Fall of the capital of the Caliphate - Baghdad and Sham
Before proceeding to the description of the battle of Ain Jalut, we consider it appropriate to briefly consider the socio-political situation in the Middle East at that time. In particular, after the fall of the capital of the Islamic Caliphate - Baghdad.
In 1250, Munke was elected the fourth Great Khan of the Mongols. He set himself two main goals: to destroy the Ismailis in Iran and to extend his power to the rest of the Islamic world up to the most remote points of Egypt.
Möncke entrusted the execution of this task to his brother Hulagu, to whom he donated the region of Persia and the western vilayets. After they coped with the first task, in February 1258, the Mongol armies besieged the capital of the Caliphate - Baghdad, then stormed and destroyed it. The caliph left the city and unconditionally surrendered himself to the Mongol leader after Hulagu guaranteed his safety. These tragic events ended with the assassination of Caliph al-Mustasim. Then the cities of Hilla, Kufa, Wasit and Mosul capitulated. With the fall of Baghdad and the assassination of Caliph al-Mustasim, the period of existence of the state of the Abbasid Caliphate ended, which lasted more than five centuries.
The fall of Baghdad caused swipe on Muslim civilization and culture. It was a center of sciences, literature and arts, rich in its scholars, theologians, writers, philosophers and poets. Thousands of scholars, theologians, writers and poets were killed in Baghdad, and those who managed to escape fled to Sham and Egypt. Libraries were burned, madrasahs and institutions were destroyed, Islamic historical and other monuments were destroyed. The unity of the Islamic world suffered a severe blow, and the rallying of Muslims became impossible after the subjugation of many Muslim rulers to the Mongols.
Christians in various corners of the earth rejoiced and greeted Hulagu and his wife Tukuz Khatun, who professed Nestorian Christianity.
Naturally, the conquest of Iraq was to be followed by an attack on Sham. Sham at that time was dominated by three powers: Muslims represented by Ayyubid rulers and emirs, crusaders and Armenians in Cilicia.
The Muslims ruled the cities of Mayafarikin, Karak, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Damascus, and the Kaifa fortress. However, they felt the need to unite their forces, because each emir acted independently, which weakened their strength in the face of the Mongols.
As for the western crusaders, they took the position of hesitating towards the Mongols and leaning towards the Muslims. Bohemond VI, prince of Antioch, joined the Mongol movement, supported it and took part in it. So did Hethum, the king of Lesser Armenia in Cilicia. However, Bohemond VI decided to take this step only as the husband of Hethum's daughter and his ally.
The Armenians in Cilicia allied with the Mongols and pushed them to destroy the Abbasid Caliphate and the Ayyubids in Sham. They took part with the Mongols in the war against the Muslims. Hethum believed that the opportunity had come for the deliverance of Sham, and in particular Jerusalem, from the Muslims.
At that time an-Nasir Yusuf, the ruler of Damascus and Aleppo, was the most powerful Ayyubid emir. He was afraid of the Mongol offensive and assumed that sooner or later Hulagu and his army would capture Sham and that this country would not find someone who would protect it from the Mongols and Mamluks of Egypt. An-Nasyr was at enmity with the latter, believing that the power in Egypt and Sham, as the descendants of Salahuddin al-Ayubi, belonged to the Ayubids. Therefore, an-Nasir Yusuf refused to help al-Ashraf, the son of al-Malik al-Ghazi, the Mayafarikin ruler, who asked for help in resisting the Mongols. He also sent his son al-Aziz Muhammad to Hulagu with gifts for him, expressing his obedience and friendliness to him and asking him to provide military assistance to recover Egypt from the hands of the Mamluks.
It is likely that Hulagu doubted the sincerity of an-Nasyr, because the latter did not come to him himself to demonstrate his friendship and obedience to him and then ask for his alliance against the Mamluks in Egypt. Therefore, Hulagu sent a letter in which he ordered him to come to him and express his obedience without any conditions and reservations. An-Nasir was not ready to forge close ties with the Mongols at that time, for he was strongly censured by the Muslim emirs because of his rapprochement with the Mongols. Therefore, he showed enmity to Hulagu and went from Damascus to Karak and Shubak.
