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Mongol Siege of Baghdad
mongol-bagdad
Date:
22 January10 February 1258.
Location:
on the Tigris River, approximately 500 miles upriver from the Persian Gulf.
Forces Engaged:
Mongol: possibly 200,000. Commander: Hulagu.
Arab: unknown, reportedly 100,000 citizens in the city. Commander: Caliph Mustasim.
Importance:
Mongol destruction of Baghdad made it a minor city until modern times.
Historical Setting
In the wake of Genghis Khans death in 1227, the Mongols continued conquering, with their horsemen reaching eastern Europe and threatening the Middle East. In the 1230s, the Mongols pastured in the region of modern Georgia and Azerbaijan, while in the Middle East rival populations fought among themselves rather than face the Asian conquerors: crusaders and Muslims struggled in the Holy Land, Byzantines and Seljuk Turks fought over Anatolia, while in Egypt the Mamluke dynasty was beginning its rise to power.
In the 1250s the great khan was Mangu. His brother, Hulagu, commanded the Mongols of the southwestern sphere and he began extending Mongol power into Persia. There, the primary obstacle was the cult of the Assassins, who had terrorized the area since 1090. When he was informed that the Assassins were targeting him, Mangu ordered Hulagu to remove them. Hulagu led his troops into the mountains of northern Persia, where the Assassins held a hundred fortresses protecting their main headquarters at Alamut. He reduced a number of them before reaching Alamut, which held out for three years before Grand Master Rukn ad-Din sued for peace. He surrendered on 19 November 1256, but none of his followers were spared. Men, women, and children were all slaughtered; the historian Juvaini who was traveling with Hulagu wrote that the world was cleansed of them. Hulagus men proceeded to destroy the remaining castles and kill all the inhabitants until no Assassins were left. Only Rukn ad-Din was spared, to be presented to Mangu, but the great khan refused to meet with him. The grand master was killed afterward, probably by his guards.
With the Assassins gone, Hulagu directed his army westward toward Baghdad, seat of Caliph Mustasim, spiritual leader of all Islam. As the Mongols practiced a strict tolerance for all religions, a faith that was aggressive in spreading its own word was too much of a threat to the Pax Mongolica. Further, Mangus chief wife was a Nestorian Christian who harbored no love for Islam. Hulagus army was reinforced by other Mongols fresh from battles against the Seljuk Turks and with a contingent of Christian soldiers from Georgia. Hulagu sent messengers to the caliph, asking why he had not provided aid in the campaign against the Assassins; such an oversight could only be corrected by tearing down Baghdads walls and swearing fealty to Mangu.
Mustasim was no match for the Mongols, but he had the experience of history on his side. He reminded Hulagu, in a haughty response, that many armies had tried and failed to take Baghdad. Unfortunately, Mustasim could not back up history with contemporary strength. The city walls had long been in disrepair and the caliphs grand vizier Ibn al-Alkami was a self-serving sycophant who exercised entirely too much influence over Mustasim. The vizier assured the caliph that all of Islam would rise up to protect the center of the faith, although Mustasims generals argued for an immediate call-up of troops and repairs to the walls. Comfortable in his conceit, Mustasim continued his profligate ways and ignored any warnings. He had 50,000 soldiers on hand, but although the caliph still had the authority to summon soldiers from all the Moslem empires, there were only two of them left, and while his taunting opposition had lost him the loyalty of the Mamluks, the princes of Syria, whom he had supported, were already busy preparing their own defences (Chambers, The Devils Horsemen, p. 144).
Several more exchanges of messages, arriving from increasingly nearer Mongol forces, finally convinced Mustasim to offer tribute, but not loyalty. That provoked Hulagu to order his men into four columns to strike Baghdad. Finally Mustasim ordered work done on the walls and the arming of the citizenry, but Ibn al-Alkami continued to subvert the defense. He allegedly was in secret contact with Hulagu and was hoping that he could trade his treason to Mustasim for the caliphs throne under the Mongols. Further, as a Shiite, the vizier had often persecuted the regions Sunni Muslims, so they decided they had little interest in answering the caliphs call for troops.
As word of the Mongols approach reached Mustasim, he finally ordered 20,000 cavalry out of the city to confront them on 11 January 1258. It was a futile gesture. The Mongols broke the Tigris River dikes and flooded the Muslim camp; when the troops engaged, most of the Muslims had either drowned or fled. Few returned to Baghdad. By the 18th the Mongols stood before the city.
The Siege
Baghdad, although the center of religion in the Islamic world, had long been a fading flower intellectually and commercially. By the time of the siege the business district was almost deserted and was therefore easily occupied. Mongols also soon took over the city suburbs, dug a ditch around the citys eastern walls, and brought up their catapults. With little stone in the area, ammunition had to be brought from the mountains. Until that time the Mongols used tree trunks, and stone pillaged from the houses, to bombard the city. They also shot arrows into the city with messages promising safety to any who would surrender. Mustasim finally sent messengers offering to swear fealty, but it was too late. Hulagu by this point would accept only unconditional surrender.
