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Mongol conquestsWars and battles

Battle of Köse Dağ

The Mongol army of Baiju crushed the forces of the Rum sultan Kaykhusraw II; the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum in Anatolia became a tributary of the Mongols.

Date
between 26 June and 3 July 1243exact date unknown: an interval is given
Place
Köse Dağapproximate locationtoday: Suşehri district, Sivas Province, Turkey · Balkans and Anatolia
Participants
Mongol Empire, Baiju, Sultanate of Rum, Kaykhusraw II
Threads
Mongol conquests
Also known as
Битва при Кёсе-даге; Битва у Кёседага; Кёседагская битва

Having subdued western Iran in the early 1230s and finished off the Khwarazmshah Jalal al-Din, the Mongols reached the borders of Rum, and in 1242 Baiju took and sacked Erzurum. In the spring of 1243 the sultan assembled a huge army of mercenaries and allies at Sivas but, without waiting for all his reinforcements, marched out to meet the Mongols. At the pass by Mount Köse Dağ his vanguard fell into a trap, and during the night his army scattered.

The Mongols took Sivas and Kayseri, and Rum undertook to pay an enormous annual tribute; it later came under the sway of the Ilkhanate. Sources differ on the date of the battle: 26 June (in most modern works), or 1 or 3 July 1243 (in Turkish historians who follow the chronicler Ibn Bibi), so it is given as a range. The site is marked approximately: Mount Köse Dağ lies near present-day Suşehri.

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Sources

  1. Wikipedia (English): Battle of Köse Dağ
  2. Wikipedia (Russian): Битва при Кёсе-даге
  3. Wikipedia (Turkish): Kösedağ Muharebesi
  4. Cahen C. Pre-Ottoman Turkey: A General Survey of the Material and Spiritual Culture and History, c. 1071–1330. — London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1968.
  5. Wikidata: Q136344