Berke–Hulagu war

Infobox Military Conflict
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date=1262 [The Mongols By David Morgan, pg. 144]
place=Caucasus mountains, eastern Khorasan
result=Golden Horde victory
combatant1=Il Khanate Mongols
combatant2=Golden Horde Mongols
combatant3=
commander1=Hulagu, Abagha
commander2=Bereke, Nogai Khan
Negudar
commander3=
strength1=
strength2=
strength3=
casualties1=
casualties2=
casualties3=
notes=

The Berke-Hulagu war was fought between two Mongol leaders: Berke, khan of the Golden Horde, and Hulagu, khan of the Ilkhanate. It was fought mostly in the Caucasus mountains area in the 1260s after the destruction of Baghdad in 1258. The war marked a key moment in the fragmentation of the Mongol Empire after the death of the Great Khan Mongke.

Background

In 1252, Berke converted to Islam, and in 1257 he assumed power in the Golden Horde after the death of Ulagchi. Like his brother Batu, was loyal to the Great Khan Mongke. Although aware of Berke's conversion to Islam, Hulagu, after conquering Persia, destroyed Baghdad in 1258, added Iraq to the Mongol Empire, advanced towards Syria and Palestine, and began a war of attrition against the Mamluk Sultanate. Berke became enraged with Hulagu's rampage through Muslim lands, and as a preparatory step, directed his nephew Nogai Khan to raid Poland in 1259 in order to collect booty to finance a war. Several Polish cities were plundered, including Kraków and Sandomierz. Berke then struck an alliance with the Mamluk Sultan Qutuz and later Sultan Baibars of Egypt.

That same year, Mongke died in a military campaign in China. Muslim Historian Rashid al Din quoted Berke Khan as sending the following message to Mongke Khan, protesting the attack on Baghdad, (not knowing Mongke had died in China) :

The war

In 1260 Hulagu's lieutenants in the Middle East lost the Battle of Ain Jalut to the Mamluks while Hulagu was in Mongolia to participate in the succession of a new Great Khan following the death of Mongke. Upon hearing the news, Hulagu began preparing to avenge the defeat. Two years later he returned to his lands in Persia, but was distracted and prevented from dealing with the Mamluks when Berke carried through on the threat to war against his cousin so as to avenge the sack of Baghdad. Berke again unleashed Nogai Khan to launch a series of raids - this time multiple reconnaissances in force in the Caucasus region - which drew Hulagu north with the bulk of his forces. Berke also dispatched Negudar to eastern Afghanistan and Ghazni, recovering lands under Il Khanate control. [Early Mongol Rule in Thirteenth-Century Iran: A Persian Renaissance By George Lane, pg. 77]

With the greater part of his armies trekking north to contain Berke and minimal forces left in Syria, Hulagu was unable to send more than two tumens against the Mamluks to avenge the loss at Ain Jalut, which forces were easily defeated.

In the meantime, Hulagu and most of his forces were attempting to contain Nogai and Berke in Caucasus, when Hulagu's army was surprised and defeated by Nogai in the Terek River. Thousands of Hulagu's army drowned, and the survivors fled back into Azerbaijan. In 1265 Hulagu died, followed by Berke the next year.

Aftermath

This was the second open war between Mongols, shortly after the beginning of the war between Kublai Khan and Ariq Böke. Before that there had been tensions between Batu and Güyük that could have erupted into an open war, but the premature death of the latter averted hostilities. Together with the war between Kublai Khan and Ariq Böke, Berke and Hulagu set the precedents that was repeated in the form of further wars between Mongol khanates, such as the conflicts between Abaqa and Barak in 1270, Kaidu and Kublai Khan in the 1270s and 1280s, Toqta and Nogai in the late 1290s, and the war between Duwa and Chapar in the early 14th century. This war, along with the second raid against Poland, also marked the rise of Nogai Khan in the Golden Horde. After Berke's death he became ever more powerful, and became a kingmaker in the Golden Horde.

References