After round-the-clock bombardment, the Mongols launched their assault on 6 February. They were soon in possession of the eastern wall. Once in possession, Hulagu stopped the attack and sent in messengers calling on the defending soldiers to surrender, implying that they would be allowed safe passage to Syria. They were not. Instead, as they marched out of the city unarmed, Hulagu had them executed. Mustasim offered up himself, his three sons, and 3,000 courtiers, all of whom were taken prisoner. That encouraged the population to emerge, but they too found themselves slaughtered as had the soldiers. Only those who sought refuge in the Christian churches were spared as the sack began on 13 February.
Results
Mustasim watched his citizens being slaughtered, then he lost his own life on the 15th. Hulagu had feasted with Mustasim as the city was being sacked, taunting him: why did you not use your immense wealth to pay your soldiers? After revealing the location of his hidden treasure, Mustasim and his sons were sewn up in carpets and trampled by Mongol horses. The number of Muslim citizens killed is open to question, but the estimates range from 80,000 to a million. The Mongols were finally obliged to remove their camp to avoid the smell of ******* corpses.
Two wagon trains of treasure left Baghdad for Karakorum, the Mongol capital and Mangus home. Baghdad was looted for a month, until few citizens or buildings remained standing. Ibn al-Alkami survived to be named ruler of the citys remains, but he lived only three months, dying it is said of a broken heart.
The fall of Baghdad motivated most of the Muslim fortress cities to surrender. Only Aleppo fell in combat, to a combined force of Mongols and crusaders, who saw the steppe horsemen as allies of convenience in their war against Islam. Mustasims death, along with that of his sons, brought to an end the Abbassid caliphate, established 500 years before by Muhammads uncle Abbas. All of Islam could have been in peril, but both timing and Mongol tradition saved them. As Genghis Khans death had stopped the invasion of Europe, so did Mangus death halt the sweep into the Middle East. Hulagu returned to Karakorum to take part in the election of the new great khan. He left behind a smaller army under his subordinate Kit-boga, who was defeated by Mamluk forces at Ain Jalut on 3 September 1260. That ended the threat of Mongol domination of the Middle East while making the Egyptian Mamluk dynasty the reigning power in the region.
When the Mongols sacked Baghdad in 1256 (or 1258) the Islamic Empire never recovered. Trade routes became unsafe. Urban life broke down. Individual communities drew in upon themselves in feudal isolation. Science and philosophy survived for a while in scattered pockets, but the Golden Age of Islam was at an end.
Mongol Siege of Baghdad
Hulagu Khan the great follower of Tengrism was mighty conqueror indeed.He ended that Abbasid empire.
mongol-bagdad
Date:
22 January10 February 1258.
Location:
on the Tigris River, approximately 500 miles upriver from the Persian Gulf.
Forces Engaged:
Mongol: possibly 200,000. Commander: Hulagu.
Arab: unknown, reportedly 100,000 citizens in the city. Commander: Caliph Mustasim.
Importance:
Mongol destruction of Baghdad made it a minor city until modern times.
Historical Setting
In the wake of Genghis Khans death in 1227, the Mongols continued conquering, with their horsemen reaching eastern Europe and threatening the Middle East. In the 1230s, the Mongols pastured in the region of modern Georgia and Azerbaijan, while in the Middle East rival populations fought among themselves rather than face the Asian conquerors: crusaders and Muslims struggled in the Holy Land, Byzantines and Seljuk Turks fought over Anatolia, while in Egypt the Mamluke dynasty was beginning its rise to power.
In the 1250s the great khan was Mangu. His brother, Hulagu, commanded the Mongols of the southwestern sphere and he began extending Mongol power into Persia. There, the primary obstacle was the cult of the Assassins, who had terrorized the area since 1090. When he was informed that the Assassins were targeting him, Mangu ordered Hulagu to remove them. Hulagu led his troops into the mountains of northern Persia, where the Assassins held a hundred fortresses protecting their main headquarters at Alamut. He reduced a number of them before reaching Alamut, which held out for three years before Grand Master Rukn ad-Din sued for peace. He surrendered on 19 November 1256, but none of his followers were spared. Men, women, and children were all slaughtered; the historian Juvaini who was traveling with Hulagu wrote that the world was cleansed of them. Hulagus men proceeded to destroy the remaining castles and kill all the inhabitants until no Assassins were left. Only Rukn ad-Din was spared, to be presented to Mangu, but the great khan refused to meet with him. The grand master was killed afterward, probably by his guards.
With the Assassins gone, Hulagu directed his army westward toward Baghdad, seat of Caliph Mustasim, spiritual leader of all Islam. As the Mongols practiced a strict tolerance for all religions, a faith that was aggressive in spreading its own word was too much of a threat to the Pax Mongolica. Further, Mangus chief wife was a Nestorian Christian who harbored no love for Islam. Hulagus army was reinforced by other Mongols fresh from battles against the Seljuk Turks and with a contingent of Christian soldiers from Georgia. Hulagu sent messengers to the caliph, asking why he had not provided aid in the campaign against the Assassins; such an oversight could only be corrected by tearing down Baghdads walls and swearing fealty to Mangu.
