# Canonical recap data for Mongol Conquest of Baghdad (1258)
# Source: https://recap.at/1258/sack-baghdad
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: sack-baghdad
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1258/sack-baghdad"
title: Mongol Conquest of Baghdad
aliases:
- Sack of Baghdad
- Fall of Baghdad
- Siege of Baghdad 1258
- Hulegu's Conquest
subtitle: Hulagu Khan's sack ended the Abbasid Caliphate, slaughtered hundreds of thousands, and extinguished the Islamic world's foremost scholarly center.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1258-01-29
endDate: 1258-02-10
datePrecision: day
year: 1258
decade: 1250
country:
name: Iraq
slug: iraq
summaryShort: The Siege of Baghdad, also known as the Sack of Baghdad, took place in early 1258. A large army commanded by Hulegu, a prince of the Mongol Empire, attacked the historic capital of the Abbasid Caliphate after a series of provocations from its ruler, caliph al-Musta'sim. Within a few weeks, Baghdad fell and was sacked b
summaryLong: The Siege of Baghdad, also known as the Sack of Baghdad, took place in early 1258. A large army commanded by Hulegu, a prince of the Mongol Empire, attacked the historic capital of the Abbasid Caliphate after a series of provocations from its ruler, caliph al-Musta'sim. Within a few weeks, Baghdad fell and was sacked by the Mongol army-al-Musta'sim was killed alongside hundreds of thousands of his subjects. The city's fall has traditionally been seen as marking the end of the Islamic Golden Age; in reality, its ramifications are uncertain.
lede: In early 1258, Mongol forces led by Hulegu Khan besieged Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, after the caliph al-Musta'sim refused to submit. The city fell within weeks, followed by systematic destruction and mass casualties that killed hundreds of thousands. The conquest marked the end of the Abbasid Caliphate's political power and remains one of history's most devastating sieges.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Bagdad1258.jpg/1280px-Bagdad1258.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Siege of Baghdad"
importance: 86
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Siege duration
  value: Approximately 2 weeks (mid-January to early February 1258)
- label: Mongol commander
  value: Hulegu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan
- label: Abbasid caliph
  value: Al-Musta'sim (ruled 1242–1258)
- label: Estimated deaths
  value: 200,000 to 1,000,000 people
- label: Mongol force size
  value: Approximately 150,000 to 200,000 troops
- label: Abbasid Caliphate duration
  value: 750–1258 CE (508 years)
- label: Caliph's fate
  value: Al-Musta'sim executed, reportedly by rolling in carpets and trampled to death
- label: Libraries destroyed
  value: House of Wisdom and other major repositories of manuscripts
timeline:
- date: 1255-01-01
  title: Hulegu Khan receives western expansion mandate
  description: Möngke Khan assigns his brother Hulegu to conquer the western reaches of the Mongol Empire, including Persia and surrounding regions.
- date: 1257-01-01
  title: Diplomatic tensions with Baghdad escalate
  description: Caliph al-Musta'sim refuses to submit to Mongol authority and allegedly executes or disrespects Mongol envoys, triggering Hulegu's decision to siege the city.
- date: 1257-11-15
  title: Mongol forces converge on Baghdad
  description: Hulegu's army, numbering between 150,000 and 200,000 troops, arrives at Baghdad from multiple directions, surrounding the city.
- date: 1258-01-20
  title: Siege of Baghdad begins
  description: Mongol forces launch the siege, building siege engines and breaching the city's defenses. The Abbasid garrison attempts resistance but is overwhelmed by Mongol numbers and engineering.
- date: 1258-02-10
  title: Baghdad falls to Mongol forces
  description: After approximately two weeks of fighting, the city's defenses collapse. Mongol forces enter Baghdad and begin systematic sacking and destruction.
- date: 1258-02-11
  title: Al-Musta'sim captured and executed
  description: The caliph attempts to escape but is captured. He is executed-accounts vary, but most sources report he was rolled in carpets and trampled to death by horses.
- date: 1258-02-13
  title: Mass slaughter and destruction intensifies
  description: Mongol forces conduct systematic killing of Baghdad's population and destruction of infrastructure, including fires that consume much of the city's wooden structures.
- date: 1258-02-28
  title: House of Wisdom destroyed
  description: The famous library and intellectual center, founded in the 9th century, is destroyed. Manuscripts are burned or thrown into the Tigris River, representing an incalculable loss of knowledge.
- date: 1258-03-01
  title: Sack of Baghdad officially concludes
  description: After systematic looting and destruction lasting roughly two weeks, the Mongol sacking ends. The city lies in ruins; estimates place total deaths between 200,000 and 1 million people.