In 1259, Hulagu led his troops to capture the northwestern part of Sham. Under his onslaught, the cities of Mayafarikin, Nusaybin, Harran, Edessa, al-Bira and Harim fell. Then he headed towards Aleppo and surrounded him from all sides. The garrison of the city under the leadership of al-Malik Turanshah ibn Salahuddin refused to surrender to the Mongol troops, and therefore in January 1260 it was decided to storm it. As a result, Aleppo came under the rule of the Mongols.
As a result of these quick and decisive victories of the Mongols, the killings, expulsions and destruction that accompanied these successes, fear gripped all of Sham. Then an-Nasir Yusuf realized that he alone could not resist the forces of the Mongols, and decided to ask for help from the Mamluks of Egypt.
The danger of the situation forced the ruler of Egypt, al-Malik al-Muzaffar Sayfuddin Qutuz (1259-1260), to forget the anger and hatred emanating from the rooted enmity between him and al-Malik an-Nasir, and to accept his request for military assistance to him as soon as possible.
Kutuz was alarmed by the rapid advance of the Mongol troops. Therefore, he wanted to create an alliance through which he would strengthen the Islamic front, however, it is likely that he also wanted to deceive an-Nasyr Yusuf in order to seize his possessions. This is supported by the fact that he did not hasten to help him and tried to win his adherents to his side when they went to Egypt. The cunning of Qutuz is also revealed in the content of his letter, which he sent to an-Nasir Yusuf. In a letter, Qutuz informs him of the acceptance of his proposal, and even considers an-Nasir, as a descendant of Salahuddin, the ruler of all the possessions that were previously subordinate to the Ayyubids, including Egypt. He also added that there was only one leader for him, and promised to transfer power over Egypt to an-Nasyr, if he wished to come to Cairo. He even offered to send an army to Damascus to save him the trouble of arriving in Cairo himself, if he doubted the sincerity of his intentions.
When the Mongols approached Damascus, the defenders of the city had already abandoned it. Also, an-Nasir Yusuf did not try to defend the city, he left it and went to Gaza along with his Mamluks from among the Nasirites and Azizites and a number of Mamluks-Bakhrits, among whom was the famous commander Baibars al-Bundukdari. An-Nasyr wanted to be closer to the help that Qutuz had promised him. He left Damascus under the leadership of his vizier Zainuddin al-Khafizi.
The noble people of Damascus, taking into account the destruction and destruction of the population that happened in the cities that resisted the Mongols, decided to surrender the city of Hulagu. And in fact, the Mongol army entered the city in February 1260 without the shedding of blood. However, the citadel resisted them. Then the Mongols stormed it by force and destroyed it. It happened in May 1260 from the birth of Christ.
Thus, Hulagu prepared for the further conquest of the Islamic world, including Egypt.
To be continued.
It is no secret that for many years it is the Western powers that have been driving scientific progress forward, while the powers of the Islamic world have been playing the role of catching up. But less than eight centuries ago, things were very different: brilliant Muslim scholars stood at the forefront of the progress of all mankind, while the medieval European kingdoms were mired in the abyss of ignorance and fratricidal wars. What changed the course of scientific and technological progress so dramatically, throwing the Eastern powers back centuries?
The city of Baghdad, located on the banks of the Tigris River, was founded in 762 AD, and by the 11th century it had become the largest economic and cultural center in the entire Middle East. Merchants from distant lands came to the fairs of Baghdad to show the most outlandish goods, the mosques of the city amazed the traveler with their splendor, and the Abbasid Caliph, who ruled a huge state from Baghdad, was secretly considered the main ruler of all Muslim lands. By the middle of the 13th century, up to 3 million people lived in Baghdad - a huge number even for our time. But this did not play a major role in the brilliance and grandeur of Baghdad. The city was a kind of capital of the all-Muslim cultural space - the concentration of knowledge accumulated over hundreds of years. The loyal attitude towards foreign religions and the patronage of science by the Abbasid caliphs attracted scholars from all over the world to Baghdad, whose work was often ahead of its time in many areas of science. Let's list just a few of them.
