Hulagu Khan with his army fought on the side of Arigbukha, while Hulagu himself sided with Kublai.

After the overthrow of Hulagu by the Khan of Baghdad - the stronghold of the Islamic world of that time - and the execution of the Baghdad Caliph, who was his highest figure, Berke, Khan of the Golden Horde, the heir of Batu Khan, who became a devout Muslim, became embittered against Hulagu and did not conceal a threat. He repeatedly exchanged messengers with Baybars, agreeing on a joint action against the ulus of the Ilkhan Hulagu.

In addition, the dispute between Hulagu and Berke also arose over the rich Caucasian lands adjacent to their possessions. The matter was aggravated by the fact that several princes of khan blood from the Golden Horde, who served in the army of Hulagu Khan, were killed under mysterious circumstances. All this led to the fact that at the end of 1260, near Derbent, two Mongol armies clashed with each other in a fratricidal battle, mercilessly shedding each other’s blood.

An unprecedented number of warriors took part in this battle on both sides. They write that such an unprecedented battle has never happened, neither in all previous wars under Genghis Khan, nor later. Here, in just a few days, incomparably more Mongol blood was shed than that which was shed during the entire history of the Mongol conquests.

Along with this, the descendants of the Jaghatai ulus, considering that they were undeservedly deprived, began to lay claim to the lands of the Golden Horde and the lands of the Ilkhans. At the junction of these states, on the border lands in Central Asia, armed clashes broke out every now and then.

Due to all these difficult circumstances, Hulagu Khan was unable to send the main forces of his army to Syria and Misir. This allowed the Mamluks to gain a foothold in Syria and then inflict another defeat on a significant group of Mongol troops in 1281 near the city of Homs.

For the first time, the edge of the Mongol saber was dulled in Ain Jalut. But almost simultaneously with this, naturally or accidentally, schismatic thoughts and deeds began to spread throughout the Mongol Empire like a contagious disease, mercilessly destroying its unity and power. Not much time passed before the great Mongol Empire split. From it were formed: with the center in China, the superpower of Asia - the Yuan Empire or the Mongolian Blue Horde, in Central Asia - the ulus of Jagatai, in Iran, in the Middle East - the Ilkhan Empire, from the eastern outskirts of the Kipchak steppe to the Dniester River arose the Golden Horde.

If the Mongols had not fallen into internecine wars, as Kit Buka believed, the hooves of Hulagu Khan’s cavalry would have razed Syria and Misir to the ground, and neither the military talent of Baybars nor the valor of the Mamluk Turks would have prevented this. Arab historians themselves admit this.

In that era, no one was able to resist the forceful pressure of the Mongols, which had reached the highest point of its power. Throughout the entire theater of war - be it in China, Rus', Europe or the Middle East - there was not a single force capable of withstanding the unrestrained onslaught of the Mongol cavalry. Unless the Mongols themselves could fight among themselves on equal terms. Which, unfortunately, is what happened.

In any historical act, there is a starting point, a progressive development, reaching the highest point - the apogee, then the reverse movement begins - decline, of which humanity has seen plenty. In the 13th century, the deeds of the Mongols reached their apogee, then the countdown began, the Mamluks turned out to be the starting point of this movement.

However, no other nation has managed to create such a super-huge empire. Until now, many historians wonder: why, how the Mongols were so invincible, where and what their strength came from.

At that moment, the Mongol Empire extended over a ninth of the entire landmass known at that time, approximately 33 million sq. km. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the colonial possessions of Great Britain, during the period of its greatest power, extended over 33.7 million square meters. km, but at that time all unknown lands had already been discovered, and taking this into account, its colonial territories accounted for less than one-third of all land on Earth.

It has been noted that, starting from the time of Genghis Khan, the Mongols treated only one people with particular severity, persecuting them everywhere and trying to suppress them. These were the Kipchak-Turks, related to the Mongols by origin, roaming a vast territory from the foot of the Altai Mountains to the Dnieper River, who were not inferior to the Mongols in military skill and courage. Perhaps it was precisely because the Kipchaks competed with them on equal terms that the Mongols treated them with such intransigence. Subedey-Bogatur first encountered the Kipchaks while pursuing the remnants of the Merkits on the Chui River, and from then on the Mongol persecution of them continued all the way to Hungary, to the Magyars. And then even further - to the borders of Misir (Egypt).

The first dynasty of the Mamluk state, called the Bahraini dynasty and which existed from 1250 to 1382, descended precisely from these Kipchaks and Turks. Kutuz was born in Khorezm, and Baybars was born either in Crimea or in Karakhan of today's Kazakhstan.

For the Kazakhs, Baybars is national pride; they revere him as their epic hero. Monuments were erected in his honor, and in our time a serial film was created about him. The Baybars Mosque in Cairo and his mausoleum in Syria were reconstructed by the Kazakh government. (And in Kazakhstan there is the mausoleum-tomb of Jochi Khan. Unfortunately, not to mention any reconstruction, not a single official or delegation from Mongolia visited this mausoleum-tomb; in general, few people know about its existence).

Baybars's victory at Ain Jalut over one tumen of the Mongols brought him fame in no way inferior to the glory of the great Sultan Saladin, who defeated the united army of the Crusaders in 1187 in the area of ​​​​Hattin, a little over 60 kilometers from Ain Jalut.

In honor of the victory at Ain Jalut, Islamic historians called Baybars the “Islamic Lion”.

During the capture of Khorezm by Genghis Khaan, a small Turkic tribe living in the north of the city of Merv moved west, temporarily finding refuge in Armenia. Then, fleeing the ongoing offensive of the Mongol troops in the Middle East led by Chormogan and Baychu, this tribe reached Anadolia (Modern Anatolia). Later, they laid the foundation for the emergence of the all-powerful Ottoman Empire in a territory that spread from Asia to half of the European continent. It can be said that this empire was born in the footsteps and ruins of the worldwide empire created by the Mongols.

Epilogue

The military strength of the Mongols, unconquerable for a century, was exhausted among the sandy hills of Ain Jalut in the Sinai Desert. It has dried up - like a stream of heavy rain disappears into the sand.

The established and unquestionable idea in both the East and the West about the invincibility of the Mongol conquerors - executors of God's command - has dissipated. Only the legend remains. Such a fate awaited these conquests.

The entire Arab-Muslim world saw that the Mongols could also be defeated, that they, like everyone else, were created from flesh and blood. And that when the time comes, they too are balancing on a fine line between victory and defeat.

The Mongol army that fought in Ain Jalut was one small group, just one tumen of the Great Empire. This was one of hundreds of their battles. The defeat at Ain Jalut put an end to further conquests, but it did not in the least shake the foundations of the Mongol Empire; its greatness and power still aroused fear and respect everywhere.

Ain Jalut, in its meaning, marked farewell to the idea of ​​domination of the Great Mongol Empire over the rest of the world. An idea that was initially unrealizable and doomed to inevitable failure.

Genghis Khan divided people into two groups. Not the aristocracy and their servants, not the rich and the poor. And he divided them according to their devotion to the cause they serve, respected honesty and loyalty, despised the greedy, sycophants, hated traitors. Genghis Khan, wherever he met such people, crushed them like creeping reptiles, lice and bedbugs.

