Second Battle of Homs

This article is about the 1281 battle. For other uses, see Battle of Homs.

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Second Battle of Homs
Part of the Mongol invasions of the Levant
Retreat of the Mongols (left), 14th-century miniature
Date 29 October 1281 Location Homs Result Mamluk victory
Belligerents
Ilkhanate Cilician Armenia Kingdom of Georgia Sultanate of Rum Knights Hospitaller[1]	Mamluk Sultanate
Commanders and leaders
Möngke Temür (WIA) Leo II Demetrius II	Qalawun Sayf al-Din Salar Shafi' bin Ali el-Masry  (WIA)
Units involved
Mongol cavalry Armenian, Georgian, and Seljuk auxiliaries Frankish mercenaries	Heavy cavalry Light cavalry Infantry
Strength
40,000–50,000[2] 30,000 Armenians, Georgians, and Greeks ~200 Hospitaller Knights of Marqab	30,000[3] 800 Royal Mamluks[4] 4,000+ Halqa[5] 4,000+ Bedouin[6]
Casualties and losses
Very heavy losses	Very heavy losses

The Second Battle of Homs was fought in western Syria on 29 October 1281, between the armies of the Mamluk dynasty of Egypt and the Ilkhanate, a division of the Mongol Empire centered on Iran. The battle was part of Abaqa Khan's attempt at taking Syria from the Egyptians.^[7][8]

Prelude

After the Mamluk victories over Mongols at Ain Jalut in 1260 and Albistan in 1277, the Il-khan Abaqa sent his brother Möngke Temur at the head of a large army which numbered about 40-50,000 men, chiefly Armenians under Leo II and Georgians under Demetrius II. Homs was the first time that the Mamluks faced the Mongol army at full strength.^[9]

On 20 October 1280, the Mongols took Aleppo, pillaging the markets and burning the mosques.^[10] The Muslim inhabitants fled for Damascus, where the Mamluk leader Qalawun assembled his forces.

Battle

On 29 October 1281, the two armies met south of Homs, a city in western Syria. In a pitched battle, the Mongols, Armenians, Georgians and Oirats under King Leo II and Mongol generals routed and scattered the Mamluk left flank, but the center and right flank of the Mamluks personally led by Sultan Qalawun destroyed the Mongol centre. Möngke Temur was wounded and fled, followed by his disorganized Mongol army. However, Qalawun chose to not pursue the defeated enemy, and the Armenian-Georgian auxiliaries of the Mongols managed to withdraw safely.

Aftermath

The following year, Abaqa died and his successor, Tekuder, reversed his policy towards the Mamluks. He converted to Islam and forged an alliance with the Mamluk sultan.^[11][12]

According to Nicholas Morton, the Battle of Homs was an important turning point in the expansion of the Mongol Empire, as it was the first time that a full-scale Mongol invasion was repelled on the western frontier.^[9]

See also

• First Battle of Homs (1260)