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{{Short description|37th and last Abbasid Caliph (r. 1242–1258)}}
{{Lowercase title}}
{{distinguish|al-Mu'tasim}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = al-Musta'sim Billah<br />{{lang|ar|المستعصم بالله}}
| image        = Dinar Abbasside - al-Musta'sim bi-llah - 641 AH (cropped).jpg
| image_size   = 300px
| alt          =
| caption      = Dinar minted under al-Musta'sim's rule
| title        = [[List of Caliphs|Khalīfah]]<br />[[Amir al-Mu'minin]]
| succession   = [[Caliph]] of the [[Abbasid dynasty]]
| reign        = 5 December 1242 – 20 February 1258
(15 years 2 months 15 days)
| predecessor  = [[al-Mustansir (Baghdad)|al-Mustansir]]
| successor    = Position abolished<br> [[al-Mustansir II|al-Mustansir bi'llah]] ([[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|caliph of Cairo]])
| birth_date   = 1213
| birth_place  = Baghdad
| death_date   = 20 February 1258 (aged 46)
| death_place  = Baghdad
| burial_place = [[Al-Musta'sim Billah Mosque]], [[Adhamiyah]], [[Baghdad]], [[Iraq]]
| full name    = Abu Ahmad Abdallah ibn al-Mustansir al-Musta'sim Billah
| dynasty      = [[Abbasid dynasty|Abbasid]]
| father       = [[al-Mustansir I|al-Mustansir]]
| mother       = Hajir<ref>al-Hawadith al-Jami'a .	Ibn al-Fuwaṭi</ref>
| spouse       = {{plainlist|
* Qurrat al-Ayn
* [[Bab Bachir]]<ref>al-Hawadith al-Jami'a .	Ibn al-Fuwaṭi</ref>}}
| spouse-type  = Consort
| issue        = Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad<ref name="Hassan">{{cite book | last=Hassan | first=M. | title=Longing for the Lost Caliphate: A Transregional History | publisher=Princeton University Press | year=2018 | isbn=978-0-691-18337-4 | pages=43, 81}}</ref><br/>Abu'l-Fadaʿil Abd al-Rahman<ref name="Hassan"/><br/>Abu'l-Manaqib al-Mubarak<ref name="Hassan"/><br/>Fatimah<ref name="Hassan"/><br/>Khadijah<ref name="Hassan"/><br/>Maryam<ref name="Hassan"/><br/>A'ishah<ref name="Hassan"/><br/>Karimah<ref name="Hassan"/>
| religion     = [[Sunni]] [[Islam]]
}}
'''Abu Ahmad Abdallah ibn al-Mustansir bi'llah''' ({{Langx|ar|أبو أحمد عبد الله بن المستنصر بالله}}), better known by his [[laqab|regnal title]] '''Al-Mustaʿṣim bi-llāh''' ({{langx|ar|المستعصم بالله|link=no}};{{lrm}} 1213 – 20 February 1258), was the 37th and last [[caliph]] from the [[Abbasid dynasty]] ruling from [[Baghdad]]. He held the title from 1242 until his death in 1258.

==Biography==
Abu Ahmad Abdallah (future caliph '''Al-Musta'sim''') was a son of the Abbasid caliph [[al-Mustansir I|al-Mustansir]], and his mother was Hajir.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Rizvi | first1=Sayyid Saeed Akhtar | last2=Shou | first2=Salman | title=Utumwa: Mtazamo wa Kiislamu na wa Nchi za Magharibi | publisher=Al-Itrah Foundation | year=2005 | isbn=978-9987-9022-4-8 | page=64}}</ref> He was born in 1213. After the death of his father, al-Musta'sim succeeded to the throne in late 1242.

He is noted for his opposition to the rise of [[Shajar al-Durr]] to the Egyptian throne during the [[Seventh Crusade]]. He sent a message from Baghdad to the Mamluks in Egypt that said: "If you do not have men there tell us so we can send you men."<ref>{{harvnb|al-Maqrizi|1997}}, p. 464, vol. 1</ref> However, al-Musta'sim had to face the greatest menace against the caliphate since its establishment in 632: the invasion of the [[Mongol Empire|Mongol]] forces that, under [[Hulagu Khan]], had already wiped out any resistance in [[Transoxiana]] and [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]]. Shortly thereafter, in 1255-1256, Hulagu Khan forced the Abbasid Caliphate to lend him their forces for his campaign against the [[Alamut]] region in modern-day [[Iran]].

