Background
Baghdad had for centuries been the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, the third caliphate and whose rulers were descendants of Abbas, uncle of Muhammad. In 751, the Abbasids had overthrown the Umayyads, and had moved the Caliph's seat from Damascus to Baghdad. At the city's peak, it was populated by approximately one million people and was defended by an army of 60,000 soldiers. By the middle of the 13th century, however, the power of the Abbasids had declined and Turkic and Mamluk warlords often held power over the Caliphs. The city still retained much symbolic significance, however, and it remained a rich and cultured city.
The Caliphs of the 12th and 13th centuries had begun to ally with the expanding Mongol Empire in the east, and Caliph an-Nasir li-dini'llah, who reigned from 1180-1225, may have attempted to ally with Genghis Khan when Muhammad II of Khwarezm threatened to attack the Abbasids. It has been rumored that some Crusader captives may have been sent as tribute to the Mongol khagan.
According to The Secret History of the Mongols, Genghis and his successor, Ögedei Khan, ordered their general Chormaqan to attack Baghdad. In 1236, Chormaqan led a division of the Mongol army to Irbil, which remained under Abbasid rule. Further raids on Irbil and other regions of the caliphate became nearly annual occurrences. Some raids were alleged to have reached Baghdad itself, but these Mongol incursions were not always successful, with Abbasid forces defeating the invaders in 1238 and 1245.
Despite their successes, the Abbasids hoped to come to terms with the Mongols and by 1241 they had adopted the practice of sending annual tribute to the court of the khagan. Envoys from the Caliph were present at the coronation of Güyük Khan as khagan in 1246 and that of Möngke Khan in 1251. During his brief reign, Güyük insisted that the Caliph Al-Musta'sim fully submit to Mongol rule and come personally to Karakorum. Blame for the Caliph's refusal and for other resistance offered by the Abbasids to increased attempts by the Mongols to extend their power were placed by the khagans on Chormaqan's lieutenant and successor, Baiju.
Read more about this topic: Siege Of Baghdad (1258)
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