The Role of Psychological Stress in the fall of Kurdish cities during the Mongol campaigns (617–658 AH / 1220–1260 AD)

Abstract

Psychological pressure played an effective role in the fall of Kurdish cities during the Mongol campaigns in the Islamic world, and it was a major factor in weakening the spirit of resistance and defense among Muslims. The early Mongol leaders greatly benefited from psychological factors in their victories. The emergence of psychological pressure during wars and Mongol military campaigns can be attributed to two reasons. The first relates to the internal (personal) aspect, such as fear, panic, anxiety, confusion, and loss of confidence due to the lack of unity, solidarity, and cooperation among Muslims, the weakness of some political and military leaders, and the deterioration of the overall situation in the Islamic world. The second reason is external, in which the Mongols played a role, such as Mongol fanaticism and extremism, their terror, brutality, and lack of mercy during fighting, their failure to abide by the laws of war, and their use of deceptive and misleading methods against others. Among these methods were their threats to the inhabitants of Kurdish cities that if they resisted, their fate would be death.

Although some researchers have touched upon the role of psychological warfare and the psychological factor in the Mongol wars, they did not delve more broadly into the role of psychological pressures in the fall of Kurdish cities. Therefore, we deemed it necessary to conduct a deep and academic study in this regard, through which we highlight the role of psychological pressures in the fall of a vast area of the Islamic world in a short period at the hands of the Mongols, particularly the main cities whose majority of inhabitants were Kurds. For this study, we used the descriptive-analytical method to obtain realistic and logical results.

This study that most of the Mongol victories were achieved from the beginning of their campaigns against the Islamic world due to the role of psychological pressure. The main reason for the fall of most Kurdish cities to the Mongols was psychological, as they were able to weaken the spirit of resistance among their opponents by creating psychological pressure. This psychological pressure ultimately contributed to the fall of Baghdad and the Mongol occupation of Iraq and the Levant. Finally, the Mamluks were able to overcome the psychological pressures and break the barrier of fear that the Mongols had built among the inhabitants of the region.