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'{{short description|Hulagu's investment, capture, and sacking of Abbasid Baghdad}} {{Infobox military conflict |partof=the [[Mongol invasions and conquests]] |image=Bagdad1258.jpg |image_size=300px |caption=Hulagu's army besieging the walls of Baghdad |date= 29 January – 10 February 1258 (13 days) |place=[[Baghdad]], modern-day [[Iraq]] |result= Mongol victory |combatant1= [[File:Il-Khanate Flag.svg|border|23px]] [[Ilkhanate]]<br>([[Mongol Empire]]) * [[File:Rubenid Flag.svg|border|22px]] [[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia]]<ref>Khanbaghi, 60</ref> * {{flagicon image|Flag of Kingdom of Georgia.svg}} [[Kingdom of Georgia]]<ref>Demurger, 80–81; Demurger 284</ref> * [[File:Armoiries Bohémond VI d'Antioche.svg|border|22px]] [[Principality of Antioch]]<ref>Demurger, 80–81; Demurger 284</ref> |combatant2=[[File:Black flag.svg|border|23px]] [[Abbasid Caliphate]] ||commander1={{plainlist| * [[File:Il-Khanate Flag.svg|border|23px]] [[Hulagu Khan]] * [[File:Il-Khanate Flag.svg|border|23px]] [[Arghun Aqa]] * [[File:Il-Khanate Flag.svg|border|23px]] [[Baiju Noyan|Baiju]] * [[File:Il-Khanate Flag.svg|border|23px]] [[Buqa-Temür]] * [[File:Il-Khanate Flag.svg|border|23px]] Sunitai * [[File:Il-Khanate Flag.svg|border|23px]] [[Kitbuqa]] * [[File:Il-Khanate Flag.svg|border|23px]] [[Guo Kan]] * [[File:Il-Khanate Flag.svg|border|23px]] Köke Ilgei<ref>John Masson Smith, Jr. ''Mongol Manpower and Persian Population'', p. 276</ref> * {{flagicon image|Flag of Kingdom of Georgia.svg}} King [[David VII of Georgia|David VII]]{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}} * [[File:Rubenid Flag.svg|border|22px]] King [[Hethum I, King of Armenia|Hethum I]]{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}}}} |commander2={{plainlist| * [[File:Black flag.svg|border|22px]] [[Al-Musta'sim]]{{executed}} * [[File:Black flag.svg|border|22px]] Mujaheduddin Aybak Dwadar{{KIA}} * [[File:Black flag.svg|border|22px]] [[Sulaiman Shah]]{{executed}} * [[File:Black flag.svg|border|22px]] Qarasunqur{{KIA}}}} |units1={{plainlist| * 40,000+ [[Mongols|Mongol]], [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] and [[Jurchen people|Jurchen]] cavalry<ref>John Masson Smith, Jr. ''Mongol Manpower and Persian Population''. pp. 271–99</ref> * 12,000 [[Armenians|Armenian]] [[cavalry]]<ref name=Venegoni/>{{unreliable source?|date=December 2017}} * 40,000 Armenian [[infantry]]<ref name=Venegoni/>{{unreliable source?|date=December 2017}} * [[Georgians|Georgian]] [[infantry]]{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}} * 1,000 [[Han Chinese|Han]] engineers{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}} * [[Greater Persia|Persian]] [[infantry]]}} |units2= {{plainlist| * Cavalry{{quantify|date=January 2020}} * Infantry{{quantify|date=January 2020}}}} |strength1=120,000<ref name=Venegoni>L. Venegoni (2003). [http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/venegoni.html Hülägü's Campaign in the West (1256–1260)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211220808/http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/venegoni.html |date=2012-02-11 }}, ''Transoxiana Webfestschrift Series I'', Webfestschrift Marshak 2003.</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=December 2017}}–150,000<ref name=Geographic>''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]'', v. 191 (1997)</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=December 2017}} |strength2=50,000{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}} |casualties1=Unknown but believed to be minimal |casualties2={{plainlist| * 50,000 soldiers killed * 200,000–800,000 civilians killed (Western sources)<ref>Andre Wink, ''Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World'', Vol.2, (Brill, 2002), 13.</ref> * 2,000,000 civilians (Arab sources)<ref>''The different aspects of Islamic culture: Science and technology in Islam'', Vol. 4, Ed. A. Y. Al-Hassan, (Dergham sarl, 2001), 655.