Editing Al-Nasir Muhammad (section)

===The Battle of Marj al-Saffar===
{{main|Battle of Marj al-Saffar (1303)}}
In 1303 Ghazan's army crossed the Euphrates River and marched towards Syria. The Syrians fled from [[Aleppo]] and Hama to Damascus. An Egyptian force led by Baibars Al-Jashnakir arrived in Damascus. The population of Damascus wanted to flee but they were warned that they would be killed and their money would be seized if they tried to do that.<ref>Al-Maqrizi, vol. 2, p. 355</ref> Ghazan's troops attacked [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turcoman]] villages and took women and children as prisoners but the Sultan's forces led by his Emirs clashed with the Mongols and freed about 6000 Turkmen after they destroyed the Mongol force.

On 20 April, an-Nasir and the Caliph<ref>The [[Abbasid]] [[Caliph]] al-Mustakfi Billah (Solayman ben Ahmad ben Ali) succeeded his father al-Hakim Bi'amr-Ellah in 1302 and stayed a Caliph for 39 years (Al-Maqrizi, vol. 2, p. 346). After the sack of [[Baghdad]] and the murder of the Abbasid Caliph [[al-Mustasim]] by the Mongols in 1258, Sultan [[Baibars|Baibars al-Buduqdari]] installed an Abbasid [[Caliphate]] in Cairo.</ref> arrived in Syria from Egypt and while the Emirs were greeting them, news reached them that a Mongol army of 50,000 soldiers led by [[Qutlugh-Shah]], the deputy of Ghazan, was approaching. An-Nasir and the Emirs decided to fight the Mongol forces at [[Marj al-Saffar]]. The Caliph who stood beside the sultan at the heart of the army exclaimed to the soldiers: "Warriors, do not worry about your Sultan but worry about your women and the religion of your Prophet."<ref>Many women accompanied an-Nasir's army. (Al-Maqrizi, vol. 2, p. 357)</ref>

A force of about 10,000 men led by Qutlugh-Shah attacked the right flank of an-Nasir's army but units led by Baibars and Salar gave their support and pushed Qutlugh-Shah back. There was confusion on the battleground as many thought that an-Nasir's army had been defeated when they saw the Mongols passing the right flank of an-Nasir's army. Qutlugh-Shah withdrew to a mountain also believing that he had won. But from his position on the mountain he saw the army of an-Nasir standing firm on the left flank and his soldiers were filling the field. Qutlugh-Shah was puzzled and asked an Egyptian Emir who was taken prisoner about the army that he was seeing. The Emir answered him that it was the army of the Sultan of Egypt. Qutlugh-Shah was shocked as he did not know that an-Nasir has arrived with the Egyptian army. When Qutlugh-Shah saw his army defeated and fleeing he too fled at sunset.<ref>al-Maqrizi, vol. 2, pp. 356–357</ref> Next morning Qutlugh-Shah returned to the battlefield but he was defeated again. His third offensive happened early in the morning of the third day but his army was utterly annihilated. Only a small number of the Mongols survived. When Ghazan heard about the defeat of his army it was said that he was so upset that he suffered a severe hemorrhage and he died a year later (11 May 1304). An-Nasir returned to Egypt to great celebrations. Cairo was decorated from [[Bab al-Nasr, Cairo|Bab al-Nasr]] (Victory Gate) to Qal'at al-Jabal<ref>Al-Maqrizi, vol. 2, pp.359–360</ref> The prominent Egyptian Mamluk historian Baibars al-Dewadar<ref>Rukn ad-Din Baibars al-khati'i al-Dewadar. An Egyptian Mamluk emir and a historian who was born and died in Egypt at the age of 80 years. He was a mamluk of Sultan Qalawun who made him his deputy in [[Al-Karak|Karak]] then a vice-Sultan. Though an-Nasir respected him, he imprisoned him. He was present in Al-Ashraf Khalil's army which conquered Acre in 1291 and during the Battle of Marj al-Saffar he was in the right flank of an-Nasir Muhammad's army. He is known for his important books {{lang|ar-Latn|Zobdat al-Fikrah Fi Tarikh al-Hijrah}} (11 volumes) and {{lang|ar-Latn|al-Tuhfah al-Mamlukiyah fi al-Dawlah al-Turkiyah}} (about the Mamluk Sultans from 647 to 721 AH (1250–1322 CE)). (Al-Maqrizi, vol. 2, p.356)</ref> was present at the battle of Marj al-Saffar.