al-Musta'sim bi-'llah

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Hülegü (left) imprisoned the caliph al-Mustasim with his treasures in order to let him starve to death. Illustration in Le livre des merveilles , 15th century

al-Musta'sim bi-'llah , Arabic المستعصم بالله عبد الله بن المستنصر al-Musta'sim bi-'llah 'Abd Allah ibn al-Mustansir , DMG al-Mustaʿṣim bi-'llāh ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Mustanṣir (* 1212 ; † February 20, 1258 ), was the thirty-seventh caliph of the Abbasids (1242–1258). With him the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad ended after the conquest by the Mongols .

Life

Abu Ahmad Abd Allah ibn al-Mustansir succeeded Caliph al-Mustansir (1226-1242). During his reign there were Mongol attacks in the Middle East. At first they were directed primarily against the Rum Seljuks in Anatolia , but the Mongols kept forays into Iraq . In addition to severe floods, the resulting rural exodus of the population led to a severe economic crisis. This resulted in repeated famines, which in turn led to unrest in the cities, especially in Baghdad. Since various reform attempts hardly improved the economic situation, the high costs for the army could no longer be borne, it was reduced from 60,000 to 10,000 men.

Since tensions between the Sunnis and Shiites intensified again at the same time and civil war-like unrest broke out again and again, the population was deeply divided. The high officials of al-Musta'sim were also primarily concerned with eliminating their respective competitors.

In this domestic political situation, an effective defense against the Mongols was out of the question. When they began the attack on Baghdad under Hulegu in 1258 , al-Musta'sim, in complete misunderstanding of his situation, refused to submit to the submission that would have made the continued existence of the caliphate possible. Baghdad was conquered by the Mongols in February 1258 after a brief siege and was badly destroyed.

Caliph al-Musta'sim bi-'llah was executed a few days later, around February 20th , ending the Abbasid dynasty in Baghdad. Under the rule of the Mamelukes , a shadow caliphate of the Abbasids should still exist in Cairo between 1261 and 1517 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.g-geschichte.de/forum/weltgeschichte/551-persische-geschichte-5.html

predecessor	Office	successor
Al-Mustansir	Abbasid Caliph 1242–1258	-