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For the homonymous Master of the Knights Templar, see Jacques de Molay

For the Moroccan title, see Prince

Mulay, Mûlay, or Molay for the Franks, was a general under the Mongol Ilkhanate ruler Ghazan at the end the 13th century. Mulay was part of the 1299-1300 Mongol offensive in Syria and Palestine, and remained with a small force to occupy the land after the departure of Ghazan. He also participated to the last Mongol offensive in the Levant, in 1303.

Contents 1 1299-1300 campaign 1.1 1300 occupation of Syria and Palestine 2 1303 offensive 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References 5.1 Ancient sources 5.2 Modern sources

In the summer of 1299, King Hetoum II of Armenia sent a message to the Mongol khan of Persia, Ghâzân to obtain his support. In response, Ghazan marched with his generals Mulay and Samagar towards Syria and sent letters to the Franks of Cyprus (the King of Cyprus, and the heads of the Knights Templar, the Hospitallers and the Teutonic Knights), inviting them to come join him in his attack on the Mamluks in Syria. Ghazan's first letter was sent on October 21, which arrived 15 days later. He sent a second letter in November.^[1]

There is no record of any reply, and Ghazan moved ahead, the Mongols successfully taking the city of Aleppo. There, Ghazan was joined by King Hetoum, whose forces included some Templars and Hospitallers from the kingdom of Armenia, who participated in the rest of the offensive.^[2] The Mongols and their allies defeated the Mamluks in the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar, on December 23 or 24, 1299.^[3] One group of Mongols then split off from Ghazan's army, and pursued the retreating Mamluk troops as far as Gaza,^[4] pushing them back to Egypt. The bulk of Ghazan's forces then proceeded on to Damascus, which surrendered somewhere between December 30, 1299, and January 6, 1300, though its Citadel resisted.^[5][6] A contemporary Arab writer mentions the exactions in Damas of the Armenian and Georgian Christians together with the Mongols.^[7] Ghazan then retreated most of his forces in February, probably because their horses needed fodder. He promised to return in the winter of 1300-1301 to attack Egypt.^[8]

In the meantime the remaining forces of the Mongols, about 10,000 horsemen under the Mongol general Mulay, ruled over Syria,^[9] and engaged in raids as far south as Jerusalem and Gaza.^{[10][11][12][13]} Accordingly, there existed a period of about four months from February to May 1300, when the Mongol il-Khan was the "de facto" lord of the Holy Land.^[14] Alain Demurger, in his latest book Les Templiers (2007), writes that Mulay was in Jerusalem in 1299/1300.^[15] But that small force had to retreat when the Mamluks returned in May 1300.^[16]

Le Templier de Tyr mentions that one of the generals of Ghazan was named Molay, whom he left in Damas with 10,000 Mongols:

"611. Ghazan, when he had vanquished the Sarazins returned in his country, and left in Damas one of his Emirs, who was named Molay, who had with him 10,000 Tatars and 4 generals."

—Le Templier de Tyr 611^[17]

The Molay mentionned here has sometimes been confused with the Master of the Knights Templar Jacques de Molay, but it is thought that this instead designates the Mongol general "Mûlay".^[18]

Ghazan also promised to return in the winter of 1300-1301 to attack Egypt.^[19]

In 1303, when the Mongols appeared in great strength in Syria (about 80,000) together with the Armenians. The Franks from Cyprus conducted naval attacks on the Syrian coast, destroying Damour, south of Beyrout.^[20]

However Mongol forces, led by Ghazan's generals Mulay and Kutlushah, with their Armenian allies were defeated at Homs on March 30, 1303, and at the decisive Battle of Shaqhab, south of Damas, on April 21, 1303.^[21] It is considered to be the last major Mongol invasion of Syria.^[22]

• Franco-Mongol alliance

• Adh-Dhababi, Record of the Destruction of Damascus by the Mongols in 1299-1301 Translated by Joseph Somogyi. From: Ignace Goldziher Memorial Volume, Part 1, Online (English translation).
• Jean de Joinville, The Memoirs of Lord of Joinville, translated by Ethel Wedwood Online (English translation).
• Le Templier de Tyr (circa 1300). Chronicle du Templier de Tyr, Online (Original French).
• Hayton of Corycus (1307). Flowers of the Histories of the East, Online (English translation).
• Guillaume de Tyr (circa 1300). History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, Online (Original French).
• Kirakos (circa 1300). History of the Armenians, Online, (English translation).
• The history and Life of Rabban Bar Sauma (translated from the Syriac by Budge, Sir E.A.Wallis).  (online)

• Amitai, Reuven (1987). "Mongol Raids into Palestine (AD 1260 and 1300)". JRAS: 236-255. 
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