In astronomy, the world's largest observatory was created in a short time, the length of the earth's circumference was calculated with high accuracy, the rotation of the Earth around its axis and around the Sun was proved, spots appearing on the Sun were discovered, the duration of the solar year was calculated, which differs from today's data by only 24 seconds. Muslim geographers tirelessly added to the atlases more and more new geographic features, while recording their location using longitude and latitude, characterized the climatic zones of the lands within the reach of travel.
Islamic scholars have made a truly invaluable contribution to mathematics: without their achievements, it is simply impossible to imagine modern science. Decimal counting systems, fractions, complex operations of division and multiplication - all this was discovered by the outstanding Khorezmian mathematician Al-Khwarizmi. By the way, by the name of his work "al-Jabr" modern science is called "algebra".
Muslim doctors deserve special admiration. While in European countries continued to treat with herbal decoctions and prayers, in Islamic medical institutions they performed eye operations, restoring sight to hundreds of people.
Oriental philosophers, physicists, and biologists deserve no less attention. The enumeration of their achievements will take more than a dozen pages, but we cannot fail to note the founder of modern chemistry, Jabir Ibn Hayyan, whose books European alchemists studied for a long time.
All this invaluable knowledge spread throughout all Muslim lands and numerous universities located in major cities, but were mainly concentrated in impregnable Baghdad, which was tirelessly guarded by a garrison of 50,000 people. No one even thought that any of the enemies could crush the powerful Abbasid Caliphate, surrounded on all sides by loyal allies, who together could field over a million soldiers under the green banner.
But such enemies were found. With a swift whirlwind, the Mongol troops led by Genghis Khan swept through the lands of China and the endless Asian steppes, approaching the flourishing cities of the Middle East. The first state to fall at the hands of the Mongols was the state of Khorezm. The strongest state was defeated by the nomads in less than one year. For some time, the Mongols took a break, but several times from 1238 to 1246 they violated the border of the caliphate, but it did not come to big clashes. Finally, in 1253 AD. Mongol Khan Munke decided to annex the lands of modern Iraq to his empire and began preparations for war.
The Mongol army under the command of Hulagu (Mongke's brother) crossed the border of the Abbasid Caliphate in 1257, facing the Caliph's considerable forces. On the banks of the Tigris River, the Muslim army suffered a crushing defeat and retreated into the city, after which the Mongols approached the walls of the settlement. The invaders were ready to spare the whole city and its defenders if they surrendered, but the Caliph decided to persevere and ordered to defend the walls to the last soldier. The descendants of Genghis Khan did not give a second chance, and on January 29, 1257, they began to lay siege to the impregnable walls, which fell on February 10, 1258. The enlightened city was doomed - thousands of Mongol warriors burst into the streets, suppressing the resistance of the remnants of the Caliph garrison. After the destruction of the garrison, the invaders switched to civilians and numerous buildings inside the city. During the week, the sky over Baghdad burned from numerous fires even at night, and the massacre of the townspeople did not stop for a minute.
Assault on Baghdad The conquered cities did not know for a long time the cruelty that the Mongols demonstrated in those days. The winners did not understand who they were cutting: whether a simple bricklayer or a famous scientist. Children and women were not spared either. According to modern estimates, up to a million inhabitants could die on the streets of the city! The Abbasid caliph, who had been watching the destruction of the capital all this time, was trampled to death by horses.
According to eyewitnesses, all manuscripts were taken out of libraries and burned on the banks of the Tigris River. There was also a massacre with pundits, because of which the water in the river turned blood-black.
Hulagu is the grandson of Genghis Khan, who led Mongolian campaign to Baghdad Finally, after 7 days, Hulagu gave the order to stop the looting of Baghdad, and he himself moved his headquarters from the leeward side of the city - the stench from decaying corpses was unbearable, and only ruins remained from the once magnificent capital. It was during those fateful events that countless scrolls with learned texts were lost. The Mongols - free nomads and warriors - simply did not need all the knowledge accumulated over centuries of painstaking work. It took more than one century for Baghdad to recover from the ruins, but the title of the world's cultural and scientific capital was lost forever.
