Investigating the relations between the Mongols and Christians and its role in the collapse of Islamic governments. From the beginning of the Mongol conquests until Abaqa Khan’s death

Abstract

The emergence of the Mongols and their invasion of Islamic lands is the most important phenomenon of the thirteenth century which dealt a severe blow to the Muslim governments present in the Islamic world and shook and sometimes uprooted their political-military as well as social and economic structures. At this time, the Christians of Europe and the Catholic Church, as well as the Christians living in the Eastern and Islamic lands, who saw the Muslims as their long-time enemy, tried to accompany the Mongols and interact with them from various religious, political, and military aspects to suppress and destroy the existing Islamic governments in the region, including the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad, the Ayyubids the Levant and the Mamluks in Egypt. The present research, with theoretical analysis and review of historical events of this time and evaluating the available data, emphasizes not only the effective role of Christians in the Mongols confrontation with Islamic governments. It also explains their relations with the Mongols, taking into account the ruling families of the Mongols.

Keywords

• mongols
• christians
• islamic governments
• egyptian mamluks