1258

1258 refers to the year 1258 in the Julian/Gregorian-era calendar, a point in the late medieval period marked by Mongol expansion and significant political change in the Middle East. The most consequential event associated with 1258 was the Sack of Baghdad.

In early 1258, the Mongol Empire under Hulagu Khan launched a campaign against the Abbasid Caliphate, capturing Baghdad on February 10 after a brutal siege. The caliph, Al-Musta'sim Billah, was killed during the assault, and the city’s defenses collapsed. The siege led to widespread destruction: libraries, mosques, and palaces were burned, and a large portion of the population either killed, enslaved, or displaced. Baghdad’s status as a major center of learning and commerce effectively ended as a political capital of the Abbasid Caliphate.

The sack had long-term ramifications. It marked the collapse of the Abbasid political authority in Baghdad and accelerated the shift of regional power toward the Mongol-ruled Ilkhanate in Persia and Mesopotamia, while later Islamic polities would reassert authority from Cairo and Damascus. The disruption of Mediterranean and overland trade routes also contributed to general upheaval in the region's economies and demography.

1258 stands as a turning point in Middle Eastern history, often cited as a watershed moment signaling the end of Abbasid Baghdad’s political dominance and a milestone in the broader Mongol conquests of the 13th century.