Why a book retrieved from Tigress in 1258 is a historical document

The year was 1258. And the all-conquering Mongol army was rampaging through the capital city of the Abbasid Caliphate in an orgy of death and destruction that was to be later known as the 13-day Siege of Baghdad.

Among the places destroyed was the Bayt al-Hikmah — the House of Wisdom — one of the most important science centres of the Islamic world for more than 500 years, and its magnificent library. When Genghis Khan died in 1227, he left behind such a large empire that its borders extended up in the west to southern Europe. Far from the Mongol capital of Karakorum, these western parts of the empire were proving hard to govern.

Hulagu had a three-point agenda. First was to eliminate the Assassins, a mystical band of Shite Islam followers who had gained notoriety as skilled killers who later gave birth to the English word, assassin. Founded by Hasan Sabbah, the Assassins operated out of the Alamut Castle, now in Iran. Al-Musta’sim Billah, the last caliph of the Abbasid dynasty, opened the doors of Baghdad under the impression that would spare him and his subjects. His optimism cost him dearly.

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