Battle of al-Kura
| date | February 2, 1251 |
|---|---|
| place | Eastern Nile Delta / Egypt |
| output | Victory of the Mameluks |
| consequences | Status quo ante bellum |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Mameluks (Egypt) |
Ayyubids (Syria) |
| Commander | |
|
al-Mu'izz Aybak |
an-Nasir Yusuf |
| Troop strength | |
| unknown Mu'izziyya Mameluks Bahriyya Mameluks Jamdariyya Mameluks |
unknown Nasiriyya Mameluks Aziziyya Mameluks |
| losses | |
|
unknown |
unknown |
The Battle of al-Kura was a military clash in medieval Egypt between an army of the Mamluks ruling Egypt and an army of the Ayyubids ruling in Syria . The battle took place on February 2, 1251 in an area called al-Kura near the town of al-Salihiyya on the eastern edge of the Nile Delta .
background
With the assassination of the Ayyubid sultan al-Mu'azzam Turan Shah by his own military slaves (Mameluks) in May 1250, the rule of the Ayyubids in Egypt was ended. The Mameluks now took over power themselves, their first sultan was al-Mu'izz Aybak . In Syria, however, the Ayyubids were able to assert themselves in the person of Sultan an-Nasir Yusuf . He was not ready to accept the change of power in Egypt and, as a descendant of the dynasty founder Saladin, raised a claim to the throne in Cairo . According to the tradition of the historian Ibn Wasil, however , Sultan an-Nasir Yusuf was not of a particularly warlike nature and tried to avoid a military confrontation. The real driving force behind the war preparations is said to have been his closest confidante and minister, Schams ad-Din Lu'lu 'al-Amini.
The battle
On December 11, 1250, an-Nasir Yusuf and his army marched from Damascus and reached Gaza on December 28 . As was customary with rulers of the Islamic world at that time, his own army consisted mainly of warrior slaves, i.e. Mameluks, consisting of the Aziziyya regiment founded by his father and the Nasiriyya regiment founded by himself. The military command over them was held by Shams ad-Din Lu'lu '. The army also included the cousins of Sultan an-Nasir Yusuf, the lord of Hama, al-Mansur Muhammad II , and the former ruler of Homs, al-Ashraf Musa .
Sultan al-Mu'izz Aybak mobilized his troops in Cairo. On January 2, 1251, General ( amīr ) Husam ad-Din was the first to leave Cairo for Palestine with an advance guard. The following day, General Faris ad-Din Aktay , who led the particularly powerful Bahriyya and Jamdariyya regiments, marched. The two generals joined their forces on January 5th at the place al-Salihiyya, where they also set up camp. Sultan Aybak joined them on January 23rd with his Mu'izziyya regiment.
At this time, an-Nasir Yusuf had already continued his march from Gaza to Egypt and on February 2 surprised his enemy who was still in his field camp. At first the Syrian forces succeeded in attacking the enemy violently, and some units of the Egyptian troops were routed. But then a counterattack by Faris ad-Din Aktay turned the tide, who held the position with his Bahriyya regiment and finally put the Syrian troops to flight. The final victory for the Egyptians was ultimately decided by the betrayal of the Ayyubid military slaves, who defected to their Egyptian peers during the battle. An-Nasir Yusuf then fled and escaped to Gaza. His cousin al-Ashraf Musa as well as his general Shams ad-Din Lu'lu 'fell into captivity by the Egyptians, of whom the latter was beheaded before Sultan Aybak.
The victorious Mamelukes of Egypt were able to move back into Cairo on February 4, 1251.
consequences
On March 22, 1251, Faris ad-Din Aktay launched an attack on Palestine and captured Gaza, creating a protective apron for Egypt. The militarily weakened an-Nasir Yusuf withdrew to Damascus and sought an alliance with the crusader states in the Levant against the Mameluks. Even if this, under the government of the French King Louis IX. did not enter into a formal alliance with him, this political maneuvering between Cairo, Damascus and Acre created a balance of power in the Orient for the years to come. The Mameluks were able to stabilize their rule in Egypt, while the Ayyubids remained limited to Syria. Through the mediation of the caliph al-Mustasim , this situation was contractually deepened in April 1253 between Damascus and Cairo, an-Nasir Yusuf was also reimbursed for Gaza.
It was not until 1260 that the Mongol invasion of Syria caused a fundamental change in the situation. They ended the Ayyubid rule in Syria, only to be subsequently defeated by the Mameluks in the battle of ʿAin Jālūt . Then they were able to unite Egypt and Syria permanently under their rule.
source
- Ibn Wasil: Mufarrij al-kurub fi akhbar bani Ayyub , BnF Paris, ms. arabe 1703, fol. 102r-107v
Individual proof
- ↑ According to Jean de Joinville , an-Nasir Yusuf suffered injuries to his head and one hand in the battle. ( Joinville , III, § 8; edited by Ethel Wedgewood)