Samagar

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Combined operations during the Ninth Crusade.

Samagar, also Cemakar, was a Mongol general of the Il-Khan ruler Abaqa Khan (1234–1282). He took an important role in leading an army in support of the English king Edward I during the Ninth Crusade.

Edward's Crusade

In 1269, the English Prince Edward (the future Edward I), inspired by tales of his uncle, Richard the Lionheart, and the second crusade of the French King Louis, started on a Crusade of his own, the Ninth Crusade.[1] The number of knights and retainers that accompanied Edward on the crusade was quite small,[2] possibly around 230 knights, with a total complement of approximately 1,000 people, transported in a flotilla of 13 ships.[3][4] Many of the members of Edward's expedition were close friends and family including his wife Eleanor of Castile, his brother Edmund, and his first cousin Henry of Almain.

When Edward finally arrived in Acre on May 9, 1271, the situation in the Holy Land was particularly critical. Baibars was besieging Bohemond VI in the city of Tripoli. Baibars sent a letter to Bohemond threatening him with total annihilation and taunting him for his alliance with the Mongols:

"Our yellow flags have repelled your red flags, and the sound of the bells has been replaced by the call: "Allâh Akbar!" (...) Warn your walls and your churches that soon our siege machinery will deal with them, your knights that soon our swords will invite themselves in their homes (...) We will see then what use will be your alliance with Abagha"

— Letter from Baibars to Bohemond VI, 1271[5]

At the same time, in 1271, one of the vassals of Bohemond VI, named Barthélémy de Maraclée, lord of Khrab Marqiya, a small coastal town between Baniyas and Tortosa, is recorded as having fled from the Mamluk offensive, taking refuge in Persia at the Mongol Court of Abaqa, where he exhorted the Mongols to intervene in the Holy Land.[6][7]

Samagar's campaign

As soon as Edward arrived in Acre he renewed the Mongol alliance,[8] and immediately sent an embassy to the Mongol ruler Abaqa.[9] Edward's plan was to use the help of the Mongols to attack the Muslim leader Baibars.[10] The embassy from Edward to Abaqa was led by Reginald Russel, Godefrey Welles and John Parker.[11] [12] Abaqa answered positively to Edward's request in a letter dated September 4, 1271:

"After talking over the matter, we have on our account resolved to send to your aid Cemakar (Samaghar) at the head of a mighty force; thus, when you discuss among yourselves the other plans involving the afore-mentionned Cemakar be sure to make explicit arrangements as to the exact month and day on which you will engage the enemy."

— Letter from Abaqa to Edward I, 1271.[13]

In mid-October 1271, the Mongol troops requested by Edward arrived in Syria and ravaged the land from Aleppo southward. Abaqa, occupied by other conflicts in Turkestan, could only send 10,000 Mongol horsemen under Samagar from the occupation army in Seljuk Anatolia, plus auxiliary Seljukid troops,[14] but they triggered an exodus of Muslim populations (who remembered the previous campaigns of Kithuqa) as far south as Cairo.[11] The Mongols defeated the Turcoman troops that protected Aleppo, putting to flight the Mamluk garrison in that city, and continued their advance to Maarat an-Numan and Apamea.[14] The historians Runciman and Grousset quote the medieval historian William of Tyre:

"The messengers that Sir Edward and the Christians had sent to the Tartars to ask for help came back to Acre, and they did so well that they brought the Tartars with them, and raided all the land of Antioch, Aleppo, Haman and La Chamele, as far as Caesarea the Great. And they killed all the Sarazins they found."

— Guillaume de Tyr, Estoire d'Eracles, p. 461, [15][16][14]

When Baibars mounted a counter-offensive from Egypt on November 12, 1271, the Mongols under Samagar had already retreated beyond the Euphrates, unable to face the full Mamluk army.

There is dispute among historians as to the effectiveness of Edward's actions. Most historians say that they accomplished little. For example, historian Geoffrey Hindley described it as saying that Edward's forces merely engaged in some fairly ineffectual raids that did not actually achieve success in gaining any new territory.[17] According to Tyerman, Edward "saw some action" in defending Acre from Baibars in December 1271, and "launched a couple of military promenades into the surrounding countryside."[18] Runciman also agrees that when Edward engaged in a raid into the Plain of Sharon, he proved unable to even take the small Mamluk fortress of Qaqun.[19] The Muslim leader Baibars later taunted Edward for not even being able to take a small fortified house.[20]

However, other historians point out that as a result of Edward's military operations, limited though they were, he was able to obtain a 10-year truce between the city of Acre and the Mamluks, signed in 1272.[19] In June 1272, Edward was wounded by an assassination attempt with a poisoned dagger, but he survived, and after recuperating returned to England in September,[17] arriving in 1274.

