The Greatest Destruction of Muslim Libraries (1218 – 1220 - PowerPoint Presentation

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.Slide4
Slide5

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