Mongol Armenia or Ilkhanid Armenia refers to the period beginning in the early-to-mid 13th century during which both Zakarid Armenia and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia became tributary and vassal to the Mongol Empire and the successor Ilkhanate. Armenia and Cilicia remained under Mongol influence until around 1335.
During the time period of the later Crusades (1250s to 1260s), there was a short-lived Armenian-Mongol alliance, engaged in some combined military operations against their common enemy, the Mamluks. They succeeded in the Siege of Baghdad, but suffered defeat eight years later.
The Armenian calls for a wider Christian-Mongol alliance against Mamluk Islam, advocated notably by Hayton of Corycus, were ignored by the Latin powers in the Levant, leading to the demise of the European Crusader States and the imminent failure of the Crusades as a whole.
Background
Armenian background The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, or "Lesser Armenia" was formed in the late 11th century, by refugees and migrants from "Greater Armenia". The area was staunchly Christian, as Armenia itself had been the first nation to ever adopt Christianity as its official religion, in the 4th century. Armenians were therefore very friendly to the European Crusaders who began to arrive in the early 12th century. As the Crusades progressed, the Armenian leaders were regular players in the politics of the region, aligning with the Crusader states against the Muslims.Encyclopedia of the Crusades, "Armenia" entry, pp. 21–22
Mongol background
Genghis Khan had died in 1227, and by 1241, the Empire was split up into four smaller independent khanates, which continued to further expand the Empire. The southwestern khanate, known as the Ilkhanate, under the leadership of Genghis Khan's grandson Hulagu, advanced towards Persia and the Holy Land. City after city fell to the Mongols, including some Christian realms in their path. Christian Georgia was repeatedly attacked starting in 1220,Runciman, p.246-247 and in 1243 Queen Rusudan formally submitted to the Mongols, turning Georgia into a vassal state which then became a regular ally in the Mongol military conquests.Runciman, p.250Weatherford, p. 181. "To supplement his own army, Hulegu summoned the armies of the vassal states of Armenia and Georgia" This was a common practice in use by the growing Mongol empire – as they conquered new territories, they would absorb the populace and warriors into their own Mongol army, which they would then use to further expand the Empire.
Armenian vassalage to the Mongols
When the Mongols reached the Caucasus, they conquered Greater Armenia/Bagratid Armenia and various Armenian barons opted to swear loyalty to the Mongol Empire. In 1236, the Grand Prince of Karabagh, Hasan Jalal submitted to the Mongols, and in return received back some of the territories which had previously been conquered.Kirakos Gandzaketsi. History of the Armenians, "Chapter 30: Concerning the destruction which occurred in the Xach'en area, and about the pious prince Jalal" (Պատմություն Հայոց). Edited by K. Melik-Ohandjanyan. Yerevan, Armenian SSR, 1961 [g266-269]. Trans. in English by Robert Bedrosian. He also traveled twice to the Mongol capital of Karakorum, where he negotiated further details of the relationship with the khan. Ulubabyan, Bagrat. «Հասան-Ջալալ Դոլա» (Hasan-Jalal Dawla). Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia. vol. vi. Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences 1980, p. 246.
In the 1240s, as the Mongols continued their advance towards Cilicia, King Hethum I chose to follow the example of the Greater Armenian barons such as Hasan Jalal, and also submitted to the Ilkhanate.Frederic Luisetto states that Hetoum submitted as early as 1244. Luisetto, p. 237
To formalize his own relationship with the Mongols, in 1247 Hethum I sent his elder half-brother Sempad the Constable to the Mongol court in Karakorum. Sempad met with Güyük Khan and his successor, Kublai Khan's brother Möngke Khan, and made an agreement of cooperation, against their common enemy the Muslims.Bournotian, p. 100. "Smbat met Kubali's brother, Mongke Khan and in 1247, made an alliance against the Muslims" The nature of this relationship is disputed by historians, some of whom call it an alliance,Claude Mutafian, Le Royaume Arménien de Cilicie, p. 55. "the King of Armenia decided to engage into the Mongol alliance, an intelligence that the Latin barons lacked, except for Antioch"Amin Maalouf, The Crusades through Arab eyes (page numbers refer to the French edition): "The Armenians, in the person of their king Hetoum, sided with the Mongols, as well as Prince Bohemond, his son-in-law. The Franks of Acre however adopted a position of neutrality favourable to the Muslims" (p.261), "Bohemond of Antioch and Hethoum of Armenia, principal allies of the Mongols" (p.265), "Hulagu (...) still had enough strength to prevent the punishment of his allies [Bohemond and Hethoum]" (p.267).Also "Mongolian-Armenian alliance": in The Islamic World in Ascendancy: From the Arab Conquest to the Siege of Vienna by Dr. Martin Sicker (p.111): "Bohemond, however, resided exclusively in Tripoli and, as a practical matter, Hetoum, whose realm was contiguous with it, ruled Antioch. Accordingly, Antioch was drawn into the Mongolian-Armenian alliance". and others who say that the Armenians had submitted to Mongol overlordship, and become a vassal state similar to any other conquered region.Stewart, Logic of Conquest, p. 8. "The Armenian king saw alliance with the Mongols – or, more accurately, swift and peaceful subjection to them – as the best course of action."Peter Jackson, Mongols and the West, p. 74, "King Het'um of Lesser Armenia, who had reflected profoundly upon the deliverance afforded by the Mongols from his neighbbours and enemies in Rum, sent his brother, the Constable Smbat (Sempad) to Guyug's court to offer his submission."Riley-Smith, The Crusades, p. 82 "In the 1250s King Hetoum entered, as a subject power, into an alliance with the Mongols."Runciman, The Crusader States, 1243-1291, p. 572 "Hetoum I, king of Armenia, had long been an advocate of alliance with the Mongols. In 1254 he had himself visited the Great Khan Mongke at Karakorum. In return for calling himself the Khan's vassal he was promised increase of territory and protection against the Anatolian Turks."
