In the beginning of the 13 th Century, the Mongols were moving westwards, leaving behind them a horror trail of death and destruction. The Mamluks had already established themselves in Egypt and were able to establish their own empire. In 1258 the Mongol invaders put to death the last Abbasid caliph in Baghdad. Up until this time, both of these groups had their successes in battle but each of these groups had similarities as well as differences in their military institutions. Mamluks or Mameluke, a warrior caste dominant in Egypt, were influential in the Middle East for over 700 years.
Islamic rulers created this warrior caste by collecting non-Muslim slave boys and training them as cavalry soldiers that were loyal to their owner and each other. They converted to Islam in the course of their training. The Mamluk army was based on mounted archers. The Mamluk troops were heavily armed with quality bows and arrows, swords, daggers, axes, spiked clubs, lances, shields, and body armor.
The Mamluks horses were a large Arabian steed. Since the maintenance of these horses were expensive, most Mamluks only had one horse. The Mamluks were hand picked troops based on their combat skills. With that being said, they were more talented soldiers than their Mongol counterparts, who were just average men. The Mamluks underwent thorough, long-term training. One of the areas of military training that they valued was shooting while galloping.
In comparison to the Mamluks, the Mongols seemed to be fighting a better prepared and better equipped army. The Mongol army were adult males that enlisted. These soldiers were not professionals, and received haphazard training. The majority of Mongol troops were armed with homemade weapons. Most Mongol soldiers carried only bows and arrows, along with axes and clubs.
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These are journal entries of an American Solider named Private John G. Watson who was sent to Afghanistan to fight the war on terrorism. These are the last few entries in his journal before his convoy was ambushed and he was killed. He was only 21. August 2, 2001: So, I just got my draft slip in the mail. Looks like I am on my first assignment already.I mean, I just joined the army 5 months ago. ...
Due to their weapons and their inferior training, the Mongols did not want to engage in frontal attacks, so they preferred to depend on their archery and mobility. In that sense they were much like the Mamluks. The difference was that each Mongol soldier would lead several mounts, which were ponies, when they set out on campaign while the Mamluks had only one horse. Since their ponies would tire quickly, they would need to make frequent pony changes. As the battles were being fought, the Mongols would remount frequently, which enabled them to maintain their mobility. The fighting tactics of the Mongols differed from the Mamluks.
The Mongols would send one unit after another at full speed on their ponies shooting one arrow from as close as they could possibly get. This distance was approximately 30 meters. Then they would turn around and quickly get out of the way of the next unit that was coming soon after them and this process repeated itself. After several attacks, the attacking units would be replace with fresh troops while they rested, reloaded, and remounted. The Mongols showered the enemy with their best shots, while each unit concealing the unit to follow. The intention of the Mongols was to either outflank the enemy or wear the enemy down.
The Mamluks fighting tactics represented their training and skill. The Mamluks could not compete with the Mongols mobility but instead the Mamluks used their better bows, arrow, and superior skill to overcome the difference caused by the Mongol’s horsepower. As the Mongols attacked, the Mamluks would deliver deadly shots to their attackers. In 1260, the Mamluks defeated the Mongols at ‘Ayn Jal ut in Palestine. Even though there were some similarities between these two groups, the difference in training and weapons played the definitive role in the outcome of this battle.
