Wednesday 28 September 2011

The Battle of Ayn Jalut The Another Most Greatest War In Islam History

The Battle of Ayn Jalut (September 3, 1260)

   When Ket Buqa heard of this he ordered his troops to prepare for battle and commended them to “Stay where you are and wait for me.” But before Ket Buqa arrived, Quduz attacked the Mongol advance guard and drove them to the banks of the Orontes. Ket Buqa Noyan, his zeal stirred, flared up like fire with all confidence in his own strength and might. The two armies finally met at Ain Jalut on September 3, with both sides numbering about 20 000 men (the Mongol force was originally much larger, but Hulagu took most of it when he returned home). The Mamluks drew out the Mongol cavalry with a feigned retreat, and were almost unable to withstand the assault. Quduz rallied his troops for a successful counterattack, along cavalry reserves hidden in the nearby valleys. Quduz had stationed his troops in ambush and, himself mounted with a few others, stood waiting. When the unsuspecting, Ket Buqa arrived with the main Mongol cavalry, Quduz pounced on him clashed with him and his several thousand cavalry, all experienced warriors, at Ayn Jalut.

   The Mongols attacked, raining down arrows, and Quduz pulled a feint and started to withdraw.Emboldened, the Mongols rode out after him, killing many of the Egyptians, but when they came to the ambush spot, the trap was sprung from three sides. A bloody battle ensued, lasting from dawn till midday. The Mongols were powerless to resist, and in the end they were put to flight. Ket Buqa Noyan kept attacking left and right with all zeal. Some encouraged him to flee, but he refused to listen and said, “Death is inevitable. It is better to die with a good name than to flee in disgrace. In the end, someone from this army, old or young, will reach the court and report that Ket Buqa, not wanting to return in shame, gave his life in battle.

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After the battle of Ayn Jalut, the Muslim armies surged throughout Syria as far as the banks of the Euphrates, overthrowing everyone they found, plundering Ket Buqa's camp, taking captive his wife, child, and retainers, and killing the tax collectors.
Only those Mongols who were warned escaped, and when the news of Ket Buqa Noyan's death and his last words reached Hulagu Khan, he displayed his grief over his death and the fire of zeal flared up to avenge this defeat. But another Mongol invasion of the Muslim world was not to take place. Hulagu remained confined to the affairs of his homeland and could never bring himself to launch another invasion. After his death, the Mongol Golden Horde did rule the largest empire till then, that stretched from China to Muscovy (modern Moscow).
But a tendency that had started to gain hold among the Mongols was the creeping conversion to Islam. This was to put paid any further Mongol attempts to threaten Islamdom. Meanwhile the truculent Muslim armies did not stop at ejecting the Mongols from the Middle East, but they also give the final push to the Crusaders who were in occupation of Acre and Antioch, by capturing the last Crusader bastion in 1291. While they had the chance the Crusaders scorned the Mongols and did not form an alliance with them against the Muslims. Now the Muslims defeated their enemies one after the other, and both the Mongols and Crusaders became history in the Middle East.
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    Ket Buqa Noyan's last words were “Tell my Padishah Hulagu Khan that he should not grieve over lost Mongol soldiers. Let him imagine that his soldiers' wives have not been pregnant for a year and the mares of their herds have not folded. May felicity be upon the Padishah. When his noble being is well, every loss is compensated. The life or death of servants like us is irrelevant.” Hulagu was told about Ket Buqa Noyan that although many Mongol soldiers left him, he continued to struggle in battle like a thousand men. In the end his horse faltered, and he was captured. Near the battlefield was a reed bed in which a troop of Mongol cavalrymen was hiding. Quduz ordered fire thrown into it, and they were all burned alive. After that, Ket Buqa was taken before Quduz with his hands bound.” Despicable man,” said Quduz, “you have shed so much blood wrongfully, ended the lives of champions and dignitaries with false assurances, and overthrown ancient dynasties with broken promises. Now you have finally fallen into a snare yourself.”
   When the one whose hands were bound heard these words, he reared up like a mad elephant; and replied, saying, “O proud one, do not pride yourself on this day of victory.” “If I am killed by your hand,” said Ket Buqa, “I consider it to be God's act, not yours. Be not deceived by this event for one moment, for when the news of my death reaches Hulagu Khan, the ocean of his wrath will boil over, and from Azerbaijan to the gates of Egypt will quake with the hooves of Mongol horses. They will take the sands of Egypt from there in their horses' nose bags. Hulagu Khan has three hundred thousand renowned horsemen like Ket Buqa. In me you may take only one of them away.” Quduz said, “Speak not so proudly of the horsemen of Turan, for they perform deeds with trickery and artifice, not with manliness like us Muslims(sic).” As long as I have lived,” replied Ket Buqa, “I have been the Padishah's servant, not a mutineer and regicide like you! Finish me off as quickly as possible.” Quduz, in typical Muslim style, ordered his head severed from his body and displayed to the retreating Mongol soldiers.

   With Ket Buqa dead, the Mongols were forced to retreat, into Syria and then towards Baghdad. But Quduz did not live long to savor his victory. On the way back to Cairo, his troops who were loyal to the old royal dynasty killed Quduz.

   After the battle of Ayn Jalut, the Muslim armies surged throughout Syria as far as the banks of the Euphrates, overthrowing everyone they found, plundering Ket Buqa's camp, taking captive his wife, child, and retainers, and killing the tax collectors. Only those Mongols who were warned could escape, and when the news of Ket Buqa Noyan's death and his last words reached Hulagu Khan, he displayed his grief over his death and the fire of zeal flared up to avenge this defeat.

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