News of the [[Assassination|murder]] of [[al-Muazzam Turanshah]] and the inauguration of Shajar al-Durr as the new sultan reached Syria. The Syrian emirs were asked to pay homage to Shajar al-Durr but they refused and the Sultan's deputy in Al Karak rebelled against Cairo.<ref>{{harvnb|al-Maqrizi|1997}}, p. 462, vol 1</ref> The Syrian emirs in Damascus gave the city to [[an-Nasir Yusuf]], the Ayyubid emir of [[Aleppo]], and the Mamluks in Cairo responded by arresting the emirs who were loyal to the Ayyubids in Egypt.<ref>a-Maqrizi, pp. 462-463, vol. 1</ref> In addition to the Ayyubids in Syria, the Abbasid caliph al-Musta'sim in Baghdad also rejected the Mamluk move in Egypt and refused to recognize Shajar al-Dur as a sultan.<ref>The Abbasid caliph al-Musta'sim sent a message from Baghdad to the Mamluks in Egypt: "If you do not have men there tell us so we can send you men." – ({{harvnb|al-Maqrizi|1997}}, p. 464, vol. 1)</ref><ref>In Egypt there was also objection from people who did not like Shajar al-Durr allowing Louis IX to depart from Egypt alive.</ref> The refusal of the Caliph to recognize Shajar al-Durr as the new sultan was a great setback to the Mamluks in Egypt, as the custom during the Ayyubid era was that the Sultan could gain legitimacy only through the recognition of the Abbasid caliph.<ref name="Shayyal, p.115/vol.2">Shayyal, p. 115, vol. 2</ref><ref>Despite the fact that the Ayyubids ruled as independent monarchs, they were spiritually royal to the Abbasid [[Caliphate]] It took the Mamluks some years until they could adjust this point. In 1258 the Abbasid Caliphate was destroyed with Baghdad by the Mongols. During the reign of Sultan [[Baibars]], a puppet Abbasid Caliphate was installed in Egypt which gave the Mamlukes full independence and freedom from any external power (Shayyal, p. 109, vol. 2)</ref> The Mamluks, therefore, decided to install Izz al-Din Aybak as a new sultan. He married Shajar al-Durr, who abdicated and passed the throne to him after she had ruled Egypt as sultan for about three months.<ref>{{harvnb|al-Maqrizi|1997}}, p. 463, vol. 1</ref> Though the period of Shajar al-Durr's rule as a sultan was of short duration, it witnessed two important events in history: the expelling of [[Louis IX of France|Louis IX]] from Egypt, which marked the end of the Crusaders' ambition to conquer the southern [[Mediterranean basin]]; and the death of the Ayyubid dynasty and the birth of the Mamluk state which would dominate the southern Mediterranean for decades.

To please the Caliph and secure his recognition, [[Aybak]] announced that he was merely a representative of the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad.<ref>({{harvnb|al-Maqrizi|1997}}, p. 464, vol. 1) (Shayyal, p. 115, vol. 2)</ref> To placate the Ayyubids in Syria, the Mamluks nominated an Ayyubid child named al-Sharaf Musa as a co-sultan.<ref name=" Shayyal, p.115/vol.2"/><ref>Al-malik Sharaf Muzafer al-Din Musa was a grandson of [[al-Kamil|al-Malik al-Kamil]]. ({{harvnb|al-Maqrizi|1997}}, p. 464, vol. 1 – (Shayal, p. 115, vol. 2) – (Ibn Taghri, pp. 103-273, The Sultanate of al-Muizz Aybak al-Turkumani) – (Abu al-Fida, pp. 68-87, year 652H) – See also [[Aybak]].</ref> But this did not satisfy the Ayyubids, and armed conflict between the Mamluks and the Ayyubids broke out.<ref>See [[Aybak]].</ref> The Caliph in Baghdad, preoccupied with the Mongols who were raiding territories not far from his capital, preferred to see the matter settled peacefully between the Mamluks and the Ayyubids. Through the negotiation and mediation of the Caliph that followed the bloody conflict, the militarily superior Mamluks<ref>Mamluk forces defeated the forces of the Ayyubid king an-Nasir Yusuf in all the battles. – See also [[Aybak]] and [[an-Nasir Yusuf]].</ref> reached an agreement with the Ayyubids that gave them control over southern [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], including [[Gaza City|Gaza]], [[Jerusalem]] and the Syrian coast.<ref>( {{harvnb|al-Maqrizi|1997}}, p. 479, vol. 1)( Shayyal, p. 116, vol. 2)</ref> By this agreement, the Mamluks not only added new territories but also gained recognition for their rule.

