Battle of Marj Dabiq

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Marj Dabiq


caption=
partof=the Mamluks
date=August 24, 1516 [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain]
place=near Halab,Syria [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain]
result=Decisive Ottoman victory
combatant1=
combatant2=
commander1=Selim I
commander2=Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri†
strength1=Unknown
strength2=Unknown
casualties1=High
casualties2=High

The battle of Marj Dābiq (Arabic: مرج دابق, meaning "the meadow of Dābiq" ) was a decisive military clash in Middle Eastern history, fought on 24 August, 1516 44 km north of Halab, Syria. [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain]

Battle Preparations

Sultan Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri spent the winter of 1515 CE and the spring of 1516 CE in preparations for an army with which he proposed marching to the disturbed confines of Asia Minor [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] , and thus being ready for all contingencies. When just about to start, an Embassy arrived from Selim I promising, still in friendly terms, to appoint, as he had been asked, an Egyptian vassal to Dulkadir, and reopen the frontier to the traffic of goods and slaves [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] . It was by summer in May 18, 1516 when Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri started from Cairo with a numerous force, appointed well in all respects but in artillery [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] .

He left Al-Ashraf Tuman bay II at the helm of things in Cairo [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] , and marched in great pomp with music, singing and festivity. There followed fifteen Emirs of a thousand, besides many of less degree ; 5000 of his own Mamluks, with the militia ; and all this supplemented as he passed along by Syrian and Bedouin contingents ; so that they did not want for numbers [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] .

The high Officers of State, Caliph Al-Mutawakkil III, Sheikhs and Courtiers, with Muezzins, Doctors and Musicians, followed in his train [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] . On the way he received also Ahmed, son of the late Pretender to the Ottoman throne (Selim I's nephew), and carried him along with courtly honors in the hope of drawing over his sympathizers from the Ottoman force [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] . Advancing slowly Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri entered Damascus on June 9 [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] , with carpets spread in his pathway, while European merchants scattered gold, amongst the crowd. After a few days' stay he went forward leisurely, received at Hims and Hamah with festivities, towards Halab [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] .

Meanwhile another Embassy arrived from the Ottoman camp which, in deceptive guise, brought costly gifts to the Sultan and also to the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil III and Vizier, with the request of Selim I for a supply of Egyptian sugar and confectionery [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] . It was also intimated that legal pronouncements against the Shah of Persia Ismail I had forced him again to prepare for war and take the field [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] . The Chancellor Mughla Baig was sent with presents in return; but by the time he reached the Ottoman camp, Selim I had thrown off the garb of peace; and now to show his contempt of the Egyptians, treated the Embassy ignominiously, and sent back the Chancellor shaven and shorn, and mounted on a lame and wretched animal, with the rest on foot [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] .

Betrayal in the Mamluk Camp

At Halab, Khayr Baig the Mamluk Governor, who was secretly with the Porte (though the Sultan, advised of this by the Governor of Damascus, discredited the report), in order to veil his treachery gave him all the more splendid a reception ; but the inhabitants were much enraged against the Mamluks for the outrages they perpetrated in the city [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] . It was just then that Mughla Baig returning in wretched plight, brought tidings of the hostile attitude of Selim I, and near approach of the Turkish host. All doubt now removed as to what was before them, a fresh oath of allegiance was taken by Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri from the Emirs, Qadis, and royal Mamluks; presents also were distributed to them, which the other Mamluks not receiving were much displeased [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] . The Sultan was again warned of Khayr Baig’s disloyalty, and advised to put him out of the way but, dissuaded by the Emir Janberdi Al-Ghazali [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] .

The Battle

The army then set forward, and on August 20, 1516 encamping on the plain of Marj Dabiq, a day's journey north of Halab, awaited there the enemy's approach ; for on this plain it was that the Empire's fate was now to be decided [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] . The Egyptians, except the royal Mamluks whom the Sultan sought to spare, fought well; and at one time the Turkish outlook was so bad, that Selim I had thoughts of falling back [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] . But in the end, the Ottomans, superior both in numbers and artillery gained the day [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] . Khayr Baig hastened the end by signaling retreat [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] . The Egyptians were soon in full flight towards Damascus for the gates of Aleppo were closed against them but the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil III and some chief Emirs went over to the enemy [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] . Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri himself fell upon the field and his head was carried to the Conqueror [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] .

Accounts however vary to how Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri met his end [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] . It is said that Khayr Baig spread report of his death to precipitate the Egyptian flight. According to some the Sultan was found alive on the field, and his head cut off and buried to prevent its falling into the enemy's hands. The Ottoman account is that he was beheaded by a Turk whom Sultan Selim I would have put to death, but afterwards pardoned [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] .

Aftermath

Selim I, welcomed by the inhabitants as a deliverer from the excesses of the Mamluks, entered Aleppo in triumph [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] . The Caliph he received kindly; but the Islamic Judges and Jurists he upbraided with their inability to check Mamluk misrule. Joined by Khayr Baig and other Egyptian officers, he proceeded to the Citadel [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] .

From Halab he marched victoriously to Damascus where the utmost terror prevailed. But beyond some attempts to protect the city by flooding the plain around, nothing had been done to oppose the enemy. Action was paralyzed as usual by discord amongst the Emirs [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] . Some thought of Emir Janberdi Al-Ghazali as Sultan, others of Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri’s son [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] . But as the Ottomans approached, all either went over to them, or fled to Egypt. Selim I entered the city about the middle of October; and the inhabitants high and low; only too happy to escape the war, readily tendered submission to the Ottoman Conqueror [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] . Ottoman control, despite being often jeopardized by revolts, was to last almost three centuries [The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir Published by Smith, Elder, 1896,Public Domain] .

References

The Mameluke; Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. - By William Muir