European countries, on the other hand, were practically not affected by the invasion of the Mongols. The descendants of Genghis Khan undertook a reconnaissance campaign against the Catholic states, defeating their superior numbers on their way. knightly armies, but only intelligence and limited. According to the results, the Mongols abandoned the conquest of European lands due to climatic features new territory for them. While Eastern science was thrown back centuries and lost its foundation, the European kingdoms took advantage of the situation and seized the initiative in scientific and technological progress.
So from 1258 the golden age of Islam began to fade. Lost knowledge could not be restored, and outstanding scientists who appeared sporadically could not fundamentally influence the situation - after all, Baghdad not only stored invaluable scientific data, but also controlled a wide network of schools and universities throughout the country. Let us quote a well-known historian who expressed with unusual accuracy the consequences of the destruction of Baghdad for the entire Islamic world.
"Iraq 1258 significantly different from contemporary. System channels supported more thousands years. Baghdad was brilliant intellectual center peace. A fall Baghdad was psychological blow, from whom Islamic world Not recovered. Islam closed V yourself, became more conservative, intolerant To conflicts faith And reason. WITH looting Baghdad faded away intellectual beacon Islam. Scale losses was comparable With destruction Athens Pericles And Aristotle. Mongols destroyed land reclamation channels And left Iraq, which already Not recovered. »
( Stephen Dutch )
What would be modern world, if the Mongol khans had directed their tumens to the states of Europe, or had the state of the Abbasids managed to put up against the conquerors? Perhaps the scientific and economic world centers would be in a completely different part of the world than now, and the political map of the world would have nothing to do with the modern one. History shows how the events of centuries ago radically change the world, surprise, make you think.
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The battle for Baghdad is an episode of the Mongol Middle East campaign. In 1258, the Mongol troops and their allies under the command of Hulagu laid siege to Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. After the invasion, Baghdad was sacked and burned, killing between 100,000 and 1,000,000 inhabitants.
A story about the emergence of strife in Baghdad, hostility between the davatdar and the vizier, and the beginning of the hardships of the Baghdad caliph.
In 654 (1256), at the end of summer, there was a great flood and the city of Baghdad was flooded so that the lower tiers of the buildings there were submerged and became invisible. For 50 days, this flood increased, and then began to decrease. Half of the districts of Iraq were devastated, and there is still a musta "Sim flood on the lips of the people. During this event, the city scum and bastards, idlers and vagabonds extended a hand of violence and power and killed the people every day. Mujahid ad-din Eibek, davatdar , won over vagabonds and idlers and in a short time acquired great strength.When he got stronger and saw Caliph Mustasim indecisive, unreasonable and simple-hearted, he consulted with some dignitaries how to overthrow him and put another of the same kind in his place Abbasids. The vizier Muayyid-ad-din ibn-Alkami found out about this circumstance, notified Mustasim in private and said: it is necessary to take measures against them. The caliph immediately called the davatdar, gave him the report of the vizier and said: "Because of the trust that I mean to you, I did not listen to the words of the vizier about the denunciation of you and I convey [his words] to you. In no case should you be deceived and not deviate from the path of obedience." in response, he said: “If guilt is proven behind me, then here is my head, and here is the sword. But where is the caliph's forgiveness and pardon directed? The divas beguiled the insidious vizier, and in his darkened brain there appeared an inclination and love for Hulagu Khan and the Mongol army. He slanders me in order to avert suspicion from himself. He is against the caliph, and scouts are constantly turning between Hulagu Khan and him. The caliph expressed his disposition to him and said: "From now on, be vigilant and prudent." Mujahid-ad-din Eybek left the caliph and arrogantly gathered around him a lot of vagabonds and city scum, plotting against the caliph. Day and night they served him. The caliph became suspicious, gathered troops to repel him, and confusion and confusion in Baghdad increased.