The enraged Genghis Khan executed Jamukha's associates when they, having betrayed their master, took him into captivity. At the same time, he placed high trust in Nayan Batyr, who came to serve him, but first gave his master, Targudai Khan, the opportunity to leave. Subsequently, Nayan became one of Genghis Khan’s military leaders and served him with honor to the end. Genghis Khan respected the courage and dedication of Zurgadai, the khan of the Taichiuts, although he was his implacable enemy.

For loyalty and valor, Chinggis Khan considered his nukers to be the subjects of Khukh Tengri. Such nukers were Jebe, Subudai, Nayaa, Mukhulai, Kit Buka and many others. According to L.N. Gumilyov’s definition, these were “people of long will.” They stood out clearly from the rest by their selfless service to the cause, their willingness to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the common cause. These qualities were widely manifested among the Mongols in the 13th century. Kit Buka, who died at Ain Jalut, and other warriors were the last representatives of this generation.

The image of the commander Kit Book from the depths of centuries stands before us, full of pride and valor, at the tragic moment of his death, addressing his descendants: “Let my descendants not be ashamed of me, they will not say that I was saving my skin by running away from the enemy and showing them my back.” He has nothing to be ashamed of in front of his descendants, but his descendants have something to be ashamed of in front of him.

The heroic end of Kit Buk turned out to be the last song of the greatness of the Mongols. Let this song today be a call that awakens the courage that has died out in us, inspires our minds, restores lost faith and awakens the dormant strength within us.

The sympathies of the one placed on the side of the Aryans-Mamluks-Cumans.

Georgians
Ayyubids of Homs and Banias Commanders

Kutuz Baybars I Balaban ar-Rashidi Sunkur ar-Rumi al-Mansur of Hama

Kitbuka † Baydar al-Ashraf Musa of Homs al-Said Hasan of Banias

Strengths of the parties

?	10 - 20 thousand

Losses

unknown

unknown

Battle of Ain Jalut- battle on September 3, 1260 between the Egyptian Mamluk army under the command of Sultan Qutuz and Emir Baybars and the Mongol corps from the army of Hulagu under the command of Kitbuk Noyon. The Mongols were defeated and Kitbuka was killed.

The news of the sudden death of the Great Khan Mongke () forced Hulagu with most of the army to return to Iran. The Kitbuki corps remained in Palestine. Retreating, Hulagu sent an embassy to the Mamluk Sultan Kutuz in Cairo with the following ultimatum:

The Great Lord chose Genghis Khan and his family and [all] countries on earth at once granted us. Everyone who turned away from obeying us ceased to exist along with their wives, children, relatives, slaves and cities, as everyone should know, and the rumor about our limitless army spread like the tales of Rustem and Isfendiyar. So, if you are submissive to our majesty, then send tribute, appear yourself and ask [for] the governor, otherwise prepare for war

In response to this demand, Kutuz, on the initiative of Baybars, ordered the execution of the ambassadors and preparations for war.

On the eve of the battle

Mongols

The number of Kitbuki troops was relatively small. According to information from Kirakos Gandzaketsi, Hulagu left him about 20 thousand people, according to Getum Patmich and Abul-Faraj - 10 thousand. The modern historian R. Amitai-Preiss estimates the Mongol forces at 10-12 thousand, which included, along with the Mongol cavalry, auxiliary units from Cilician Armenia (500 people, according to Smbat), Georgia, as well as local troops who had previously served the Syrian Ayyubids. The Ayyubid rulers al-Ashraf Musa from Homs and al-Said Hassan from Banias also supported the Mongols.

Mamluks

The exact size of the Egyptian army is unknown. The later Persian historian Wassaf speaks of 12 thousand warriors, but since the source of his information is unknown, it is not credible. Most likely, Kutuz had larger forces at his disposal (according to R. Irwin, his army could number up to 100 thousand people), but the Mamluks were a small corps of elite troops, and the bulk were poorly equipped Egyptian warriors ( ajnad), as well as Bedouins and light Turkmen cavalry. The Mamluk Sultan was also joined by the Shahrazuri Kurds, who fled from Hulagu's army first to Syria and then to Egypt, and the Ayyubid ruler of Hama al-Mansur. The Arab chronicler Baybars al-Mansuri (d. 1325) reports that Qutuz "assembled [every] horseman and foot soldier ( al-faris wa-l-rajeel) among the Bedouins ( al-urban) and others." However, the participation of infantry in the battle is not confirmed by other sources. Probably the expression al-faris wa-l-rajeel used by the author in a figurative sense - “universal gathering”. Four Arab sources mention the use of small gunpowder cannons by the Egyptian army in the battle.

Progress of the battle

On the morning of September 3, 1260 AD. e. / 25 Ramadan 658 AH two armies met at Ain Jalut. The Mamluks advanced first, but were preempted by the Mongol attack. Qutuz, whose leadership and courage are noted in Mamluk sources, kept his cool when the left flank of his army was about to falter, and led a counterattack that apparently resulted in victory. An important role was played by the unexpected retreat of the Syrian Muslims who fought in the Mongol army, which led to the formation of a gap in their ranks. Baybars, with a false retreat, lured Kitbuku into an ambush, where the Mamluks attacked him from three sides. The Mongol army was defeated, Kitbuka was captured and executed.

Consequences. Historical meaning

Although the Mongol advance in Palestine was stopped and the Mamluks occupied Syria, the Battle of Ain Jalut was not decisive in the long term. The war between the Mamluk Sultanate and the Hulaguid state, founded by Hulagu, dragged on for years. Mongol troops returned to Syria in 1261, 1280, 1299, 1301 and 1303. However, the battle had a huge psychological effect: the myth of the invincibility of the Mongol army in the field was shaken, if not completely dispelled; The military prestige of the Bahrite Mamluks was confirmed, as before, in the Battle of Mansur against the Crusaders ().

Reflection in culture

In cinema

• The Battle of Ain Jalut was depicted in the 1989 film Sultan Baybars.

Write a review on the article "Battle of Ain Jalut"

Notes

Bibliography

Sources

• Kirakos Gandzaketsi./ Translation from ancient Armenian, preface and commentary by L. A. Khanlaryan. - M.: Science, 1976.
• Rashid ad-Din./ Translation by A. K. Arends. - M., Leningrad: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1946. - T. 3.
• Smbat Sparapet./ Per. A. G. Galstyan. - Yerevan: Hayastan, 1974. - pp. 134-135.

Literature

• Gumilyov L. N.. - M.: Iris-press, 2002. - 432 p. - (Library of History and Culture). - ISBN 5-8112-0021-8.
• Amitai-Preiss R.(English) // Medieval Islamic civilization, Volume 1. - Routledge, 2006. - P. 82-83. - ISBN 0415966906.
• Amitai-Preiss R.. - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. - 272 p. - ISBN 0-521-46226-6.
• . - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968. - T. 5: The Saljuq and Mongol Periods. - P. 351. - 762 p. - ISBN 521 06936 X.
• Grousset R.= L'Empire des steppes, Attila, Gengis-Khan, Tamerlan. - Rutgers University Press, 1970. - 687 p. - ISBN 0813513049.
• Irwin R.. - London: Croom Helm, 1986. - 180 p. - ISBN 0-7099-1308-7.

Links

• (English) . Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 23, 2011. .
• Tschanz D.W.(English) . Saudi Aramco World magazine. Aramco Services Company (July/August 2007). Retrieved April 23, 2011. .

