"[5] 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.

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.

[7] 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.

[12] Though the period of Shajar al-Durr's rule as a sultan was of short duration, it witnessed two important events in history: the expelling of Louis IX from Egypt, which marked the end of the Crusaders' ambition to conquer the southern Mediterranean basin; and the death of the Ayyubid dynasty and the birth of the Mamluk state which would dominate the southern Mediterranean for decades.

[15] 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 and the Ayyubids.

Through the negotiation and mediation of the Caliph that followed the bloody conflict, the militarily superior Mamluks[16] reached an agreement with the Ayyubids that gave them control over southern Palestine, including Gaza, Jerusalem and the Syrian coast.

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.

[22] Although he replied to Hulagu's demands in a manner that the Mongol commander found menacing and offensive enough to break off further negotiation,[23] al-Musta'sim neglected to summon armies to reinforce the troops at his disposal in Baghdad.

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.

Employing siege engines and catapults, the Mongols attempted to breach the city's walls, and, by 5 February, had seized a significant portion of the defenses.

The House of Wisdom (the Grand Library of Baghdad), containing countless precious historical documents and books on subjects ranging from medicine to astronomy, was destroyed.

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.

[32] The historian David Morgan has quoted Wassaf (who himself was born seven 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.

[36] 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.