Battle of Mohi facts for kids
The Battle of Mohi (April 11, 1241), also known as the Battle of the Sajó River, was a major fight between the Mongol Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. It happened near the Sajó River in Hungary. The Mongols won this battle, defeating the Hungarian Royal army.
Quick facts for kids Battle of Mohi |
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| Part of the First Mongol invasion of Hungary | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Mongol Empire |
Kingdom of Hungary Minor belligerent: Duchy of Austria |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Batu Khan Subutai Shiban Berke Boroldai Bakatu † |
Béla IV of Hungary Coloman of Slavonia (DOW) Ugrin Csák † Matthias Rátót † Frederick II of Austria Denis Tomaj † Rembald de Voczon |
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| Units involved | |||||||
| Horse archers Horse lancers Stone throwers Possibly Chinese firearm units and other gunpowder units |
Infantry Knights Templar Crossbowmen Light cavalry |
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| Strength | |||||||
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~15,000–30,000 cavalry (contemporary sources) |
80,000 50,000 25,000 |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Few hundreds Very heavy |
~10,000 (contemporary sources) Most of the army |
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Contents
The Mongol Invasion of Europe
The Mongols attacked Central Europe with several armies. Two armies went through Poland, winning battles like the one at Legnica. A southern army attacked Transylvania. The main Mongol army, led by Batu Khan and Subutai, entered Hungary through the Verecke Pass. They quickly defeated a Hungarian army there.
King Béla IV of Hungary had tried to build defenses along Hungary's eastern border. But the Mongols were very fast. They cleared paths in just three days, moving like "lightning." This meant the Hungarians didn't have enough time to gather all their forces.
Warnings and Hungarian Preparations
Years before, in 1223, the Mongols had defeated a group of Rus city-states at the Battle of the Kalka River. They used a clever trick called a feigned retreat with their horse archers.
Hungary had been trying to make friends with the Cumans, a nomadic group, and convert them to Christianity. When the Mongols defeated the Cumans, about 40,000 Cuman refugees came to Hungary seeking safety. King Béla IV even called himself "King of Cumania." The Mongols saw Hungary as a rival. They also saw the Cumans coming to Hungary as a reason for war.
At this time, Hungary was having political problems. King Béla IV was trying to take back land that his father, King Andrew II, had given to nobles. This made many nobles unhappy. The new Cuman refugees gave the king more power, but they also caused problems with the settled Hungarians. The nobles were upset that the king supported the Cumans in their arguments.
King Béla started to gather his army in the city of Pest. Frederick II, the Duke of Austria, came to help. But then, a fight broke out between the Cumans and Hungarians. The Cuman leader, who was under the king's protection, was killed. Some people think Duke Frederick might have caused this trouble. The Cumans felt betrayed and left Hungary, causing damage as they went.
This was a big loss for King Béla. The Cumans were the only army in Europe with experience fighting the Mongols. Many Hungarian nobles also refused to join the army because they didn't like the king.
The Battle
Early Fights
The Mongol army reached Pest on March 15 and started attacking the nearby areas. King Béla told his men not to attack yet, as his army wasn't ready. However, Duke Frederick attacked a small Mongol group and won. After this, he went home, leaving the Hungarians.
The Mongols destroyed several other Hungarian groups that couldn't join the main army in time. A Hungarian archbishop, Ugrin Csák, also tried to attack the Mongols. But he was tricked into a swamp, and his armored cavalry got stuck. He barely escaped.
Finally, King Béla decided to fight the Mongols. But the Mongols started to retreat. This made the Hungarian nobles think the Mongols weren't a big threat. After a week of marching, the Hungarian army reached the flooded Sajó River. The Hungarians set up a strong camp with wagons, a good defense against nomadic armies.
The Mongol Plan
The Mongols probably didn't plan to attack a strong camp across a wide river. They likely wanted to ambush the Hungarians as they crossed the river. A slave who escaped from the Mongols warned the Hungarians that the Mongols planned a night attack on the bridge over the Sajó.
Fight at the Sajó Bridge
The Hungarians didn't fully believe a big attack was coming. But the king's brother, Coloman, and Archbishop Ugrin Csák, along with the Knights Templar, left the camp to defend the bridge. The Mongols at the bridge were a small group sent by Batu Khan to secure it during the night.
