al-Musta'sim Billah
المستعصم بالله
Khalīfah
Amir al-Mu'minin
Dinar minted under al-Musta'sim's rule
Caliph of the Abbasid dynasty
Reign5 December 1242 – 20 February 1258 (15 years 2 months 15 days)
Predecessoral-Mustansir
SuccessorPosition abolished
al-Mustansir bi'llah (caliph of Cairo)
Born1213
Baghdad
Died20 February 1258 (aged 45)
Baghdad
Burial
Iraq
Consort
Names
Abu Ahmad Abdallah ibn al-Mustansir al-Musta'sim Billah
DynastyAbbasid
Fatheral-Mustansir
MotherHajir[2]
ReligionSunni Islam

Abu Ahmad Abdallah ibn al-Mustansir bi'llah (Arabic: أبو أحمد عبد الله بن المستنصر بالله) better known by his regnal title Al-Mustaʿṣim bi-llāh (Arabic: المستعصم بالله;‎ 1213 – 20 February 1258) was the 37th and last caliph from the Abbasid dynasty ruling from Baghdad. He held the title from 1242 until his death in 1258.

Biography

Abu Ahmad Abdallah (future caliph Al-Musta'sim) was a son of the Abbasid caliph al-Mustansir, and his mother was Hajir.[3] He was born in 1213. After the death of his father, al-Musta'sim succeeded to the throne in late 1242.

He is noted for his opposition to the rise of Shajar al-Durr to the Egyptian throne during the Seventh Crusade. He sent a message from Baghdad to the Mamluks in Egypt that said: "If you do not have men there tell us so we can send you men."[4] However, al-Musta'sim had to face the greatest menace against the caliphate since its establishment in 632: the invasion of the Mongol forces that, under Hulagu Khan, had already wiped out any resistance in Transoxiana and Khorasan. In 1255/1256 Hulagu forced the Abbasid to lend their forces for the campaign against Alamut.

News of the murder of al-Muazzam Turanshah and the inauguration of Shajar al-Durr as the new Sultan reached Syria. The Syrian Emirs were asked to pay homage to Shajar al-Durr but they refused and the Sultan's deputy in Al Karak rebelled against Cairo.[5] The Syrian Emirs in Damascus gave the city to an-Nasir Yusuf the Ayyubid Emir of Aleppo and the Mamluks in Cairo responded by arresting the Emirs who were loyal to the Ayyubids in Egypt.[6] In addition to the Ayyubids in Syria, the Abbasid caliph al-Musta'sim in Baghdad also rejected the Mamluk move in Egypt and refused to recognize Shajar al-Dur as a Sultan.[7][8] The refusal of the Caliph to recognize Shajar al-Durr as the new Sultan was a great setback to the Mamluks in Egypt as the custom during the Ayyubid era was that the Sultan could gain legitimacy only through the recognition of the Abbasid Caliph.[9][10] The Mamluks, therefore, decided to install Izz al-Din Aybak as a new Sultan. He married Shajar al-Durr who abdicated and passed the throne to him after she had ruled Egypt as sultan for about three months.[11] Though the period of Shajar al-Durr's rule as a sultan was of short duration, it witnessed two important events in history: one, the expelling of Louis IX from Egypt, which marked the end of the Crusaders' ambition to conquer the southern Mediterranean basin; and two, the death of the Ayyubid dynasty and the birth of the Mamluk state which dominated the southern Mediterranean for decades.

To please the Caliph and secure his recognition, Aybak announced that he was merely a representative of the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad.[12] To placate the Ayyubids in Syria the Mamluks nominated an Ayyubid child named al-Sharaf Musa as a co-sultan.[9][13] But this did not satisfy the Ayyubids and armed conflicts between the Mamluks and the Ayyubids broke out.[14] The Caliph in Baghdad, preoccupied with the Mongols who were raiding territories not far from his capital, preferred to see the matter settled peacefully between the Mamluks in Egypt and the Ayyubids in Syria. Through negotiation and mediation of the Caliph that followed the bloody conflict, the Mamluks who manifested military superiority[15] reached an agreement with the Ayyubids that gave them control over southern Palestine including Gaza and Jerusalem and the Syrian coast.[16] By this agreement the Mamluks not only added new territories to their dominion but also gained recognition for their rule.

