Fall of Baghdad to the Mongols

Fall of Baghdad to the Mongols

Fall of Baghdad

Background of Baghdad

Details of the Siege

The Siege

Destruction

Aftermath

War is the change driver and this has been proven historically. This fact can be seen in the world wars more recently and in the siege of Baghdad nearly 800 years ago.

The fall of Baghdad, an event with is also called the fall of the strength of the Muslim world happened in 1258 in the city of Baghdad which was the centre of the Islamic stronghold and the Muslim Caliphate. Baghdad the modern day capital city of Iraq was besieged by the Mongol forces in a bid to expand their empire. (Amitai-Preiss 1998)

The Abbasid Caliphate stronghold was broken as a result of this siege, which was mainly aimed at a consolidation of the power of the Mongols in the region. They did not want to overthrow the Muslim leadership and the caliph system as Abbasids had already submitted to them previously, however, Hulagu Khan was ordered by Khagan - his brother who was the leader of the Mongols, to ask for the caliph to submit first. Hulagu was ordered by his brother that in case the Caliph did not agree to submit he should destroy him.

The invasion of Baghdad was one of the bloodiest battles in history resulting in the loss of thousands of lives. The invasion of the city upon the resistance of the Caliph resulted in the Mongols bring down cities and libraries and marking an end to a significant leadership and resulting in the beginning of a new era, an dark one for the capital of the Muslim empire. (Dutch 1998)

Background of Baghdad

The history of this siege can be traced back to the Caliph system that was the hall mark of the early Muslim leaderships. The Umayyad were the first of the rulers of the Islamic state which then were toppled nearly a hundred years later after the death of Ali in 661 AD. The Abbasids toppled the reign of the Umayyad in 751 AD. The Abbasids ruled for many centuries, however by the mid-13th century, the power of this dynasty had waned and they were the symbolic figureheads of the state, respected because of their lineage as representatives of God on earth.

This caliph was just an image, but in the background was controlled by the Mamluk and Turkic Warlords. But Baghdad remained a rich cultural centre that was the core of Islamic learning where scholars travelled to learn more and engage in intellectual discussions. (MacMillan 2009)

The backdrop of the Mongol and Caliph relationship can be traced to Caliph an-Nassir li-dini'llah who sought help from Genghis Khan at a time when he had some discrepancies with the Turkic warlords, the Shah - Muhammad II of Khwarizmi, who was threatening to attack the state. In order to deal with this threat the Caliph attempted to ally with the Mongols whom he felt could protect him. Some records also state that he had sent some crusaders, which were captured to the Mongol head in order to gain his favor and ask him for protection of the already weak caliphate. (Morgan 1990)

In retrospect, this can be termed a futile move by the Caliph to save his dynasty because to protect himself from the wrath of an old enemy, he befriended a new enemy who would prove to the cause of the empire's complete annihilation. (Nicolle and Hook 1998)

At that time in history, war and force was the means to consolidate power and invasions were a means to expand the territory and reach. The reason was logical. The annihilation of one regime meant that the conquerors would now lead these lands, and in the absence of any international laws or rules, the conquerors could treat the captive population in any manner they desired, therefore an invasion meant more resources and a stronger empire. The caliph was not able to foresee these things for the future when he entered into this alignment with one of the most ferocious leaders and armies of that time. (Amitai-Preiss 1998)

As it happened, Genghis Khan ordered one of their members, Chormaqan to invade Baghdad and one of the divisions of their army was stationed in the area in 1236. They did not invade Baghdad until later, but the sphere of the Caliphate or the area under his immediate control, called Irbil was repeatedly attacked after this. These attacked increased in intensity. However the Caliph's army was strong and was able to defeat the armies in 1238 and in 1245.

But even though the Caliph was successful he knew that he truly couldn't be secure nil and unless he had the Mongols as allies and tried to come to a truce with the Mongol arm in 1241. By then they were trying their diplomatic best to woo the Mongol leaders and sent rich tributes to them. (Prawdin 1967)

Initially relations did improve and the caliph and his delegation were present at the coronation of Guyuk Khan in 1246 and that of Mongke Khan in 1251.

