Editing History of Iraq (section)

=== Mongol invasion ===
{{Further| Seljuk Empire |Siege of Baghdad (1258)}}
[[File:Mongol Empire map.gif|thumb|267x267px|The Mongol Empire's expansion]]
In the later 11th century, Iraq fell under the rule of the [[Khwarazmian dynasty]]. Both Turkic secular rule and Abbasid caliphate came to an end with the [[Mongol invasions]] of the 13th century.<ref>[[Thomas T. Allsen]] ''Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia'', p.84</ref>
The Mongols under [[Genghis Khan]] had [[Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia|conquered Khwarezmia]] by 1221, but Iraq proper gained a respite due to the death of Genghis Khan in 1227 and the subsequent power struggles.
[[Möngke Khan]] from 1251 began a renewed expansion of the [[Mongol Empire]], and when caliph [[al-Mustasim]] refused to submit to the Mongols, [[Battle of Baghdad (1258)|Baghdad was besieged and captured]] by [[Hulagu Khan]] in 1258. Estimates of the number of dead range from 200,000 to a million.<ref>{{cite magazine|last= Frazier |first= Ian |url= https://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/04/25/050425fa_fact4?currentPage=4 |title= Annals of history: Invaders: Destroying Baghdad |magazine= The New Yorker |date= 25 April 2005 |page= 4 |access-date=25 January 2013}}</ref> With the destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate, Hulagu had an open route to Syria and moved against the other Muslim powers in the region.<ref name="Morgan. pp. 132">Morgan. ''The Mongols''. pp. 132–135.</ref>

The Mongols destroyed the Abbasid Caliphate and Baghdad's [[House of Wisdom]]. The city has never regained its previous pre-eminence as a major centre of culture and influence. Some historians believe that the Mongol invasion destroyed much of the [[irrigation]] infrastructure that had sustained Mesopotamia for millennia. Other historians point to [[soil salination]] as the culprit in the decline in agriculture.