Hulegu’s army then continued west, heading for Baghdad. For centuries, this city in what is now Iraq had been a center of Islamic culture and politics. Its ruler was called a caliph. A caliph was both a political and religious leader, and he had great authority. The Abbasid caliphate, or kingdom, based in Baghdad had been founded in 750, and at its peak the Abbasid Dynasty controlled an empire that stretched from North Africa to Afghanistan.
In 1257, the caliph was Mustasim (d. 1258), whom historian J. J. Saunders in The History of the Mongol Conquests calls “weak, vain, incompetent and cowardly.” Hulegu advised Mustasim to avoid a slaughter and accept Mongol rule. The caliph refused, insulted the Mongol commander, and told him to leave. Instead, Hulegu launched a typical Mongol attack from several directions, with the aid of troops from the Golden
Horde. Early in 1258, Mustasim surrendered, and the Mongols sacked Baghdad. Hulegu later wrote that his forces killed 200,000 Muslims during the battle.
Hulegu remained in Baghdad for about one year, then prepared to move west again. His ultimate goal this time was Egypt, then ruled by the Mamluks-Turkic warriors who had seized power from the caliph. By now, some Christian rulers who had been battling the Muslims in the Middle East welcomed the Mongols, even though a few decades before the nomadic raiders had attacked Christian kingdoms with equal ferocity. During the Crusades, the Christian rulers of Europe tried to push the Muslims out of the Holy Land in what is today the Middle East-the region where Jesus Christ lived and died. By the time the Mongols reached the region, only a few Christian forces remained. Some of those troops united with the Mongols against the Muslims of Syria. Others, however, refused to join the “pagan” Mongols, even against their most bitter enemy.
The Mongols took the Syrian cities of Aleppo and Damascus, and they seemed prepared to establish permanent rule throughout Syria on their way to Egypt. The Mamluks, however, staged a counterattack and won a victory at Ayn Jalut, in modern Israel, in September 1260. By this time, the Mongol army was not at full strength. Hulegu had pulled some of his forces back into Persia after learning that Mongke had died in 1259. Hulegu would have to return to Karakorum for the quriltai that would choose the next Great Khan. The situation paralleled the events of 1241, when the death of Ogedei had ended the Mongol thrust into Europe. Hulegu also realized that keeping a Mongol presence in the Middle East would be hard, since the region lacked grazing lands for their horses. Still, the Mongols would try to retake Syria several more times in the decades to come.
A Royal Execution
When the Mongols killed Mustasim, they first rolled him up in a carpet, then trampled him with their horses. This or similar forms of execution were commonly used for roy-alty. The Mongols believed the blood of important people should not touch the ground.
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World History