</ref>}} }} {{Campaignbox Mongol invasions}} The '''siege of Baghdad fucked my nigger''' was a [[siege]] that took place in [[Baghdad]] in 1258, lasting for 13 days from January 29, 1258 until February 10, 1258. The siege, laid by [[Ilkhanate]] [[Mongol Empire|Mongol]] forces and allied troops, involved the [[investment (military)|investment]], capture, and [[Looting|sack]] of Baghdad, which was the capital of the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] at that time. 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 not to 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 the payment of tribute in the form of military support for Mongol forces in [[Persia]]. Hulagu [[Mongol campaign against the Nizaris|began his campaign in Persia]] against the strongholds of [[Nizari Ismaili state|Nizari Ismailis]], who lost their stronghold of [[Alamut Castle|Alamut]]. He then marched on Baghdad, demanding that Al-Musta'sim accede to the terms imposed by Möngke on the Abbasids. Although the Abbasids had failed to prepare for the invasion, the Caliph believed that Baghdad could not fall to invading forces and refused to surrender. Hulagu subsequently besieged the city, which surrendered after 12 days.<ref>Matthew E. Falagas, Effie A. Zarkadoulia, George Samonis (2006). "Arab science in the golden age (750–1258 C.E.) and today", ''[[Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology|The FASEB Journal]]'' '''20''', pp. 1581–86.</ref> During the next week, the Mongols sacked Baghdad, committing numerous atrocities; there is debate among historians about the level of destruction of library books and the Abbasids' vast libraries. The Mongols executed [[Al-Musta'sim]] and massacred many residents of the city, which was left greatly depopulated. The siege is considered to mark the end of the [[Islamic Golden Age]], during which the [[Islamic Caliphate|caliphs]] had extended their rule from the [[Iberian Peninsula]] to [[Sindh]], and which was also marked by many cultural achievements in diverse fields.<ref>Matthew E. Falagas, Effie A. Zarkadoulia, George Samonis (2006). "Arab science in the golden age (750–1258 C.E.) and today", ''[[Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology|The FASEB Journal]]'' '''20''', pp. 1581–86.</ref> ==Background== Baghdad had for centuries been the capital of the [[Abbasid Caliphate]], the third [[Islamic Caliphate|caliphate]], whose rulers were descendants of [['Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib|Abbas]], an uncle of [[Muhammad]]. In 751, the Abbasids overthrew the [[Umayyads]] and moved the Caliph's seat from [[Damascus]] to Baghdad. At the city's peak, it was populated by approximately one million people and was defended by an army of 60,000 soldiers. By the middle of the 13th century the power of the Abbasids had declined and Turkic and [[Mamluk]] warlords often held power over the Caliphs.<ref>Jack Weatherford ''Genghis Khan and the making of the modern world'', p. 135</ref> Baghdad still retained much symbolic significance, and it remained a rich and cultured city. The Caliphs of the 12th and 13th centuries had begun to develop links with the expanding [[Mongol Empire]] in the east. Caliph [[Al-Nasir|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.<ref>Jack Weatherford ''Genghis Khan and the making of the modern world'', p. 135</ref> It has been rumored that some [[Medieval Crusades|Crusader]] captives were sent as tribute to the Mongol khagan.<ref>Jack Weatherford '' Genghis Khan and the making of the modern world'', p. 136</ref> According to ''[[The Secret History of the Mongols]]'', Genghis and his successor, [[Ögedei Khan]], ordered their general [[Chormaqan]] to attack Baghdad.<ref>Sh.Gaadamba ''Mongoliin nuuts tovchoo (1990)'', p. 233</ref> In 1236, Chormaqan led a division of the Mongol army to [[Irbil]],<ref>Timothy May ''Chormaqan Noyan'', p. 62</ref> which remained under Abbasid rule. Further raids on Irbil and other regions of the caliphate became nearly annual occurrences.