University Of Karachi

Department of History
(EVENING)

“Siege of Baghdad (1258)”

Course Code : 411.

Course Title : History of Muslim Empire.

Class : B.A (Hons).

Seat No : EH1960064.

Submitted by : Syed Mohsin Mehdi.

Submitted to : Sir. Mukhtiar Burdi.

The Siege of Baghdad was a siege that happened in Baghdad in 1258, lasting for 13 days from
January 29, 1258 until February 10, 1258. The siege, laid by Ilkhanate Mongol forces and allied
troops, involved the investment, capture, and sack of Baghdad, which was the capital of the
Abbasid Caliphate at that point. The Mongols were under the command of Hulagu Khan, brother
of the khagan Möngke Khan, who had intended to further extend his rule into Mesopotamia but
to not directly overthrow the Caliphate. Möngke, however, had instructed Hulagu to attack
Baghdad if the Caliph Al-Musta'sim refused Mongol demands for his continued submission to
the khagan and therefore the payment of tribute within the sort of military support for Mongol
forces in Persia.

Prelude

Baghdad had for hundreds of years been the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, the third caliphate,
whose rulers were descendants of Abbas, an uncle of Muhammad. In 751, the Abbasids
overthrew the Umayyad’s and moved the Caliph's seat from Damascus to Baghdad. At the city's
peak, it had been populated by approximately a million people and was defended by a military of
60,000 soldiers. By the center of the 13th century the facility of the Abbasids had declined and
Turkic and Mamluk warlords often held power over the Caliphs.

Baghdad still retained much symbolic significance, and it remained an upscale and cultured city.
The Caliphs of the 12th and 13th centuries had begun to develop links with the expanding
Mongol Empire within the east. Caliph an-Nasir li-dini'llah, who reigned from 1180–1225, may
have attempted an alliance with Genghis Khan when Muhammad II of Khwarezm threatened to
attack the Abbasids. it's been rumored that some Crusader captives were sent as tribute to the
Mongol khagan.

According to the key History of the Mongols, Genghis and his successor, Ögedei Khan, ordered
their general Chormaqan to attack Baghdad. In 1236, Chormaqan led a division of the Mongol
army to Irbil, which remained under Abbasid rule. Further raids on Irbil and other regions of the
caliphate became nearly annual occurrences. Some raids were imagined to have reached
Baghdad itself, but these Mongol incursions weren't always successful, with Abbasid forces
defeating the invaders in 1238 and 1245.

Despite their successes, the Abbasids hoped to return to terms with the Mongols and by 1241 had
adopted the practice of sending an annual tribute to the court of the khagan. Envoys from the
Caliph were present at the coronation of Güyük Khan as khagan in 1246 which of Möngke Khan
in 1251. During his brief reign, Güyük insisted that the Caliph Al-Musta'sim fully undergo
Mongol rule and are available personally to Karakorum. Blame for the Caliph's refusal and for
other resistance offered by the Abbasids to increased attempts by the Mongols to increase their
power was placed by the khagans on Chormaqan's lieutenant and successor, Baiju.

Expedition of Hulagu Khan towards Baghdad

Hulagu led his army first to Persia, where he successfully campaigned against the Lurs, the
Bukhara, and therefore the remnants of the Khwarezm-Shah dynasty. After subduing them,
Hulagu directed his attention toward the Nizari Ismaili’s and their Grand Master, Imam 'Ala al-
Din Muhammad, who had attempted the murder of both Möngke and Hulagu's friend and
subordinate, Kitbuqa. Though Assassins failed in both attempts, Hulagu marched his army to
their stronghold of Alamut, which he captured. The Mongols later executed the Assassins' Grand
Master, Imam Rukn al-Dun Khurshah, who had briefly succeeded 'Ala al-Din Muhammad from
1255-1256.

Strategy:

In 1257, Möngke resolved to determine firm authority over Mesopotamia, Syria, and Persia. The
khagan gave his brother, Hulagu, authority over a subordinate khanate and military, the
Ilkhanate, and directions to compel the submission of varied Muslim states, including the
caliphate. Though not seeking the overthrow of Al-Musta'sim, Möngke ordered Hulagu to
destroy Baghdad if the Caliph refused his demands of private submission to Hulagu and
therefore the payment of tribute within the sort of a military detachment, which might reinforce
Hulagu's army during its campaigns against Persian Ismaili states.

In preparation for his invasion, Hulagu raised an outsized expeditionary force, conscripting one
out of each ten military-age males within the entirety of the Mongol Empire, assembling what
may are the foremost numerous Mongol army to possess existed and, by one estimate, 150,000
strong. Generals of the military included the Oirat administrator Arghun Agha, Baiju, Buqa
Temür, Guo Kan, and Kitbuqa, also as Hulagu's brother Sunitai and various other warlords. The
force was also supplemented by Christian forces, including the King of Armenia and his army, a
Frankish contingent from the Principality of Antioch, and a Georgian force, seeking revenge on
the Muslim Abbasids for the sacking of their capital, Tiflis, decades earlier by the Khwarazm-
Shahs. About 1,000 Chinese artillery experts accompanied the military, as did Persian and Turkic
auxiliaries, consistent with Ata-Malik Juvayni, an up to date Persian observer.

