Mongol sack of Baghdad ends the Abbasid Caliphate
- Date
- 10 February 1258 CE
- Category
- Military & conflict
- Region
- Mesopotamia (Iraq)
- Era
- Post-Classical / Medieval
- Significance
Between 29 January and 10 February 1258, a vast Ilkhanate Mongol army led by Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, besieged and stormed Baghdad.
The last reigning Abbasid caliph, al-Mustasim, had refused to submit; after the city fell, the Mongols unleashed days of massacre and plunder in which much of the population was killed or enslaved and the caliph was executed, reportedly rolled in a carpet and trampled to avoid spilling royal blood. Mosques, palaces, markets and libraries were destroyed, including the institutions associated with the House of Wisdom, and chroniclers describe the Tigris running black with the ink of ruined books. The sack extinguished the Abbasid Caliphate that had endured for five centuries and shattered Baghdad's standing as the political and cultural capital of the Islamic world. Widely regarded as marking the end of the Islamic Golden Age, the catastrophe shifted the centres of Muslim power and learning toward Cairo, Anatolia, Persia and India, and left a profound and lasting imprint on the historical memory of the medieval Middle East.
One piece of history in your inbox, weekly
New empires, events and features as they land — one good email a week. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Empires active in 10 February 1258 CE
- Mongol Empire1206 CE – 1368 CE
- Kanem-Bornu Empire700 CE – 1900 CE
- Song Dynasty960 CE – 1279 CE
- Abbasid Caliphate750 CE – 1258 CE
- Byzantine Empire330 CE – 1453 CE
- Kilwa Sultanate957 CE – 1505 CE
Related military & conflict events
- Battle of Ain Jalut halts the Mongol advance3 September 1260 CE
- Failed Mongol invasions of Japan and the 'kamikaze'1274 & 1281 CE
- Mongol sack of Kiev and the fall of Kievan Rus'December 1240 CE
- Battle of Kirina founds the Mali Empire under Sundiata Keitac. 1235 CE
- Mongol Invasions Topple the Pagan Empire of Burma1277-1287 CE (Pagan collapse, 1287)
- Second Battle of Bach Dang: Dai Viet destroys the Yuan-Mongol fleet9 April 1288
Further reading
The wider story
When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World
Popular history of the Abbasid golden age.
Get it on Amazon →As an Amazon Associate, Human Saga earns from qualifying purchases.