"كتيّب سوريا (بما في ذلك فلسطين). لندن: إدارة استخبارات الأركان البحرية، يونيو ١٩١٩" [و‎‎٨‎٠] (٧٣٨/١٦٤)

THE RULE OF THE MAMLUK SULTANS 153
Antioch and Sheizar. But the heavy rains of January
checked his progress. An Egyptian army awaited the
invaders near Hama, but no battle was fought.
Ghazan’s final invasion of Syria was timed to arrive in the
end of March. The chief command was given to Kutlu Shah.
The Syrian army posted at Hama withdrew to Damascus
and the Tartars followed quickly, hoping to secure a decision
before the main army from Egypt could arrive. In this they
did not succeed. The Moslem armies united in the Merj
es-Sufiar, and the Tartars were now inferior in numerical
strength. Still they took the offensive and the ensuing battle
lasted two days (April 20 and 21, 1303). Finally the Tartars
retired to a hill where they stood surrounded without sufficient
water for themselves and their horses. They barely succeeded
in cutting their way out, and retreated by the road they had
come. The death of Ghazan next year (1304) ended the
Tartar invasions of Syria for 100 years.
Under the strong rule of the Mamluk sultans Syria now
enjoyed a period of comparative peace. The chief feature
of the military history of the fourteenth century was the
war carried on with the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia, which
flourished early in the century but was destroyed before its
close (1375). Asia Minor was already passing into the hands
of the Ottoman Turks, but as yet they were chiefly occupied
with European wars and did not covet Cilicia.
The invasion of Syria by Timur lenk (Tamerlane) was of
a punitive character (1400—1). The emirs who opposed him
near Aleppo were easily defeated (October 1400). In front
of the centre of the Tartar army were Indian elephants, having
archers and flame-throwers mounted upon them. Aleppo,
Hama, Homs, and Ba‘albek surrendered in turn without much
resistance. The Egyptian sultan, who reached Damascus
just before the Tartar army, either was not prepared for the
invaders or played a very pusillanimous part. He aban
doned the city in less than a fortnight, and Timur took posses
sion (January 5, 1301). The citadel also surrendered after
a short siege. Timm’s army remained in Damascus till the