The inhabitants there were dejected by the Abbasids, began to abhor them and believed that [the] last hour of their power had come. Discord arose among them and passions [flared up]. The caliph was frightened and ordered Fakhr-ad-din Damgani, the Sahib Divan, to calm the confusion. He wrote a message with his own hand, something that they say about davatdar, slander and sneak, we have full confidence in him and he is under our protection. He sent this message through ibn-Darnush to the davatdar, so that he would appear in the service of the caliph. Having won favor, [davatdar] returned with honor and respect. A cry was raised in the city that the speeches that spoke of the davatdar were all false. In the khutba, after the commemoration of the caliph, the name of the davatdar was commemorated, and in this way that confusion was eliminated.
The story of Hulagu Khan's campaign against Baghdad, the conversion of messengers between him and the caliph, and the outcome of those circumstances.
Going to Baghdad, Hulagu Khan on the 9th of the month of Rabi "al-Akhyr 655 (April 26, 1257) reached Dinaver, and from there turned back and arrived in Tabriz 1 on the 12th of the month of Radzhaba (27 .VII) of the same year On the 10th day of the month of Ramadan of the same year, he arrived in Hamadan and sent a messenger to the caliph with threats and promises... 2 .
In this troubled time, since the davatdar was bad with the vizier, the bastard and city scum, obeying him, spread a rumor among the inhabitants that the vizier, along with Hulagu-[khan], wanted him to win and overthrow the caliph, and there is suspicion of this. The caliph again sent a small number of gifts through the mediation of Badr ad-din Dizbegi and Qaziy Bandanijain 3 and announced: although the sovereign does not know, however, let him inquire from people who know that so far the end of any sovereign who has encroached on the Abbasid family and the monastery the world of Baghdad, was terrible. Although definitive sovereigns and powerful rulers encroached on them, the foundation of this sovereign building turned out to be extremely strong and will stand unshakable until the day of resurrection from the dead. IN days gone by I "cube, [son] of Leys Saffari, attempted on the contemporary caliph [to him] and rushed to Baghdad with a large army, but, not reaching the goal, gave up his soul from a stomach ailment. His brother Amr went on a campaign in the same way. Isma captured him "Il ibn-Ahmed Samani sent the bound man to Baghdad so that the caliph would do with him what was predetermined by fate. Besasiri came from Misr to Baghdad with a great army, seized the caliph and kept him imprisoned in Hadith. For two years in Baghdad he recited khutbah and minted coins in the name of Mustan-sir, who was the Ismaili caliph in Misra. In the end, [this] became known to Togrul-bek, a Seljuk. With a huge army, he moved from Khorasan to Besasiri, captured him and executed him, and released the caliph from prison, delivered him to Baghdad and planted him as caliph. Sultan Mohammed, a Seljuk, also made an attempt on Baghdad, but turned back defeated and died on the way. Mohammed Khorezmshah, plotting to exterminate our family, led a great army, but by the verdict of God's wrath, he was overtaken by a snowstorm on the mountain pass of Asadabad and most of his army died. Having failed and suffered losses, he returned back and on the island of Abeskun suffered what he suffered from his grandfather Genghis Khan. There will be no good for the sovereign from evil intentions against the Abbasid family. Let him meditate on the evil eye of treacherous fate. From these words, the anger of Hulagu Khan increased ...
... [Hulagu Khan] set out and settled on the banks of the Khulvan River on the 9th day of the month zi-l-hijje 655 (18.XII.1257). There he stayed until the 22nd of the same month (31.XII.1257). In those days, Kitbuka-noyon took many cities of Luristan with good and force. On the 11th day of the Jakshabat-month of the year of the snake, corresponding to the 9th day of the month of Mu-harram 656 (16.II.1258), Baiju-noyon, Buka-Timur and
Sunjak at the appointed time, on the road to Dujail, having crossed the Tigris, reached the environs of Nahr-i-Isa ... 4 .