Marco Polo claimed that Hulagu (left) imprisoned al-Musta'sim among his treasures to starve him to death. The historicity of this is disputed, it is widely considered unhistorical.

In 1258, Hulagu invaded the Abbasid domain, which then consisted of only Baghdad, its immediate surroundings, and southern Iraq. In his campaign to conquer Baghdad, Hulagu Khan had several columns advance simultaneously on the city, and laid siege to it. The Mongols kept the people of Abbasid Caliphate in their capital and executed those who tried to flee.

Baghdad was sacked on February 10 and the caliph was killed by Hulagu Khan soon afterward. It is reckoned that the Mongols did not want to shed "royal blood", so they wrapped him in a rug and trampled him to death with their horses. Some of his sons were massacred as well. One of the surviving sons was sent as a prisoner to Mongolia, where Mongolian historians report he married and fathered children, but played no role in Islam thereafter.

The Travels of Marco Polo reports that upon finding the caliph's great stores of treasure which could have been spent on the defense of his realm, Hulagu Khan locked him in his treasure room without food or water, telling him "eat of thy treasure as much as thou wilt, since thou art so fond of it."[17][18]

Siege of Baghdad

Hulagu sent word to al-Musta'sim, demanding his acquiescence to the terms imposed by Möngke. Al-Musta'sim refused, in large part due to the influence of his advisor and grand vizier, Ibn al-Alkami. Historians have ascribed various motives to Ibn al-Alkami's opposition to submission, including treachery[19] and incompetence,[20] and it appears that he lied to the caliph about the severity of the invasion, assuring al-Musta'sim that, if the capital of the caliphate was endangered by a Mongol army, the Islamic world would rush to its aid.[20]

Although he replied to Hulagu's demands in a manner that the Mongol commander found menacing and offensive enough to break off further negotiation,[21] al-Musta'sim neglected to summon armies to reinforce the troops at his disposal in Baghdad. Nor did he strengthen the city's walls. By January 11, the Mongols were close to the city,[20] establishing themselves on both banks of the Tigris River so as to form a pincer around the city. Al-Musta'sim finally decided to do battle with them and sent out a force of 20,000 cavalry to attack the Mongols. The cavalry were decisively defeated by the Mongols, whose sappers breached dikes along the Tigris River and flooded the ground behind the Abbasid forces, trapping them.[20]

Siege

Hulagu and his army besieging the walls of Abbasid Baghdad in 1258

The Abbasid Caliphate could supposedly call upon 50,000 soldiers for the defense of their capital, including the 20,000 cavalry under al-Musta'sim. However, these troops were assembled hastily, making them poorly equipped and disciplined. Although the caliph technically had the authority to summon soldiers from other sultanates (caliphate's deputy states) to defence, he neglected to do so. His taunting opposition had lost him the loyalty of the Mamluks, and the Syrian emirs, who he supported, were busy preparing their own defenses.[22]

On January 29, the Mongol army began its siege of Baghdad, constructing a palisade and a ditch around the city. Employing siege engines and catapults, the Mongols attempted to breach the city's walls, and, by February 5, had seized a significant portion of the defenses. Realizing that his forces had little chance of retaking the walls, al-Musta'sim attempted to open negotiations with Hulagu, who rebuffed the caliph. Around 3,000 of Baghdad's notables also tried to negotiate with Hulagu but were murdered.[23]

Five days later, on February 10, the city surrendered, but the Mongols did not enter the city until the 13th, beginning a week of massacre and destruction.

