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The Battle of Baghdad in 1258 was a victory for the Mongol leader Hulagu Khan , a grandson of Genghis Khan . Baghdad was captured, sacked, and burned. BACKGROUND Baghdad was the Capital of an Islamic state in what is now Iraq and parts of Iran ; it was ruled by Al-Musta'sim , then the Abbasid Caliph . The Abbasid caliphate had been in existence for over 500 years, since the accession of the first caliph in Baghdad 751 CE. The Abbasids were the second of the Islamic dynasties; they had defeated the Umayyad s, who had ruled since the death of Ali in 661. Once mighty, the Abbasid caliphate had lost control over much of the former Islamic empire and had declined into a minor state. The caliph had become a figurehead, controlled by Mamluk or Turkic warlords. However, the caliphate still had great symbolic significance, and Baghdad was still a rich and cultured city. THE BATTLE The Mongol army, led by Hulagu (or Hulegu) Khan set out for Baghdad in November of 1257 . He marched with what was probably the largest army ever fielded by the Mongols. By order of Mongke Khan , one in ten fighting men in the entire empire were gathered for Hulagu's army (Saunders 1971). Hulagu demanded surrender; the caliph refused, warning the Mongols that they faced the wrath of God if they attacked the caliph. Many accounts say that the caliph failed to prepare for the onslaught; he neither gathered armies nor strengthened the walls of Baghdad. Once near the city, Hulagu divided his forces, so that they threatened both sides of the city, on the east and west banks of the Tigris. The caliph's army repulsed some of the forces attacking from the west, but were defeated in the next battle. The attacking Mongols broke some dikes and flooded the ground behind the caliph’s army, trapping them. Much of the army was slaughtered or drowned. The Mongols then laid siege to the city, constructing a palisade and ditch, wheeling up siege engines and catapults. The siege started on January 29 . The battle was swift, by siege standards. By February 5 the Mongols controlled a stretch of the wall. Al-Musta'sim tried to negotiate, but was refused. On February 10 Baghdad surrendered. The Mongols swept into the city on February 13 and began a week of massacre, looting, rape, and destruction. DESTRUCTION OF BAGHDAD Many historical accounts detailed the cruelties of the Mongol conquerors.
Typically, the Mongols destroyed a city only if it had resisted them. Cities that capitulated at the first demand for surrender could usually expect to be spared. The utter ferocity of the rape of Baghdad was to some extent a military tactic: it convinced other cities and rulers to surrender without a fight. Baghdad was a depopulated, ruined city for several centuries and only gradually recovered something of its former glory. COMMENTS ON THE DESTRUCTION
DESTRUCTION OR SALINATION? Some historians believe that the Mongol invasion destroyed much of the irrigation infrastructure that had sustained Mesopotamia (now Iraq) for so many millennia. Canals were cut as a military tactic and never repaired. So many people had died or fled that there was neither the labor or the organization necessary to maintain the canal system. It broke down or silted up. This theory was advanced by historian Svatopluk Souček in his 2000 book, ''A History of Inner Asia'' and has been adopted by authors such as Steven Dutch. Other historians point to Soil Salination as the culprit in the decline in agriculture. [http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198305/the.greening.of.the.arab.east-the.planters.htm COMPLICITY OF THE SHI'A? One author, Reuvan Amitai-Preiss, has alleged that the Mongols were aided by Shi'a Muslims who bore a grudge against the Sunni Abbasids. But another, David Nicolle, alleged that most of the Shi'a who joined the invaders, did so out of fear of being slaughtered, as all those who resisted were being killed. Any force that surrendered at once, as virtually all of southern Persia had, and what is today northern Iraq, were allowed to live, but as Mongol vassals, had to provide troops for the invaders. Later, as Il-Khan, Hulagu, in organizing his domains, integrated these troops into his army more thoroughly though the vast majority of his troops were Mongols -- one Mongol in ten had been drafted for his army -- and Turkic nomads who had submitted to the Mongols. SEE ALSO REFERENCES
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