Schools in Baghdad after the Mongol Invasion: Al-Bashīriyya School as a Model

Abstract

This study, entitled "Schools in Baghdad After the Mongol Invasion: The Al-Bashiriyya School as a Model", explores the status of educational institutions in Baghdad—the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate—following its fall to the Mongols in 656 AH / 1258 CE. The research aims to highlight the profound impact the invasion had on the structure of education by tracing the condition of Baghdad’s schools, with a particular focus on the Al-Bashiriyya School as a case study.

During the Abbasid era, Baghdad attained a distinguished scholarly status. The caliphs opened the gates of their capital to scholars of various religions and creeds, generously supporting and honoring them. Many of the caliphs themselves were men of learning, and women from the Abbasid court also played a role in founding educational institutions that produced prominent scholars, writers, and intellectuals.

However, the Mongol invasion and the killing of Caliph Al-Mustaʿṣim Billāh cast a dark shadow over intellectual life in Iraq. Many scholars fled to the Levant and Egypt, schools were destroyed or abandoned, and educational activity ceased in some for nearly two years. Nevertheless, Baghdad gradually recovered, and the scholarly community regrouped after official decrees ordered the reopening of schools and the resumption of teaching.

Baghdad remained under the rule of the Mongol Ilkhanids for 82 years (656–738 AH / 1258–1338 CE), followed by the Jalayirid dynasty, which lasted no more than 57 years, before the city was again invaded by Timur in 795 AH / 1392 CE.

This research is divided into an introduction and several thematic sections that address the Al-Bashiriyya School in terms of its name, location, administrative and academic system, and the most prominent scholars who taught there during the three historical periods under study. It concludes with an epilogue and a list of sources and references, noting that the school eventually disappeared from historical records without a clear account of its fate.