When Coloman and Ugrin arrived, they caught the Mongols by surprise. They fought well and pushed the Mongols back over the bridge. The crossbowmen caused many losses for the Mongols. Most of the Mongol group at the bridge were killed. The Hungarians left some soldiers to guard the bridge and went back to their camp, celebrating their victory. They didn't know the main Mongol army was close by.
Main Battle
Morning
After the fight at the bridge, a Mongol leader named Sejban went north to find a shallow place to cross the river. He planned to attack the bridge guards from behind. Meanwhile, Subutai went south to build a temporary bridge. At dawn, Batu Khan attacked the Hungarian guards at the main bridge using seven large stone throwers. When Sejban's men arrived, the Hungarians at the bridge retreated to their camp.
When the fleeing Hungarians reached the camp, they woke everyone. Coloman, Ugrin, and the Templar master left the camp again to fight. Others stayed, thinking it was just a small attack. But as Coloman and Ugrin saw more and more Mongols, they realized it was the main Mongol army. After heavy fighting, they returned to the camp, hoping to get the whole army ready. But the king hadn't even given orders to prepare. Archbishop Ugrin openly criticized the king.
Finally, the Hungarian army came out, but this delay gave Batu enough time to cross the river. The Hungarians had more soldiers than Batu's group. Batu's forces suffered heavy losses. Subutai, who had been delayed building his bridge, then attacked the Hungarians from behind. The Hungarians retreated back to their fortified camp.
Afternoon
Inside the camp, the Hungarians started to panic. Their attacks didn't work, and the Mongols kept firing stones and flaming arrows into the camp. Many soldiers died from the panic and being crushed by their comrades. The nobles didn't feel loyal to the king and probably would have left if they hadn't been surrounded.
King Béla's brother, Coloman, gathered some men and charged the Mongols, but his attack was pushed back. The Mongols used their siege machines to break down the camp's defenses and set fire to the tents. Finally, the Hungarian soldiers decided to run away. They tried to escape through a gap the Mongols had left open on purpose. Almost all of them were killed.
Archbishop Ugrin was killed, along with other important leaders. But Coloman and King Béla managed to escape. Coloman was badly wounded and died soon after. The Mongols had some losses, but the Hungarians lost almost their entire army. One person who interviewed witnesses said the escape route was covered in so many bodies that the ground turned red with blood.
Role of Gunpowder and Firearms
Some historians believe that the Mongols used Chinese gunpowder weapons, like "flaming arrows" and "naphtha bombs," at the Battle of Mohi. It's thought that the Mongols helped bring gunpowder weapons into Europe.
Aftermath
With the Hungarian army destroyed, the Mongols chased King Béla. The city of Pest was captured and burned. Esztergom was attacked, and most of its people were killed. The Mongols took control of the Great Hungarian Plains and other areas. If people resisted, the Mongols killed them. If they didn't resist, the men were forced to join the Mongol army.
Hungary was devastated. About 15 to 25 percent of the population was lost, especially in the flat areas. King Béla was chased to Dalmatia. The royal family finally escaped to Austria to get help from Duke Frederick, who was an enemy of Béla. Frederick arrested them and forced the king to give up three western counties for a huge amount of gold. King Béla and his group then fled to an island fortress on the Adriatic coast, where they stayed until the Mongols left.
The Mongols even took the Hungarian royal seal and used it to create fake orders, which made many Hungarians vulnerable. The rest of Europe was terrified by Hungary's defeat, and fear spread everywhere.
Some surviving Hungarians, mostly peasants, used guerrilla warfare to fight the Mongols. But the ruthless Subutai stopped these attempts with massacres. The Mongols often avoided strong castles and instead destroyed farms and water systems, which later led to widespread starvation.
On the Mongol side, there were arguments after the battle. Some Mongol leaders blamed Batu Khan for the losses at Mohi. Batu had lost many of his bodyguards and a commander. This led to a heated discussion where Batu was forced to give credit to Subutai for the victories. Some princes also accused Batu of not being a good leader, which led to them being sent back to Karakorum to be judged.
After their victory, the Mongols didn't stop to loot. They chased the remaining Hungarian soldiers and then attacked the Hungarian countryside. The Hungarians had lost so many soldiers that they couldn't defend themselves effectively. One source says 10,000 Hungarian soldiers were killed, which was almost the entire army. The exact number of Mongol losses is unknown, but they were significant. One traveler saw a large cemetery in Russia just for Mongol troops killed in the campaign against Hungary.
