The Ayyubid dynasty, also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin had originally served the Zengid ruler Nur ad-Din, leading Nur ad-Din's army in battle against the Crusaders in Fatimid Egypt, where he was made Vizier. Following Nur ad-Din's death, Saladin was proclaimed as the first Sultan of Egypt by the Abbasid Caliphate, and rapidly expanded the new sultanate beyond the frontiers of Egypt to encompass most of the Levant, in addition to Hijaz, Yemen, northern Nubia, Tarabulus, Cyrenaica, southern Anatolia, and northern Iraq, the homeland of his Kurdish family. By virtue of his sultanate including Hijaz, the location of the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina, he was the first ruler to be hailed as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, a title that would be held by all subsequent sultans of Egypt until the Ottoman conquest of 1517. Saladin's military campaigns in the first decade of his rule, aimed at uniting the various Arab and Muslim states in the region against the Crusaders, set the general borders and sphere of influence of the sultanate of Egypt for the almost three and a half centuries of its existence. Most of the Crusader states, including the Kingdom of Jerusalem, fell to Saladin after his victory at the Battle of Hattin in 1187. However, the Crusaders reconquered the coast of Palestine in the 1190s.
The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate, ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids, and known to the Mongols as Hülegü Ulus, was a Mongol khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm was officially known as the Land of Iran or simply Iran. It was established after Hülegü, the son of Tolui and grandson of Genghis Khan, inherited the West Asian part of the Mongol Empire after his brother Möngke Khan died in 1259.
Qalāwūn aṣ-Ṣāliḥī was the seventh Turkic Bahri Mamluk Sultan of Egypt; he ruled from 1279 to 1290. He was called al-Manṣūr Qalāwūn. After having risen in power in the Mamluk court and elite circles, Qalawun eventually held the title of "the victorious king" and gained de facto authority over the sultanate. He is the founder of the Qalawunid dynasty that ruled Egypt for over a century.
Mahmud Ghazan was the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of Arghun, grandson of Abaqa Khan and great-grandson of Hulegu Khan, continuing a long line of rulers who were direct descendants of Genghis Khan. Considered the most prominent of the il khans, he is perhaps best known for converting to Islam and meeting Imam Ibn Taymiyya in 1295 when he took the throne, marking a turning point for the dominant religion of the Mongols in West Asia: Iran, Iraq, Anatolia, and the South Caucasus.
Demasq Kaja or Dimashq Khwāja was a member of the Chobanid family during the middle of the 14th century.
Starting in the 1240s, the Mongols made repeated invasions of Syria or attempts thereof. Most failed, but they did have some success in 1260 and 1300, capturing Aleppo and Damascus and destroying the Ayyubid dynasty. The Mongols were forced to retreat within months each time by other forces in the area, primarily the Egyptian Mamluks. The post-1260 conflict has been described as the Mamluk–Ilkhanid War.
Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari, commonly known as Baibars or Baybars and nicknamed Abu al-Futuh, was the fourth Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, of Turkic Kipchak origin, in the Bahri dynasty, succeeding Qutuz. He was one of the commanders of the Egyptian forces that inflicted a defeat on the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France. He also led the vanguard of the Egyptian army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, which marked the first substantial defeat of the Mongol army and is considered a turning point in history.
Öljaitü, also known as Mohammad-e Khodabande, was the eighth Ilkhanid dynasty ruler from 1304 to 1316 in Tabriz, Iran. His name means 'blessed' in the Mongolian language.
An-Nasir Yusuf, fully al-Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn al-Aziz ibn al-Zahir ibn Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shazy, was the Ayyubid Kurdish Emir of Syria from his seat in Aleppo (1236–1260), and the Sultan of the Ayyubid Empire from 1250 until the sack of Aleppo by the Mongols in 1260.
The Battle of Marj al-Saffar, also known as the Battle of Shaqhab, took place on April 20 through April 22, 1303 between the Mamluks and the Mongols and their Armenian allies near Kiswe, Syria, just south of Damascus. The battle has been influential in both Islamic history and contemporary time because of the controversial jihad against other Muslims and Ramadan related fatwas issued by Ibn Taymiyyah, who himself joined the battle. The battle, a disastrous defeat for the Mongols, put an end to Mongol invasions of the Levant.
