Which empire sacked Baghdad in 1258, causing the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate?

• A. Persians
• B. Byzantines
• C. Mongols
• D. Seljuks

Answer: (C)

The event tests your knowledge of a pivotal turning point in Islamic world history: the sack of Baghdad by the Mongol Empire in 1258, which ended the Abbasid Caliphate’s political rule in Baghdad. Under Hulagu Khan, Mongol forces surrounded and overwhelmed the great city, and the caliph, Al-Musta'sim Billah, was killed as Baghdad was looted and destroyed. This defeat broke the Abbasids’ political authority in their heartland, effectively ending their era as a ruling caliphate from Baghdad. The caliphate did not vanish entirely—the religious authority lingered on for centuries in name, notably in Cairo under Mamluk protection, but its political power in Baghdad was gone.

The other options don’t fit because the sack was not carried out by a Persian empire, nor by Byzantine forces, nor by the Seljuks. The Mongols were the expanding empire responsible for that dramatic 1258 breakthrough, reshaping the region’s political landscape.