Mongol conquests
Europe	Western and Central Asia		East Asia
Key events Campaign of Jebe and Subedei Western campaign of the Mongols		Key events Middle East campaign of the Mongols Ain Jalut		Conquests Invasions

Excerpt describing the Battle of Ain Jalut

“C"est le doute qui est flatteur!" said l"homme a l"esprit profond, with a subtle smile. [Doubt is flattering! - said a deep mind,]
“Il faut distinguer entre le cabinet de Vienne et l"Empereur d"Autriche,” said MorteMariet. - L"Empereur d"Autriche n"a jamais pu penser a une chose pareille, ce n"est que le cabinet qui le dit. [It is necessary to distinguish between the Viennese cabinet and the Austrian emperor. The Austrian Emperor could never think this, only the cabinet speaks.]
“Eh, mon cher vicomte,” Anna Pavlovna intervened, “l"Urope (for some reason she pronounced l"Urope, as a special subtlety of the French language that she could afford when speaking with a Frenchman) l"Urope ne sera jamais notre alliee sincere [Ah, my dear Viscount, Europe will never be our sincere ally.]
Following this, Anna Pavlovna brought the conversation to the courage and firmness of the Prussian king in order to introduce Boris into the matter.
Boris listened attentively to whoever was speaking, waiting for his turn, but at the same time he managed to look back several times at his neighbor, the beautiful Helen, who with a smile met her eyes several times with the handsome young adjutant.
Quite naturally, speaking about the situation in Prussia, Anna Pavlovna asked Boris to tell his journey to Glogau and the situation in which he found the Prussian army. Boris, slowly, in pure and correct French, told a lot of interesting details about the troops, about the court, throughout his story carefully avoiding stating his opinion about the facts that he conveyed. For some time, Boris captured everyone's attention, and Anna Pavlovna felt that her treat with a new product was received with pleasure by all the guests. Helen showed the most attention to Boris's story. She asked him several times about certain details of his trip and seemed quite interested in the situation of the Prussian army. As soon as he finished, she turned to him with her usual smile:
“Il faut absolument que vous veniez me voir, [It is necessary that you come to see me," she told him in such a tone, as if for some reasons that he could not know, this was absolutely necessary.
– Mariedi entre les 8 et 9 heures. Vous me ferez grand plaisir. [Tuesday, between 8 and 9 o'clock. You will do me great pleasure.] - Boris promised to fulfill her wish and wanted to enter into a conversation with her when Anna Pavlovna called him away under the pretext of her aunt, who wanted to hear him.
“You know her husband, don’t you?” - said Anna Pavlovna, closing her eyes and pointing at Helen with a sad gesture. - Oh, this is such an unfortunate and lovely woman! Don't talk about him in front of her, please don't talk about him. It's too hard for her!

When Boris and Anna Pavlovna returned to the general circle, Prince Ippolit took over the conversation.
He moved forward in his chair and said: Le Roi de Prusse! [The Prussian king!] and having said this, he laughed. Everyone turned to him: Le Roi de Prusse? - asked Ippolit, laughed again and again calmly and seriously sat down in the depths of his chair. Anna Pavlovna waited for him a little, but since Hippolyte decidedly did not seem to want to talk anymore, she began a speech about how the godless Bonaparte stole the sword of Frederick the Great in Potsdam.
“C"est l"epee de Frederic le Grand, que je... [This is the sword of Frederick the Great, which I...] - she began, but Hippolytus interrupted her with the words:
“Le Roi de Prusse...” and again, as soon as he was addressed, he apologized and fell silent. Anna Pavlovna winced. MorteMariet, a friend of Hippolyte, turned decisively to him:
– Voyons a qui en avez vous avec votre Roi de Prusse? [So what about the Prussian king?]
Hippolytus laughed, as if he was ashamed of his laughter.
- Non, ce n "est rien, je voulais dire seulement... [No, nothing, I just wanted to say...] (He intended to repeat the joke that he heard in Vienna, and which he had been planning to put all evening.) Je voulais dire seulement, que nous avons tort de faire la guerre pour le roi de Prusse. [I just wanted to say that we are fighting in vain pour le roi de Prusse. (Untranslatable play on words meaning: “over trifles.”)]
Boris smiled cautiously, so that his smile could be classified as mockery or approval of the joke, depending on how it was received. Everyone laughed.
“Il est tres mauvais, votre jeu de mot, tres spirituel, mais injuste,” said Anna Pavlovna, shaking her wrinkled finger. – Nous ne faisons pas la guerre pour le Roi de Prusse, mais pour les bons principes. Ah, le mechant, ce prince Hippolytel [Your play on words is not good, very clever, but unfair; we are not fighting pour le roi de Prusse (i.e. over trifles), but for good beginnings. Oh, how evil he is, this Prince Hippolyte!],” she said.
The conversation continued throughout the evening, focusing mainly on political news. At the end of the evening, he became especially animated when it came to the awards bestowed by the sovereign.
“After all, last year NN received a snuff-box with a portrait,” said l “homme a l” esprit profond, [a man of deep intelligence,] “why can’t SS receive the same award?”
“Je vous demande pardon, une tabatiere avec le portrait de l"Empereur est une recompense, mais point une distinction,” said the diplomat, un cadeau plutot. [Sorry, a snuff box with a portrait of the Emperor is a reward, not a distinction; rather a gift.]
– Il y eu plutot des antecedents, je vous citerai Schwarzenberg. [There were examples - Schwarzenberg.]
“C"est impossible, [This is impossible," the other objected.
- Pari. Le grand cordon, c"est different... [The tape is a different matter...]
When everyone got up to leave, Helen, who had said very little all evening, again turned to Boris with a request and a gentle, significant order that he should be with her on Tuesday.
“I really need this,” she said with a smile, looking back at Anna Pavlovna, and Anna Pavlovna, with the sad smile that accompanied her words when speaking about her high patroness, confirmed Helen’s desire. It seemed that that evening, from some words spoken by Boris about the Prussian army, Helen suddenly discovered the need to see him. She seemed to promise him that when he arrived on Tuesday, she would explain this need to him.
Arriving on Tuesday evening at Helen's magnificent salon, Boris did not receive a clear explanation of why he needed to come. There were other guests, the countess spoke little to him, and only saying goodbye, when he kissed her hand, she, with a strange lack of a smile, unexpectedly, in a whisper, said to him: Venez demain diner... le soir. Il faut que vous veniez… Venez. [Come for dinner tomorrow... in the evening. I need you to come... Come.]
On this visit to St. Petersburg, Boris became a close person in the house of Countess Bezukhova.

