Qutuz led an Egyptian Mamluk army north to confront the Mongols, who had made a pact with Egypt's long-time enemy, the Crusaders.
The Battle of Ain Jalut was fought on 3 September 1260 in southeastern Galilee between the Egyptian Mamluk army and the Mongols.
Qutuz was assassinated by a fellow Mamluk leader, Baibars, on the triumphant return journey to Cairo.
According to some sources, Qutuz claimed that he was descended from Ala ad-Din Muhammad II, a ruler of the Khwarazmian Empire.
Qutuz led the Mu'izi Mamluks who had arrested Aybak's widow Shajar al-Durr and installed al-Mansur Ali as the new sultan of Egypt.
[5] In November 1257 and April 1258, he defeated raids from the forces of al-Malik al-Mughith[a] of Al-Karak which were supported by the Bahriyya Mamluks.
They then advanced towards present-day Syria, which was then ruled by the Ayyubid ruler an-Nasir Yusuf, who received a threatening letter from Hulagu.
[7] Qutuz kept Emir Faris ad-Din Aktai al-Mostareb[e] as the Atabeg of the Egyptian army and began to prepare for battle.
Some Syrian emirs suggested that an-Nasir Yusuf surrender and submit to Hulagu, as the best solution was to save themselves and Syria.
When an-Nasir Yusuf heard about the fall of Aleppo, he fled to Egypt, leaving Damascus and its remaining population defenseless, but Qutuz denied him entry.
Qutuz shamed them into joining him with the statement, "Emirs of the Muslims, for some time now you have been fed by the country treasury and you hate to be invaded.
[7] After spending a day in Gaza, Qutuz led his army along the coast towards Acre, a city that remains a remnant of the Kingdom of Jerusalem Crusader state.
In 1250, only ten years before the battle, the Bahariyya Mamluks (Qutuz, Baibars, and Qalawun) led Egypt against the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France.
[25][20][16] The Mongols were pushed back and fled to the vicinity of Beisan, Qutuz's forces quickly followed them, but they managed to gather and returned to the battlefield making a successful counterattack.
[l] Hulagu kept threatening the Mamluk Sultanate, but soon he was struck hard by conflicts with the Mongols of the Golden Horde, in the western half of the Eurasian Steppe during the Berke–Hulagu war.
[31] Some of the earliest explosive hand cannons (midfa in Arabic) were employed by the Mamluk Egyptians during the battle to frighten the Mongol horses and cavalry and cause disorder in their ranks.
[35][clarification needed] Muslim chroniclers from the Mamluk era stated that Baibars' motivation was either to avenge the killing of his friend, the leader of the Bahariyya Faris ad-Din Aktai during Sultan Aybak's reign[36] or due to Qutuz's decision to grant Aleppo to al-Malik al-Said Ala'a ad-Din the Emir of Mosul, instead of to Baibars as had promised to him before the Battle of Ain Jalut.
[39] The coins during the reign of Qutuz are unique in the history of Mamluk coinages as no other names except his names and titles were inscribed on them: al-Malik al-Muzafar Saif al-Donya wa al-Din ("The victorious king, sword of the temporal world and of the faith") and al-Muzafar Saif al-Din ("The victorious sword of faith").