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Hulagu Khan
"When I lead my army against Baghdad in anger, whether you hide in heaven or in earth, I will bring you down from the spinning spheres; I will toss you in the air like a lion. I will leave no one alive in your realm; I will burn your city, your land, your self.
If you wish to spare yourself and your venerable family, give heed to my advice with the ear of intelligence. If you do not, you will see what God has willed.”
Hulagu Khan (letter to the last Caliph of Baghdad1258)
Hulagu (left) imprisons the Caliph among his treasures to starve him to death. Medieval depiction from "Le livre des merveilles", 15th century.
Hulagu, a fanatic and a Buddhist, one of the grandsons of Genghis Khan, was a man true to his words to the last Caliph of Baghdad, the Highest personality in the then Islam.The Caliph was rolled up in a carpet and trampled to death by Hulagu’s cavalry.
Hulagu’s army obliterated Baghdad, the capital city of the then Islamic Caliphate . The populace were raped and murdered. The Palaces were stripped bare and torched. The jewel in Baghdad’s crown, it’s Grand Library, had it’s millennia of knowledge thrown into the Tigris - so many books and parchment that theriver turned black. Baghdad was razed to the ground and 10 000 000 or 10 million people (in modern figures) were killed in the greatest massacre of Humanity in 1258.(Arabs’ estimate is 20 million).Estimates vary dramatically.
Mongol Empire
Many historical accounts detailed the cruelties of the Mongol conquerors.
i) The Mongols looted and then destroyed mosques, palaces, libraries, and hospitals. Grand buildings that had been the work of generations were burned to the ground. Not a single mosque was spared. He made Buddhism the State religion the places he conquered.
ii) The caliph was captured and forced to watch as his citizens were murdered and his treasury plundered. According to most accounts, the caliph was killed by trampling. The Mongols rolled the caliph up in a rug, and rode their horses over him, as they believed that the earth was offended if touched by royal blood. All but one of his sons were killed, and the sole surviving son was sent to Mongolia, probably as a slave.
iii) TheGrand Library of Baghdad, containing countless precious historical documents and books on subjects ranging from medicine to astronomy, was destroyed.
iv) Citizens attempted to flee, but were intercepted by Mongol soldiers who killed in abundance.
Who was Hulagu Khan and what was his aim?
Hulagu, son ofTolui and the Kerait princess Sorghaghtani Beki, a grandson of Genghis Khan, and the brother of Ariq Böke, Möngke KhanandKublai Khan.(Kublai Khan made Buddhism the state religion of China). Hulagu's brotherMöngkehad been installed as Great Khan in 1251.
In 1255, Möngke charged Hulagu with leading a massive Mongol army to conquer or destroy the remaining Muslim states in southwestern Asia. Hulagu's campaign sought the subjugation of the Lurs of southern Iran, the destruction of the Hashshashin sect, the submission or destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad, the submission or destruction of the Ayyubid states in Syria based in Damascus, and finally, the submission or destruction of the BahriMamlukSultanate of Egypt.
Möngke ordered Hulagu to treat kindly those who submitted, and utterly destroy those who did not. Hulagu vigorously carried out the latter part of these instructions.
Results:-
The siege is considered to mark the end of the Islamic Golden Age, during which the caliphates had extended their rule from the Iberian Peninsula to Sindh, and which was also marked by many cultural achievements. What had been the centre of earth for several centuries had been turned into a graveyard and it never stood up again.
Sources:-
1) TheSiege of Baghdad (1258)-Wikipedia
2) Hulagu Khan(1218-1265)-Wikipedia
3)Genghis Khan and Muslim Holocast
Though ruthless, we should appreciate the Art of War of Hulagu Khan. His plannings, techniques and executions must be analyzed without any prejudice. Further civil discussions are welcome on these issues.
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