Hulagu headed to Mongolia for the election of a new Khagan to succeed Möngke Khan, but the loss of the Battle of Ain Jalut to the Mamluks forced him to withdraw back to the Middle East.

Berke became enraged with Hulagu's rampage through Muslim lands, and as a preparatory step, directed his nephew Nogai Khan to raid Poland in 1259 in order to collect booty to finance a war.

Two years later he returned to his lands in Persia, but was distracted and prevented from dealing with the Mamluks when Berke carried through on the threat to war against his cousin so as to avenge the sack of Baghdad.

Berke also dispatched Negudar to eastern Afghanistan and Ghazni, recovering lands under Il Khanate control.

[3] Hulagu was loyal to his brother Kublai, but clashes with their cousin Berke, the ruler of the Golden Horde in the northwestern part of the Empire, began in 1262.

[4] Berke also forged an alliance with the Egyptian Mamluks against Hulagu, and supported Kublai's rival claimant, Ariqboke.

Kublai dispatched an army under Abaqa to attack the Golden Horde, while Ariqboke sent Nogai to invade the Ilkhanate; both sides suffered disastrous defeats.

[9] Kublai Khan also reinforced Hulagu with 30,000 young Mongols in order to stabilize the political crises in western khanates.