February 10 1258 – The Mongols Conquer the Abbasid Caliphate and Seize Baghdad

February 10 1258 – The Mongols Conquer the Abbasid Caliphate and Seize BaghdadRate this post Three decades after the death of Genghis Khan, his grandson Hulagu launched an assault on Mesopotamia to secure the loyalty of the Abbasid Caliphate to his brother, supreme leader Mongke Khan. After a two-week siege on Baghdad, Hulagu claimed the capital on February 10, 1258 and ended more than 500 years of Muslim rule. Though a relatively short-lived defeat for the caliphs, the Mongol victory shattered the remnants of a singular Islamic control on government throughout the Middle East. Halfway through the 8th century, the Abbasids came to power by overthrowing the Umayyad dynasty based […]