The Mongol siege of Baghdad in the 13th century was a fairly pivotal event in medieval history. A Persian friend of mine has a pretty harsh view of Genghis Khan and his kin because of it, but because I know about it mostly through a long-term research project on the Mongol Empire I did in high school, I see it at least partly from the perspective of the Mongols.

I won’t deny that the Mongols were brutal when denied, but they were a pretty great empire when it came to its citizens. They created a high speed postal service, their roads were among the safest of antiquity and the middle ages, and they operated one of the most religiously pluralistic empires of all time. The phrase “harsh but fair” is perhaps too forgiving, but the brutality of their onslaught is often attested by those blinded by biased devotion.

I don’t know how Indians or Asians feel about Genghis Khan, but the people I know descendant from the Middle East and Europe tend to see them as rampaging hordes. But when I look at the history of the empire I see religion coming into conflict with secular law.

Mongols were highly tolerant of most religions, and typically sponsored several at the same time. At the time of Genghis Khan, virtually every religion had found converts, from Buddhism to Christianity and Manichaeanism to Islam. To avoid strife, Genghis Khan set up an institution that ensured complete religious freedom, though he himself was a shamanist. Under his administration, all religious leaders were exempt from taxation, and from public service. Mongol emperors organized competitions of religious debates among clerics with a large audience.

I see the religious dogma of Middle Ages Europe coming into conflict with an empire that didn’t care about evangelizing and demolishing other religions, Islamic leaders not willing to buckle to secular leadership.

Mongke Khan had ordered his brother to spare the Caliphate if it submitted to the authority of the Mongol Khanate. Upon nearing Baghdad, Hulagu demanded surrender; the caliph, Al-Musta’sim, refused.

I’m not trying to romanticize the Mongols; they were incredibly and cleverly vicious in warfare, but so was every powerful realm of history and modernity. It just seems wrong to ignore their positive aspects.