The Threat to Invade the North of Iraq

The Tatars started to think about invading Irbil, north of Iraq, which caused terror to creep into the hearts of its inhabitants, and also the inhabitants of Al-Mawsil to the West of Irbil, and some of them thought about leaving it in flight from the Tatars.

The Abbasid Caliph, An-Naasir Li Deen Allaah, felt afraid lest the Tatars would change their mind from Irbil, due to its hard mountainous nature and rather move towards Baghdad instead. He started to wake up from the deep slumber that overwhelmed him during the previous years, and called the people to mobilize to face the Tatars in Irbil once they arrived. The state of public mobilization was announced in all the Iraqi cities, and the Abbasid army started to prepare.

How many men was the Abbasid Caliph able to mobilize? The Abbasid Caliph, An-Naasir Li Deen Allaah, was able to mobilize no more than 800 men. I do not know how the Abbasid Caliph would support the Religion of Allah, as revealed from his name, only with the help of 800 men. Where was the strong army? Where was the garrison of the caliphate? Where was the military education? Where was the Jihaad spirit?

An-Naasir Li Deenillaah was a caliph figure or the ghost of a caliph rather than a real caliph. Of course, the army leader, Muthaffar Ad-Deen was unable to repel the Tatars with that insignificant number of people. He withdrew with his army and, exalted be Allaah, the Tatars thought it to be a trick, and this division was but the advance-guard of the army, as it was not reasonable that the army of the awesome Abbasid Caliphate would be no more than 800 soldiers. Consequently, the Tatars withdrew in avoidance of the battle.

The withdrawal of the Tatarian armies requires us to pause for reflection and analysis. The Tatars were awed by the great potentials of the Abbasid Caliphate whose fame was eminent across the different parts of the world. It was proud of its long history and great glories. Undoubtedly, a foundling state like that of the Tatars, that came to existence a few years earlier would take into account a deep-rooted state whose history was as long as five hundred years.

For this reason, the Tatars overestimated the potentials of Iraq. This is why they preferred not to enter into direct clash with the Abbasid Caliphate; and instead resorted to what is known as the war of attrition, by giving swift painful strikes to Iraq, the continuous long blockade, and concluding alliances and agreements with the neighboring countries and emirates to facilitate war against Iraq at the suitable time. Thus, the Tatars withdrew willfully allowing the Abbasid Caliphate to live a few years longer.

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