The troops entered the city at once and set fire to damp and dry, except for the houses of a few Arkauns and some strangers. On Friday, the 9th day of the month of Safar, Hulagu Khan entered the city to inspect the Caliph's palace. He settled in the [palace?] ... and feasted with the emirs. He ordered to call the caliph and said: "You are the host, and we are guests, show me that you have a suitable one for us." The caliph understood the truth of these words, trembled with fear and was so frightened that he could not remember where the keys to the vaults were. He ordered several locks to be broken and offered 2,000 robes, 10,000 dinars and some rare items studded with jewels and pearls for the service. Hulagu Khan paid no attention to them, gave everything to the emirs and those present and said to the caliph: “The riches that you have on earth, they are obvious and belong to my servants, and you tell me about the buried treasures, what they are and where.” The caliph confessed to the [existence of] a reservoir full of gold in the middle of the palace. It was dug up, and it turned out to be full of pure gold, all in ingots of 100 misqals.
It was ordered to count the Caliph's harems. 700 wives and concubines and 1000 servants were listed in detail. When the caliph learned about the census of the harem, he humbly prayed and said: "The inhabitants of the harem, who were not illuminated by the sun and moon, give me." [Hulagu Khan] said: "Choose 100 out of 700 and leave the rest." The caliph took with him 100 women from relatives and friends. At night, Hulagu Khan returned to headquarters and in the morning ordered Sunjak to go to the city and take away all the property of the caliph and send him [out of the city]. In short, everything that was collected for 600 years was piled up in mountains around the khan's headquarters. Most of the revered places, such as: the cathedral mosque of the caliphs, the tomb of Musa Javad, peace be upon him, and the tombs of Rusafa were burned ...
At the end of the day on Wednesday, the 14th day of the month of Safar in summer 656 (20. II. 1258) in the village of Waqf, the cause of the caliph was finished along with his eldest son and five servants who were with him.
The next day they executed the others who stood with him at the gates of Calvaz. None of the Abbasids who were found were left alive, except for a few... who sat [on the throne] after the Umayyad family, was cut short. The term of their caliphate was 525 years, and their number was 37 people according to how they are named and listed [below]: Saffah, Mansur, Mahdi, Hadi, Rashid, Amin, Ma "mun, Mu" tasim, Vasik, Mutawakkil, Muntasir , Musta "in, Mu" tazz, Mukhtadi, Mu "tamid, Mu" tadid, Muktafi, Muktadir, Kahir, Radi, Mutaki, Mustafi, Muti, Tai, Kadir, Qaim, Muktadi, Mustazhir, Mustarshid, Rashid, Muktafi, Mustandjid , Mu-stadi, Nasir, Zahir, Mustansir, Musta "sim. [The last] caliphed for 17 years.
1 In the manuscript of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the name of the city is omitted, leaving a space.
2 We omit a very lengthy story about the exchange of ambassadors between the caliph and the khan, retaining the part that shows the unstable position of the caliphate in the last time before the invasion of the Mongols.
Participation in wars:
Mongol conquests. Subjugation of the Ismailis. Wars in Palestine.
Participation in battles:
Capture of Baghdad. At Ain Jalut.
(Kitbuqa) Baurchi, Mongol warlord
kitbook known as one of the main military leaders in the Middle East campaign.
By origin, he was a Naiman, professed Christianity and enjoyed great respect in the army. For his numerous merits, he was appointed baurchi (steward).
In the autumn of 1253, Hulagu set out with troops from Mongolia and at the beginning of 1256 crossed the Amu Darya. However, kitbook already in August 1252 he was sent with an advanced detachment of 12 thousand people against the Iranian Ismailis-Nizaris. He crossed the river in March 1253 and proceeded to conquer the region of Kuhistan. With five thousand foot and cavalry soldiers, Kitbuk approached the Ismaili fortress of Girdekuh. By May 1253, the Mongols surrounded the fortress with a rampart and a moat so that no one could escape from it (they did the same behind their troops). Kitbuka left the commander of Buri near Girdekuh, and he himself went to the Mikhrin fortress and laid siege to it, placing stone throwers. In August, Kitbuka approached Shahdiz, "killed many", but could not take the fortress. Meanwhile, the defenders of Girdekuh bravely defended themselves and made sorties, destroying the enemy troops. kitbook made a new raid on Girdekuh, but did not succeed; the fortress held out for several more decades and was captured only during the reign of Ilkhan Abagi (1265-1282). Kitbuk managed to occupy Turshiz, Tun, Diz-i Mikhrin, Diz-i Qemali and, after a three-day battle, Diz-i Shal.
