establishing Mongol overlordship of Rum In the same year, the Mongols completed their mission against the Isma’ilis, destroying the last of their mountain strongholds and executing their leader, Khurshah Having secured his base and the vicinity to its west, Hulagu focused his attention on the caliphate in Baghdad Hulagu sought to dominate both Baghdad and its caliph, despite their dramatic decline in prestige The court of the caliph, al-Musta‘sim, was divided over how to respond The caliph, presented with an ultimatum, could surrender—saving his life, his position, and his city—or resist Indecision left al-Musta‘sim largely unprepared for the onslaught that would follow his disregard and disrespect of Hulagu and his armies The Mongol forces besieged the city for several weeks before storming it on February 6, 1258 The damage to the city was extensive Al-Musta‘sim, his sons, and much of their entourage were killed; as it was against Mongol belief to shed royal blood on the ground, the caliph was rolled into a carpet and trampled to death by horses Al-Musta‘sim was the last Abbasid caliph of Baghdad From Baghdad, Hulagu’s forces moved into northern Syria, taking Aleppo in January of 1260 The Ayyubid ruler in Damascus, An-Nasir Yusuf, fled his capital, and the city surrendered to Hulagu’s general Kitbuqa Hebron, Jerusalem, and Ashkalon were raided, and various Ayyubid princes submitted to the invaders Again, much of the Mongol army was unilaterally withdrawn to Azerbaijan, where Maragheh was chosen as the capital of the new Il-Khanate (one of four khanates of the Mongol Empire) The Ayyubids’s conquest by the Mongols marked the end of their dynasty, as they had already been replaced in Egypt by the Mamluk dynasty General Kitbuqa remained to solidify the new conquests in Syria, while Hulagu became embroiled in the Mongol succession crisis and began to battle the Golden Horde to his north In the eastern Mediterranean region the crusaders in Jerusalem were not prepared to surrender to the Mongols and issued calls for reinforcements to the western European kingdoms, while they temporarily tried to appease Kitbuqa When the crusaders did not dismantle their fortresses, however, Kitbuqa retaliated, sacking Sidon in August 1260 The crusaders responded by allowing the Mamluks of Egypt to dispatch troops through their territory and even provided the Muslim forces with supplies to battle the Mongols In September 1260 the Egyptian army defeated the Mongols in Galilee, and Kitbuqa was either killed in the battle or executed after his defeat The Il-Khanid Mongols retreated beyond the Euphrates to their power base Within the Il-Khanate, Baghdad 35 Sitt Zumurrud Khatun’s tomb is the most famous mausoleum in Baghdad and was constructed before 1202 Hulagu and his son Abaqa would enjoy stability despite threats at the border The Il-Khanids continued to work diplomatically against their Mamluk enemies in Syria, at times approaching the crusaders to propose coordinated attacks In 1299 Ghazan Khan, a Muslim convert, attacked the Mamluk forces, which retreated to Egypt in defeat Syria and Palestine were briefly reoccupied until Ghazan withdrew to Mesopotamia, and it was not until 1320 that the Mongols made peace with the Mamluks After the death of Abu Sa‘id in 1235, the Il-Khanate disintegrated into rival, mostly non-Mongol, dynasties The Mongol leader Timurlane emerged as a great force in the region at the end of the 14th century, regaining Mongol control of Persia and doing battle as far east as the Ottoman Empire But Timurlane’s death in 1405 saw the Mongolian empire in Persia again disintegrate and effectively ended Mongolian influence in the region of the Middle East The immediate and lasting effects of the Mongols in the Middle East are varied in degree The Mongol conquest of Hulagu ended two institutions of Islamic rule, finally ending the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad and Ayyubid dynasty, the realm of which was already confined to Syria and parts of Palestine This allowed Mamluk rule to fill the power vacuum A century and a half later that power vacuum would be re-created by Timurlane’s temporary conquests and the subsequent disintegration of Mongol rule in the Middle East following his death, only to be filled by the Ottomans Culturally, the impact of the Mongols was minimal, with the exception of Persia, to which area their lasting presence in western Asia was confined It is in the period of the