34°43′23″N36°42′52″E / 34.723185°N 36.714462°E /34.723185; 36.714462

Second Battle of Homs
Part of theMongol invasions of the Levant
Retreat of the Mongols (left), 14th-centuryminiature
Date 29 October 1281 Location Homs Result Mamluk victory
Belligerents
Ilkhanate Cilician Armenia Kingdom of Georgia Sultanate of Rum Knights Hospitaller[1]	Mamluk Sultanate
Commanders and leaders
Möngke Temür (WIA) Leo II Demetrius II	Qalawun Sayf al-Din Salar Shafi' bin Ali el-Masry  (WIA)
Units involved
Mongol cavalry Armenian, Georgian, and Seljuk auxiliaries Frankish mercenaries	Heavy cavalry Light cavalry Infantry
Strength
40,000–50,000[2] 30,000 Armenians, Georgians, and Greeks ~200 Hospitaller Knights of Marqab	30,000[3] 800 Royal Mamluks[4] 4,000+Halqa[5] 4,000+Bedouin[6]
Casualties and losses
Very heavy losses	Very heavy losses

TheSecond Battle of Homs was fought in western Syria on 29 October 1281, between the armies of theMamluk dynasty ofEgypt and theIlkhanate, a division of theMongol Empire centered onIran. The battle was part ofAbaqa Khan's attempt at takingSyria from the Egyptians.^[7][8]

After the Mongols' defeat by the Mamluks in the Battle of Albistan in 1277 and their subsequent withdrawal from Syria, the situation was by no means settled. The Mongols, led by the Ilkhanid ruler Abaqa Khan and later by his successor Ahmed Tekuder, continued to regard Syria as part of their political and military sphere of interest. The region was of strategic importance to the Mongols, as it formed a bridge to the Mediterranean region on the one hand and served as a buffer zone against the Mamluks, who had established themselves as the dominant power in the Middle East after their victories, on the other.

With the death of Baybars the Mamluks saw several internal succession disputes. Qalawun al-Alfi ultimately prevailed and ascended the throne on November 27, 1279, under the title al-Malik al-Mansur. Qalawun's rule was immediately challenged by the revolt of a rival Mamluk emir, Sunqur al-Ashqar, who proclaimed himself independent sultan in Damascus. Sunqur initially gained the support of local rulers, but suffered defeat at the hands of Qalawun's troops, whereupon he turned to the Ilkhanids under Abagha Khan for help.^[9]

In 1280, the Il-khan Abaqa sent his brotherMöngke Temur at the head of a large army which numbered about 40-50,000 men, chieflyArmenians underLeo II andGeorgians underDemetrius II. Homs was the first time that the Mamluks faced the Mongol army at full strength.^[10]

On 20 October 1280, the Mongols tookAleppo, pillaging the markets and burning the mosques.^[11] The Muslim inhabitants fled for Damascus, where the Mamluk leaderQalawun assembled his forces.

On 29 October 1281, the two armies met south ofHoms, a city in westernSyria. In a pitched battle, the Mongols, Armenians, Georgians andOirats under King Leo II and Mongol generals routed and scattered the Mamluk left flank, but the center and right flank of the Mamluks personally led by Sultan Qalawun destroyed the Mongol centre. Möngke Temur was wounded and fled, followed by his disorganized Mongol army. However, Qalawun chose to not pursue the defeated enemy, and the Armenian-Georgian auxiliaries of the Mongols managed to withdraw safely.

The following year, Abaqa died and his successor,Tekuder, reversed his policy towards the Mamluks. He converted toIslam and forged an alliance with the Mamluk sultan.^[12][13]

According to Nicholas Morton, the Battle of Homs was an important turning point in the expansion of the Mongol Empire, as it was the first time that a full-scale Mongol invasion was repelled on the western frontier.^[10]

• First Battle of Homs (1260)

• Amitai-Preiss, Reuven (1995).Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War, 1260–1281. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0-521-46226-6.
• Burns, Ross (2016).Aleppo, A History. Routledge.ISBN 9780415737210.
• Richard, Jean (1999).The Crusades, C. 1071-c. 1291.Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-62566-1.
• Riley-Smith, Jonathan (2012).The Knights Hospitaller in the Levant, c.1070-1309. Springer.ISBN 9781137264756.
• Waterson, James (2007).The Knights of Islam: The Wars of the Mamluks. London: Greenhill Books.ISBN 978-1-85367-734-2.

• Conflicts in 1281
• 1281 in Asia
• 13th century in the Mamluk Sultanate
• Military history of Homs
• Battles involving the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
• Battles involving the Kingdom of Georgia
• Battles involving the Ilkhanate
• Battles involving the Mamluk Sultanate
• 1280s in the Mongol Empire
• Battles of Fall of Outremer

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