[[File:HulaguInBagdad.JPG|thumb|Marco Polo claimed that [[Hulagu Khan|Hulagu]] (left) imprisoned al-Musta'sim among his treasures to starve him to death. This is widely considered unhistorical.]]
In 1258, Hulagu invaded the Abbasid domain, which then consisted of only Baghdad, its immediate surroundings, and southern Iraq. In his campaign to conquer Baghdad, Hulagu Khan had several columns advance simultaneously on the city, and laid siege to it. The Mongols kept the people of Abbasid Caliphate in their capital and executed those who tried to flee.

[[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|Baghdad was sacked]] on 10 February and the caliph was killed by [[Hulagu Khan]] soon afterward. It is reckoned that the Mongols did not want to shed "royal blood", so they wrapped him in a rug and trampled him to death with their horses. Some of his sons were massacred as well. The surviving son, Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad, was sent as a prisoner to Mongolia, where Mongolian historians report he married and fathered children, a daughter Aisha and a son Rukn al-Din Ahmad who had descendants, but played no role in Islam thereafter.

''[[The Travels of Marco Polo]]'' reports that upon finding the caliph's great stores of treasure which could have been spent on the defense of his realm, Hulagu Khan locked him in his treasure room without food or water, telling him "eat of thy treasure as much as thou wilt, since thou art so fond of it."<ref>[http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/y#a5823 Yule-Cordier Edition]</ref><ref>Ibn al-Furat; translated by le Strange, 1900, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/journalroyalasi48irelgoog#page/n335/mode/1up  293]–300</ref>

==Siege of Baghdad==
[[File:Talisman Gate, Sarre, Friedrich Paul Theodor, 1911.jpg|thumb|The [[:Commons:Category:Bab Al-Talsim|Talisman Gate]], built in 1220–1221 by [[al-Nasir]], protected the eastern walls of Baghdad at the time of the siege.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strange |first1=Guy Le |title=Baghdad: During the Abbasid Caliphate |date=1 March 2011 |publisher=Cosimo, Inc. |isbn=978-1-61640-532-8 |pages=291–292 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3cPiGrWR3BsC&pg=PA291 |language=en}}</ref>]]

[[Hulagu Khan|Hulagu]] sent word to al-Musta'sim, demanding his acquiescence to the terms imposed by Möngke. Al-Musta'sim refused, in large part due to the influence of his advisor and grand vizier, [[Ibn al-Alkami]]. Historians have ascribed various motives to Ibn al-Alkami's opposition to submission, including treachery<ref name=Zaydan>{{cite book|last=Zaydān|first=Jirjī|title=History of Islamic Civilization, Vol. 4|year=1907|publisher=Stephen Austin and Sons, Ltd.|location=Hertford|pages=292|url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=DRByAAAAMAAJ |page=292 }} |access-date=16 September 2012}}</ref> and incompetence,<ref name=Davis>{{cite book|last=Davis|first=Paul K.|title=Besieged: 100 Great Sieges from Jericho to Sarajevo|year=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|pages=67}}</ref> and it appears that he lied to the caliph about the severity of the invasion, assuring al-Musta'sim that, if the capital of the caliphate was endangered by a Mongol army, the Islamic world would rush to its aid.<ref name="Davis"/>

Although he replied to Hulagu's demands in a manner that the Mongol commander found menacing and offensive enough to break off further negotiation,<ref>Nicolle</ref> al-Musta'sim neglected to summon armies to reinforce the troops at his disposal in Baghdad. Nor did he strengthen the city's walls. By 11 January, the Mongols were close to the city,<ref name="Davis"/> establishing themselves on both banks of the [[Tigris River]] so as to form a [[pincer movement|pincer]] around the city. Al-Musta'sim finally decided to do battle with them and sent out a force of 20,000 cavalry to attack the Mongols. The cavalry were decisively defeated by the Mongols, whose sappers breached dikes along the Tigris River and flooded the ground behind the Abbasid forces, trapping them.<ref name="Davis"/>

===Siege===
{{main|Siege of Baghdad (1258)}}
[[File:Bagdad1258.jpg|thumb|Hulagu and his army besieging the walls of Abbasid Baghdad in 1258.]]
The Abbasid Caliphate could supposedly call upon 50,000 soldiers for the defense of their capital, including the 20,000 cavalry under al-Musta'sim. However, these troops were assembled hastily, making them poorly equipped and disciplined. Although the caliph technically had the authority to summon soldiers from other sultanates (caliphate's deputy states) to defence, he neglected to do so. His taunting opposition had lost him the loyalty of the Mamluks, and the Syrian emirs, whom he supported, were busy preparing their own defenses.<ref>James Chambers, "The Devil's Horsemen," p. 144.</ref>