The Mamluk Sultanate, also known as MamlukEgypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz from the mid-13th to early 16th centuries. It was ruled by a military caste of mamluks headed by a sultan. The sultanate was established with the overthrow of the Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt in 1250 and was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1517. Mamluk history is generally divided into the Turkic or Bahri period (1250–1382) and the Circassian or Burji period (1382–1517), called after the predominant ethnicity or corps of the ruling Mamluks during these respective eras.
The wāfidiyya were troops of various ethnic backgrounds who came into the military service of the Mamlūk Sultanate of Egypt and Syria in exchange for asylum. The term is a collective noun formed from the singular wāfid, meaning "one who comes, makes his way, in a delegation or group".
Husam ad-Din Muhanna ibn Isa was the Arab lord of Palmyra and amir al-ʿarab under the Mamluk Sultanate. He served between 1284 and his death, but was dismissed and reinstated four times during this period. As the chieftain of the Al Fadl, a clan of the Tayy tribe, which dominated the Syrian Desert, Muhanna wielded considerable influence among the Bedouin. He was described by historian Amalia Levanoni as "the eldest and most senior amir" of the Al Fadl during his era.
Sharaf ad-Din Isa ibn Muhanna at-Ta'i, better known as Isa ibn Muhanna, was an Arab emir (commander/prince) of the Al Fadl, a Bedouin dynasty that dominated the Syrian Desert and steppe during the 13th–15th centuries. He was appointed amir al-ʿarab by the Mamluks after their conquest of Syria in 1260. Isa's father served the same post under the Ayyubids. His assignment gave him command over the nomadic Arab tribes of Syria and obliged him to provide auxiliary troops in times of war and guard the desert frontier from the Mongol Ilkhanate in Iraq. As part of his emirate, he was granted Salamiyah and Sarmin. He participated in numerous campaigns against the Mongol Ilkhanate on behalf of the Mamluks during Sultan Baybars' reign (1260–1277).
Al-Rahba, also known as Qal'at al-Rahba, which translates as the "Citadel of al-Rahba", is a medieval Arab fortress on the west bank of the Euphrates River, adjacent to the city of Mayadin in Syria. Situated atop a mound with an elevation of 244 meters (801 ft), al-Rahba oversees the Syrian Desert steppe. It has been described as "a fortress within a fortress"; it consists of an inner keep measuring 60 by 30 meters, protected by an enclosure measuring 270 by 95 meters. Al-Rahba is largely in ruins today as a result of wind erosion.
Jamal al-Din Aqqush al-Afram al-Mansuri was a high-ranking Mamluk emir and defector, who served as the Mamluk na'ib (viceroy) of Damascus and later the Ilkhanid governor of Hamadan.
Shams al-Din Sunqur al-Ashqar al-Salihi was the Mamluk viceroy of Damascus in 1279–1280, who attempted to rule Syria independently, in a rebellion against the Egypt-based sultan Qalawun. While the rebellion in Damascus was quashed in 1280, Sunqur ensconced himself in the Sahyun Castle in the coastal mountains of northern Syria. He joined Qalawun in the successful defense of Syria against the Ilkhanid Mongols at the Battle of Homs in 1281. He remained in a state of peaceful relations with the sultan, despite ruling his coastal principality independently.
The siege of Margat took place in 1285 and resulted in the Crusaders losing the castle of Margat to the Mamluk Sultanate. The capture of the castle paved the way for the siege of Acre.
The siege of Rumkale or the fall of Rumkale took place in 1292 and resulted in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia losing the castle of Rumkale to the Mamluk Sultanate.
Badr al-Din Musa bin Sayf al-Din Abi Bakr Muhammad al-Azkashi also known as Ibn al-Azkashi was a Marwani Kurdish emir of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt. He was one of the Muqadimi al-Halqa al-Shamia in the Mamluk army that participated in the Battle of Marj al-Saffar against the Mongols in 1303. He was praised for his leadership role in the battle and his good performance in fighting the Mongols. In appreciation of his efforts, Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalawun promoted him to the rank of Amir Tabalkhana and then appointed him as na'ib (deputy) of al-Rahba in the same year.
Ilkhanate 
Mamluk Sultanate