But when Guyuk Khan came into power he insisted that the Caliph should completely bow to their will and submit himself by coming to their courts in present day China at a region called Karakoram. (Saunders 2001)

However the Abbasid caliph resisted and Guyuk as well as Hulagu, both successors of Genghis khan were incensed at this. More over they blamed their own member, Baiju, who was Chormaqan successor, for the irritated resistance of the Abbasid Caliphate. This was because Baiju was responsible for the attack on Baghdad and having failed to do so; he was accepted rich tributes and not putting in enough strength to invade Baghdad, instead remaining on its outskirts and maintaining cordial relations with the Caliph there. They were of the opinion that if Baiju had exerted enough military strength then the Caliph would be awed of their power and would give in to them. (Sicker 2000)

On a logical note, they were also knew that they were much stronger than the Caliph and that when applied with the right kind of pressure he would submit to them and the vast Muslim empire would come under their rule. (The Fall of Baghdad to the Mongols in 1258-2009)

As the chain of events progressed, 1257 arrived with Mongke Khan resolving to control the middle each including Iraq, Syria and Persia. The Mongol leader was clairvoyant enough to understand that these were strong empires that they were undertaking in order to expand their reach. There was also an Ismailia population that had its strongholds in the region who were very strong there. The Mongol ruler sent his brother to the region, demanding that the caliph come to meet Hulegu personally and submit his territories before him. But the caliph rejected these demands. Hulegu who w as busy in fighting the Ismailia then had to redirect his strong army to Baghdad in order to have the caliph submit to him. The army was a hundred and fifty thousand strong the largest that the Mongols ever rallied in any war and attacked Baghdad.

There were aware that the Caliphate army was strong and for that they would need as much power as they could muster. However the army fought and the Muslim side fell heavily and fast. (Tolan 2000)

It can't be said that the war was on a religious basis. It was mainly a war to increase people under their control and as a move to consolidate their empire. Unlike other rulers of the world who conquered lands and then went on to reconstruct them and to develop them, the Mongols were a destructive army and were mainly focused on consolidating power and wealth in their hands through the use of warfare. Their religion was mainly Shamism, but some had also converted to Christianity in light of the fact that they married people in their conquered lands and one of Hulegu Khan's favorite wives was Christian. (Venegoni 2004)

Details of the Siege

As the caliphate rejected the demands of the Mongols, the Mongols aligned their strong generals to the region. These generals included Arghun Agha, Baiju of the Besud, Buqa-Temur of the Oirats, the Chinese commander Guo Kan, the Jalayir general Koke Ilge, Kitbuqa of the Naiman, Tutar, Quli, Sunitai. The army was therefore prepared from a variety of backgrounds and belonged to a number of regions under Mongol control. There were also Christian commandments who were taking this as an opportunity to avenge their defeat at the hands of the Muslims earlier on by Jalal Al din.

The Mongol army was very well prepared for this. They had archers and catapults that were made by the Chinese engineers in their ranks who used flammable substances in order to attack Baghdad, which became the reason why the city was burnt to ashes, all its books, monuments and records lost in the incendiary battle.

The Siege

According to L. Venegoni (Venegoni 2004):

"The conquest and devastation of Baghdad had been planned long before by the Mongols. The occupation of the most part of Iraq was facilitated by agreements that many Shiite governors had met with the Mongol authorities. The Christians of Mesopotamia also supported the Mongol power. The attack on Baghdad was displayed from three different directions: Hulagu central wing came from Kermanshah down to the Tigris plain; the left wing of the Mongol army had rushed down through Luristan via Khuzistan towards Baghdad; while the right wing had proceeded from Azerbaijan via Erbil. Tscharmaghan and Baiju noyans had led a separate corp into Mesopotamia from Rum, marching south from Mosul. Moving into Syria, Hulagu army captured Aleppo and Damascus (1st March 1260). Bohemond VI (approx. 1237-1274), prince of Antioch and count of Tripolis and son-in-law of the best allied of the Mongols Hethum of Lesser Armenia, seeing his territory occupied by the Mongols, offered them almost immediately his submission without rising against the invaders." (Venegoni 2004)

Before laying siege to the city, the Mongol general Hulagu Khan had destroyed the Turkic and Mamluk strongholds as well as flanks that would be able to help the Caliph fight this war resulting in the Caliph losing control over the supplies and not being able to garner support from areas near Baghdad. This effectively meant that the Caliph's army would resist the siege for as long as possible, but in the event of having their supplies and their allies ct off from them the question would be of when the Caliph would have to submit rather than if he would submit. The grand master of the Assassins, Alamut Imam 'Ala al-Din Muhammad also sent his forces to help the Muslim army in need but the Mongols took care of them as well.

But the loss of power and the consequence of this defeat for the Caliph can be assigned to the Muslim leader only as he had failed to prepare for the war himself. He underestimated the power of the Mongol army and did not realize what a fierce opponent he was facing. Having ruled for centuries the Caliph was content in thinking that he would never be defeated, and when the Mongols laid siege and demanded submission the Caliph did not understand the grave danger he was putting himself in, making the fall of Baghdad inevitable.

The Caliph Al-Mutasim faced a quick downfall and by the time he realized his mistake and begged for truce and negotiations, the Mongol army refused him and it was too late for the Caliph to save his city.

There were various factions of the city that were destroyed and brunt. Thrones of gold and gen were also torn into shreds and people were dragged from their hiding places to be shredded into pieces and killed. Artifacts were burnt and nothing was in a position to be salvaged.