The war was flaring up, and its theater was approaching the Russian borders. Curses against the enemy of the human race, Bonaparte, were heard everywhere; Warriors and recruits gathered in the villages, and contradictory news came from the theater of war, false as always and therefore interpreted differently.
The life of old Prince Bolkonsky, Prince Andrei and Princess Marya has changed in many ways since 1805.
In 1806, the old prince was appointed one of the eight commanders-in-chief of the militia, then appointed throughout Russia. The old prince, despite his senile weakness, which became especially noticeable during the period of time when he considered his son killed, did not consider himself entitled to refuse the position to which he had been appointed by the sovereign himself, and this newly discovered activity excited and strengthened him. He was constantly traveling around the three provinces entrusted to him; He was pedantic in his duties, strict to the point of cruelty with his subordinates, and he himself went down to the smallest details of the matter. Princess Marya had already stopped taking mathematical lessons from her father, and only in the mornings, accompanied by her nurse, with little Prince Nikolai (as his grandfather called him), entered her father’s study when he was at home. Baby Prince Nikolai lived with his wet nurse and nanny Savishna in the half of the late princess, and Princess Marya spent most of the day in the nursery, replacing, as best she could, a mother to her little nephew. M lle Bourienne, too, seemed to be passionately in love with the boy, and Princess Marya, often depriving herself, yielded to her friend the pleasure of nursing the little angel (as she called her nephew) and playing with him.
At the altar of the Lysogorsk church there was a chapel over the grave of the little princess, and in the chapel a marble monument brought from Italy was erected, depicting an angel spreading his wings and preparing to ascend to heaven. The angel's upper lip was slightly raised, as if he was about to smile, and one day Prince Andrei and Princess Marya, leaving the chapel, admitted to each other that it was strange, the face of this angel reminded them of the face of a deceased woman. But what was even stranger, and what Prince Andrei did not tell his sister, was that in the expression that the artist accidentally gave to the face of the angel, Prince Andrei read the same words of meek reproach that he then read on the face of his dead wife: “Oh, why did you do this to me?..."
Soon after the return of Prince Andrei, the old prince separated his son and gave him Bogucharovo, a large estate located 40 miles from Bald Mountains. Partly because of the difficult memories associated with the Bald Mountains, partly because Prince Andrei did not always feel able to bear his father’s character, and partly because he needed solitude, Prince Andrei took advantage of Bogucharov, built there and spent most of his time there. time.
Prince Andrei, after the Austerlitz campaign, firmly decided never to serve in military service again; and when the war began, and everyone had to serve, he, in order to get rid of active service, accepted a position under his father in collecting the militia. The old prince and his son seemed to change roles after the 1805 campaign. The old prince, excited by the activity, expected all the best from the real campaign; Prince Andrey, on the contrary, not participating in the war and secretly regretting it in his soul, saw only one bad thing.
On February 26, 1807, the old prince left for the district. Prince Andrei, as for the most part during his father’s absences, remained in Bald Mountains. Little Nikolushka had been unwell for the 4th day. The coachmen who drove the old prince returned from the city and brought papers and letters to Prince Andrei.
The valet with letters, not finding the young prince in his office, went to Princess Marya’s half; but he wasn’t there either. The valet was told that the prince had gone to the nursery.
“Please, your Excellency, Petrusha has come with the papers,” said one of the nanny’s girls, turning to Prince Andrei, who was sitting on a small children’s chair and with trembling hands, frowning, dripping medicine from a glass into a glass half filled with water.
- What's happened? - he said angrily, and carelessly shaking his hand, he poured an extra amount of drops from the glass into the glass. He threw the medicine out of the glass onto the floor and asked for water again. The girl handed it to him.
In the room there was a crib, two chests, two armchairs, a table and a children's table and chair, the one on which Prince Andrei was sitting. The windows were curtained, and one candle was burning on the table, covered with a bound book of music, so that the light would not fall on the crib.
“My friend,” Princess Marya said, turning to her brother from the crib where she stood, “it’s better to wait... after...

Great battles. 100 battles that changed the course of history Domanin Alexander Anatolyevich

Battle of Ain Jalut 1260

Battle of Ain Jalut

By 1260, the Islamic world seemed doomed. After conquering Baghdad in 1258, Hulagu's invincible tumens launched their next attack on Muslim Syria. The impregnable Aleppo fell under their onslaught, and ancient Damascus, in horror of the terrible conquerors, itself opened its gates to them. The war came to the very threshold of Egypt, the only sufficiently strong Islamic state at that time. The defeat of Egypt - and Hulagu's army was obviously stronger than the Mamluk army - would have meant the end of organized and truly serious resistance to Islam. The path “to the last sea” would be open, since the Almohad power, which received a crushing blow at Las Navas de Tolosa, was already living out its last days. However, history has chosen its path...

In the midst of all these events, far in the east, in Karakorum, the great khan of the Mongols, Munke, dies, and Hulagu, having taken most of the army, hurries to the great kurultai - a meeting of the Mongol nobility - where the election of a new great khan, the leader of all the Mongols, is to take place. In Palestine, he leaves his vanguard of two or three tumens under the command of Kitbugi-noyon, and in order not to take risks, he orders him to refrain from active military operations and confine himself to the necessary defense. Everything seemed to be well thought out, but Hulagu’s actions led to very dire consequences for the Mongols and saved the almost doomed Muslim world.

The warlike Mamluks who settled in Egypt were extremely inspired by the departure of most of Hulagu’s army and risked taking advantage of the chance that suddenly presented itself to them. And then they found completely unexpected allies. They suddenly decided to support the spiritual-knightly monastic orders of the Templars and Johannites based in Palestine. In general, a lot depended on the position of the Christians, and now, when the forces of the opponents had become approximately equal, their help to one of the parties could be decisive at this moment. Kitbuga, well aware of the situation, sends a friendly embassy to Acre, because Christians are potential supporters of the Mongols, and Prince of Antioch Bohemond generally concluded an alliance with Hulagu. And then a group of Templars - longtime opponents of the alliance with the Mongols - kills the ambassadors. After this there was no choice left: from the point of view of the Mongols, the murder of ambassadors is one of the most terrible crimes.

Mamluk cavalryman. From a 19th century painting

This act of the Templars, as well as their subsequent actions - the Templars provide the Mamluks with the opportunity to lead troops through the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and, thereby, go to the rear of the Kitbugi Mongols who were not expecting this - still cause serious controversy among historians. Supporters of the idea of ​​the “yellow crusade” directly call the Templars traitors to a certain “common cause.” Considering the defection of one of the leaders of the crusaders, Prince Bohemond, to the side of Hulagu, an alliance of Levantine Christians with the Mongols cannot be considered something unthinkable. But whether this would become a “common cause” is a big question. The goal of the Mongols, the goal of Hulagu, was not the defeat of Islam, but the conquest of new lands. Christians on this campaign could only be temporary allies of the Mongols. So for Christians of the Holy Land, joining the Mongols meant the same as taking a tiger as an ally: it is difficult to predict whether it will tear apart your enemies or pounce on you. The old enemy - Egypt - had long been well known and, although it posed a serious threat, it was at least a familiar threat and, in the opinion of most of the crusaders, not as dangerous as the invincible Mongols. After all, the Europeans have not yet forgotten Liegnitz and Chaillot. In general, you can understand the Templars, but you also need to understand that the alliance with the Mongols was the last chance to preserve the Christian presence in the Holy Land - another question is how long.

The thirty-thousand-strong Mamluk army that left Egypt on July 26, 1260 was commanded by Sultan Kutuz, the commander of the vanguard was the Kipchak (Cuman) Baybars. As already mentioned, the Mamluks passed through the Kingdom of Jerusalem and in early September entered Galilee, behind the Mongols of Kitbugi. Here, on September 3, near the small village of Ain Jalut, a battle took place that saved the Islamic world from destruction.