<ref>Al-Sa'idi,., op. cit., pp. 83, 84, from Ibn al-Fuwati</ref> Some raids were alleged to have reached Baghdad itself,<ref name="Mongol Empire p.2">C. P. Atwood ''Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire'', p. 2</ref> but these Mongol incursions were not always successful, with Abbasid forces defeating the invaders in 1238<ref>Spuler, op. cit., from Ibn al-'Athir, vol. 12, p. 272.</ref> and 1245.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alhassanain.com/english/book/book/history_library/various_books/the_alleged_role_of_nasir_al_din_al_tusi_in_the_fall_of_baghdad/004.html|title=Mongol Plans for Expansion and Sack of Baghdad|work=alhassanain.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426001242/http://www.alhassanain.com/english/book/book/history_library/various_books/the_alleged_role_of_nasir_al_din_al_tusi_in_the_fall_of_baghdad/004.html|archive-date=2012-04-26}}</ref> Despite their successes, the Abbasids hoped to come to terms with the Mongols and by 1241 had adopted the practice of sending an annual tribute to the court of the khagan.<ref name="Mongol Empire p.2"/> Envoys from the Caliph were present at the coronation of [[Güyük Khan]] as khagan in 1246<ref>Giovanni, da Pian del Carpine (translated by Erik Hildinger) ''The story of the Mongols whom we call the Tartars (1996)'', p. 108</ref> and that of [[Möngke Khan]] in 1251.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/lectures/wulec3.html|title=Wednesday University Lecture 3|website=depts.washington.edu|access-date=1 May 2018}}</ref> During his brief reign, Güyük insisted that the Caliph [[Al-Musta'sim]] fully submit to Mongol rule and come personally to [[Karakorum]]. The khagans blamed [[Baiju Noyan|Baiju]] for the Caliph's refusal and other resistance by the Abbasids to increased attempts by the Mongols to extend their power. ==Hulagu's expedition== {{more citations needed|section|date=February 2018}}<!--half of "Planning" and all of "Early campaigns" missing citations--> ===Planning=== In 1257, Möngke resolved to establish firm authority over Mesopotamia, Syria, and Persia. The khagan gave his brother, [[Hulagu]], authority over a subordinate khanate and army, the [[Ilkhanate]], and instructions to compel the submission of various 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 personal submission to Hulagu and the payment of tribute in the form of a military detachment, which would reinforce Hulagu's army during its campaigns against Persian [[Ismaili]] states. In preparation for his invasion, Hulagu raised a large expeditionary force, conscripting one out of every ten military-age males in the entirety of the [[Mongol Empire]], assembling what may have been the most numerous Mongol army to have existed and, by one estimate, 150,000 strong.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telusplanet.net/dgarneau/euro54.htm|title=European & Asian History|work=telusplanet.net}}</ref> Generals of the army included the Oirat administrator [[Arghun Agha]], [[Baiju Noyan|Baiju]], [[Buqa Temür]], [[Guo Kan]], and Kitbuqa, as well as Hulagu's brother [[Sunitai]] and various other warlords.<ref>Rashiddudin, ''Histoire des Mongols de la Perse'', E. Quatrieme ed. and trans. (Paris, 1836), p. 352.</ref> The force was also supplemented by Christian forces, including the King of [[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia|Armenia]] and his army, a Frankish contingent from the [[Principality of Antioch]],<ref>Demurger, 80–81; Demurger 284</ref> and a [[Kingdom of Georgia|Georgian]] force, seeking revenge on the Muslim Abbasids for the sacking of their capital, [[Tiflis]], decades earlier by the [[Khwarazm-Shah]]s.