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خروج المستنصر إلى العراق وفقدانه

خروج المستنصر إلى العراق وفقدانه

c. 28 November 1261 CE · 3 Muharram 660 AH

Al-Mustansir marched for Iraq, the sultan seeing him off to Damascus with a million dinars' outfit and the lords of Mosul, Sinjar and the Jazira in his train; Aleppo's rival caliph al-Hakim — set up by its amir Aqush with his own coin — joined and submitted. He took al-Haditha and Hit, met a Tatar host, and vanished at the battle of 3 Muharram 660: most say killed, some say fled and hidden — a caliphate under six months 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era
Region
Levant & Iraq
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

In time

125012601270 c.
The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era

Overview

The caliph al-Mustansir resolved to go to Iraq. Sultan Baybars went out with him to escort him as far as Damascus, and equipped him and the sons of the lord of Mosul with about a million dinars and sixty thousand dirhams. 2

The route

The caliph set out with the kings of the East: the lord of Mosul, the lord of Sinjar and al-Jazira. The Aleppo caliph al-Hakim, whom the amir of Aleppo, Aqush, had set up, met him and submitted to him. The army took al-Hadītha and then Hit. 2

Clash with the Tatars

A Tatar force met them, and some Muslims were killed, and al-Mustansir disappeared on the third of Muharram 660 AH. It is said he was killed, and it is said he escaped and fled. His caliphate lasted less than six months. 2

The "Shadharat al-Dhahab" says that he set out to take Baghdad, and that he disappeared in the battle and al-Hakim was routed. 3

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
المستنصر بالله الثاني أحمد بن الظاهر· الحاكم بأمر الله أحمد القبي· السلطان الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري

People and things also explored

قيام الخلافة العباسية بالقاهرة· وقعة عين جالوت وهزيمة التتار· فتح النوبة وأسر ملك دنقلة· قتل المظفر قطز وسلطنة بيبرس· Al-Zahir Baybars· الحاكم بأمر الله أحمد القبي· المستنصر بالله الثاني أحمد بن الظاهر· السلطان الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري

Sources

  1. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition), p. 724
  2. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition), p.724
  3. Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali, p.296
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “خروج المستنصر إلى العراق وفقدانه”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/mustansir-iraq-expedition-660/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.

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Time

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قيام الخلافة العباسية بالقاهرة

Ahmad ibn al-Zahir — freed from Baghdad's prison when the Tatars took it — came to Baybars in Rajab 659 with ten of Banu Maharish; the sultan rode out to meet him, his line was proven before chief qadi Taj al-Din ibn Bint al-A'azz, and the bay'a ran: the sultan first, then the qadi, then Shaykh Izz al-Din ibn Abd al-Salam, then the great by rank, on 13 Rajab. His name went on the coinage, he preached in black at the citadel mosque, robed the sultan with his own hands before the Cairo tent, and was granted an atabeg, ustadar, sharabi, khazindar, hajib and katib with a hundred horses. The caliphate's gap had lasted three and a half years; al-Dhahabi notes none after his uncle's son took it save him and al-Muqtafi.