The enemy forces were apparently approximately equal in number. In addition to the Mongol troops themselves, there were also Armenian and Georgian detachments in the Kitbugi army, but their combat effectiveness was low, like that of any forced warriors. The Mamluk army consisted only of professional warriors, and warriors who had special reasons to hate the Mongols: after all, a significant part of the Mamluks, starting with Baybars himself, were former Mongol captives captured in the Great Western Campaign of 1236–1242. Sold in slave markets, they ended up in Egypt, where they joined this unusual slave guard. And the desire for revenge was not the last feeling that led the Mamluks into battle.

The battle began with an attack by the Mongols. The Tumen of Kitbugi crashed into the vanguard of Baybars and after an extremely fierce battle the Mamluks began to retreat. Perhaps it was this initial bitterness that clouded the mind of the natural nomad Kitbugi. He rushed to pursue the retreaters, without even suggesting that this retreat could be false - and yet the tactics of a false retreat were one of the foundations of Mongolian military science. Kitbuga did not take into account that he was opposed by essentially the same nomads, only former ones - and he was caught. When his tumens were sufficiently involved in the pursuit, from behind the low hills the Mongol army was attacked from both flanks by the Mamluks of Qutuz. Baibars's vanguard turned around and also struck at the confused Mongols.

The defeat of the Mongol army was complete. Almost no one was able to escape the hellish ring of death. The Mongol commander Kitbuga himself was also captured: he was later executed on the orders of Kutuz. Only a very small part of the Mongol army managed to escape, but, pursued by the Mamluks, they fled far to the north. It is also interesting that in this battle, as at Chaillot, unusual weapons were used, only now not by the Mongols, but by their opponents. At the Battle of Ain Jalut, a series of ingenious means were used to frighten the Mongol horses and throw chaos into the enemy ranks: incendiary arrows, rockets, small midfa cannons, “spark throwers” ​​tied to spears, bundles of gunpowder firecrackers on poles. To avoid getting burned themselves, their wearers dressed in thick woolen clothes and covered exposed parts of their bodies with talcum powder. This is one of the earliest uses of gunpowder known to us in history.

The victory at Ain Jalut greatly inspired the Mamluks. After her, the Mamluks rushed forward and captured Jerusalem, Damascus, Aleppo and most of Syria. They were now led by Baybars himself, who in October 1260 killed Kutuz and proclaimed himself the new Sultan of Egypt and Syria. Only at the Euphrates were the Mamluk troops stopped by the army of Hulagu, hastily transferred from Mongolia. But here a new blow awaits the Mongol Ilkhan: Batu’s brother Berke is moving against him with a huge army, declaring the Jochids’ claims to Arran and Azerbaijan, bequeathed to them by Genghis Khan. Hulagu moved his army towards him, and an exceptionally bloody battle between two Mongol armies took place on the banks of the Terek. Hulagu suffered a heavy defeat in this battle, and the enormous losses suffered by his army did not allow him to regain the initiative on the Islamic front. A fairly stable status quo has developed in Western Asia. The Islamic world survived, and the Mamluks were able to cope with their ancient enemy - the crusaders of the Levant.

This text is an introductory fragment. From the book Great Battles [fragment] author

Battle of Leuctra 371 BC e. The Battle of Leuctra was a battle that took place during the Boeotian War between the Thebans and their Boeotian allies, led by the Boeotarch Epaminondas, on the one hand, and the Spartans and their Peloponnesian allies, led by the king

From the book The First Blitzkrieg. August 1914 [comp. S. Pereslegin] by Tuckman Barbara

Battle of Chaeronea 338 BC. e. In the 4th century BC. e. North of Hellas was the small mountainous country of Macedonia. Separated from the Hellenic city-states by the vast Thessaly, Macedonia was considered a barbarian country among the Greeks themselves, although by the middle of the 4th century BC. e. Macedonian

From the book Vienna, 1683 author Podhorodetsky Leszek

Battle of Gaugamela 331 BC e. In 336 BC. e. The son of Philip II, twenty-year-old Alexander, becomes king of the Macedonian state. No less talented and even more ambitious than his father, he continues preparations for the great war with Persia. Suppressing timid attempts

From the book Stalin and the Bomb: The Soviet Union and Atomic Energy. 1939-1956 by David Holloway

Battle of Ipsus 301 BC e. After the great eastern campaign, Alexander the Great did not live long. In 323 BC. e. the great conqueror who created the most grandiose empire of the ancient era dies at the age of thirty-three. He bequeathed a huge power to his not yet

From the book Great Battles. 100 battles that changed the course of history author Domanin Alexander Anatolievich

Battle of Cannae 216 BC e. Among the hundreds of battles of the ancient era, a special place is occupied by the Battle of Cannae, which became the largest battle of the Second Punic War - the war for supremacy in the Mediterranean between the two great powers of that time, Roman and Carthaginian

From the book The Largest Tank Battle of the Great Patriotic War. Battle for Eagle author Shchekotikhin Egor

Battle of Zama 202 BC e. The decade after the Battle of Cannae became a time of difficult confrontation between Rome and Carthage. The scales of the Second Punic War were shaking. The invincible Hannibal still confidently waged the war in Italy, but did not have enough forces to

From the book of Zhukov. The ups, downs and unknown pages of the life of the great marshal author Gromov Alex

Battle of Pydna 168 BC. e. At the end of the 3rd century BC. e. The struggle begins between Rome and Macedonia for hegemony in Greece and the Hellenistic countries. This led to three wars, which are called the Macedonian wars. In the first Roman-Macedonian war (215–205 BC) in the role

From the book At the Origins of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Azov flotilla of Catherine II in the struggle for Crimea and in the creation of the Black Sea Fleet (1768 - 1783) author Lebedev Alexey Anatolievich

From the book Divide and Conquer. Nazi occupation policy author Sinitsyn Fedor Leonidovich

From the author's book

1260 Ibid. See also: Condit K. W. The History of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: The Joint Chiefs of Staff and National Policy. Vol. 2: 1947–1949. Washington, DC: Historical Division. Joint Secretariat. Joint Chiefs of Staff (declassified March 1978). P.

From the author's book

Battle of Adrianople (I) 378 At the end of the 2nd century, the era of the Great Migration of Peoples begins in Europe. The Germanic tribe of Goths begins its movement to the plains of Eastern Europe. By the middle of the 4th century, the Goths conquered most of the Russian Plain, and in the south and west they reached

From the author's book

Battle of the Lech River (Battle of Augsburg) 955 The 8th–10th centuries turned out to be difficult for the peoples of Western Europe. The 8th century was a struggle against Arab invasions, which were repelled only at the cost of enormous effort. Almost the entire 9th century passed in the struggle against cruel and victorious

From the author's book

THE BATTLE FOR THE EAGLE - THE DECISIVE BATTLE OF THE SUMMER 1943 The Second World War is the largest conflict in history, the greatest tragedy staged by man on its stage. In the enormous scale of war, the individual dramas that make up the whole can easily get lost. The duty of the historian and his

From the author's book

Battle of Stalingrad. The Battle of Rzhev as a cover and a distraction On July 12, 1942, by decision of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, the Stalingrad Front was formed under the command of Marshal S.K. Timoshenko, who was tasked with preventing

From the author's book

From the author's book

1260 RGASPI. F. 17. Op. 125. D. 136. L. 144,162.

The heroic end of Kit Buk became the last song of Mongolian greatness. So today let this song be a call that awakens the courage that has faded in us, inspires our minds, restores lost faith and awakens the strength dormant in us.