<ref>Khanbaghi, 60</ref> About 1,000 Chinese artillery experts accompanied the army,<ref>{{cite book |url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=BZf_L1V7NLUC |page=173 }} |title=A Short History of the Chinese People |author-link=Luther Carrington Goodrich|author=L. Carrington Goodrich|access-date=2011-11-28 |edition=illustrated |year=2002 |publisher=Courier Dover Publications |isbn=0-486-42488-X |page=173 |quote=In the campaigns waged in western Asia (1253–1258) by Jenghis' grandson Hulagu, "a thousand engineers from China had to get themselves ready to serve the catapults, and to be able to cast inflammable substances." One of Hulagu's principal generals in his successful attack against the caliphate of Baghdad was Chinese.}}</ref> as did [[Persia]]n and [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] auxiliaries, according to [[Ata-Malik Juvayni]], a contemporary Persian observer. ===Early campaigns=== {{main|Mongol campaign against the Nizaris}} Hulagu led his army first to Persia, where he successfully campaigned against the [[Lurs]], the [[Bukhara]], and the remnants of the [[Khwarezm-Shah]] dynasty. After subduing them, Hulagu directed his attention toward the [[Nizari Ismaili state|Nizari Ismailis]] and their Grand Master, [[Alamut Castle#Imam Ala al-Din Muhammad Imam|Imam Ala al-Din Muhammad]], who had attempted the murder of both Möngke and Hulagu's friend and subordinate, [[Kitbuqa]]. Though the [[Order of Assassins]] failed in both attempts, Hulagu marched his army to their stronghold of [[Alamut Castle|Alamut]], which he captured. The Mongols later executed the Assassins' Grand Master, [[Alamut Castle#Imam Rukn al-Din Khurshah|Imam Rukn al-Din Khurshah]], who had briefly succeeded 'Ala al-Din Muhammad from 1255–1256. ==Capture of Baghdad== ===Hulagu's march to 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 due 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<ref name=Zaydan>{{cite book|last=Zaydān|first=Jirjī|title=History of Islamic Civilization, Vol. 4|year=1907|publisher=Stephen Austin and Sons, Ltd.|location=Hertford|page=292|url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=DRByAAAAMAAJ |page=292 }} |access-date=16 September 2012}}</ref> and incompetence,<ref name=Davis>{{cite book|last=Davis|first=Paul K.|title=Besieged: 100 Great Sieges from Jericho to Sarajevo|year=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|pages=67}}</ref> 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 were to be endangered by a Mongol army, the Islamic world would rush to its aid.<ref name="Davis"/> Although he replied to Hulagu's demands in a manner that the Mongol commander found menacing and offensive enough to break off negotiations,<ref>Nicolle</ref> Al-Musta'sim neglected to summon armies to reinforce the troops at his disposal in Baghdad. Nor did he strengthen the city's walls. By January 11 the Mongols were close to the city,<ref name="Davis"/> establishing themselves on both banks of the [[Tigris River]] so as to form a pincer around the city. Al-Musta'sim finally decided to do 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 [[sapper]]s breached dikes along the Tigris River and flooded the ground behind the Abbasid forces, trapping them.<ref name="Davis"/> ===Siege of the city=== [[File:DiezAlbumsFallOfBaghdad.jpg|thumb|280px|Persian painting (14th century) of Hülegü's army besieging a city. Note use of the siege engine]] 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 neglected or lacked the ability to do so. His taunting opposition had lost him the loyalty of the Mamluks, and the Syrian emirs, whom he supported, were busy preparing their own defenses.<ref>James Chambers, "The Devil's Horsemen," p. 144.</ref> On January 29, the Mongol army began its siege of Baghdad, constructing a palisade and a ditch around the city. Employing [[siege engines]] and [[catapults]], the Mongols attempted to breach the city's walls, and, by February 5, had seized a significant 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 negotiate with Hulagu but were murdered.