Al-awādi al-ğāmia: A Contemporary Account of the Mongol Conquest of Baghdad, 656/1258

Abstract

AbstractThis article contains a translation (Arabic-English) with introduction and commentary of the events of years 655/1257 and 656/1258 of al-Ḥawādiṯ al-ğāmiʿa including two qaīdas, written by an Iraqi anonymous author. It deals with the conquest of Baghdad by the Mongols and the death of the last Abbasid caliph al-Mustaʿṣim. Al-Ḥawādiṯ al-ğāmiʿa is a very interesting local Iraqi chronicle of the VIIth/XIIIth century and provides an abundance of detail that is not to be found elsewhere. Historiography of the period can often be divided along Arabic-Mamluk and Persian-Mongol lines; however, this chronicle cannot really be situated on either side. Translations of other primary sources of this event, both Arabic and Persian, have been made available; this translation not only complements them, but also adds a local perspective to the evaluation of the events.