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 World
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.
The earliest scientific manuscripts originated in
the Abbasid Era.
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]
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]
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]
The House of Wisdom (Arabic: ‫; بيت الحكمة‬Bayt 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.
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]
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