>>13996234https://historyofyesterday.com/horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-the-mongol-sack-of-baghdad-428dead27d52On February 13th, Hulagu entered the city proper with his army in tow. Instead of administering clemency and mercy, he told his army that they would have a week of time inside Baghdad to do what they wished. What followed is one of the worst sacks of a city in all of human history.
The Mongolian army was allowed free reign to decimate the city as they saw fit. Hulagu took the Caliph and all of the lords of Baghdad to the palace where he moved to seize the state treasury. The rest of the men began seven days of plunder, rape, killing, and destruction that will haunt the Muslim world for centuries to come.
A Persian historian wrote of the destruction in Baghdad in the 14th-century writing:
“They swept through the city like hungry falcons attacking a flight of doves, or like raging wolves attacking sheep, with loose reins and shameless faces, murdering and spreading terror…beds and cushions made of gold and encrusted with jewels were cut to pieces with knives and torn to shreds. Those hiding behind the veils of the great Harem were dragged…through the streets and alleys, each of them becoming a plaything…as the population died at the hands of the invaders.” — Wassaf
Books were shredded. Wealth was destroyed for the sake of destruction. Every living civilian that fell into the hands of the Mongolians was either raped, enslaved, or killed outright. The city was surrounded so that no one could come or go.
The Great Courses Daily says:
“Fires were set so that the fragrant scent of sandalwood and other aromatics was smelled up to 30 miles away.”
While this was going on Hulagu ordered the death of over 3,000 nobles without sparing a single one. The Caliph himself was also put to death but his death was to be the last one so he could watch the destruction of his city and his people.
