High Middle Ages · Middle East · War
1258
Mongols sack Baghdad
February 10, 1258
After a two-week siege, Hulagu's army entered the Abbasid capital and spent a week in systematic slaughter. The last caliph al-Musta'sim was reportedly rolled in a carpet and trampled by horses, sparing his blood. The Tigris was said to run black with ink from the libraries. The fall of Baghdad sent shockwaves across the Islamic world and marked the end of the classical era of Arab civilization.
In context
Also in 1258 (3 other events on record)
- Abbasid Caliphate extinguished after five centuries · Middle East · Politics
- Provisions of Oxford imposed on Henry III · Europe · Politics
- Sarai founded by Batu's successors · Central Asia · Politics
Before and after in Middle East
Before and after in War
Era
High Middle Ages (1000–1300), one of 1,306 events from that era on Saeculum.
Sources