The Mongols Sack Baghdad
Hulagu Khan destroys the seat of the Abbasid Caliphate, ending five centuries of Islamic imperial rule there
Quick facts
- Location
- Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate
- Mongol commander
- Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan
- Caliph killed
- Al-Musta'sim
- Crusader-Mongol relations
- Bohemond VI of Antioch allied with the Mongols; Pope Alexander IV forbade wider cooperation
What happened
Before invading Mesopotamia, the Mongol prince Hulagu, grandson of Genghis Khan, demanded the Abbasid caliph al-Musta'sim submit and recognize Mongol overlordship, warning through his envoys that "everyone who has been recalcitrant in obeying us has been annihilated along with his women, children, kith and kin, towns, and servants." The caliph's belated attempts to negotiate came too late. Hulagu's forces besieged and captured Baghdad in February 1258, sacking the city and killing the caliph along with a large portion of its population, ending the Abbasid Caliphate's five-century-old seat of authority. Some Crusader-aligned forces in the region, including Bohemond VI of Antioch, allied with the Mongols against common Muslim rivals during this period, a pragmatic alliance that Pope Alexander IV explicitly forbade the wider Crusader States from joining.
Why it matters
Baghdad's destruction eliminated the Islamic world's traditional central religious authority and left a power vacuum the Mamluks of Egypt would move to fill within two years, a rivalry that reshaped the balance of power the remaining Crusader States depended on for survival.
How we know
Hulagu's ultimatum survives in Persian chronicle sources translated and hosted at deremilitari.org, the website of the Society for Medieval Military History, which preserves the caliph's failed negotiation attempts alongside the Mongol demand for submission.
Sources
- De Re Militari, Society for Medieval Military History. The Mongols Besiege and Capture Baghdad in 1258 · Primary source (author-declared)deremilitari.org · Cited as a "primary" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. Eighth Crusade · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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