Destruction and massacre

Many historical accounts detailed the cruelties of the Mongol conquerors. Contemporary accounts state Mongol soldiers looted and then destroyed mosques, palaces, libraries, and hospitals. Priceless books from Baghdad's thirty-six public libraries were torn apart, the looters using their leather covers as sandals.[24] Grand buildings that had been the work of generations were burned to the ground. The House of Wisdom (the Grand Library of Baghdad), containing countless precious historical documents and books on subjects ranging from medicine to astronomy, was destroyed. Claims have been made that the Tigris ran red from the blood of the scientists and philosophers killed.[25][26] Citizens attempted to flee, but were intercepted by Mongol soldiers who killed in abundance, sparing no one, not even children.

The caliph al-Musta'sim 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 would be offended if it were touched by royal blood. All but one of al-Musta'sim's sons were killed, and the sole surviving son was sent to Mongolia, where Mongolian historians report he married and fathered children, but played no role in Islam thereafter.

Hulagu had to move his camp upwind of the city, due to the stench of decay from the ruined city.[27]

Baghdad was a depopulated, ruined city[28][29] for several decades and only gradually recovered some of its former glory.[30] The historian David Morgan has quoted Wassaf (who himself was born 7 years after the razing of the city in 1265) describing the destruction: "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."[31]

Aftermath

Hulagu left 3,000 Mongol soldiers behind to rebuild Baghdad. Ata-Malik Juvayni was later appointed governor of Baghdad, Lower Mesopotamia, and Khuzistan after Guo Kan went back to the Yuan dynasty to assist Kublai's conquest over the Song dynasty. Hulagu's Nestorian Christian wife, Dokuz Khatun, successfully interceded to spare the lives of Baghdad's Christian inhabitants.[32][33] Hulagu offered the royal palace to the Nestorian Catholicos Mar Makikha, and ordered a cathedral to be built for him.[34]

Initially, the fall of Baghdad came as a shock to the whole Muslim world; after many years of utter devastation, the city became an economic center where international trade, the minting of coins and religious affairs flourished under the Ilkhans.[35] The chief Mongol darughachi was thereafter stationed in the city.[36]

Berke, who had converted to Islam in 1252, became enraged that Hulagu destroyed Baghdad. Muslim historian Rashid al Din quoted Berke Khan as sending the following message to Mongke Khan, protesting the attack on Baghdad, (not knowing Mongke had died in China): "He (Hulagu) has sacked all the cities of the Muslims. With the help of God I will call him to account for so much innocent blood."

Although hesitant at first to go to war with Hulagu out of Mongol brotherhood, the economic situation of the Golden Horde led him to declare war against the Ilkhanate. This became known as the Berke–Hulagu war.[37]

Legacy

The tomb of the Abbasid caliph Abdallah al-Mustasim Billah

Al-Musta'sim ruled from 5 December 1242 to 20 February 1258, for a period of 15 years, 2 months and 15 days. His death marked the final end of the caliphate as a political and religious entity. The Mamluk Sultans of Egypt and Syria later appointed an Abbasid prince as caliph of Cairo, but these Mamluk Abbasid caliphs were marginalized and merely symbolic, with no temporal power and little religious influence. Even though they kept the title for about 250 years more, other than installing the Sultan in ceremonies, these caliphs had little importance. After the Ottomans conquered Egypt in 1517, the caliph of Cairo, al-Mutawakkil III was transported to Constantinople.