<ref>{{cite book|last=Fattah|first=Hala|title=A Brief History of Iraq|publisher=Checkmark Books|page=101}}</ref> Five days later, on February 10, the city surrendered, but the Mongols did not enter the city until the 13th, beginning a week of massacre and destruction. ==Destruction== [[File:HulaguInBagdad.JPG|thumb|[[Hulagu]] (left) imprisons Caliph [[Al-Musta'sim]] among his treasures to starve him to death. Medieval depiction from ''Le livre des merveilles'', 15th century]] Many historical accounts detailed the cruelties of the Mongol conquerors. Baghdad was a depopulated, ruined city<ref>James Chambers, ''The Devil's Horsemen'', Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, ç1979, p.145</ref><ref>Guy Le Strange, ''Baghdad During the Abbasid Caliphate'', Clarendon Press, Oxford, ç1901, p.344</ref> for several decades and only gradually recovered some of its former glory.<ref>Timothy Ward, ''The Mongol Conquests in World History'', Reakton Books, London, ç2012, p.126</ref> Contemporary accounts state Mongol soldiers looted and 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.<ref>Murray, S.A.P. (2012). The library: An illustrated history. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, pp. 54.</ref> Grand buildings that had been the work of generations were burned to the ground. The [[House of Wisdom]] (the Grand Library of Baghdad), containing countless precious historical documents and books on subjects ranging from medicine to astronomy, was destroyed. Claims have been made that the Tigris ran red from the blood of the scientists and philosophers killed.<ref>Frazier, I., "Invaders: Destroying Baghdad," ''New Yorker Magazine,'' [Special edition: Annals of History], April 25, 2005, [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/04/25/invaders-3 Online Issue] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612220230/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/04/25/invaders-3 |date=2018-06-12 }}</ref><ref>Szczepanski, Kallie. "How the Mongols Took Over Baghdad in 1258." ThoughtCo. <nowiki>https://www.thoughtco.com/the-mongol-siege-of-baghdad-1258-195801</nowiki> (accessed February 10, 2021).</ref> Images of violence toward books appear in the 14th century; the tale of the destruction of books – tossed into the Tigris such that the water turned black from the ink – seems to originate from the 16th century.<ref>James Raven, ''Introduction: The Resonances of Loss, in Lost Libraries: The Destruction of Great Book Collections since Antiquity'', ed. James Raven (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), p. 11.</ref><ref>Ibn Khaldūn, Tārīkh Ibn Khaldūn, ed. Khalīl Shaḥḥadāh (Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 2000), p. 5:613.</ref> Michal Biran argues that this story was likely a literary trope to demonstrate Mongol barbarity.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Biran|first=Michal|date=18 March 2019|title=Libraries, Books, and Transmission of Knowledge in Ilkhanid Baghdad|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jesh/62/2-3/article-p464_7.xml|journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient|volume=62|pages=464–502|via=Brill}}</ref> Citizens attempted to flee, but were intercepted by Mongol soldiers who killed in abundance, sparing no one, not even children. Martin Sicker writes that close to 90,000 people may have died.<ref>(Sicker 2000, p.&nbsp;111)</ref><ref>Rene Grousset, ''The Empire of the Steppes'', Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, ç1970 p.356</ref> Other estimates go much higher, but are almost certainly exaggerated.<ref>Peter Jackson, ''The Mongols and the Islamic World-from Conquest to Conversion'', Yale University Press, New Haven, ç2017, pp. 171–172</ref> The caliph Al-Musta'sim was captured and forced to watch as his citizens were murdered and his treasury plundered. According to most accounts, the caliph was killed by trampling. The Mongols rolled the caliph up in a rug, and rode their horses over him, as they believed that the earth would be offended if it were touched by royal blood. All but one of Al-Musta'sim's sons were killed, and 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 [[Abbasid Caliphate#Mongol invasion (1206–1258)|The end of the Abbasid dynasty]]). Hulagu had to move his camp upwind of the city, due to the stench of decay from the ruined city.