The Mongols’ Military Strategies and the Downfall of Baghdad (656 AH)

Baghdad was the center of the caliphate of the Islamic world for more than five centuries. It was conquered by the Mongols in 656 AH, so this is the most important event in the political developments of that time. The military strategies of the Mongol empire enabled them to conquer almost the entire continent of Asia and parts of Eastern Europe. They adopted useful technologies for attacking fortifications from other cultures, and employed foreign technical experts. Their military structure was very flexible, and allowed the Mongol army to attack in large groups to besiege the enemy or ambush them in order to destroy a fugitive and defeated army. Thus, the present study seeks to find out what effects the Mongol military strategies had on the downfall of Baghdad. The article adopts a historical method in analyzing and explaining the military strategies of the Mongols in the conquest of Baghdad. The findings indicate that the weak structure of the caliphate, their military organizations, and the strategies they implemented played a very important role in the fall of Baghdad after five centuries of centralization of the caliphate. The use of light military equipment and catapults, their adoption of irregular warfare, consultation, and the evaluation of public opinion were the most important factors in the success of the Mongols.