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The battle of Ayn Jalut and the defeat of the Tatars

وقعة عين جالوت وهزيمة التتار

c. 3 September 1260 CE · 15 Ramadan 658 AH

Baysan (Beisan)

In 658 the Tatars crossed the Euphrates, put Aleppo to the sword and reached Damascus; the Egyptians marched that Sha'ban, al-Muzaffar leading with Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari his shalish — they met the Tatars at Ayn Jalut on Friday 15 Ramadan and routed them utterly, the first great breaking of their tide. The rejoicing flew to Damascus; Baybars drove them beyond Aleppo — promised the city, then refused it — the germ of their falling-out 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era
Region
Levant & Iraq
Identifiers
Wikidata
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

In time

125012601270 c.
The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era

In space

Baysan (Beisan)

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Sides

Overview

In 658 AH the Tatars crossed the Euphrates and reached Aleppo and then Damascus. In Sha'ban the Egyptians went out under the command of al-Muzaffar Qutuz, with Baybars al-Bunduqdari leading the vanguard. They met at 'Ayn Jalut on Friday, the fifteenth of Ramadan, and the Tatars were routed. 1

After the battle

al-Muzaffar entered Damascus, and Baybars pursued the Tatars into the lands of Aleppo. The sultan promised him Aleppo and then went back on it, and according to al-Suyuti this was the beginning of estrangement between them. 1

Ibn al-Imad's account

He reports that the Christians rose up in Damascus and raised the cross, and that the Tatar commander Katbugha was killed in the battle west of Baysan. Plunder and killing of Christians in Damascus followed. 2

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
al-Malik al-Sa'id Hasan· Kitbugha Noyan· السلطان المظفر سيف الدين قطز المعزي· al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars
Occurred at
Baysan (Beisan)

People and things also explored

Qutuz murdered near Qatya, 658· The murder of al-Muzaffar Qutuz and the sultanate of Baybars· Kitbugha Noyan· Baysan (Beisan)· Baybars takes Jaffa, Beaufort and Antioch, 666· Baybars takes Caesarea and Arsuf, 663· Baybars raids Cilicia, 673· Death of al-Zahir Baybars, 676

Sources

  1. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p. 720
  2. Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 299
  • False Rumours and How Islam Fought Them — Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The battle of Ayn Jalut and the defeat of the Tatars”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/ayn-jalut-658/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-25.

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Qutuz murdered near Qatya, 658

Baybars had coveted Aleppo — promised it by al-Muzaffar, then refused — and nursed the grievance. On the march back to Egypt, a month after the victory, several amirs joined Rukn al-Din's intent: Kattut al-Jukandar al-Magharibi's sword split Qutuz's shoulder and Bahadur al-Mughrabi's arrow finished him, on 16 Dhu al-Qa'da near Qatya — and Rukn al-Din al-Bunduqdari took the throne as al-Zahir Baybars.