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The Battle of Ain Jalut (1260)
The battle in Palestine in which the Mamluks of Egypt stopped a Mongol army; the Kipchak Turk Baybars became sultan after it.
Having taken Baghdad in 1258, Hülegü entered Syria in 1260 and seized Aleppo and Damascus. The Mongols sent envoys to Egypt demanding the Mamluks' submission. Just then news came of the death of the great khan Möngke, and Hülegü turned back east with most of his army, leaving the general Kitbuqa in Syria.
The Mamluk sultan Qutuz and his commander Baybars, a Kipchak Turk, led their army into Palestine. On 3 September 1260, by the spring of Ain Jalut, Baybars feigned retreat with one detachment and drew the Mongols in among the hills. The hidden main force attacked, and Kitbuqa fell in battle.
Ain Jalut was the Mongols' first major defeat in open battle in the Near East, and Egypt and the Hejaz were spared their campaigns. On the way back to Cairo Qutuz was killed and Baybars became sultan, opening the strongest period of the Mamluk Sultanate.
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Updated: November 11, 2026