For this historical essay, journalist and writer Baasangiin Nominchimid was awarded the Baldorj Prize in 2010, awarded in Mongolia for the best works of journalism. For the first time in Russian - translated by S. Erdambileg especially for ARD.

The final selection of the Mamluk Turks

At this time, the Misir state, which received a letter from Hulagu Khan, was in turmoil. The writer, filled with confidence in rightness and power, demanded unquestioning submission. Hulagu Khan wrote: “By order of the Almighty Heaven, we - the Mongols - are entering your lands. Anyone who opposes us will be mercilessly put to death. You all only have two options. Either die resisting, or surrender while saving your life. There will be no other fate, so Heaven commands.”

In the same letter, Sultan Kutuz was called a Mamluk slave of slave origin, who, having killed his master, took possession of the throne through betrayal. Sultan Kutuz, as a slave, was ordered to immediately appear before the Great Khan to atone for his guilt.

The Mongolian ruler and his wife ascend to the throne. One of the few medieval miniatures of Persia where 100% Mongols are depicted. Illustration for Jami "al-Tawariq ("General History") by Rashid ad-din. Il-Khanid Tabriz, 1330. Hazine 1653, folio 23a. Photo swordmaster.org.

The military council under the Sultan spent seven whole days in disputes, deciding whether to surrender to the mercy of the enemy or fight him. Sultan Kutuz, who considered himself to be the descendants of the Khorezm Shah, who was once defeated by the Mongols, and Baybars, who tasted all the hardships of fate, for he had previously fought with the Mongols, was defeated by them, was captured and even fought in their ranks, but was then sold into slavery to Livant - were determined to fight or die. The sad experience of some destroyed Syrian cities, which surrendered but received no mercy, tipped the scales in favor of battle. It is better to die with a saber in your hands than to die surrendering.

This decision was also influenced by a message from the Knights of Acre. The crusaders, not to mention the fact that they were extremely dissatisfied with the new order established by the Mongols in Syria, thirsted for revenge for the defeat of Julien and the fall of the crusader Sidon. Acra's envoy informed the Mamluks that: “The faithful servants of Christ are ready to join them in a joint fight against the Mongols.”

Most of the Mamluks** were Kipchaks who belonged to Turkic tribes. Hot blood flowed in their veins, they were warlike and proud. Among them were many Mongols, who for various reasons arrived from the Golden Horde. The last Khansha, Shagrat of the Ayyubid Misir dynasty, was of Mongol-Turkic origin.

** Mamluks are a military caste in medieval Egypt. Initially, it arose from a number of young men and boys from the Turks, Kipchaks and Caucasian peoples specially brought into slavery, who were trained in military affairs to form an army.

Kutuz, having strengthened his main army with refugee soldiers from Syria and Palestine, set out from Cairo - he decided to fight the enemy not on his own land, but to go towards him. His army crossed the Sinai desert, entered the Gaza strip, where it came across an advanced patrol detachment of Kit Buk, led by Baydar Noyon. The forces were too unequal, Baydar’s detachment was covered and crushed in a short time. Despite the victory over a small enemy, success encouraged the military spirit of the Mamluks.

Kit Buka, who was in Baalbek, at a distance of 260 kilometers from Gaza, having learned from Baydar that the Mamluk Turks were crossing the Sinai Desert and approaching Gaza, hurried with his army to meet him. He led the army to Nazareth and chose the area of ​​Ain Jalut, with clear streams and good pastures for fattening horses. There he decided to wait for the Mamluks and give them battle.

Kit Buka Noyon hoped that the Mamluks would not go to the western bank of Gaza, where the crusaders ruled, but would directly cross the desert and head to this place, rich in water and meadows. The Mamluk horses must be tired from crossing the desert. Anyone else would have expected the same. This was an era when the endurance of war horses largely decided the fate of the battle. For the Mongol cavalry, Ain Jalut was convenient because it was protected by mountains on the left wing. The center and right wing were located on terrain with low hills, convenient for maneuvering.

At this very time, the knights welcomed Kutuz at the fortress walls of Acre, provided rest for his warriors, and invited the sultans and military leaders to a feast and sold them those very stolen reserve herds of Kit Buk's horses. The knights did not limit themselves to this, but even allegedly agreed to buy back the horses in the event of a victory over the Mongols.

Actions began to unfold according to a different scenario than the Mongols had planned. The cynical act of the knights, which did not fit into the minds of the Mongols, had a fatal impact on the historical event. L.N. Gumilyov wrote with great hostility about this treachery of the barons of Acre and Tire. Almost a century has passed since the Mongols, who adopted the concept of honor from their great Genghis Khan, forgot what betrayal was. When the Mamluks, having rested sufficiently and refreshed their horses, approached Ain Jalut, Hit Buqa was there, who had walked 130 km from Baalbek without replacement horses and had not yet had time to properly rest either the warriors or the horses.

Fight to the death, no mercy

The battle began at dawn on September 3, 1260. Some historians believe that Kutuz was the first to attack. Maybe it was a pre-planned hoax attack. But this cost him dearly - his army was significantly battered. The Misyrian Sultan suffered significant losses.

The lifeless bodies of enemy soldiers, chopped by a Mongolian saber, pierced by Mongolian arrows, could not be a pretense. This deprived the Mongols of caution, and they rushed to finish off the enemy. And Kutuz, as was probably planned from the very beginning, retreating, drew his pursuers into an ambush, where Baybars was with his warriors. The Mongols were squeezed on both sides and defeated.

The Mongols are besieging the city. From the miniatures beginning. 14th century, Mongol Iran. Illustrations for Jami at-tawarikh Rashid ad-din. Photo: culturelandshaft.wordpress.com

During their campaigns in Asia and Europe, the Mongols repeatedly used the tactic of luring the enemy into a trap by attacking from an ambush. This is what Jebe-noyon did in 1217 in the Fergana valley against the Khorezem Shah, Jebe and Subedei in 1221 on the Kura River against the Georgian horsemen, in 1223 on the Kalka River against the united squads of the Russian principalities, in 1241 Baydar and Khadan against the joint troops of Europe under under the command of Duke Henry II, at Liegnitz, on the Shayo River, Batu Khan and Subedei against the King of Hungary Bela IV. Therefore, it is believed that the Mamluk Turks first successfully used this tactic against the Mongols themselves.

It is clear that the tactics of the Mongol horsemen, who shook Asia and Europe for a century, were sufficiently studied. And the talented Baybars, who once served in the Mongolian army, mastered this matter perfectly.

Be that as it may, the Mongols, despite the fact that the enemy significantly outnumbered them - perhaps twice as many - confidently accepted the battle. During military campaigns, Chinggis Khaan and his followers more than once encountered prevailing enemy forces, sometimes many times superior to them, and gained the upper hand. So for Kit Buk the number of Mamluk Turks did not seem to be a particularly significant circumstance.

At the first moment, Baybars was almost captured by the Mongols. The right wing of the Mongol cavalry crushed the left wing of the Mamluks, forcing them to retreat. It took Kutuz and Baybars a lot of work to again close the scattered ranks of their warriors, rebuild them and launch a counterattack. The fierce battle between the opponents resumed. Having repelled the onslaught of the Mamluks, the Mongols, in turn, launched a counter-offensive.

