Berke-Hulagu war
The
Berke-Hulagu war was a war between
Berke,
khan of the
Golden Horde, and
Hulagu, khan of the Ilkhanate, that was fought in the
Caucasus mountains area in the
1260s after the destruction of Baghdad in
1258. This war made a key rule in the fragmentation of the
Mongol Empire after the death of the Great Khan
Mongke.
In the mid-
1250s, Berke converted to
Islam. In
1257 he assumed the power in
Golden Horde. But he, like his brother
Batu, was loyal to the Great Khan
Mongke. While of this,
Hulagu, after the conquest of
Persia, destroyed
Baghdad in
1258, conquering the actual territory of
Iraq to the
Mongol Empire and advancing towards
Syria and
Palestine, entering in attrition against the
Mamluk Sultanate. Berke became enraged with the Hulagu's actions. In
1259 he launched a raid against
Poland, led by his cousin
Nogai Khan, to collect booty to finance his war against Hulagu. Several cities of Poland were plundered, like
Krakow and
Sandomierz. After this he made alliance with the Mamluks, which like Golden Horde was a Turkic state. In the 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) : "he has sacked all the cities of the Muslims, and has brought about the death of the Caliph. With the help of God I will call him to account for so much innocent blood." (see The Mongol Warlords, quoting Rashid al Din's record of Berke Khan's pronouncement; this quote is also found in The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War).
In
1260 Hulagu lost the
Battle of Ain Jalut to Mamluks. Two years later he returned to his lands in Persia. But instead of being able to avenge his defeats in
Palestine, Berke, which in his rage promised defeat his cousin due to the sack of Baghdad, launched a series of raids in force in
Caucasus which drew Hulagu north to meet him. This attacks were commanded by Nogai Khan too. For acount of this, Hulagu send his armies to the
Caucasus, leaving minimal forces in
Syria. He was planning avenge your defeat in Ain Jalut and subsequentely new attacks against
Middle East and
North Africa. Four account of this Hulagu was only able to send a small army of two tumens in his only attempt to attack the Mamluks after Ain Jalut. In this time he was easily defeated. Hulagu and the vast majority of his army faced Nogai and Berke in Caucasus. Hulagu's army was surprised by Nogai in
Terek River. Many thousands were drowned, and the survivors fled back into Azerbaijan. In
1265 Hulagu died, and in the next year Berke died too.
This was the first open war between
Mongols. Before this there were tensions between
Batu and
Güyük that may have developed into an open war, but due to the premature death of the latter this did not occur. Berke and Hulagu set a precedent which was followed by further Mongol civil wars, like the tensions between
Arik Boke and
Kublai Khan after 1260 and the
war between Tokhtamysh and Timur in the late XIV century. This war, along with the second raid against Poland, also made a key role in the rising of Nogai Khan in
Golden Horde. After Berke's death he became more and more powerful, and established himself as a kingmaker in the Golden Horde.
