Qutuz

Qutuz was a Khwarazmian prince of Turkic origin captured by the Mongols during their conquest of the Khwarazmian Empire 1231. He was taken to Damascus where he was sold to an Egyptian slave merchant who then sold him to Aybak, the Mamluk sultan in Cairo. According to some sources, Qutuz claimed that he was descended from Muhammad II of Khwarazm, a ruler of the Khwarazmian Empire. sacked Baghdad in 1258. He became the most prominent Mu'izi Mamluk of Sultan Aybak, and then became his vice-sultan in 1253. Aybak was assassinated in 1257, and Qutuz remained as vice-sultan for Aybak's son al-Mansur Ali. Qutuz led the Mu'izi Mamluks who had arrested Aybak's widow Shajar al-Durr and installed al-Mansur Ali as the new sultan of Egypt. ==Mongol threat==

, al-Subayba and Ajlun as well as raids against other Palestine towns, perhaps including Jerusalem. Smaller raiding parties reached as far south as Gaza. Hulagu and his forces were proceeding towards Damascus. Some Syrian emirs suggested that an-Nasir Yusuf surrender and submit to Hulagu, as the best solution was to save themselves and Syria. Baibars, who was present at the meeting, was upset by the suggestion, and the Mamluks decided to kill an-Nasir Yusuf that night. However, he escaped with his brother to the citadel of Damascus. Baibars and the Mamluks then left Syria, traveling to Egypt where they were warmly welcomed by Sultan Qutuz, who granted Baibars the town of Qalyub. When an-Nasir Yusuf heard that the Mongol army was approaching Aleppo, he sent his wife, his son and his money to Egypt. The population of Damascus and other Syrian towns began to flee. With the centers of Islamic power in Syria and Baghdad conquered, the center of the Islamic power transferred to Egypt and became Hulagu's next target. Hulagu sent messengers to Cairo with a threatening letter, urging Qutuz to surrender and submit to the Mongols. Qutuz's response was to execute the messengers. They were sliced in half, and their heads were mounted on the Bab Zuweila gate in Cairo. Then, rather than waiting for the Mongols to attack, Qutuz decided to raise an army to engage them outside of Egypt. Moroccans who resided in Egypt fled westward, while Yemenis escaped to Yemen and Hejaz. and assembled his commanders to decide on when to march against the Mongols. But the emirs showed timidity. Qutuz shamed them into joining him with the statement, "Emirs of the Muslims, for some time now you have been fed by the country treasury and you hate to be invaded. I will go alone and who likes to join me should do that and who does not like to join me should go back home, but who will not join will carry the sin of not defending our women." until they heard that the Mongols had crossed the Jordan River, at which point Qutuz and Baibars led their forces to meet the Mongols at Ain Jalut. ==Battle of Ain Jalut==

The Battle of Ain Jalut was fought on 3 September 1260, and was one of the most important battles and a turning point in history. In 1250, only ten years before the battle, the Bahariyya Mamluks (Qutuz, Baibars and Qalawun) led Egypt against the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France. The Mongol army at Ain Jalut was led by Kitbuqa, a Nestorian Christian Naiman Mongol, and accompanied by the Christian king of Cilician Armenia and also by the Christian prince of Antioch. After the fall of Khawarezm, Baghdad and Syria, Egypt was the last citadel of Islam in the Middle East, and the existence of crusade beach-heads along the coast of the Levant presented a serious menace to the Islamic world. Therefore, the future of Islam and the Christian west as well depended on the outcome of that battle. Baibars, known to be a swift commander, led the vanguard and succeeded in his maneuver and lured the Mongol army to Ain Jalut, where the Egyptian army led by Qutuz waited. The Egyptians at first failed to counter the Mongol attack and were scattered after the left flank of their army suffered severe damage, but Qutuz stood firm; he threw his helmet into the air and shouted "O Islam", and advanced towards the damaged side, followed by his unit. The Mongols were pushed back and fled to the vicinity of Beisan, Qutuz's forces quickly followed them, but they managed to gather and returned to the battlefield making a successful counterattack. Qutuz cried loudly three times, "O Islam! O God grant your servant Qutuz a victory against the Mongols". allies were then defeated by Qutuz's army and fled to Syria where they became prey for the local population. Qutuz kissed the ground and prayed while the soldiers collected the booty. Kitbuqa, the Commander of the Mongol army, was killed, and his head was sent to Cairo. When Hulagu heard about the defeat of the Mongol Army, he executed An-Nasir Yusuf near Tabriz. Hulagu kept threatening the Mamluk Sultanate, but soon he was struck hard by conflicts with the Mongols of the Golden Horde, in the western half of the Eurasian Steppe during the Berke–Hulagu war. Hulagu died in 1265 and would never avenge the defeat of the Mongols at Ain Jalut. Some of the earliest explosive hand cannons (midfa in Arabic) were employed by the Mamluk Egyptians during the battle to frighten the Mongol horses and cavalry and cause disorder in their ranks. The Mamluks under Qutuz then went on to take back all of Iraq and Syria. The last city the Mamluks retook before his assassination was the grand city of Baghdad. ==Assassination==

On his way back to Cairo, Qutuz was assassinated while on a hunting expedition in Salihiyah. According to both modern and medieval Muslim historians such as al-Maqrizi, Baibars was involved in the assassination. Al-Maqrizi further explains that the emirs who struck down Qutuz were Emir Badr ad-Din Baktut, Emir Ons and Emir Bahadir al-Mu'izzi. Western historians mention that Baibars was in on the conspiracy and assign him direct responsibility. Muslim chroniclers from the Mamluk era stated that Baibars' motivation was either to avenge the killing of his friend, the leader of the Bahariyya Faris ad-Din Aktai during Sultan Aybak's reign or due to Qutuz's decision to grant Aleppo to al-Malik al-Said Ala'a ad-Din the Emir of Mosul, instead of to Baibars as had promised to him before the Battle of Ain Jalut. Baibars returned to Cairo, which was undergoing celebrations on the victory over the Mongols, ==Coins==

of Sultan Qutuz, minted in Alexandria in 1260 The coins during the reign of Qutuz are unique in the history of Mamluk coinages as no other names except his names and titles were inscribed on them: al-Malik al-Muzafar Saif al-Donya wa al-Din ("The victorious king, sword of the temporal world and of the faith") and al-Muzafar Saif al-Din ("The victorious sword of faith"). == See also ==