Hulagu Khan born in Mongolia

1239

The grandson of Genghis who would eventually sack Baghdad was born to Tolui and the formidable Nestorian Christian princess Sorghaghtani Beki. He would grow up between steppe and court, unusually interested in Persian astronomy and Buddhist philosophy for a Mongol prince. His mother's strategic maneuvering of her four sons into positions of power would shape the Mongol empire's next half century.