Sempad was enthusiastic about his travel to the Mongol realm, which lasted until 1250.Grousset, p.529, Note 273 He discovered many Christians in Mongol lands, even among the Mongols themselves. On February 7, 1248, he sent a letter from Samarkand to his brother-in-law Henry I, king of Cyprus (who was married to the Armenian princess Stephanie, Sempad and Hethum I's sister).Grousset, p.529, note 272 In his letter, Sempad described a Central Asian realm of oasis with many Christians, generally of the Nestorian rite:Jean Richard, Histoire des Croisades, p. 376
During his visit to the Mongol court, Sempad received a relative of the Great Khan as a bride. He had a child with her, named Vasil Tatar,Luisetto, p.122, who references introduction and notes in G.Dedeyan La Chronique attribuée au Connétable Sempad, 1980 who would later be captured by the Mamluks at the Battle of Mari in 1266.The Armenian Kingdom and the Mamluks p.49, Angus Donal
In 1254, King Hethum himself traveled through Central Asia to the Mongol court, to renew the agreement.Bournotian, p. 101 He brought many sumptuous presents, and met with Möngke Khan (Güyük's cousin) at Karakorum.Emil Bretschneider tr. of Kirakos Gandzaketsi, The Journey of Haithon, King of Little Armenia, To Mongolia and Back, Mediaeval Researches Vol 1, Trubner Oriental Series 1888 London, facsimile reprint 2005 Elibron Classics Hethum, who came spontaneously as a vassal, was very well received by the Mongols. He had an audience with Möngke on September 13, 1254, advised the Khan on Christian matters in Western Asia, and obtained from the Khan documents guaranteeing the inviolability of his person and his kingdom. Möngke also informed him that he was preparing to mount an attack on Baghdad and that he would remit Jerusalem to the Christians if they collaborated with him.Runciman, p.297 The Armenians also had very friendly relations with the Crusader states, especially from 1254 when Hethum's daughter Princess Sibylla of Armenia married Bohemond VI, ruler of the Principality of Antioch and County of Tripoli, upon the recommendation of King Louis IX of France. Hethum strongly encouraged other Frankish rulers to follow his example and submit to Mongol overlordship, but persuaded only his son-in-law Bohemond, who offered his own submission sometime in the 1250s.The Islamic World in Ascendency: From the Arab Conquest to the Siege of Vienna by Dr. Martin Sicker (p.111): "Bohemond, however, resided exclusively in Tripoli and, as a practical matter, Hetoum, whose realm was contiguous with it, ruled Antioch. Accordingly, Antioch was drawn into the Mongolian-Armenian alliance".
Military collaboration between the Armenians and the Mongols began in 1258–1260, when Hethum I, Bohemond VI, and the Georgians combined forces with the Mongols under Hulagu in the Mongol invasion of Syria and Mesopotamia. In 1258, the combined forces conquered the center of the most powerful Islamic dynasty in existence at that time, that of the Abbasids in the siege of Baghdad.Cambridge Medieval History, Volume IV, p. 634Grousset, p.574, mentioning the account of Kirakos, Kirakos, #12"After this, [the Mongols] convened a great assembly of the old and new cavalry of the Georgians and Armenians and went against the city of Baghdad with a countless multitude." History of the Nation of Archers, Chap 12. Grigor of Akner, circa 1300 From there, the Mongol forces and their Christian allies conquered Muslim Syria, domain of the Ayyubid Dynasty. They took the city of Aleppo with the help of the Franks of Antioch,Tyerman, p.806 "The Frankish Antiochenes assisted the Mongols' capture of Aleppo". and on March 1, 1260, under the Christian general Kitbuqa, they also took Damascus."The Battle of Ain Jalut" Saudi Aramco WorldGrousset, p.581"On 1 March Kitbuqa entered Damascus at the head of a Mongol army. With him were the King of Armenia and the Prince of Antioch. The citizens of the ancient capital of the Caliphate saw for the first time for six centuries three Christian potentates ride in triumph through their streets", Runciman, p.307 Historical accounts, quoting from the writings of the medieval historian Templar of Tyre, used to describe the three Christian rulers (Hetoum, Bohemond, and Kitbuqa) entering the city of Damascus together in triumph,Grousset, p.588 though modern historians have questioned this story as apocryphal.David Morgan, The Mongols (2nd ed.)Peter Jackson, "Crisis in the Holy Land in 1260", English Historical Review 376 (1980) 486"While this report cannot be taken literally, it may contain a grain of truth. Armenian troops were part of Ketbuqa's force, while some time during the Mongol occupation Bohemond visited Baalbek and even intended to ask Hulegu for possession of the town. (...) If this prince reached as far as Baalbek, it is most probable that he also passed through Damascus." De Reuven Amitai-Preiss, Mongols and Mamluks, p.31
Mamluk opposition The Mongol expansion into the Middle East was stopped in 1260, when the Franks in Acre struck a passive alliance with the Egyptian Mamluks, allowing the Muslim Mamluks to achieve a decisive victory against the Mongols at the pivotal Battle of Ain Jalut, a battle in which 500 knights from Armenia may have participated, fighting on the side of the Mongols."These, however, were not all Mongol horsemen, but included contingents from Georgia and Lesser Armenia; Smpad writes that the latter numbered 500 men." Mongols and Mamluks, p.40