When the Mongols under Genghis Khan came west in the 13th century they destroyed everything in their path from the Steppes of Central Asia to the Caspian Sea and northern Persia Thus the cities of ID: 338873
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Slide1
The Greatest Destruction of Muslim Libraries (1218 – 1220)
When the Mongols under
Genghis Khan
came west in the 13th century they destroyed everything in their path
from
the
Steppes
of
Central
Asia to
the Caspian Sea and northern Persia. Thus the cities of
Bokhara, Samarkand and
Merv
and their libraries along with numerous smaller towns were
completely destroyed.
Harris,
History of Libraries in the Western WorldSlide2
The Mongols sacked Baghdad in 1258 destroying the vast libraries, including the House of Wisdom and massacred many residents. So the Islamic “Golden Age” marked by many cultural achievements came to
an
end. Slide3
The earliest scientific manuscripts originated in the Abbasid Era.Slide4Slide5
The Greatest Destruction of Muslim Libraries (1218 – 1220)
A bust of Genghis Khan. (View Larger)
"The greatest destruction [of Muslim libraries] resulted from the raids of the Mongols in the 13th century. From the mountains and steppes of central Asia came the hordes of
Genghis Khan
, conquering and destroying everything before them. In the first great sweep to the Caspian Sea and northern Persia, the cities of
Bokhara [Bukhara
],
Samarkand
, and
Merv
[and their libraries] were destroyed along with many smaller towns. . . . (Harris,
History of Libraries in the Western World
4th
ed
[1999] 84-85).Slide6
The
Siege of Baghdad
, occuring from January 29 until February 10, 1258, entailed the investment, capture, and sacking of Baghdad, the capital of the
Abbasid Caliphate
, by
Ilkhanate
Mongol
forces and allied troops. The Mongols were under the command of
Hulagu
Khan
, brother of the
khagan
Möngke
Khan
, and had intended to further extend their rule into
Mesopotamia
but not to directly overthrow the Caliphate.
Möngke
, however, had instructed
Hulagu
to attack Baghdad if the Caliph
Al-
Musta'sim
refused Mongol demands for his continued submission to the
khagan
and the payment of tribute in the form of military support for Mongol forces in
Iran
.
Hulagu
had begun his campaign in Iran, with several offensives against
Nizari
groups, including the
Assassins
, whose stronghold of
Alamut
his forces seized. He then marched on Baghdad, demanding that Al-
Musta'sim
accede to the terms imposed by
Möngke
on the Abbasids. Although the Abbasids had failed to prepare for the invasion, the Caliph believed that Baghdad could not fall to invading forces and refused to surrender.
Hulagu
subsequently besieged the city, which surrendered on February 10. During the next week, the Mongols sacked Baghdad, committing numerous atrocities and destroying the Abbasids' vast libraries, including the
House of Wisdom
. The Mongols executed Al-
Musta'sim
and massacred many residents of the city, which was left greatly depopulated. The siege is considered to mark the end of the
Islamic Golden Age
, during which the
caliphates
had extended their rule from the
Iberian Peninsula
to
Sindh
, and which was also marked by many cultural achievements.
[6]Slide7
The
House of Wisdom
(Arabic: بيت الحكمة; Bayt
Ul-Hikma
) was a library and translation institute established in
Abbasid
-era
Baghdad
, Iraq.[1] It was a key institution in the Translation Movement and considered to have been a major intellectual centre during the Islamic Golden Age. The House of Wisdom was a society founded by Caliph Harun al-Rashid and culminating under his son al-Ma'mun, who reigned from 813–833 AD and is credited with its institution. Al-Ma'mun is also credited with bringing many well-known scholars to share information ideas and culture in the House of Wisdom. Based in Baghdad from the 9th to 13th centuries, many of the most learned Muslim scholars were part of this excellent research and educational institute. It had the dual purpose of translating books from other languages to Arabic and also of the preservation of translated books.[2]During the reign of al-Ma'mun, observatories were set up, and the House was an unrivalled center for the study of humanities and for science in medieval Islam, including mathematics, astronomy, medicine, alchemy and chemistry, zoology and geography and cartography. Drawing on Greek, Persian and Indian texts—including those of Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Euclid, Plotinus, Galen, Sushruta, Charaka, Aryabhata and Brahmagupta—the scholars accumulated a great collection of world knowledge, and built on it through their own discoveries.
Destruction by the Mongols
Along with all other libraries in Baghdad, the House of Wisdom was destroyed during the
Mongol invasion of Baghdad
in 1258.
Nasir
al-Din al-
Tusi
rescued about 400,000 manuscripts which he took to
Maragheh
before the siege.
[5]Slide8
Until the Arab invasion, in the mid 7th century
Persia
(modern-day Iran) was a politically independent state, spanning from the Aegean Sea
to the
Indus River
[4]
and dominated by a Zoroastrian majority.
[4][5][6][7]
Zoroastrianism was the state religion of four pre-Islamic Persian empires,
[8] the last being the Sassanian empire that passed a decree in 224 CE.[6][9][9] The Arab invasion brought abrutly to an end the religious domination of Zoroastrianism in Persia and instituted Islam as the official religion of the state.[10][11][12] When asked by Yazdegerd, about the reasons for the unwarranted Arab aggression against Persians, an Arab soldier replied, "Allah commanded us, by the mouth of His Prophet, to extend the dominion of Islam over all nations." [13]http://mani.tk/timeline.htm