Mustasim was no match for the Mongols, but he had the experience of history on his side. He reminded Hulagu, in a haughty response, that many armies had tried and failed to take Baghdad. Unfortunately, Mustasim could not back up history with contemporary strength. The city walls had long been in disrepair and the caliphs grand vizier Ibn al-Alkami was a self-serving sycophant who exercised entirely too much influence over Mustasim. The vizier assured the caliph that all of Islam would rise up to protect the center of the faith, although Mustasims generals argued for an immediate call-up of troops and repairs to the walls. Comfortable in his conceit, Mustasim continued his profligate ways and ignored any warnings. He had 50,000 soldiers on hand, but although the caliph still had the authority to summon soldiers from all the Moslem empires, there were only two of them left, and while his taunting opposition had lost him the loyalty of the Mamluks, the princes of Syria, whom he had supported, were already busy preparing their own defences (Chambers, The Devils Horsemen, p. 144).
Several more exchanges of messages, arriving from increasingly nearer Mongol forces, finally convinced Mustasim to offer tribute, but not loyalty. That provoked Hulagu to order his men into four columns to strike Baghdad. Finally Mustasim ordered work done on the walls and the arming of the citizenry, but Ibn al-Alkami continued to subvert the defense. He allegedly was in secret contact with Hulagu and was hoping that he could trade his treason to Mustasim for the caliphs throne under the Mongols. Further, as a Shiite, the vizier had often persecuted the regions Sunni Muslims, so they decided they had little interest in answering the caliphs call for troops.
As word of the Mongols approach reached Mustasim, he finally ordered 20,000 cavalry out of the city to confront them on 11 January 1258. It was a futile gesture. The Mongols broke the Tigris River dikes and flooded the Muslim camp; when the troops engaged, most of the Muslims had either drowned or fled. Few returned to Baghdad. By the 18th the Mongols stood before the city.
The Siege
Baghdad, although the center of religion in the Islamic world, had long been a fading flower intellectually and commercially. By the time of the siege the business district was almost deserted and was therefore easily occupied. Mongols also soon took over the city suburbs, dug a ditch around the citys eastern walls, and brought up their catapults. With little stone in the area, ammunition had to be brought from the mountains. Until that time the Mongols used tree trunks, and stone pillaged from the houses, to bombard the city. They also shot arrows into the city with messages promising safety to any who would surrender. Mustasim finally sent messengers offering to swear fealty, but it was too late. Hulagu by this point would accept only unconditional surrender.
After round-the-clock bombardment, the Mongols launched their assault on 6 February. They were soon in possession of the eastern wall. Once in possession, Hulagu stopped the attack and sent in messengers calling on the defending soldiers to surrender, implying that they would be allowed safe passage to Syria. They were not. Instead, as they marched out of the city unarmed, Hulagu had them executed. Mustasim offered up himself, his three sons, and 3,000 courtiers, all of whom were taken prisoner. That encouraged the population to emerge, but they too found themselves slaughtered as had the soldiers. Only those who sought refuge in the Christian churches were spared as the sack began on 13 February.
Results
Mustasim watched his citizens being slaughtered, then he lost his own life on the 15th. Hulagu had feasted with Mustasim as the city was being sacked, taunting him: why did you not use your immense wealth to pay your soldiers? After revealing the location of his hidden treasure, Mustasim and his sons were sewn up in carpets and trampled by Mongol horses. The number of Muslim citizens killed is open to question, but the estimates range from 80,000 to a million. The Mongols were finally obliged to remove their camp to avoid the smell of ******* corpses.
Two wagon trains of treasure left Baghdad for Karakorum, the Mongol capital and Mangus home. Baghdad was looted for a month, until few citizens or buildings remained standing. Ibn al-Alkami survived to be named ruler of the citys remains, but he lived only three months, dying it is said of a broken heart.
The fall of Baghdad motivated most of the Muslim fortress cities to surrender. Only Aleppo fell in combat, to a combined force of Mongols and crusaders, who saw the steppe horsemen as allies of convenience in their war against Islam. Mustasims death, along with that of his sons, brought to an end the Abbassid caliphate, established 500 years before by Muhammads uncle Abbas. All of Islam could have been in peril, but both timing and Mongol tradition saved them. As Genghis Khans death had stopped the invasion of Europe, so did Mangus death halt the sweep into the Middle East. Hulagu returned to Karakorum to take part in the election of the new great khan. He left behind a smaller army under his subordinate Kit-boga, who was defeated by Mamluk forces at Ain Jalut on 3 September 1260. That ended the threat of Mongol domination of the Middle East while making the Egyptian Mamluk dynasty the reigning power in the region.
When the Mongols sacked Baghdad in 1256 (or 1258) the Islamic Empire never recovered. Trade routes became unsafe. Urban life broke down. Individual communities drew in upon themselves in feudal isolation. Science and philosophy survived for a while in scattered pockets, but the Golden Age of Islam was at an end.
Mongol Siege of Baghdad
Hulagu Khan the great follower of Tengrism was mighty conqueror indeed.He ended that Abbasid empire.
