In 1260, on this day the Mongol Ilkhanate leader Hulagu Khan decisively defeated the Mamluk Sultanate at the Battle of Ain Jalut in eastern Galilee, in the Jezreel Valley.

Mongolian victory at the Battle of Ain Jalut The Mongol ambition had been limited to the goal of consolidating the occupation of Persia, Syria and Galilee. However the spectacular nature of the victory opened the way to a Mongol advance into Egypt.

The slaughtering of the inhabitants of Baghdad and Cairo signalled the collapse of the Mamluk State. And yet the twin cities of Mecca and Medina were spared the same fate by a treaty that respected the character of the Holy Sites being an equal part of the Mongol Muslim's heritage.