al-Mustasim (1213-20 February 1258) was the Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 1242 to 1258, succeeding al-Mustansir I and preceding al-Mustansir II.
Biography[]
al-Mustasim was born in 1213, the son of al-Mustansir I. He succeeded his father on his death in 1242, and when he inherited the throne, he was threatened by the rampaging Mongol Empire armies of Hulegu Khan. Hulegu forced al-Musta'sim to lend him troops for the siege of Alamut in 1256, but in 1258 Hulegu turned on al-Musta'sim and besieged Baghdad. al-Musta'sim sent Hulegu weak threats, refusing to negotiate. When the Mongols conquered Baghdad, they did not want to shed royal blood, so they either wrapped al-Musta'sim up in a carpet and trampled him to death with horses, or they locked him in his treasure room without food or water. Either way, he died on 20 February 1258 as the city was sacked and 2,000,000 people massacred.