The Mongol invasion of Byzantine Thrace took place in the winter of AH 662 ( AD 1263/1264). The Seljuk Sultan of Rûm

Kayqubad II Kayqubad II ( 1ca, كیقباد; fa, علاء الدين كيقباد بن كيخسرو, ''ʿAlāʾ ad-Dīn Kayqubād bin Kaykhusraw,'' – 1254/1256) was the Seljuk Sultan of Rûm from 1249-1257. He was the only son of the Seljuq Sultan ...

appealed to

Berke Berke Khan (died 1266) (also Birkai; , tt-Cyrl, Бәркә хан) was a grandson of Genghis Khan and a Mongol military commander and ruler of the Golden Horde ( division of the Mongol Empire) who effectively consolidated the power of the Blue ...

, khan of the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fr ...

, to attack the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

in order to free his brother

Kaykaus II Kaykaus ibn Kaykhusraw or Kayka'us II ( fa, عز الدين كيكاوس بن كيخسرو, ''ʿIzz ad-Dīn Kaykāwus ibn Kaykhusraw'') was the sultan of the Seljuqs of Rûm from 1246 until 1262. Life Kaykaus was the eldest of three sons of Kaykh ...

Background

These events are rather well-reported from various perspectives. Among the Egyptian sources are

Baybars Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari ( ar, الملك الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري, ''al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Bunduqdārī'') (1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), of Turkic Kipchak ...

Badr al-Din al-Ayni Abū Muḥammad Maḥmūd ibn Aḥmad ibn Mūsā Badr al-Dīn al-ʿAynī, often quoted simply as al-'Ayni ( ar, بدر الدين العيني, Badr al-ʿAynī; born 762 AH/1360 CE, died 855 AH/1453 CE) was a Sunni Islamic scholar of the Hanafi ...

al-Dhahabi Shams ad-Dīn adh-Dhahabī (), also known as Shams ad-Dīn Abū ʿAbdillāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Qāymāẓ ibn ʿAbdillāh at-Turkumānī al-Fāriqī ad-Dimashqī (5 October 1274 – 3 February 1348) was an Islamic historia ...

al-Nuwayri Al-Nuwayrī, full name Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad bin ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Nuwayrī ( ar, شهاب الدين أحمد بن عبد الوهاب النويري, born April 5, 1279 in Akhmim, present-day Egypt – died June 5, 1333 in Cairo) was an Eg ...

and

al-Maqrizi Al-Maqrīzī or Maḳrīzī (Arabic: ), whose full name was Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī (Arabic: ) (1364–1442) was a medieval Egyptian Arab historian during the Mamluk era, kn ...

; among the Persian

Ibn Bibi Ibn Bibi was a Persian historiographer and the author of the primary source for the history of the Seljuq Sultanate of Rum during the 13th century. He served as head of the chancellery of the Sultanate in Konya and reported on contemporary events. ...

and al-Aqsarayi; among the Byzantine

George Akropolites George Akropolites ( Latinized as Acropolites or Acropolita; el, , ''Georgios Akropolites''; 1217 or 1220 – 1282) was a Byzantine Greek historian and statesman born at Constantinople. Life In his sixteenth year he was sent by his father, the ...

George Pachymeres George Pachymeres ( el, Γεώργιος Παχυμέρης, Geórgios Pachyméris; 1242 – 1310) was a Byzantine Greek historian, philosopher, music theorist and miscellaneous writer. Biography Pachymeres was born at Nicaea, in Bithynia, wher ...

and

Nicephorus Gregoras Nicephorus Gregoras (; Greek: , ''Nikephoros Gregoras''; c. 1295 – 1360) was a Greek astronomer, historian, and theologian. Life Gregoras was born at Heraclea Pontica, where he was raised and educated by his uncle, John, who was the Bisho ...

; and among the Turkish the ''

Selçukname ''Selçukname'' is an informal term used for any of a number of medieval chronicles about Seljuk history written by different authors, mostly in Persian. It is also used for the 15th century Ottoman chronicle '' Tevârih-i Âl-i Selçuk'' (''Hi ...

''. According to Ibn Bibi and al-Aqsarayi, Kaykaus plotted to overthrow the Emperor

Michael VIII Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Μιχαὴλ Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος, Mikhaēl Doukas Angelos Komnēnos Palaiologos; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as the co-emperor of the Empire ...

, but his plans were revealed by his maternal uncle, Kyr Kedid. The emperor had his

equerry An equerry (; from French ' stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually up ...

blinded, his general executed and his family imprisoned. Kaykaus then turned to the Golden Horde. According to al-Aqsarayi, one of his paternal aunts was a wife of Berke. According to Pachymeres, he had an uncle of high rank in the Horde. Whatever his connection, he made contact with the Horde, who enlisted the support of their vassal,

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. Nicephorus Gregoras is unique in claiming that Kaykaus first made contact with the Bulgarian tsar,

Konstantin Tikh Konstantin Tih ( bg, Константин Тих Асен) or Constantine I Tikh (Константин I), was the tsar of Bulgaria from 1257 to 1277, he was offered the throne from Mitso Asen of Bulgaria, Mitso Asen. He led the Second Bulgarian E ...

, who enlisted his Mongol overlords. He admits, however, that the Mongol element was predominant in the invading army. He says that they came from

Paristrion Paristrion ( el, Παρίστριον, lit=beside the Ister), or Paradounabon/Paradounabis (), which is preferred in official documents, was a Byzantine province covering the southern bank of the Lower Danube (Moesia Inferior) in the 11th and 12t ...

, that is, just north of the lower

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

. He gives their number as two thousand (or two tumens). According to Pachymeres, they were an autonomous band, ''de facto'' independent of the authority of the Golden Horde. If he is correct, then they were probably not under the leadership of

Nogai Khan Nogai, or Noğay (; also spelled Nogay, Nogaj, Nohai, Nokhai, Noqai, Ngoche, Noche, Kara Nokhai, and Isa Nogai; died 1299/1300) was a general and kingmaker of the Golden Horde and a great-great-grandson of Genghis Khan. His grandfather was Bo'al/ ...

and were acting as mercenaries (to be paid in booty) of the Bulgars.

Invasion

The Mongols crossed the frozen

Danube river The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

in the winter of 1263/1264. They defeated the armies of Michael VIII in the spring of 1264. While most of the defeated army fled, the Byzantine Emperor escaped with the assistance of Italian merchants. After that Thrace was plundered. Michael VIII was forced to release Kaykaus, and signed a treaty with Berke, in which he agreed to give one of his daughters, Euphrosyne Palaiogina, in marriage to Nogai. Berke ceded

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

to Kaykaus as

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...

and agreed that he would marry a Mongol woman. Michael also sent tribute to the Horde. Berke's invasion of Thrace may have been the war which delayed

Niccolò and Maffeo Polo Niccolò Polo (, ; – )Died before 1300. and Maffeo Polo (, ; or Matteo , ; – )Died before 1318. were Venetian traveling merchants best known as the father and uncle, respectively, of the explorer Marco Polo. The brothers went into busines ...

's journey in the 1260s.

Notes

Sources

* * {{Mongol Empire

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...

1265 in the Mongol Empire