Battle of Ain Jalut. Mamluks and Mongols.

There came a moment when it seemed that the defeat of the Mamluks was very close. Kutuz loudly prayed to Allah and called on him for help. He implored his soldiers, who began to succumb to confusion, to fight to the end, assuring that if they fled, they would all die anyway, which is why it was better to die with honor on the battlefield. He did not think about victory, but was going to die with dignity in battle.

But in the protracted battle, the horses under the Mongol horsemen weakened; they did not have reserve horses. And the Mamluks moved to stolen fresh horses, they managed to rebuild again. The situation was now becoming dangerous for the Mongols themselves. At this critical moment, Sultan Musa from the Ayyubid dynasty of Syria, who had previously joined the Mongols, who was fighting on the left wing of the Mongols, fled, taking his army with him. Some researchers, not without reason, believe that Sultan Musa secretly met with Kutuz on the eve of the battle and agreed that at the decisive moment he would leave the battlefield, violating the plans and battle formation of the Mongols. This is quite similar to the truth because after Ain Jalut, Qutuz generously gifted Sultan Musa.

Musa's flight became the second for the Mongols, this time a fatal blow from a dagger in the back. Baybars with his best soldiers overthrew and surrounded the thinned left wing of the Mongol horsemen on tired horses.

The proud end of Kit Buka Noyon

The outcome of the battle was no longer in doubt. Keith Book's inner circle urged him to leave the battlefield, there was still a chance to save his life. But Keith Buka flatly refused.

For the last time he addressed his khan and his warriors with the words:

“Running for your life, showing your back to your enemies - this will not happen. I don’t want to embarrass myself like that in front of my descendants. I will not disgrace the valor of the Mongol warrior. Although defeated, he will not run away like a beaten dog with his tail between his legs. As a warrior who swore allegiance to his master, I will fight to the end. If anyone happens to survive in this battle, let him inform my khan that I did not flee, disgracing the honor of the Great Khan. Let my Great Khan not be angry, thinking that he had a warrior running away. Let my Master not be sad that his warriors died here. Let my Khan think that the wives of his warriors did not get pregnant once, that the mares from his herds did not foal once. May our Hulagu Khan be glorified at all times.”

The Mongolian banner was close to being captured by enemies. The noble warrior would consider it an honor to die under his banners, and Kit Buka, cutting through the ranks of the enemy, rushed to his standard-bearers, but the horse under him fell, struck by an arrow. Then he continued to fight on foot. They compared him to a hunted tiger, besieged by hyenas, no one could approach him, his smashing saber spun in the midst of his enemies like a tornado.

Many Mamluk Turks, thirsting for the glory of slaying the Mongol warrior, found their death from his saber. The chronicler wrote that Kit Buka alone fought like a thousand warriors. Kutuz and Baybars, who had seen enough of various bloody battles and had crossed swords with skilled fighters more than once, observed Kit Buk’s fearlessness and amazing skill in saber fighting. They certainly wanted to take the hero alive.

Only when the Mamluk archers pierced him in the thigh with an arrow and he fell to his knees did the enemies manage to fall on him and capture him.

Once a high school student, curious about everything, I read about Keith Book, the story of his heroic and tragic end sank deep into my soul. Then the image of an old warrior often appeared before me, kneeling, but without bending his back, like a string stretched to the limit. His gray hair flutters in the wind, he firmly holds a sparkling sword made of khural steel in his hands, his eagle gaze pierces the surrounding Mamluks. If I were a tolerable artist, I would paint his image, just as Repin in his time painted the impressive image of Taras Bulba.

N.V. Gogol wrote a wonderful story “Taras Bulba”, which inspired me - for many years I had the idea of ​​writing a similar story about Kit Buka, I believed that descendants should perpetuate the memory of him...

The image of the noyon Kit Buk - an ordinary military leader, a temnik of the Great Mongol Empire, is in no way inferior to the image of that daring Zaporozhye Cossack.

Kit Buka at that time was at least 60 years old, maybe more - after all, he sent his grandson to Sidon to retrieve stolen horses.

While Kit Buka Noyon fought off the enemy, like a wounded tiger surrounded by hyenas, his warriors sought to rescue the warlord. Several warriors led by Baydar Noyon - the same one who was at the head of the patrol detachment in Gaza and was the first to fight the Mamluks and who managed to elude them - gathered a group from the scattered warriors near the Baysan area and launched a reckless attack to save their commander.

Although the forces were too unequal, and the men and horses were extremely exhausted, this last desperate attack of the Mongols greatly disturbed Qutuz. But the Mongols failed to overthrow the ranks of the Mamluks, who had a clear numerical advantage and were inspired by the anticipation of an imminent victory. Almost all the Mongols perished on the battlefield. A few warriors took refuge in the reed beds of the Jordan River, but Baybars ordered the reeds to be set on fire, leaving them no chance to survive.

The bound Kit Buk was dragged to Kutuz's tent, placed on the top of the hill.

On the 25th of Ramadan 658 AH (September 3, 1260), the famous Battle of Ain Jalut (Palestine) took place between the Muslim army under the command of Sultan Qutuz of Egypt and the Mongol troops under the command of Naiman Kitbuk. The Mongol corps of Hulagu's army was defeated, Kitbuka was captured and executed, and the Mongols were expelled from Sham. This was the first significant victory over the Mongols from the very beginning of their conquests, and the credit for this belongs to the warriors of Islam. The Battle of Ain Jalut is rightfully considered one of the most important in history. Thanks to his victorious outcome, the Muslim world avoided destruction, the myth of the invincibility of the Mongols was dispelled, and Egypt turned into an outpost of jihad against the Mongols and their allies - the crusaders.

In 1253, at a kurultai in Mongolia, the issue of a campaign against the Iranian Ismaili-Nizaris, the Abbasid Caliphate, the Syrian Ayyubids and the Mameluks of Egypt was resolved. This was one of the largest conquests of the Mongol army. Great Khan Munke appointed his brother Hulagu as its commander. The number of troops reached 150-170 thousand people. Central Asian Christians played a major role in the Mongol campaign against the Muslims of the Middle East. Hulagu's eldest wife, the influential Dokuz Khatun, was a Christian and patroness of Christians. Naiman Kitbuka was a Nestorian. Finally, the king of Lesser Armenia Hethum I entered into an alliance with the Mongols, who was able to attract the Antiochian prince Bohemond to the alliance with the Mongols by marrying his daughter to him.

The main Mongol army crossed the Amu Darya at the beginning of 1256 and within a year liquidated the Ismaili fortresses located in Western Iran. Hulagu then marched on the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, Baghdad. After the betrayal of the Shiite vizier Ibn al-Alqami, who was in the service of Caliph Mustasim, the city fell in February 1258. Hulagu gave Baghdad to be plundered by his hordes. The capital was burned to the ground, the caliph was executed, and over one million Muslims were killed. At the request of the Nestorian Dokuz-Khatun, only Christians and Jews, whom the Mongols considered as their allies, were spared from the city residents. As Allah Almighty said: “ Verily, the wrongdoers are one another's helpers and friends."(Surah al-Jasiyya, verse 19). The fall of Baghdad had a depressing effect on Muslims. Some ignorant people, considered scientists, spread among the common people the idea that the Mongols are the tribes of Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog), who will come from the East before the End of the World, so it is useless to fight them.

