page_title: Ghazan
section_title: Mamluk-Ilkhanid War
hierarchical_section_title: Ghazan / Later reign / Mamluk-Ilkhanid War
caption_attribution_description: Ghazan ordering the King Of Armenia to accompany Kutkusha on the 1303 attack on Damas. 15th century "Le Livre des Merveilles", folio 251v.
context_page_description: Mahmud Ghazan was the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of Arghun, grandson of Abaqa Khan and great-grandson of Hulagu Khan continuing a long line of rulers who were direct descendants of Genghis Khan. Considered the most prominent of the Ilkhans, he is best known for making a conversion to Islam and meeting Imam Ibn Taymiyya in 1295 when he took the throne, marking a turning point for the dominant religion of Mongols in Western Asia. One of the many principal wives of him was Kököchin, a Mongol princess sent by his great-uncle Kublai Khan.
  Military conflicts during Ghazan's reign included war with the Egyptian Mamluks for control of Syria, and battles with the Turko-Mongol Chagatai Khanate. Ghazan also pursued diplomatic contacts with Europe, continuing his predecessors' unsuccessful attempts at forming a Franco-Mongol alliance. A man of high culture, Ghazan spoke multiple languages, had many hobbies, and reformed many elements of the Ilkhanate, especially in the matter of standardizing currency and fiscal policy.
context_section_description: Ghazan was one of a long line of Mongol leaders who engaged in diplomatic communications with the Europeans and Crusaders in attempts to form a Franco-Mongol alliance against their common enemy, primarily the Egyptian Mamluks. He already had the use of forces from Christian vassal countries such as Cilician Armenia and Georgia. The plan was to coordinate actions between Ghazan's forces, the Christian military orders, and the aristocracy of Cyprus to defeat the Egyptians, after which Jerusalem would be returned to the Europeans. Many Europeans are known to have worked for Ghazan, such as Isol the Pisan or Buscarello de Ghizolfi, often in high positions. Hundreds of such Western adventurers entered into the service of Mongol rulers. According to historian Peter Jackson, the 14th century saw such a vogue of Mongol things in the West that many new-born children in Italy were named after Mongol rulers, including Ghazan: names such as Can Grande ("Great Khan"), Alaone (Hulagu, Ghazan's great-grandfather), Argone (Arghun, Ghazan's father) or Cassano (Ghazan) were recorded with a high frequency.
  In October 1299, Ghazan marched with his forces towards Syria and invited the Christians to join him. His army took the city of Aleppo, and was there joined by his vassal King Hethum II of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, whose forces included some Templars and Hospitallers, and who participated in the rest of the offensive. The Mongols and their allies defeated the Mamluks in the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar, on December 23 or 24, 1299. One group of Mongols then split off from Ghazan's army and pursued the retreating Mamluk troops as far as Gaza, pushing them back to Egypt. The bulk of Ghazan's forces proceeded to Damascus, which surrendered somewhere between December 30, 1299, and January 6, 1300, though its Citadel resisted. Most of Ghazan's forces then retreated in February, probably because their horses needed fodder. He promised to return in the winter of 1300–1301 to attack Egypt. About 10,000 horsemen under the Mongol general Mulay were left to briefly rule Syria, before they too retreated.
  Ghazan was indeed feared and despised by the Mamluks, who sent a delegation of leading scholars and imams including Ibn Taymiyya, north from Damascus to al-Nabk, where Ghazan was encamped, in January 1300, in order to persuade Ghazan to stop his attack on Damascus. Ibn Taymiyya also may have met Ghazan in Damascus in August 1301. On one of these occasions, it is reported that not one of the scholars dared to say anything to Ghazan except Ibn Taymiyyah who said:
  "You claim that you are Muslim and you have with you Mu'adhdhins, Muftis, Imams and Shaykhs but you invaded us and reached our country for what? Although your father and your grandfather, Hulagu were non-believers, they did not attack us and they kept their promise. But you promised and broke your promise."
  It is reported on the Mu'jamus Shuyuukh, Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani said that Mongol leader who was apostate when he struggled against Mamluks and he converted to Christianity and built the Nestorian Cathedral to dedicated himself. He prefer to ally with Crusade Nations and he had chosen to attack Mamluks army and slaughtered them. The Mongol leader none other than was Ghazan Khan.
  In July 1300, the Crusaders formed a small fleet of sixteen galleys with some smaller vessels to raid the coast, and Ghazan's ambassador traveled with them. The Crusader forces also attempted to establish a base at the small island of Ruad, from which raids were launched on Tartus while awaiting Ghazan's forces. However, the Mongol army was delayed, and the Crusader forces retreated to Cyprus, leaving a garrison on Ruad which was besieged and captured by Mamluks by 1303 (see Siege of Ruad).
  In February 1301, the Mongols advanced again with a force of 60,000, but could do little else than engage in some raids around Syria. Ghazan's general Kutlushah stationed 20,000 horsemen in the Jordan Valley to protect Damascus, where a Mongol governor was stationed. But again, they were soon forced to withdraw.
  Plans for com
caption: Ghazan ordering the King of Armenia Hethum II to accompany Kutlushah on the 1303 attack on Damascus.[50]
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