<ref>Henry Howorth, ''History of the Mongols from the 9th to the 19th Century, Part I'', Burt Franklin, New York, ç1876, p. 127</ref> The historian [[David Morgan (historian)|David Morgan]] has quoted [[Wassaf]] describing the destruction: "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."<ref name="Marozzi2014">{{cite book|first=Justin |last=Marozzi| title=''Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood''|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n8m7AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT176|date=29 May 2014|publisher=Penguin Books| isbn=978-0-14-194804-1| pages=176–177}}</ref> Some modern historians have cast some doubt on the vehemently anti-Mongol medieval sources.<ref>Michal Biran, ''The Mongols’ Middle East'', ed. De Nicola & Melville, Brill, Boston, ç2016 pp. 140–141</ref> George Lane ([[SOAS University of London|SOAS]]), for example, doubts the Grand Library was destroyed as the learned members of the Mongol command such as [[Nasir al-Din Tusi]] would not have allowed it, and that disease was the major cause of death.<ref>George Lane (Society of Ancient Sources), ''Iran After the Mongols: The Idea of Iran'', Vol.8, ed. S. Babaie, I.B. Tauris, London, ç2019, pp. 17–18</ref> Primary sources state that Tusi saved thousands of volumes and installed them into a building in Marāgheh.<ref>Ibn Taymiyyah, Majmū’ al-Fatāwa (Dār al-Wafā’, 2005), p. 13:111.</ref><ref>Khạlīl b. Aybak al-̣Safadī, Kitāb al-Wāfī bi’l-Wafayāt (Beirut: Dār Ihyā’ al-Turāth al-Islāmī, 2000), p. 1:147, #114.</ref><ref>Abdulhadi Hairi, "Nasir al-Din Tusi-His Supposed Political Role in the Mongol Invasion of Baghdad", Islamic Studies-Univ. of Montreal, ç1968</ref> ===Causes for agricultural decline=== Some historians believe that the Mongol invasion destroyed much of the irrigation infrastructure that had sustained [[Mesopotamia]] for many millennia. Canals were cut as a military tactic and never repaired. So many people died or fled that neither the labour nor the organization were sufficient to maintain the canal system. It broke down or silted up. This theory was advanced (not for the first time) by historian [[Svat Soucek|Svatopluk Souček]] in his 2000 book, ''A History of Inner Asia.'' Other historians point to [[soil salination]] as the primary cause for the decline in agriculture.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198305/the.greening.of.the.arab.east-the.planters.htm|title=Saudi Aramco World : The Greening of the Arab East: The Planters|work=saudiaramcoworld.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060125085630/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198305/the.greening.of.the.arab.east-the.planters.htm|archive-date=2006-01-25|access-date=2006-02-03}}</ref> ==Aftermath== Hulagu left 3,000 Mongol soldiers behind to rebuild Baghdad. [[Ata-Malik Juvayni]] was later appointed governor of Baghdad, Lower [[Mesopotamia]], and [[Khuzistan]] after [[Guo Kan]] went back to the [[Yuan dynasty]] to assist [[Kublai Khan|Kublai]]'s conquest over the [[Song dynasty]]. Hulagu's [[Nestorian Christian]] wife, [[Dokuz Khatun]], successfully interceded to spare the lives of Baghdad's Christian inhabitants.<ref>Maalouf, 243</ref><ref>Runciman, 306</ref> Hulagu offered the royal palace to the Nestorian [[Catholicos]] [[Mar Makikha]], and ordered a cathedral to be built for him.<ref>Foltz, 123</ref> Initially, the fall of Baghdad came as a shock to the whole Muslim world; after many years of utter devastation, the city became an economic center where international trade, the minting of coins and religious affairs flourished under the Ilkhans.<ref>{{cite book |first=Richard |last=Coke |title=Baghdad, the City of Peace |location=London |publisher=T. Butterworth |year=1927 |page=169 }}</ref> The chief Mongol [[darughachi]] was thereafter stationed in the city.