Editing Qutuz (section)

==Background==
{{See also|Siege of Baghdad (1258)}}
Qutuz was a [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] prince from Persia, captured by the [[Mongols]] during the fall of the [[Khwarazmian dynasty]] {{Circa|1231}}, he was taken to [[Damascus]] where he was sold to an Egyptian slave merchant who then sold him to [[Aybak]], the Mamluk sultan in [[Cairo]]. According to some sources, Qutuz claimed that he was descended from [[Ala ad-Din Muhammad II]], a ruler of the [[Khwarazmian Empire]].<ref>Amitai-Preiss, p. 35.</ref>

[[File:Bagdad1258.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|[[Ilkhanate|Mongol]]s sacked [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|Baghdad in 1258]]]]
He became the most prominent Mu'izi Mamluk of Sultan Aybak,<ref name="Qasim,p.44">Qasim, p. 44</ref> and then became his vice-sultan in 1253. Aybak was assassinated in 1257, and Qutuz remained as vice-sultan for Aybak's son [[al-Mansur Ali]]. Qutuz led the Mu'izi Mamluks who had arrested Aybak's widow Shajar al-Durr and installed al-Mansur Ali as the new sultan of Egypt.<ref name="Qasim,p.44"/> In November 1257 and April 1258, he defeated raids from the forces of al-Malik al-Mughith{{efn|1=Al-Malik al-Mughith Omar Ben al-Adil II Ben al-Kamil Muhammed ({{lang|ar|الملك المغيث عمر بن العادل الثانى بن الكامل محمد}}) was the Ayyubid ruler of [[Al Karak]]. During the reign of Sultan Baibars, he was killed in the Citadel of Cairo.}} of Al-Karak which were supported by the [[Bahri dynasty|Bahriyya Mamluks]].{{efn|1=After the assassination of [[Faris ad-Din Aktai]] the leader of the Bahariyya Mamluks, during the reign of Sultan Aybak, many Bahariyya Mamluks fled from Egypt. Baibars, Qalawun, and other prominent Mamluks took refuge in Syria. Still, after a dispute with an-Nasir Yusuf, the Ayyubid king of Syria, they moved to Al Karak, which an Ayyubid king also ruled.}} The raids caused a dispute among the Bahriyya Mamluks in Al-Karak as some of them wanted to support their followers in Egypt.{{efn|1=During the reign of Sultan Aybak many Bahari Mamluks fled from Egypt after their leader [[Faris ad-Din Aktai]] was assassinated. They stayed in Syria, Al Karak, and the [[Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm]]. Two of the most prominent Mamluks [[Baibars|Baibars al-Bunduqdari]] and [[Qalawun|Qalawun al-Alfi]] went to Syria then to Al Karak, where they persuaded al-Malik al-Mughith the Ayyubid king of Al Karak to attack Egypt. (See also [[Aybak]], [[Al-Mansur Ali]] and [[an-Nasir Yusuf]])}}

In February 1258, the Mongol army sacked [[Baghdad]], massacred its inhabitants, and killed the [[Abbasid caliph|Abbasid Caliph]] [[Al-Musta'sim]]. They then advanced towards present-day Syria, which was then ruled by the Ayyubid ruler [[an-Nasir Yusuf]], who received a threatening letter from [[Hulagu]].{{efn|1=The message was given by Hulagu to an-Nasir's son al-Malik al-Aziz. Some of its passages said: "As al-Malik an-Nasir the ruler of Aleppo knows, we have conquered Baghdad by the sword of the almighty God, we killed its knights, we razed its buildings and we captured its inhabitants. When you receive this message, you should at once submit with your men, your money and your knights to the king of kings the ruler of the earth. By doing that you can be saved from his evil and gain his goodness. We have heard that the merchants of the Levant and others have fled with their money and women to Egypt. If they hide in mountains we will raze the mountains and if they hide in the earth we will sink the earth down. Where is safety? None can flee because I own both the land and the sea. The lions were despised by our dignity and the princes and the viziers are held in my grasp."<ref>Al-Maqrizi, p. 506/vol. 1</ref>}} Vice-Sultan Qutuz and the Egyptian Emirs were alarmed by a message from an-Nasir Yusuf in which he appealed for immediate help from Egypt. The emirs assembled at the court of the 15-year-old Sultan Al-Mansur Ali, and Qutuz told them that because of the seriousness of the situation, Egypt should have a strong and capable sultan who could fight the Mongols. On 12 November 1259, Al-Mansur Ali was deposed by Qutuz. When Qutuz became the new sultan, he promised the emirs that they could install any other sultan after he defeated the Mongols.<ref name="Shayyal, p.122/vol.2"/>

Qutuz kept Emir Faris ad-Din Aktai al-Mostareb{{efn|1=Not to be confused with his namesake and contemporary [[Faris ad-Din Aktai|Faris ad-Din Aktai al-Jemdar]] who was the leader of the Bahari Mamluks and who was assassinated by Al-Mansur Ali's father Sultan Aybak.}} as the [[Atabeg]] of the Egyptian army and began to prepare for battle.<ref name="Shayyal, p.122/vol.2">Shayyal, p. 122/vol. 2</ref>