1258Reputable sourceWell documented
Hülegü and the Sack of Baghdad
On the timeline · around 1258 ·
What happened
In 1258 Genghis Khan's grandson Hülegü led a Mongol army against Baghdad, capital of the Abbasid Caliphate and a great center of Islamic learning. After a short siege the city fell and was sacked, its libraries destroyed and the caliph and much of the population killed. Hülegü founded the Ilkhanate to rule Persia and the Middle East.
Why it matters
The sack of Baghdad ended the five-century Abbasid Caliphate and is often taken to mark the close of the Islamic Golden Age — one of the most traumatic events in the history of the Muslim world.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Ilkhanate · Reputable source