On being defeated the city faced a week of massacre and destruction where all civilians were attacked and thousands of people were killed.

Destruction

There was massive destruction in the wake of these wars, and the Mongols being no stalwarts of culture or knowledge destroyed everything that came in their way regardless of its historic value or of its importance to mankind in general. The Grand library of Baghdad was one such painful move which led to the destruction of countless and precious historical literature as well as books and papers on medicine, astronomy and other subjects where research had been done and religious as well as worldly information was held.

There were also the incidents where Mongols destroyed buildings, which included hospitals and mosques, regardless of religion caste or creed. Architectural inheritances that were building painstakingly by people of yore were burnt down and there was no regard for the cultural value of anything. Everything was there to destroy and like a fleet of crazed barbarians the Mongols destroyed historic places, people and documents leaving no stone unturned to leave the city dead in a week's time. The fact that such an event took place makes one wonder what the mental state of the captives and the victims at the time was, when they knew that death was inevitable and were yet hiding, scared for their lives in holes and places where they hoped the tide of destruction would not find them.

The Mongols were merciless to the civilians. The civilians tried to flee from their attackers but were killed randomly by the Mongols who were on a merciless spree to spill blood. Several different people have estimated the numbers who were killed, but the common factor among all these accounts is that numerous innocent people were killed as a result of this war.

According to Morgan (Morgan 1990):

"They swept through the city like hungry falcons attacking a flight of doves, or like raging wolves attacking sheep, with loose reins and shameless faces, murdering and spreading terror...beds and cushions made of gold and encrusted with jewels were cut to pieces with knives and torn to shreds. Those hiding behind the veils of the great Harem were dragged...through the streets and alleys, each of them becoming a plaything...as the population died at the hands of the invaders." (Morgan 1990)

These were atrocities that were carried out on the population in general. However there are accounts of the Caliph being forced to watch people's murders and the plunder of his treasure. Moreover historians also have had included accounts of the Caliph being rolled in a carpet and trampled to death from the army of the Mongols running over him. All of the survivors of the royal family were killed save one, who was exiled to Mongolia, and was moved away from his role as a leader in Islam.

The city was enveloped by the stench of the dead so that even the victors had to move away from the city to station their troops in order to avoid the stench of blood and the gory scenes of death and destruction

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the war, Baghdad was fully and completely ruined. One once gloried capital was debris of lost hope, death and destruction. It was a mass grave of people as well as buildings and culture. All that was gleaned in terms of information over the years and all that was build with loving hands over centuries of experience was destroyed and slain to rot.

The situation was bad for agriculture as well, and this is the reason why Baghdad was not able to revamp itself and build up again after so many years of the bloody conquest, the canal systems all dried up as the survivors also fled. The canal system was completely destroyed so there was silt and to restart it there was no labor.

Moreover, crops were not grown in the region as the Mongols also filled in the canal system making it difficult for agriculture to flourish and for the region to get populated again. Hulagu left a contingent of 3000 soldiers behind to reconstruct the place. Furthermore, there was the Christian population who were spared due to Hulagu wife supporting them and requesting her husband to save her community from bloodshed. For those people some reconstruction work had to be done so that they could be rehabilitated. After the war was over, a Mongol general, called llkhans who were stationed in the city. Trading and economics flourished in this region under him, as it was at the cross roads of many regions and travelers came in, establishing Baghdad as a small city, which was never able to go back to its position as a grandiose capital.

This also was the point where Islam suffered a crucial blow in terms of its political spread and while there were already many Muslim sects, this defeat further weakened their position. The rise of Islam in that region then came in the form of the Mughals who were descendants of the Mongols, more specifically of the Mongol ruler, Timor lane one of the fiercest Mongols of his time. The Mughals then took over the subcontinent and surrounding areas so as to again establish the stronghold of Islam. However their version of Islam was different as it involved various other influences from other religions as well in terms of cultures and traditions.

Therefore as far as Baghdad is concerned, the severe attack on the city rendered it weak and susceptible to foreign control. But this also meant that the Mongols came into further contact with Muslims and in turn changed themselves in terms of the learning and the experience they gained from them in terms of Islamic education.

Conclusion

According to Steven Dutch (Dutch 1998):

"Iraq in 1258 was very different from present day Iraq. Its agriculture was supported by canal networks thousands of years old. Baghdad was one of the most brilliant intellectual centers in the world. The Mongol destruction of Baghdad was a psychological blow from which Islam never recovered. Already Islam was turning inward, becoming more suspicious of conflicts between faith and reason and more conservative. With the sack of Baghdad, the intellectual flowering of Islam was snuffed out. Imagining the Athens of Pericles and Aristotle obliterated by a nuclear weapon begins to suggest the enormity of the blow. The Mongols filled in the irrigation canals and left Iraq too depopulated to restore them." (Steven Dutch)