Sack of Baghdad
Topic: Nomadic Empires: The Mongols · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "An Empire Across Three Continents"
Meaning
The Sack of Baghdad was the capture of Baghdad by Mongol forces under Hulegu in 1258. It ended the Abbasid caliphate, which had stood for about five centuries. It was part of the second phase of Mongol expansion (1255–1300), when Iran, Iraq and Syria were conquered. After it Hulegu set up the Il-Khanid state of Iran, and fighting began between the Il-Khans and the Jochids of the Golden Horde.
Example
Chroniclers said 800,000 people were killed at Baghdad in 1258. Historians treat such huge numbers with care. Elsewhere, an eyewitness counted 400 soldiers defending Bukhara's citadel, yet a later Il-Khanid chronicle said 30,000 were killed there.
Don't confuse with
- Sack of Bukhara (1220): carried out by Genghis Khan himself during the campaign against Khwarazm, where he called himself "the punishment of God". Baghdad fell almost forty years later, under Hulegu.
Related concepts
- Hulegu
- Abbasid caliphate
- Il-Khanate
- Battle of Ain Jalut 1260
- Ulus
- Golden Horde
- Karakorum
- Kublai Khan
- Yuan dynasty