Notes

  1. ^ Hindley, pp. 205-206
  2. ^ Nicolle, p. 47
  3. ^ Tyerman, p. 818
  4. ^ Grousset, p.656
  5. ^ Quoted in Grousset, p.650
  6. ^ Grousset, p.650
  7. ^ Runciman, p334
  8. ^ "Edward I renewed the precious Mongol Alliance", Grousset "L'épopée des Croisades", p.301
  9. ^ "When he disembarked in Acre, Edward immediately sent envoys to Abagha (…) As he (Abagha) could not commit himself to the offensive, he ordered the Mongol forces stationned in Turkey under Samaghar to attack Syria in order to relieve the Crusaders” Jean Richard, p.446
  10. ^ "Edward was horrified at the state of affairs in Outremer. He knew that his own army was small, but he hoped to unite the Christians of the East into a formidable body and then to use the help of the Mongols in making an effective attack on Baibars", Runciman, p.335
  11. ^ a b Grousset, p.653.
  12. ^ Runciman, p.336
  13. ^ Quoted in Reuven-Amitai, "Mongols and Mamluks", p.98
  14. ^ a b c Runciman, p.336
  15. ^ "Et revindrent en Acre li message que mi sire Odouart et la Crestiente avoient envoies as Tartars por querre secors; et firent si bien la besoigne quil amenerent les Tartars et corurent toute la terre dantioche et de Halape de Haman et de La Chamele jusques a Cesaire la Grant. Et tuerent ce quil trouverent de Sarrazins", Estoire d'Eracles, Chap XIV
  16. ^ Quoted in Grousset, p.653
  17. ^ a b Hindley, pp. 207-208
  18. ^ Tyerman, p. 813
  19. ^ a b Runciman, p.337
  20. ^ "The Sultan said to the messengers of the king of Charles d'Anjou that, since so many men had failed to take a house, it was not likely they should conquer the kingdom of Jerusalem!" Grousset, p.655

References

Medieval sources

  • Adh-Dhababi, Record of the Destruction of Damascus by the Mongols in 1299-1301 Translated by Joseph Somogyi. From: Ignace Goldziher Memorial Volume, Part 1, Online (English translation).
  • Jean de Joinville, The Memoirs of Lord of Joinville, translated by Ethel Wedwood Online (English translation).
  • Le Templier de Tyr (circa 1300). Chronicle du Templier de Tyr, Online (Original French).
  • Hayton of Corycus (1307). Flowers of the Histories of the East, Online (English translation).
  • Guillaume de Tyr (circa 1300). History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, Online (Original French).
  • Kirakos (circa 1300). History of the Armenians, Online, (English translation).
  • The history and Life of Rabban Bar Sauma. {{cite book}}: |format= requires |url= (help) (online)