March toward Baghdad:

After defeating the Assassins, Hulagu sent word to Al-Musta'sim, demanding his acquiescence to
the terms imposed by Möngke. Al-Musta'sim refused, in large part thanks to the influence of his
advisor and grand vizier, Ibn al-Alkami. Historians have ascribed various motives to al-Alkami's
opposition to submission, including treachery and incompetence, and it appears that he lied to the
Caliph about the severity of the invasion, assuring Al-Musta'sim that, if the capital of the
caliphate was endangered by a Mongol army, the Islamic world would rush to its aid.
Although he replied to Hulagu's demands during a manner that the Mongol commander found
menacing and offensive enough to interrupt off further negotiation, Al-Musta'sim neglected to
summon armies to strengthen the troops at his disposal in Baghdad. Nor did he strengthen the
city's walls. By January 11 the Mongols were on the brink of the town, establishing themselves
on both banks of the Tigris so on form a pincer round the city. Al-Musta'sim finally decided to
try to battle with them and sent out a force of 20,000 cavalry to attack the Mongols. The cavalry
were decisively defeated by the Mongols, whose sappers breached dikes along the Tigris and
flooded the bottom behind the Abbasid forces, trapping them.

Siege of the City:

The Abbasid caliphate could supposedly call upon 50,000 soldiers for the defense of their
capital, including the 20,000 cavalry under al-Musta'sim. However, these troops were assembled
hastily, making them poorly equipped and disciplined. Although the caliph technically had the
authority to summon soldiers from other Muslim empires to defend his realm, he either neglected
to try to so or lacked the power to. His taunting opposition had lost him the loyalty of the
Mamluk, and therefore the Syrian emirs, whom he supported, were busy preparing their own
defenses.

On January 29, the Mongol army began its siege of Baghdad, constructing a palisade and a ditch
round the city. Employing siege engines and catapults, the Mongols attempted to breach the
city's walls, and, by February 5, had seized a big portion of the defenses. Realizing that his forces
had little chance of retaking the walls, Al-Musta'sim attempted to open negotiations with Hulagu,
who rebuffed the Caliph. Around 3,000 of Baghdad's notables also tried to barter with Hulagu
but were murdered. Five days later, on February 10, the town surrendered, but the Mongols
didn't enter the town until the 13th, beginning every week of massacre and destruction.

Destruction of Baghdad by Hulagu’s Army

Many historical accounts detailed the cruelties of the Mongol conquerors. Baghdad was a
depopulated, ruined city for several decades and only gradually recovered a number of its former
glory.

Contemporary accounts state Mongol soldiers looted then destroyed mosques, palaces, libraries,
and hospitals. Priceless books from Baghdad's thirty-six public libraries were torn apart, the
looters using their leather covers as sandals. [36] Grand buildings that had been the work of
generations were burned to the bottom. The House of Wisdom (the Grand Library of Baghdad),
containing countless precious historical documents and books on subjects starting from medicine
to astronomy, was destroyed. Claims are made that the Tigris ran red from the blood of the
scientists and philosophers killed.[better source needed] Tales of the destruction of books -
tossed into the Tigris such the water turned black from the ink - seem to originate from the 14th
century.
Citizens attempted to escape, but were intercepted by Mongol soldiers who killed in abundance,
sparing neither women nor children. Martin Sicker writes that on the brink of 90,000 people may
have died. Other estimates go much higher, but are almost certainly exaggerated.

The caliph Al-Musta'sim was captured and made to observe as his citizens were murdered and
his treasury plundered. Consistent with most accounts, the caliph was killed by trampling. The
Mongols rolled the caliph up during a rug, and rode their horses over him, as they believed that
the world would be offended if it were touched by royal blood. about one among Al-Musta’sim
sons were killed, and therefore the sole surviving son was sent to Mongolia, where Mongolian
historians report he married and fathered children, but played no role in Islam thereafter (see the
end of the Abbasid dynasty).

Hulagu had to maneuver his camp upwind of the town, thanks to the stench of decay from the
ruined city.

The complete destruction of Baghdad at the hands of the Mongols brought the Golden Age of
Islam to a swift end. Indeed, some historians say that the sack of Baghdad was the single greatest
blow ever struck against the Islamic World in such a short time.

Conclusion

We can conclude it in one sentence that there is always an end of everything in this world,
nothing is forever in this world. By this battle we can see that the history of Muslims was not
clear always or lived in peace it also seen the biggest bloodshed of the world history and faced
the worst enemies.
By the fall of Baghdad we can say that the first golden era of Muslims had come to an end.