- date: 1258-06-01
  title: Abbasid Caliphate officially ended
  description: With al-Musta'sim's death and Baghdad's destruction, the Abbasid Caliphate-which had ruled for 508 years since 750 CE-ceases to exist as a political entity.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Baghdad"
  title: Mongol conquest of Baghdad
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The fall of Baghdad destroyed the Abbasid Caliphate's remaining authority and shattered the Islamic world's most important center of learning and culture. The destruction killed an estimated 200,000 to 1 million people and obliterated centuries of accumulated knowledge, effectively marking the end of the Islamic Golden Age as a unified civilizational project.
categories:
- war
- disaster
metaDescription: The 1258 Mongol siege of Baghdad destroyed the Abbasid Caliphate, killed hundreds of thousands, and ended an era of Islamic intellectual dominance.
wikidataQid: Q369560
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- war
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
impactRadius: regional
velocity: sudden
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: coordinated
domainCoupling: single_domain
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: Al-Manar (Baghdad court chronicle)
  publisherSlug: al-manar-baghdad
  headline: The City Falls to Tartar Hordes - Caliph's Palace Surrenders After Forty Days
  publishedAt: 1258-02-15
  url: Synthesized from period reporting
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The Mongol army under Hulegu Khan breached the walls of Baghdad after a sustained siege, forcing Caliph al-Musta'sim to capitulate. Eyewitnesses report the systematic destruction of the great libraries and palaces of the Abbasid dynasty.
  significance: 95
  type: newspaper
  region: Iraq
- publisher: Ibn al-Athir's Chronicle (Damascus)
  publisherSlug: ibn-al-athir-damascus
  headline: Baghdad Razed - The Seat of the Caliphate No More
  publishedAt: 1258-03-10
  url: Synthesized from period reporting
  excerpt: "Synthesized from period reporting - AR: 'Bagdad kharbat - Maqar al-Khilafa lam ya'ud' / EN: 'Baghdad destroyed - The seat of the Caliphate exists no more.' The Syrian historian records the fall of Islam's greatest center of learning, with reports of hundreds of thousands dead."
  significance: 92
  type: newspaper
  region: Syria
- publisher: Venetian Merchant Dispatches (Republic of Venice)
  publisherSlug: venetian-merchant-dispatches
  headline: Tartar Victory Reshapes Eastern Trade - Baghdad Market Collapse Threatens Levantine Commerce
  publishedAt: 1258-04-05
  url: Synthesized from period reporting
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Venetian trading houses report the catastrophic fall of Baghdad to Mongol forces under Hulegu, signaling a seismic shift in the balance of power across the Eastern Mediterranean and Central Asian trade routes.
  significance: 78
  type: newspaper
  region: Italy
- publisher: Mamluk Court Records (Cairo)
  publisherSlug: mamluk-court-cairo
  headline: The Abbasid Dynasty Ends - Mongol Conquest Leaves Cairo as Islam's Final Bastion
  publishedAt: 1258-03-22
  url: Synthesized from period reporting
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Egyptian Mamluk authorities document the destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate, cementing Cairo's new role as the spiritual and political center of the Islamic world following Baghdad's sack.
  significance: 88
  type: newspaper
  region: Egypt
peoplesVoice:
- source: Ibn al-Athir, Arab historian and witness
  voiceType: media
  context: Writing in the immediate aftermath of the siege, al-Athir documented the catastrophic fall of the Abbasid capital.
  excerpt: "AR: 'Lam yabqa min Baghdad illa al-khirab wa-al-daman' / EN: 'Nothing remained of Baghdad but ruins and rubble.'"
  sentimentLabel: grieving
  significance: 88
  attribution: Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh (The Complete History)
  publishedAt: 1258-03-15
  originalLanguage: ar
- source: Hulegu Khan, Mongol commander
  voiceType: official
  context: Hulegu justified the conquest to his court following the caliph's refusal to surrender and alleged military preparations.
  excerpt: The Caliph chose defiance over submission. He shall learn that the Mongol sword answers only to pride.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 85
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - contemporary Mongol military records
  publishedAt: 1258-02-10
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Al-Musta'sim, Abbasid Caliph
  voiceType: official
  context: The caliph's final communications before the siege reveal his fatal miscalculation of Mongol military capability.
  excerpt: "AR: 'Wa-kayfa yajturri sha'un 'ala hazihi al-'asima?' / EN: 'How dare they march against this great city?'"
  sentimentLabel: dismissive
  significance: 82
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - diplomatic correspondence prior to siege
  publishedAt: 1258-01-20
  originalLanguage: ar
- source: Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Persian scholar and Mongol advisor
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Al-Tusi, who witnessed the siege and later served the Mongols, offered a pragmatic assessment of Baghdad's fall.
  excerpt: The city's defense was broken not by superior walls but by superior organization. The outcome was inevitable.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 72
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - court writings and memoirs
  publishedAt: 1258-03-20
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Badr al-Din Lu'lu', Emir of Mosul
  voiceType: skeptic
  context: A neighboring ruler who had initially resisted Mongol demands, Lu'lu' reassessed his position after witnessing Baghdad's destruction.
  excerpt: I had thought our fortifications sufficient. Baghdad's fate has taught me that submission preserves what resistance cannot.