The Mongols' next target was Sham. In the fall of 1259, they defeated the Kurds and captured several important cities. In January 1260, the Mongols, together with Christian allies from among the Armenians and the Crusaders, captured Aleppo, slaughtering all Muslims. Upon learning of the fall of Aleppo, the Ayyubid Sultan an-Nasir Yusuf retreated with his army from Damascus to Gaza. Damascus was surrendered to the Mongols without a fight. In mid-February, Kitbuka entered the city, appointing a Mongol governor there. The threat of a Mongol invasion loomed in the last stronghold of the Islamic world - Egypt. Muslims day and night prayed to Allah Almighty to deliver them from a terrible enemy who brought death and devastation with him, destroying every city that refused to submit. And this help came from where it was not expected. During the siege of the Chinese fishing city of Hezhou, the Great Khan Mongke died unexpectedly, whose death forced his brother Hulagu to withdraw with the main part of the army from Sham.

Hulagu left Kitbuku with a relatively small force of up to 20 thousand men, including reinforcements from allied Armenians and Georgians. Hulagu was forced to take the lion's share of the army, realizing that soon after Mongke's death a struggle for control of the Mongol Empire would inevitably break out. Kitbuk was tasked with gaining a foothold in the conquered territories. However, contrary to orders, the Mongols moved south into Palestine, where they captured a number of fortresses. After that, they entered the territory bordering Egypt.

Retreating from Sham, Hulagu sent a Mongol messenger with forty nukers to the Mameluk Sultan Kutuz in Cairo with the following ultimatum: “The Great Lord chose Genghis Khan and his family and [all] countries on earth at once granted us. Everyone who turned away from obeying us ceased to exist along with their wives, children, relatives, slaves and cities, as everyone should know, and the rumor about our limitless army spread like the tales of Rustem and Isfendiyar. So, if you are submissive to our Majesty, then send tribute, appear yourself and ask for the governor, otherwise, prepare for war.”

After reading the message to the military leaders, Kutuz said: “Hulagu Khan with a huge army rushed from Turan to Iran and not a single soul of the caliphs, sultans and rulers found the strength to resist. Having conquered all the countries, he reached Damascus, and if the news of his brother’s death had not arrived in time, then Egypt would also have been annexed to the other countries. Therefore, he left the Naiman Kitbuk in these parts... If he encroaches on Egypt, then no one will have the strength to resist more than to completely lose power. We need to figure out how to help the cause.”

After a conference with the military leaders, Kutuz said: “At present, Diyarbakir, Diyarrabi'a and Syria are full of tears, and from Baghdad to Byzantium, the regions and lands are devastated, not cultivated and not sown. If we do not get ahead of the Mongols and rise to repel them, then Egypt will soon be devastated, like other countries. With these people who are encroaching on our country, we must choose one of three: either reconciliation, or enmity, or leave our homeland... My opinion is this: let’s turn to war together. If we gain victory, then this will be exactly what we are striving for, lest the people reproach us.” After this, the emirs dispersed, and Kutuz held a council with Bundukdar, who was the chief emir. Bundukdar said: “My opinion is this: let us kill the messengers and together mount our horses against Kitbuk. If we destroy it and if we die, then in both cases we will be worthy of apology and gratitude.” Kutuz approved these words, and at night the messengers were crucified. Thus, the path to reconciliation with the Mongols was cut off and their supporters and spies who flooded the country were frightened.

Kutuz declared jihad against the Mongols, and Muslims under his leadership set out on the path of Allah from Egypt on July 26, 1260. The 12,000-strong Mameluk corps passed through the Sinai desert and knocked down the Mongol barrier near Gaza. Next lay the possessions of the crusaders. Kutuz turned to them with a request to let his army pass through their territories and purchase food. The crusaders had no choice, especially after the Count of Sidon, having robbed Marj Ayun, attacked a small Mongol detachment, which spoiled relations between the crusaders and the Mongols. Through the territory of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Muslims entered Galilee, to the rear of the Mongol army.

At dawn on Friday, Ramadan 25, 658 AH, two armies fought near the city of Ain Jalut in a fateful battle for the Muslim world.

Before the battle, Kutuz decided to ambush the Mongols. The Sultan hid a significant part of his cavalry on the hills around the valley, and he himself sent Baybars with an advance detachment to meet the Mongols, wanting to provoke an attack from the Mongols. The battle began with a charge from the Mongol cavalry, which fired a sea of ​​arrows. Baybars avoided a direct collision and made a retreating maneuver, luring the enemy. This happened several times. Finally, falling for the trick, Kitbuka rushed to pursue Baybars’s detachment with the main forces, deciding that the entire Mameluke army was in front of him. When they reached the hills, the cavalry units waiting in ambush at full gallop attacked the Mongols from the flanks. This came as a complete surprise to the Mongols and the Georgian and Armenian troops that supported them. A brutal hand-to-hand fight ensued, which lasted from early morning until noon. The heavy Muslim cavalry was especially zealous, and for the first time in history crushed the Mongols in close combat. Kitbuka tried with all his might to break out of the encirclement and directed his attack on the left flank of the Islamic army.

Seeing that the enemy had almost crushed the left flank, Kutuz, who was watching the battle from a hill, threw his helmet to the side so that the soldiers could recognize him. To give Muslims steadfastness and determination, the Sultan began to appeal to them with a battle cry: “For Islam! For Islam! After that, he rushed into the thick of things with his squad to the rescue of the left flank. Finally, the Mongols could not stand it any longer and fled. They abandoned their commander Kitbuk on the battlefield, who fought bravely but was eventually captured. The Sultan was informed that not far from the battlefield, a detachment of Mongol horsemen had taken refuge in the reeds. Kutuz ordered the bushes to be set on fire and everyone was burned.

Then the bound Kitbuk was brought to Kutuz. Seeing him, the Sultan said to him: “O treacherous man, you have shed a lot of blood unjustly, you have deprived the lives of knights and great people, by breaking promises and with a false word you have overthrown ancient families. Finally, you too have been caught in the net.” Kitbuka began to threaten an attack by Hulagu’s large army, to which Kutuz replied: “Don’t boast so much about the horsemen of Turan, for they do things by cunning and subterfuge, and not like men, like Rustem, the son of Dastan.” After this, the Sultan ordered the execution of the Mongol commander-in-chief.

Thus ended this glorious battle, which Muslims have remembered for many centuries. Despite the subsequent Mongol invasions of Sham, they no longer posed a threat to Egypt. After this victory, Egypt became the recognized center of the Muslim world. The Mameluke state grew into a powerful and prosperous power that lasted two and a half centuries. During these 250 years, the Mamelukes finally defeated the Mongols, expelled the Crusaders from the Middle East, established trade and production, built hospitals, mosques and schools, and promoted the development of arts and crafts. European historians also recognize the significance of the Battle of Ain Jalut. They note that this defeat of the Mongols not only changed the Middle East, but also influenced the further development of European civilization, because by that time the Mongols had already advanced far to the West. Many experts believe that if the Mongols had won over the Muslims in Europe, the great Renaissance would not have come. So it would not be an exaggeration to say that modern Christian civilization survived thanks to the Islamic world, which took the brunt of the Mongol hordes and defeated them.