Upon arrival in Persia, Hulagu began to prepare for a large-scale offensive against the Ismailis, since their imam Rukn al-Din Khurshah he was in no hurry to surrender his main fortresses Alamut, Meimundiz and Lumbeser. The troops of Kitbuki and Neguder-ogul were to form the left wing of the army, moving from Semnan and Khar. When the troops approached Meimundiz in November 1256, Hulagu gathered a military council, which decided whether to besiege the fortress or, in connection with the onset of winter, retreat until next year. kitbook together with some military leaders spoke out in favor of the siege. Khurshah, realizing that he was unable to resist, surrendered the fortress without a fight on November 20.
In the winter of 1258, Kitbuka, under the leadership of Hulagu, participated in the capture of Baghdad.
But soon died great khan mongke, and Hulagu was forced to withdraw from Syria to Persia, leaving Kitbuka in command of ten thousand troops. While the Mongols were showing friendliness to the Christians, Julien Grenier, lord of Sidon, from his castle of Beaufort, attacked Marge Ayun and captured rich booty. Kitbuki's nephew, unable to endure the robbery in the lands controlled by the Mongols, rushed after the robbers with his insignificant detachment, but was destroyed. In response, Kitbuk besieged Sidon. Julien fought in front of the city to enable the population to escape, and then took refuge in the sea citadel. The Mongols devastated the lower city, demolished the fortress walls, but did not besiege the castle.
Having received reinforcements from the allied Georgians and Armenians, Kitbuka, contrary to the orders of Hulagu to remain in place, continued to move from Syria to the south (to Palestine). Without taking precautions, he went far into enemy territory (10 days south of Jerusalem). A powerful army of Egyptian Mamluks under the command of the Sultan moved towards him. Kutuza and his militant colleague
For centuries, Baghdad was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, whose rulers were descendants of Muhammad's uncle Abbas. In the middle of the 8th century they overthrew the Umayyads and moved the capital of the Caliphate from Damascus to Baghdad. Since then, the city has grown and prospered, at the peak of its development, the number of citizens reached almost a million people, and 60 thousand soldiers guarded the capital. The city was a cultural capital, famous for its beautiful palaces and mosques, a library that kept essential knowledge accumulated over the centuries, and rare handwritten scrolls. However, by the middle of the 13th century, the Abbasid house began to lose its influence, the caliph was under the rule of Turkic-speaking military leaders and the Mamluks. But Baghdad continued to be a rich city and cultural center.
The Mongol empire expanded in the east and increasingly paid attention to the lands of the Abbasids. The caliphs tried to keep peace with the Mongols, even sending their soldiers to them as a tribute. However, despite this, the Mongols made several attempts to capture Baghdad, but the city repulsed their claims both in 1238 and in 1245. The Mongols did not abandon their attempts to subjugate the caliphate and demanded that the Caliph of Baghdad submit to the kagan and personally come to the capital of the Mongol Empire, Karakorum . The illustrious dynasty did not take this step. Then in 1257, the grandson of Genghis Khan and the ruler of the Mongols Munke firmly decided to establish his power in Mesopotamia, Syria and Iran.
The device of Baghdad
The military campaign, which was called the Yellow Crusade, was entrusted by the kagan to his brother Hulagu. One of the tasks was the subjugation of the Abbasid Caliphate and the payment of tribute by soldiers in order to strengthen the Mongol army. In case of disobedience, Munch ordered the destruction of Baghdad. Hulagu began preparations for the campaign and ordered every tenth man fit for war by age to be taken into the army. In this way the Mongols mustered about 150,000 men, their largest army, according to some sources. The Mongol army was significantly reinforced by Christians: it included Armenians led by their king, French Christians from Antioch, Georgians who were eager to avenge the devastation of Tiflis, and Nestorian Christians. There is also mention of a thousand Chinese engineers who accompanied the Mongol army, of Persian and Turkic mercenaries.
