Battle of Köse Dağ

Overview

The Battle of Köse Dağ took place in eastern Anatolia on 26 June 1243 when an army of the Sultanate of Rum, led by Sultan Kaykhusraw II, confronted an invading Mongol army under the general Baiju and was decisively defeated. The battle was the pivotal event of the Mongol conquest of Anatolia: Rum, previously a significant independent power in the eastern Mediterranean, was reduced to the status of a client kingdom, and its territories were later absorbed into the Mongol Ilkhanate.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Köse Dağ was the pivotal event of the Mongol conquest of Anatolia. Sultan Kaykhusraw II led an army of 80,000 from the Sultanate of Rum against a Mongol force of 30,000 under the general Baiju Noyan, and was decisively defeated. The outcome fundamentally altered the political order of eastern Anatolia: Rum, previously a significant independent power in the eastern Mediterranean, was reduced to the status of a client kingdom. Its territories were subsequently absorbed into the Mongol Ilkhanate, ending the Sultanate's autonomy and integrating Anatolia into the expanding Mongol imperial structure.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (2)