2nd Battle of Homs | |||||||
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Defeat of the Mongols (left) at the 1281 Battle of Homs. |
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Belligerents | |||||||
Ilkhanate Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia Kingdom of Georgia Knights Hospitaller |
Mamluk Sultanate | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Möngke Temur (WIA) Leo II Demetrius II |
Qalawun | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
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unknown | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
80,000 (contemporary sources; most likely exaggerated) | unknown |
Coordinates: 34°43′23″N 36°42′52″E / 34.723185°N 36.714462°E
The Second Battle of Homs was fought in western Syria on 29 October 1281, between the armies of the Mamluk dynasty of Egypt and the Ilkhanate, a division of the Mongol Empire centered on Iran. The battle was part of Abaqa Khan's attempt at taking Syria from the Mamluks.
After the Mamluk victories over Mongols at Ain Jalut in 1260 and Albistan in 1277, the Il-khan Abaqa sent his brother Möngke Temur at the head of a large army said to have numbered 80,000: 50,000 Mongols and 30,000 auxiliaries, chiefly Armenians under Leo II and Georgians under Demetrius II.
The two armies met south of Homs, a city in western Syria. In a pitched battle, the Armenians, Georgians and Oirats under King Leo II and Mongol generals routed and scattered the Mamluk left flank, but the Mamluks personally led by Sultan Qalawun destroyed the Mongol centre. Möngke Temur was wounded and fled, followed by his disorganized army. However, Qalawun chose to not pursue the defeated enemy, and the Armenian-Georgian auxiliaries of the Mongols managed to withdraw safely.