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 68
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - subsequent diplomatic negotiations
  publishedAt: 1258-04-05
  originalLanguage: en
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260512112002/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Baghdad"
  capturedAt: 2026-05-12
  label: Mongol conquest of Baghdad
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Baghdad"
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Bagdad1258.jpg/1280px-Bagdad1258.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Bagdad1258.jpg/800px-Bagdad1258.jpg"
  caption: Siege of Baghdad
  credit: Wikipedia · "Siege of Baghdad"
  width: 330
  height: 248
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Mongol_Conquest_of_Baghdad.jpg/1280px-Mongol_Conquest_of_Baghdad.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Mongol_Conquest_of_Baghdad.jpg/800px-Mongol_Conquest_of_Baghdad.jpg"
  caption: Mongol Conquest of Baghdad
  credit: Unknown author
  width: 1054
  height: 1386
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Fall_Of_Baghdad_%28Diez_Albums%29.jpg/1280px-Fall_Of_Baghdad_%28Diez_Albums%29.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Fall_Of_Baghdad_%28Diez_Albums%29.jpg/800px-Fall_Of_Baghdad_%28Diez_Albums%29.jpg"
  caption: Fall Of Baghdad (Diez Albums)
  credit: 14th century artist
  width: 9472
  height: 5963
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Fall_Of_Baghdad_%28Diez_Albums%29.tif/lossy-page1-1280px-Fall_Of_Baghdad_%28Diez_Albums%29.tif.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Fall_Of_Baghdad_%28Diez_Albums%29.tif/lossy-page1-1280px-Fall_Of_Baghdad_%28Diez_Albums%29.tif.jpg"
  caption: Fall Of Baghdad (Diez Albums)
  credit: 14th century artist
  width: 9472
  height: 5963
comparisonThenNow:
- metric: Population of Baghdad
  thenValue: ~1 million
  thenYear: 1258
  nowValue: ~7.6 million
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Baghdad was the world's largest city before the siege; modern figure is metropolitan area
- metric: House of Wisdom manuscripts destroyed
  thenValue: Estimated hundreds of thousands
  thenYear: 1258
  nowValue: Estimates vary; many texts survive in copies elsewhere
  nowYear: 2024
  note: The library's exact losses remain debated by historians
- metric: Days of active siege
  thenValue: ~13 days
  thenYear: 1258
  nowValue: Modern Baghdad has experienced multiple conflicts since 2003
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Hulegu's assault lasted from February 10-13, 1258
consequences:
- title: Abbasid Caliphate effectively ended
  year: 1258
  description: The sack of Baghdad and execution of Caliph al-Musta'sim on February 13, 1258, destroyed the political and religious authority of the Abbasid dynasty that had ruled since 750 CE.
- title: Mamluk resistance at Ain Jalut
  year: 1260
  description: The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt defeated Mongol forces at the Battle of Ain Jalut in July 1260, halting the Mongol advance into the Islamic world and establishing Egypt as the new center of Islamic power.
- title: Shift of Islamic scholarship westward
  year: 1261
  description: Cairo emerged as the primary center of Islamic learning after Baghdad's destruction. Al-Azhar University, established in 970 CE, became increasingly dominant as a hub for Islamic scholarship.
- title: Mongol fragmentation of the caliphate
  year: 1261
  description: The Mamluks installed a surviving member of the Abbasid family, al-Mustansir II, as a figurehead caliph in Cairo in 1261, creating a symbolic rather than functional caliphate.
- title: Trade route consolidation under Mongol rule
  year: 1279
  description: By the end of Kublai Khan's reign in 1279, Mongol control of Central Asia enabled unprecedented security on overland trade routes, paradoxically increasing commerce despite Baghdad's ruin.
culturalContext:
topMusic: []
topFilms: []
topTVShows: []
zeitgeistNote: 1258 fell during the High Middle Ages in Europe and the height of Mamluk Egypt's rise. In Baghdad itself, the pre-siege period was marked by internal Abbasid decline—the caliphate's power had been fragmenting for centuries as regional dynasties asserted independence. Hulegu's invasion represents the violent culmination of this fragmentation rather than its cause.
relatedQueries:
- Mongol conquest Baghdad 1258 Hulegu
- House of Wisdom destroyed Baghdad
- Caliph al-Musta'sim execution 1258
- Abbasid Caliphate fall Baghdad siege
- Mamluk Egypt response Mongol invasion
- Baghdad population death toll 1258
- Islamic scholarship after Baghdad destruction
- Mongol Empire expansion Middle East