Khan Hulagu
Hulagu's army showed its power in subjugating the Lurs and the Assassins (as the Nizari Ismailis were called). The Mongols almost without a fight took the impregnable fortress of Alamut and moved to Baghdad. Hulagu sent an envoy to the Baghdad caliph al-Mustasim with Munke's demands. However, the caliph refused to submit to them, and largely thanks to his adviser and grand vizier Ibn al-Alkami. He was later accused of incompetence and misjudging the danger of a Mongol invasion. The vizier convinced al-Mustasim that Baghdad was safe, and in which case, the entire Islamic world would stand up for him. The arrogant caliph rather sharply and insultingly responded to Hulagu's proposal. The Mongols began preparations for the siege and stopped any negotiations. The Caliph of Baghdad calmed down and did not even bother to order to gather troops and strengthen the city walls. This frivolity of the ruler will turn into a catastrophe for all his subjects.
Battle near the walls of Baghdad
On January 11, 1258, the Mongol army approached the walls of the city. Hulagu transported part of the soldiers to the other side of the Tigris River and thus took Baghdad "in pincers." Then al-Mustasim realized the seriousness of what was happening and sent about 20,000 cavalry to give battle to the Mongols. But almost the entire detachment was destroyed. Mongolian sappers broke through the dikes along the Tigris and the Abbasid army drowned. The caliph called for about 50,000 soldiers to defend the city, but the people were poorly equipped, discipline in the army was also lame. Al-Musta'sim could have invited soldiers from other Muslim empires, but he neglected this opportunity.
The siege of Baghdad began on 29 January. Chinese engineers ordered to dig a ditch around the city, installed catapults, surrounded the city with a palisade and siege structures. By February 5, the Mongols were able to recapture part of the city wall. Realizing that there was little chance of victory, the caliph tried to enter into negotiations with Hulagu, but the offended Mongol commander decided to go to the end, as his brother ordered him. On February 10, Baghdad surrendered. Three days later the Mongols entered the city. Hulagu gave the capital of the Caliphate to be plundered for a week.
City siege
The Mongols staged a real massacre, they did not spare anyone. Those who tried to escape from the capital were caught by Hulagu's people and mercilessly killed. Until now, historians have not been able to establish exact number victims, some say more than 100,000 people, others believe that the Mongols killed about a million people. The streets were covered in blood and the city filled with the dead. The stench from the corpses was so unbearable that the Mongols moved their headquarters to the leeward side of Baghdad. Hulagu did not hesitate to crack down not only on the inhabitants of the city, but also on its cultural heritage. Beautiful palaces, mosques, hospitals, state buildings, the House of Wisdom - the Islamic Academy and its library, which contained the most important scientific manuscripts of that time in medicine, astronomy and other fields, were destroyed. Books and scrolls were thrown into the river to cross it. They say that the Tiger was black from the ink washed off the scrolls and red from the blood of scientists and philosophers. The city was in flames and agony.
Caliph al-Mustasim was captured and forced to watch the death of his people, after which the Mongols dealt with him. According to one report, he was trampled. The Mongols wrapped the Caliph in a carpet and led their cavalry over him. They hoped that in this way the earth would not be offended, that they shed royal blood. However, the famous traveler Marco Polo claimed that Hulagu locked the caliph in a treasury, among gold and precious stones, without food and water, and he "died like a dog." All the children of the caliph, except for one, were destroyed. The only survivor was sent to Hagan Munk in Mongolia, where he lived without any political power and influence.
Caliph imprisoned in a treasure tower
Baghdad lay in ruins, it took more than one century to restore the city. The population was exterminated, buildings and cultural monuments were destroyed, the irrigation system was destroyed and Agriculture has fallen into disrepair. The ruin of the city led to the decline of the Islamic Golden Age and the end of the Abbasin dynasty. According to scientists, the fall of Baghdad was a heavy blow for the Muslim world: Islam became more conservative and intolerant, and the intellectual potential of civilization was sunk in the waters of the Tigris.