That’s the event when the river turned black from the ink of all the hundreds of thousands of books now definitely lost. The reason why we only have a few works of the greatest minds of Islam’s Golden Age.

His grandfather, Gengis Khan, defeated the muslim Khwarezmian empire 37 years earlier in 1219-1221, but didn’t go as far as the Abassid califate.
His mother was christian, as well as his general for this conquest, Kitbuqa. There were other influences, including among advisors and in his army.
It happened soon after the end of the crusader states, so the christians wanted a revenge(, even if they were treated much more humanely by Saladin than when the crusaders or the mongols killed most of the cities’ inhabitants).
It is said that Baghdad’s entire muslim population was killed, with estimates ranging from 200.000 to 1 million. Only the city’s christian community was spared.
It is also said that the islamic civilization could have definitively ended after Hulagu’s conquest of Syria if he also managed to conquer Egypt, but the young mamluk sultanate halted the mongol advance in 1260 in northern Palestine.
Osman the 1st takes his independence in 1299, and the XIVth century is when the Ottoman Empire is born.

Baghdad had been the capital of the caliphate since 750, and never before has the caliphate fallen or its capital been taken.
The mongols apparently had an army of more than 100.000 men, and took Baghdad after a siege of only a week.
Probably ~the lowest point in islamic history, and i had no idea of the role played by christians in it.

Interestingly, the mongols also converted to islam since another grandson of Gengis Khan in Russia, Berke Khan, fought with the mamluks against Hulagu.

(For whatever role they may have played, modernity avenged them by destroying christianity)