See also

References

  1. ↑ al-Hawadith al-Jami'a . Ibn al-Fuwaṭi
  2. ↑ al-Hawadith al-Jami'a . Ibn al-Fuwaṭi
  3. ↑ Rizvi, Sayyid Saeed Akhtar; Shou, Salman (2005). Utumwa: Mtazamo wa Kiislamu na wa Nchi za Magharibi. Al-Itrah Foundation. p. 64. ISBN 978-9987-9022-4-8.
  4. ↑ al-Maqrizi 1997, p.464/vol1
  5. ↑ al-Maqrizi 1997, p.462/vol.1
  6. ↑ a-Maqrizi,pp.462-463/vol.1
  7. ↑ The Abbasid Caliph al-Musta'sim sent a message from Baghdad to the Mamluks in Egypt that said: "If you do not have men there tell us so we can send you men." – (al-Maqrizi 1997, p.464/vol1)
  8. ↑ In Egypt there was also objection from people who did not like Shajar al-Durr allowing Louis IX to depart from Egypt alive
  9. 1 2 Shayyal, p.115/vol.2
  10. ↑ Despite the fact that the Ayyubids ruled as independent monarchs, they were spiritually royal to the Abbasid Caliphate It took the Mamluks some years till they could adjust this point. In 1258 the Abbasid Caliphate was destroyed with Baghdad by the Mongols. During the reign of Sultan Baibars a puppet Abbasid Caliphate was installed in Egypt which gave the Mamlukes full independence and freedom from any external power ( Shayyal, p.109/vol.2 )
  11. ↑ al-Maqrizi 1997, p.463/vol.1
  12. ↑ ( al-Maqrizi 1997, p.464/vol.1 ) ( Shayyal, p.115/vol.2 )
  13. ↑ al-malik Sharaf Muzafer al-Din Musa was a grandson of al-Malik al-Kamil. (al-Maqrizi 1997, p.464/vol.1) – (Shayal, p.115/ vol.2) – (Ibn Taghri, pp.103-273/ The Sultanate of al-Muizz Aybak al-Turkumani) – ( Abu al-Fida, pp.68-87/year 652H ) – See also Aybak.
  14. ↑ See Aybak.
  15. ↑ Mamluk forces defeated the forces of the Ayyubid king an-Nasir Yusuf in all the battles. – See also Aybak and an-Nasir Yusuf.
  16. ↑ ( al-Maqrizi 1997, p. 479/vol.1 )( Shayyal, p. 116/vol.2 )
  17. ↑ Yule-Cordier Edition
  18. ↑ Ibn al-Furat; translated by le Strange, 1900, pp. 293–300
  19. ↑ Zaydān, Jirjī (1907). History of Islamic Civilization, Vol. 4. Hertford: Stephen Austin and Sons, Ltd. p. 292. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  20. 1 2 3 4 Davis, Paul K. (2001). Besieged: 100 Great Sieges from Jericho to Sarajevo. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 67.
  21. ↑ Nicolle
  22. ↑ James Chambers, "The Devil's Horsemen," p. 144.
  23. ↑ Fattah, Hala. A Brief History of Iraq. Checkmark Books. p. 101.
  24. ↑ Murray, S.A.P. (2012). The library: An illustrated history. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, pp. 54.
  25. ↑ Frazier, I., "Invaders: Destroying Baghdad," New Yorker Magazine, [Special edition: Annals of History], April 25, 2005, Online Issue Archived 2018-06-12 at the Wayback Machine
  26. ↑ Szczepanski, Kallie. "How the Mongols Took Over Baghdad in 1258." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-mongol-siege-of-baghdad-1258-195801(accessed February 10, 2021).
  27. ↑ Henry Howorth, History of the Mongols from the 9th to the 19th Century, Part I, Burt Franklin, New York, ç1876, p. 127
  28. ↑ James Chambers, The Devil's Horsemen, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, ç1979, p.145
  29. ↑ Guy Le Strange, Baghdad During the Abbasid Caliphate, Clarendon Press, Oxford, ç1901, p.344
  30. ↑ Timothy Ward, The Mongol Conquests in World History, Reakton Books, London, ç2012, p.126
  31. ↑ Marozzi, Justin (29 May 2014). Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood. Penguin Books. pp. 176–177. ISBN 978-0-14-194804-1.
  32. ↑ Maalouf, 243
  33. ↑ Runciman, 306
  34. ↑ Foltz, 123
  35. ↑ Coke, Richard (1927). Baghdad, the City of Peace. London: T. Butterworth. p. 169.
  36. ↑ Kolbas, Judith G. (2006). The Mongols in Iran: Chingiz Khan to Uljaytu, 1220–1309. London: Routledge. p. 156. ISBN 0-7007-0667-4.
  37. ↑ Johan Elverskog (6 June 2011). Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 186–. ISBN 978-0-8122-0531-2.

Sources

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