Siege of Mosul (1261) 1261
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1261 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | Iraq | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Mongol invasions of the Levant | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Al-Malik al-Salih Ismail, Ilkhanate, Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 36.3333, 43.1333 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Siege of Mosul took place from late 1261 to July–August 1262, during the Mamluk–Ilkhanate War.
Mosul's ruler Badr al-Din Lu'lu' had made a gesture of submission to the Ilkhanate of Hulegu Khan by 1243. But after his death in 1261, his son and successor Al-Salih Isma'il repudiated Mongol sovereignty and entered into relations with Baybars, ruler of the Mamluk Sultanate. In 1261, Al-Salih travelled with his son and other notables of Mosul first to Syria and then to Cairo, where they were entertained by Baybars; they then accompanied the Mamluk army back into Syria.
During his six-month absence, however, Al-Salih's wife Turkan Khatun seized control of Mosul and refused entry to a group of Mamluks. This action incited a popular revolt, which forced her and her supporters into the city's citadel and then persecuted the Christians of Mosul, who were suspected of being in league with the Mongols. A small Mongol force then arrived to assert authority and killed all the Mamluks in a short skirmish, before encircling Mosul and preparing to siege it. Hearing of these events, Al-Salih travelled back to Mosul, and slipped through the light defences on 15 November 1261 to reassert his rule over the city.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Mosul (1261) (revision 1370743704), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
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- Battle of Mosul (2004) 2004 · 1 km
- Fall of Nineveh 612 BC · 3 km
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- Siege of Mosul (1743) 1743 · 4 km
Other battles of the Mongol invasions of the Levant
- Battle of Ain Jalut 1260
- Siege of Aleppo (1260) 1260
- Siege of al-Bira (1272) 1272
- Second Battle of Homs 1281
- Battle of Wadi al-Khaznadar 1299
- Battle of Marj al-Saffar (1303) 1303
All 7 battles of the Mongol invasions of the Levant →
Browse more: battles in Iraq · Asia · Medieval battles