File talk:1260MongolConquestsLevant.jpg

Accuracy

Hi, the map is very pretty, and thanks for working on it, but I think it needs just a touch more work yet. I have some concerns about the accuracy, specifically:

• The Mongols were not said to have really "Conquered" Syria or anything in Palestine. For example, David Morgan in The Mongols (1st ed., pp. 156-157) says, "While it is true that the Mongols frequently invaded Syria at intervals until the end of the century and a little beyond, and that on one occasion, in 1300, they occupied the whole country and drove out all the Mamluk troops, they never stayed for long. Syria was not to become part of the Mongol Empire."
• Another concern is about the arrows. The bulk of the Mongol Army definitely invaded Aleppo and Damascus, but they then retreated most of the forces at that point, leaving a relatively small force of 10,000 to occupy the entire area. Some smaller raiding parties went south as far as Gaza, but I feel that the image is a bit misleading, since Gaza definitely wasn't the focus of a major push on the part of the Mongols. They did set up a temporary garrison at Gaza, but it was very small (maybe 1,000), and as soon as the Mamluks pushed north from Egypt again, the Mongols didn't put up any resistance -- they simply scattered. So it couldn't even really be called a battle.
• I'm unfamiliar with "Ajlun" as any kind of Mongol battle, could you please provide a source for that one? Or is that referring to Ain Jalut?

So, changes I would recommend:

• Remove the "battle" icon at Gaza, and perhaps put a circle or other icon to indicate presence, though not necessarily battle.
• Use very thin, maybe even dotted arrows showing the Mongol advances south of Ain Jalut, to indicate that these were raiding parties, not a major advance.
• Doublecheck the borders of Antioch in this year? My own impression was that it was smaller, but I'm not entirely certain on that.

Other than that, looks really good! --Elonka 05:51, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

See also w:Talk:Mongol raids into Palestine#Misleading image. --Elonka (talk) 17:04, 14 July 2008 (UTC)