Battle of Marj Dabiq The battle of Marj Dābiq ( , meaning " " the meadow of Dābiq " " ) was a decisive military clash in Middle Eastern history , fought on 24 August 1516 , near the town of Dabiq , 44 km north of Halab ( Aleppo ) , Syria . Battle preparations . Sultan Al - Ashraf Qansuh al - Ghawri spent the winter of 1515 and the spring of 1516 in preparations for an army with which he proposed marching to the disturbed confines of Asia Minor , and thus being ready for all contingencies . When just about to start , an Embassy arrived from Selim I promising , still in friendly terms , to appoint , as he had been asked , an Egypt ian vassal to Dulkadirids , and reopen the frontier to the traffic of goods and slaves . It was by summer on May 18 , 1516 when Al - Ashraf Qansuh al - Ghawri started from Cairo with a numerous force ( reportedly 20 , 000 knights ) , appointed well in all respects but in artillery . He left Al - Ashraf Tuman bay II at the helm of things in Cairo , and marched in great pomp with music , singing and festivity . There followed fifteen Emirs of a thousand , besides many of less degree ; 5000 of his own Mamluks , with the militia ; and all this supplemented as he passed along by Syrian and Bedouin contingents ; so that they did not want for numbers . The high Officers of State , Caliph Al - Mutawakkil III , Sheikhs and Courtiers , with Muezzin s , Doctors and Musicians , followed in his train . On the way he received also Ahmed , son of the late Pretender to the Ottoman throne ( Selim I ' s nephew ) , and carried him along with courtly honors in the hope of drawing over his sympathizers from the Ottoman force . Advancing slowly Al - Ashraf Qansuh al - Ghawri entered Damascus on June 9 , with carpets spread in his pathway , while European merchants scattered gold , amongst the crowd . After a few days ' stay he went forward leisurely , received at Homs and Hama with festivities , towards Halab . Meanwhile another Embassy arrived from the Ottoman camp which , in deceptive guise , brought costly gifts to the Sultan and also to the Caliph Al - Mutawakkil III and Vizier , with the request of Selim I for a supply of Egyptian sugar and confectionery . It was also intimated that legal pronouncements against the Shah of Persia Ismail I had forced him again to prepare for war and take the field . The Chancellor Mughla Baig was sent with presents in return ; but by the time he reached the Ottoman camp , Selim I had thrown off the garb of peace ; and now to show his contempt of the Egyptians , treated the Embassy ignominiously , and sent back the Chancellor shaven and shorn , and mounted on a lame and wretched animal , with the rest on foot . Betrayal in the Mamluk camp . At Halab , Khai ' r Bey the Mamluk Governor , who was secretly with the Porte ( though the Sultan , advised of this by the Governor of Damascus , discredited the report ) , in order to veil his treachery gave him all the more splendid a reception ; but the inhabitants were much enraged against the Mamluks for the outrages they perpetrated in the city . It was just then that Mughla Baig returning in wretched plight , brought tidings of the hostile attitude of Selim I , and near approach of the Turkish host . All doubt now removed as to what was before them , a fresh oath of allegiance was taken by Al - Ashraf Qansuh al - Ghawri from the Emirs , Qadis , and royal Mamluks ; presents also were distributed to them , which the other Mamluks not receiving were much displeased . The Sultan was again warned of Khayr Baig ’ s disloyalty , and advised to put him out of the way but , dissuaded by the Emir Janberdi Al - Ghazali . Battle . The army then set forward , and on August 20 , 1516 encamping on the plain of Marj Dabiq , a day ' s journey north of Halab , awaited there the enemy ' s approach ; for on this plain it was that the Empire ' s fate was now to be decided . The Egyptians , except the royal Mamluks whom the Sultan sought to spare , fought well ; and at one time the Turkish outlook was so bad , that Selim I had thoughts of falling back . But in the end , the Ottomans , superior both in numbers and artillery gained the day . Khayr Baig hastened the end by signaling retreat . The Egyptians were soon in full flight towards Damascus for the gates of Aleppo were closed against them but the Caliph Al - Mutawakkil III and some chief Emirs went over to the enemy . Al - Ashraf Qansuh al - Ghawri himself fell upon the field and his head was carried to the Conqueror . Accounts however vary to how Al - Ashraf Qansuh al - Ghawri met his end . It is said that Khayr Baig spread report of his death to precipitate the Egyptian flight . According to some the Sultan was found alive on the field , and his head cut off and buried to prevent its falling into the enemy ' s hands . The Ottoman account is that he was beheaded by a Turk whom Sultan Selim I would have put to death , but afterwards pardoned . Aftermath . Selim I , welcomed by the inhabitants as a deliverer from the excesses of the Mamluk s , entered Aleppo in triumph . The Caliph he received kindly ; but the Islamic Judges and Juristsche upbraided with their inability to check Mamluk misrule . Joined by Khayr Baig and other Egyptian officers , he proceeded to the Citadel . From Halab he marched victoriously to Damascus where the utmost terror prevailed . But beyond some attempts to protect the city by flooding the plain around , nothing had been done to oppose the enemy . Action was paralyzed as usual by discord amongst the Emirs . Some thought of Emir Janberdi Al - Ghazali as Sultan , others of Al - Ashraf Qansuh al - Ghawri ’ s son . But as the Ottomans approached , all either went over to them , or fled to Egypt . Selim I entered the city about the middle of October ; and the inhabitants high and low ; only too happy to escape the war , readily tendered submission to the Ottoman Conqueror . Ottoman control , despite being often jeopardized by revolts , was to last almost three centuries .