On 29 January, the Mongol army began its siege of Baghdad, constructing a palisade and a ditch around the city. Employing siege engines and catapults, the Mongols attempted to breach the city's walls, and, by 5 February, had seized a significant portion of the defenses. Realizing that his forces had little chance of retaking the walls, al-Musta'sim attempted to open negotiations with Hulagu, who rebuffed the caliph. Around 3,000 of Baghdad's notables also tried to negotiate with Hulagu but were murdered.<ref>{{cite book|last=Fattah|first=Hala|title=A Brief History of Iraq|publisher=Checkmark Books|page=101}}</ref>

Five days later, on 10 February, the city surrendered, but the Mongols did not enter the city until the 13th, beginning a week of massacre and destruction.

===Destruction and massacre===
Many historical accounts detailed the cruelties of the Mongol conquerors. Contemporary accounts state Mongol soldiers looted and then destroyed mosques, palaces, libraries, and hospitals. Priceless books from Baghdad's thirty-six public libraries were torn apart, the looters using their leather covers as sandals.<ref>Murray, S.A.P. (2012). The library: An illustrated history. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, p. 54.</ref> Grand buildings that had been the work of generations were burned to the ground. The [[House of Wisdom]] (the Grand Library of Baghdad), containing countless precious historical documents and books on subjects ranging from medicine to astronomy, was destroyed. Claims have been made that the Tigris ran red from the blood of the scientists and philosophers killed.<ref>Frazier, I., "Invaders: Destroying Baghdad," ''New Yorker Magazine,'' [Special edition: Annals of History], 25 April 2005, [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/04/25/invaders-3 Online Issue] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612220230/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/04/25/invaders-3 |date=12 June 2018 }}</ref><ref>Szczepanski, Kallie. "How the Mongols Took Over Baghdad in 1258." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-mongol-siege-of-baghdad-1258-195801(accessed{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} 10 February 2021).</ref> Citizens attempted to flee, but were intercepted by Mongol soldiers who spared no one, not even children. 

The caliph al-Musta'sim was captured and forced to watch as his citizens were murdered and his treasury plundered. According to most accounts, the caliph was killed by trampling. The Mongols rolled the caliph up in a rug, and rode their horses over him, as they believed that the earth would be offended if it were touched by royal blood. All but one of al-Musta'sim's sons were killed, and the sole surviving son was sent to Mongolia, where Mongolian historians report he married and fathered children, but played no role in Islam thereafter.

Hulagu had to move his camp upwind of the city, due to the stench of decay from the ruined city.<ref>Henry Howorth, ''History of the Mongols from the 9th to the 19th Century, Part I'', Burt Franklin, New York, 1876, p. 127</ref>

Baghdad was a depopulated, ruined city<ref>James Chambers, ''The Devil's Horsemen'', Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1979, p. 145</ref><ref>Guy Le Strange, ''Baghdad During the Abbasid Caliphate'', Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1901, p. 344</ref> for several decades and only gradually recovered some of its former glory.<ref>Timothy Ward, ''The Mongol Conquests in World History'', Reakton Books, London, 2012, p. 126</ref> The historian [[David Morgan (historian)|David Morgan]] has quoted [[Wassaf]] (who himself was born seven years after the razing of the city in 1265) describing the destruction: 
<blockquote>
They swept through the city like hungry falcons attacking a flight of doves, or like raging wolves attacking sheep, with loose reins and shameless faces, murdering and spreading terror...beds and cushions made of gold and encrusted with jewels were cut to pieces with knives and torn to shreds.  Those hiding behind the veils of [[Abbasid harem|the great Harem]] were dragged...through the streets and alleys, each of them becoming a plaything...as the population died at the hands of the invaders.<ref name="Marozzi2014">{{cite book|first=Justin |last=Marozzi| title=''Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood''|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n8m7AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT176|date=29 May 2014|publisher=Penguin Books| isbn=978-0-14-194804-1| pages=176–177}}</ref>
</blockquote>

===Aftermath===
Hulagu left 3,000 Mongol soldiers behind to rebuild Baghdad. [[Ata-Malik Juvayni]] was later appointed governor of Baghdad, Lower [[Mesopotamia]], and [[Khuzistan]] after [[Guo Kan]] went back to the [[Yuan dynasty]] to assist [[Kublai Khan|Kublai]]'s conquest over the [[Song dynasty]]. Hulagu's [[Nestorian Christian]] wife, [[Dokuz Khatun]], successfully interceded to spare the lives of Baghdad's Christian inhabitants.<ref>Maalouf, 243</ref><ref>Runciman, 306</ref> Hulagu offered the royal palace to the Nestorian [[Catholicos]] [[Mar Makikha]], and ordered a cathedral to be built for him.<ref>Foltz, 123</ref>

