The Mongols, however, ignored the offer, rolling the ruler of Baghdad into a carpet and trampling him to death with horses. After their military victory, the Mongols spent 17 days looting Baghdad.

Baghdad, the majestic capital city of the great Abbasid Caliphate. For centuries, the city was a center of culture, learning, trade and religious life. However, in the 1250’s, Hulagu, brother of ...

In 1258, the Mongol Empire unleashed one of the most devastating sieges in history, bringing down the heart of the Islamic ...

In the year 1258, more than 100,000 soldiers amassed outside the great Islamic city of Baghdad. They were the Mongol Army, led by the grandson of the fearsome Genghis Khan. Within weeks, they'd ...

Paradise lost (Image credit: Ubisoft) The main issue is that 9th Century Baghdad is a lost city, completely burned down in the 13th Century by the Mongols.

Muslims, too, saw the Mongols as bloodthirsty savages. When Hulagu Khan stormed Baghdad, in 1258, bodies were heaped on the streets; drains reportedly ran red in the heart of Muslim civilization ...

In 1258, the Mongol army ransacked the city of Baghdad and threw such a great number of manuscripts into the river Tigris that the waters ran black with ink.

When the U.S. invasion of Iraq began, NPR's Mideast editor Larry Kaplow was a reporter in Baghdad. Looking back now, he writes that the signs and warnings of the chaos to come were all too clear then.

The Mongols took the place in two weeks and burned it down and killed the several hundred thousand people still there. It took Baghdad several centuries to completely rebuild and repopulate. The ...