ORDER OF BATTLE // July 3, 1243
Battle of Köse Dağ
Estimated force strength by side, with confidence labels per surviving record.
Forces engaged
2 sides catalogued · combined 110,000 estimated
Mongol Empire
30,000
Medium-confidence figure
Seljuk Sultanate of Rum
80,000
Medium-confidence figure
Battle context
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.
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