Long time ago, there was a powerful muslim Dynasty ruled by Caliphs (or Supreme leaders), called Abbasid, who succeeded Umayyad, another Muslim dynasty. Abbasid Caliphate was believed to be formed after the descent of Abbas, the Uncle of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam!
During the early days of Abbasid, the kingdom was prosperous, it’s one of the best educational institutions, innovations both in science and technology, successfully trade with the west and far east asians, which made the kingdom at some point in time, an economic power house. There was The House of Wisdom (the Grand Library of Baghdad), containing countless precious historical documents and books, situated in Baghdad. The dominion of the dynasty encompasses land stretched from Persia down to mesepotomia to Indian sub-continent down to arab gulf and then to North Africa.
Muslims, Christians, Jews and minorities like Zorostani, Hindus, Buddhists all lived together, contributing to the greatest of the kingdom. There was a time when the pope praise Abbasid as the nation of the pious.
However, there was a problem, centuries passed, the Abbasid Caliphate had degenerated unto a tyranny of weak, degenerate tyrants dominated by the women of harem. This is the common fate of all Polygamic regimes: the multiple wives of the ruler produce multiple sons, who begin to murder each other once the ruler has died and the last survivor will inherit the throne. Sooner or later all decent claimants of throne are eliminated and only the craziest remain.
Hence, the craziest ascended the throne, it’s, al-Musta’sim bi-llāh, the last calif. Musta’sin was a weak and arbitrary ruler and considered both as arbitrary and indecisive. He was in disputes with other Islamic rulers of the area, and had estranged them.
There’s wide rage of corruption within the house of Abbasid, ethnic and racial, religious differences, division worsen by intolerance from the subsequent uprising of the newly rose conservative Islamists!
One day, the Mongol envoice showed up with a letter from the great khan, the notorious Geghzis Khan, with a desire for cooperation between the two powerful kingdoms, The Abbasid and Mongol. However the then Caliph Musta’sim was arrogant so he disregard the offer and had the envoy killed. And this was the beginning of the end of the Abbasid!
The great khan vows to avenge. So he sents his youngest prince, Hülegü khan, to invade Abbasid to show to the world his rising empire was no match for Abbasid…
On January 29th 1258, 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 defences.
Realizing that his forces had little chance of retaking the walls, Al-Musta’sim attempted to open negotiations with Hülegü, who rebuffed the Caliph. Around 3,000 of Baghdad’s notables also tried to negotiate with Hulagu but were murdered.
The Mongols simply did not play fair. They basically committed a perfidy. They did not comply to the sacrosanct rule of sieges: if a town surrendered after a siege, it is to be spared and only a “fire tax” was to be carried.
Five days later, on February 10th 1258, the city surrendered, but the Mongols did not enter the city until the 13th, 1258 instead beginning a week of massacre and destruction. The Mongols did not honour the age-old rule of siege warfare, but committed essentially a perfidy and war crime.
The Mongols 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. 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. Survivors said that the waters of the Tigris ran black with ink from the enormous quantities of books flung into the river and red from the blood of the scientists and philosophers killed.
Citizens attempted to flee, but were intercepted by Mongol soldiers who killed in abundance, sparing neither women nor children.
Of all the atrocities Mongols committed, the sack of Baghdad must be one of the most heinous and depraved. It was also one of their only kind of permanent historical achievments: eco-catastrophes. Namely desertification of the Fertile Crescent. They took the large minted gold reserved and shared it across their empire. They destroyed the ancient irrigation systems, leading into salination of the soil and silt accumulation to clogging of the canals. After the carnage and destruction, the Fertile Crescent effectively became desert!
Lession: Don’t arrogance especially when you know you don’t have any other option. A crack within (divided society) is more important than an invading armies.
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