<ref>{{cite book |first=Judith G. |last=Kolbas |title=The Mongols in Iran: Chingiz Khan to Uljaytu, 1220–1309 |location=London |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |page=156 |isbn=0-7007-0667-4 }}</ref> [[Berke]], who had converted to Islam in 1252, became enraged that Hulagu destroyed Baghdad. Muslim historian [[Rashid al-Din Hamadani|Rashid al Din]] quoted Berke Khan as sending the following message to [[Mongke Khan]], protesting the attack on Baghdad, (not knowing Mongke had died in China): "He (Hulagu) has sacked all the cities of the [[Muslim]]s. With the help of [[Allah|God]] I will call him to account for so much innocent blood." Although hesitant at first to go to war with Hulagu out of Mongol brotherhood, the economic situation of the [[Golden Horde]] led him to declare war against the [[Ilkhanate]]. This became known as the [[Berke–Hulagu war]].<ref name="Elverskog2011">{{cite book|author=Johan Elverskog|title=Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N7_4Gr9Q438C&pg=PA186|date=6 June 2011|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-0531-2|pages=186–}}</ref> ==See also== * [[Seljuk siege of Baghdad 1157]] * [[Abbasid Caliphate]] * [[History of Baghdad]] * [[Islamic Golden Age]] * [[Soil salination]] * [[Tigris–Euphrates river system]] * [[Möngke Khan]] * [[Mongol Empire]] ==References== ===Citations=== {{Reflist|30em}} ===Sources=== * Amitai-Preiss, Reuven. 1998. ''Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War, 1260–1281'' (first edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-46226-6}}. * [[Alain Demurger|Demurger, Alain]]. 2005. ''Les Templiers. Une chevalerie chrétienne au Moyen Âge''. Éditions du Seuil. * ''ibid.'' 2006. ''Croisades et Croisés au Moyen-Age''. Paris: Groupe Flammarion. * Khanbaghi, Aptin. 2006. ''The fire, the star, and the cross: minority religions in medieval and early modern Iran''. London: I. B. Tauris. * Morgan, David. 1990. ''The Mongols''. Boston: Blackwell. {{ISBN|0-631-17563-6}}. * [[David Nicolle|Nicolle, David]], and Richard Hook (illustrator). 1998. ''The Mongol Warlords: Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Hulegu, Tamerlane''. London: Brockhampton Press. {{ISBN|1-86019-407-9}}. * Runciman, Steven. ''A history of the Crusades''. * Saunders, J.J. 2001. ''The History of the Mongol Conquests''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. {{ISBN|0-8122-1766-7}}. * Sicker, Martin. 2000. ''The Islamic World in Ascendancy: From the Arab Conquests to the Siege of Vienna''. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. {{ISBN|0-275-96892-8}}. * Souček, Svat. 2000. ''A History of Inner Asia''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|0-521-65704-0}}. ==External links== * [http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/04/25/050425fa_fact4 article describing Hulagu's conquest of Baghdad], written by [[Ian Frazier]], appeared in the April 25, 2005 issue of ''[[The New Yorker]]''. {{coord|33.3333|N|44.4333|E|source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:IQ|display=title}} {{Mongol Empire}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Siege Of Baghdad (1258)}} [[Category:1258 in the Mongol Empire]] [[Category:Baghdad under the Abbasid Caliphate]] [[Category:Battles involving the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia|Baghdad]] [[Category:Battles involving the Kingdom of Georgia|Baghdad]] [[Category:Sieges involving the Mongol Empire|Baghdad]] [[Category:Conflicts in 1258|Baghdad]] [[Category:Invasions by the Mongol Empire]] [[Category:13th-century massacres]] [[Category:Sieges involving the Abbasid Caliphate]] [[Category:Sieges of Baghdad]] [[Category:13th century in the Kingdom of Georgia]] [[Category:13th century in the Abbasid Caliphate]] [[Category:Battles involving the Principality of Antioch|Baghdad]] [[Category:Hulagu Khan]] [[Category:Book burnings]] [[Category:Battles involving the Ilkhanate|Baghdad]] [[Category:Looting]] [[Category:Razed cities|Baghdad]]'