Muslim Fortresses in the Levant: Between Crusaders and Mongols (70 page)

Intensive Mamluk activity continued through
second reign (1299–1309). In the summer of 1302 the Armenian capital was raided by a Mamluk army from Cairo assisted by contingents from Hama. The entire region was looted, crops were burnt and a large number of local inhabitants were taken into slavery.
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No attempt was made to conquer adjacent towns or fortresses. This campaign had a disastrous ending. Qashtamur, a Mamluk of Qara Sunqur’s, was appointed as the commander of the force. He is described as being “weak-witted, a poor organizer and fuddled with wine.”
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The Mamluk soldiers were quick to recognize his weaknesses; they refused to obey orders and the commanders lost control over them. Further, the army was not well informed and the enemy’s strength was under-estimated. The governor of Sīs called upon the Īlkhānids and Franks for urgent help. A large Īlkhānid force and a group of Frankish knights arrived and joined the Armenians. The Mamluks were caught by surprise and the Aleppo contingent retreated. A great number of men were killed and a significant number of Mamluks were taken into captivity.
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After this the Armenians enjoyed a relatively long period of peace that lasted for just over a decade; it ended in the spring of 715/1315 when Mamluk forces decided to raid
. This was the northernmost point the Mamluks had reached since they began campaigning in Cilicia. Abū’l-Fidā gives a long and detailed account of the events that led the Mamluks to start this campaign. He writes that marriages between Christians and Muslims were fairly common in
, which led to a growing support for the Mongols amongst the Muslim population. The Muslims apparently began to inform the Mongols about Mamluk raids leaving from Bahasnā,
, Gargar, and Kakhtā, as these passed near
. The local population attacked the Mamluk forces; some soldiers were killed while others were taken captive. The sultan sent a amluk force from Cairo to Damascus under the command of the amir Sayf al-Dīn Baktamur Abūbakrī. It was joined by contingents from all the central Syrian cities. The army commanded y the governor of Damascus, Sayf al-Dīn Tankiz
, met the Cairo contingent at Aleppo and reached
within nine days. The city was surrounded by Mamluk forces. At this stage a large and honorable party set out to negotiate on behalf of
governor. The southern gate was left open and the Mamluk forces charged in and began to loot the city. Muslim ownership was not respected and Muslim inhabitants were made captive, though later it was decided to release them despite the fact that the Muslim community had shown loyalty to the Mongols. The city was burnt down and the army did its best to undermine the fortifications.
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The Mamluks were above all determined to warn the Muslim population against future cooperation with the Mongols and the Armenians. They did not actually wish to annex
or turn it into a frontier stronghold to keep watch on the region.

In the spring of 720/1320 the Mamluks raided Sīs again on the sultan’s orders. A Mamluk force left Cairo and met the Syrian forces near Harim in north eastern Syria. The
River had risen and it claimed the lives of a large number of soldiers who drowned while crossing. The highest rate of casualties was suffered by the Türkmen troops who came from the Syrian littoral. The army burnt cops and collected herds of cattle which were driven back to Syria. Abū’l-Fidā writes that the city was besieged but does not add any further information (he himself did not take part in the raid). He does not explain what prompted this raid. The Mamluk forces plundered Cilicia for six whole weeks.
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As with the previous raid no effort was made to occupy Sīs in order to establish a garrison and hold the city for any length of time.

The Armenian king, shin, died in the same year. The destruction and ruin left throughout his kingdom by the Mamluk raids no doubt hastened his end: “He witnessed the burning of his lands, the devastation of its places, the killing of his subjects and the driving of their beasts. So his sufferings were redoubled and he perished in Jumada 1 of this year.”
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