Modern sources

  • Amitai, Reuven (1987). "Mongol Raids into Palestine (AD 1260 and 1300)". JRAS: 236–255.
  • Balard, Michel (2006). Les Latins en Orient (XIe-XVe siècle). Presses Universitaires de France, Paris. ISBN 2130518117.
  • Barber, Malcolm (2001). The Trial of the Templars (2nd edition ed.). University Press, Cambridge. ISBN 978-0-521-67236-8. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
  • Bournoutian, George A. (2002). A Concise History of the Armenian People: From Ancient Times to the Present. Mazda Publishers. ISBN 1568591411.
  • "The Monks of Kublai Khan Emperor of China", Sir E. A. Wallis Budge. Online
  • Dailliez, Laurent (1972). Les Templiers (in French). Editions Perrin. ISBN 2-262-02006-X.
  • Demurger, Alain (2007). Les Templiers (in French). Editions Jean-Paul Gisserot. ISBN 2877479552.
  • Demurger, Alain (2007). Jacques de Molay (in French). Editions Payot&Rivages. ISBN 2228902357.
  • Eddé, Anne-Marie (2002). L'Orient au temps des croisades (in French). GF Flammarion. ISBN 2080711210.
  • Encyclopedia Iranica, Article on Franco-Persian relations
  • Foltz, Richard (2000). "Religions of the Silk Road : overland trade and cultural exchange from antiquity to the fifteenth century". New York: St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-23338-8.
  • Grousset, René (1935). Histoire des Croisades III, 1188-1291 (in French). Editions Perrin. ISBN 2-262-02569-X.
  • Grousset, René (1935). L'épopée des Croisades (in French). Editions Perrin. ISBN 2262018642.
  • Hazard, Harry W. (editor) (1975). Volume III: The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. A History of the Crusades. Kenneth M. Setton, general editor. The University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0-299-06670-3. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  • Jackson, Peter (2005). The Mongols and the West: 1221-1410. Longman. ISBN 978-0582368965.
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  • Luisetto, Frédéric (2007). Arméniens & autres Chrétiens d'Orient sous la domination Mongole (in French). Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner S.A. ISBN 9782705337919.
  • Maalouf, Amin (1984). The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. New York: Schocken Books. ISBN 0-8052-0898-4.
  • Maalouf, Amin (1983). Les croisades vues par les Arabes. JC Lattes.
  • Michaud, Yahia (Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies) (2002). Ibn Taymiyya, Textes Spirituels I-XVI (in French). "Le Musulman", Oxford-Le Chebec. {{cite book}}: External link in |title= (help)
  • Mutafian, Claude (1993, 2001). Le Royaume Armenien de Cilicie (in French). CNRS Editions. ISBN 2271051053. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  • Newman, Sharan (2006). Real History Behind the Templars. Berkley Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-425-21533-3.
  • Nicolle, David (2001). The Crusades. Essential Histories. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-179-4.
  • Oldenbourg, Zoe (2006). The Crusades. Phoenix Press. ISBN 1842122231.
  • Phillips, John Roland Seymour (1998). The Medieval Expansion of Europe. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198207409.
  • Prawdin, Michael (pseudonym for Charol, Michael) (1940/1961). Mongol Empire. Collier-Macmillan Canada. ISBN 1412805198. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Prawer, Joshua (1972). The Crusaders' Kingdom: European Colonialism in the Middle Ages. Praeger. ISBN 9780297993971.
  • Richard, Jean (1996). Histoire des Croisades. Fayard. ISBN 2-213-59787-1.
  • Riley-Smith, Jonathan (1987, 2005). The Crusades: A History (2nd edition ed.). Yale Nota Bene. ISBN 0-300-10128-7. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  • Riley-Smith, Jonathan (1996, 2005). Atlas des Croisades (in French). Autrement. ISBN 2862605530. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  • Riley-Smith, Jonathan (2002). The Oxford History of the Crusades. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192803123.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  • Jean-Paul Roux, L'Asie Centrale, Paris, 1997, ISBN 9782213598949
  • Runciman, Steven (1987 (first published in 1952-1954)). A history of the Crusades 3. Penguin Books. ISBN 9780140137057. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  • Saunders, J. J. (2001). The History of the Mongol Conquests. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0812217667.
  • Schein, Sylvia (October 1979). "Gesta Dei per Mongolos 1300. The Genesis of a Non-Event". The English Historical Review. 94 (373): 805–819.
  • Schein, Sylvia (1991). Fideles Crucis: The Papacy, the West, and the Recovery of the Holy Land. Clarendon. ISBN 0198221657.
  • Schein, Sylvia (2005). Gateway to the Heavenly City: crusader Jerusalem and the catholic West. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 075460649X.
  • Sinor, Denis (1999). "The Mongols in the West". Journal of Asian History. 33 (1).
  • Stewart, Angus Donal. The Armenian Kingdom and the Mamluks: War and Diplomacy During the Reigns of Het'Um II (1289-1307). BRILL. ISBN 9004122923.
  • Turnbull, Stephen (1980). The Mongols. Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9780850453720.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  • Tyerman, Christopher (2006). God's War: A New History of the Crusades. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674023870.
  • Weatherford, Jack (2004). Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-609-80964-4.
  • Wood, Frances (2002). The Silk Road. University of California Press. ISBN 0520243404.

Categories: Mongol Empire

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