Initially, the fall of Baghdad came as a shock to the whole Muslim world; after many years of utter devastation, the city became an economic center where international trade, the minting of coins and religious affairs flourished under the Ilkhans.<ref>{{cite book |first=Richard |last=Coke |title=Baghdad, the City of Peace |location=London |publisher=T. Butterworth |year=1927 |page=169 }}</ref>  The chief Mongol [[darughachi]] was thereafter stationed in the city.<ref>{{cite book |first=Judith G. |last=Kolbas |title=The Mongols in Iran: Chingiz Khan to Uljaytu, 1220–1309 |location=London |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |page=156 |isbn=0-7007-0667-4 }}</ref>

[[Berke]], who had converted to Islam in 1252, became enraged that Hulagu destroyed Baghdad. Muslim historian [[Rashid al-Din Hamadani|Rashid al Din]] quoted Berke Khan as sending the following message to [[Mongke Khan]], protesting the attack on Baghdad, (not knowing Mongke had died in China): "He [Hulagu] has sacked all the cities of the [[Muslim]]s. With the help of [[Allah|God]] I will call him to account for so much innocent blood."

Although hesitant at first to go to war with Hulagu out of Mongol brotherhood, the economic situation of the [[Golden Horde]] led him to declare war against the [[Ilkhanate]]. This became known as the [[Berke–Hulagu war]].<ref name="Elverskog2011">{{cite book|author=Johan Elverskog|title=Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N7_4Gr9Q438C&pg=PA186|date=6 June 2011|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-0531-2|pages=186–}}</ref>

===Legacy===
[[File:المستعصم بالله.jpg|thumb|The tomb of the Abbasid caliph Abdallah al-Mustasim Billah in the [[Al-Musta'sim Billah Mosque]], restored in 2005]]
Al-Musta'sim ruled from 5 December 1242 to 20 February 1258, a period of 15 years, 2 months and 15 days. His death marked the final end of the caliphate as a political and religious entity. The [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk Sultans]] of Egypt and Syria later appointed an Abbasid prince as caliph of [[Cairo]], but these Mamluk Abbasid caliphs were marginalized and merely symbolic, with no temporal power and little religious influence. Even though they kept the title for about 250 years more, other than installing the Sultan in ceremonies, they were of little importance. After the [[Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–17)|Ottomans conquered Egypt]] in 1517, the caliph of Cairo, [[al-Mutawakkil III]] was transported to [[Constantinople]].

== See also ==
* [[Yaqut al-Musta'simi]] a well-known calligrapher and secretary of al-Musta'sim
* [[Mongol invasions of the Levant]]
* [[Tekuder]], son of Hulagu and a Muslim convert

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
*{{cite book|author=al-Maqrizi|author-link=al-Maqrizi|title=al-Sulūk li-maʿrifat al-duwal wa-l-mulūk|publisher=DDārr al-Kutub|date=1997}}
*{{cite journal|author2=le Strange|author-link2=Guy Le Strange|author1=Ibn al-Furat|author-link1=Ibn al-Furat|title=The Death of the Last Abbasid Caliph, from the Vatican MS. of Ibn al-Furat|journal=[[Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society]]|volume=32|pages=[https://archive.org/stream/journalroyalasi48irelgoog#page/n335/mode/1up 293]–300|url=https://archive.org/details/journalroyalasi48irelgoog|year=1900}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[Abbasid dynasty]]||1213||20 February 1258|[[Banu Hashim]]}}
{{S-rel|su}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Al-Mustansir (Baghdad)|Al-Mustansir]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[List of Caliphs|Caliph of Islam]]<br />[[Abbasid Caliph]]|years=5 December 1242 – 20 February 1258}}
{{S-vac|reason=[[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|Mongol sack of Baghdad]]|next=[[al-Mustansir II|Abu’l-Qasim al-Mustansir]]}}
{{End}}

{{Abbasids}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mustasim}}
[[Category:1213 births]]
[[Category:1258 deaths]]
[[Category:13th-century Abbasid caliphs]]
[[Category:13th-century Arab people]]
[[Category:13th-century executions]]
[[Category:Monarchs taken prisoner in wartime]]
[[Category:Executed monarchs]]
[[Category:Muslims of the Seventh Crusade]]
[[Category:People executed by the Mongol Empire]]
[[Category:Sons of Abbasid caliphs]]