The fall of Baghdad

 

The fall of Baghdad is also considered to mark the end of the Islamic Golden Age. Baghdad would never recover its former glory.

Before inflicting the siege, Hulagu sent an envoy to the Caliph with the message: “If the Caliph is in submission, let him come out. Otherwise, this means war."

From January 22 through 29, the Mongol army swarmed in like ants and locusts from all directions, forming a circle around the ramparts of Baghdad and setting up a wall. A unit consisting of one thousand “crews” of Chinese artillerymen helped breach the walls. They set up catapults opposite the Ajami Tower in the southeast corner of the city and breached it.

By February 5, the Mongols controlled a stretch of the wall. The Caliph attempted too late to negotiate but was refused. On February 10th the city surrendered. Three days later, the Mongols entered the city, and Baghdad was subject to a week of sack and pillage.

Much of the population was put to the sword, the gutters and canals of the city running red. Before they were done, the Mongols destroyed large sections of the city; gratuitously ruining canals and dykes forming the city’s irrigation system and water supply.

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