The author of the excerpt below was a Persian writer who was in the employ of the Mongol Il-khan of Persia who served under the Mongols as the governor of Baghdad. He wrote this account about 40 years after the destruction of Nishapur. His account suggested that as many as 1.7 million people died in this attack, though many modern historians suggest that this number is somewhat inflated. Clearly, though, this was the destruction of one of the largest cities in the world at the time. "The people of Nishapur were in revolt against the Mongols. Whenever a detachment of Mongols appeared, they would be attacked by the people of Nishapur. The Mongols assembled a massive army to deal with the revolt.

In the spring of 1221, the people of Nishapur (a city in Persia) saw that the matter was serious. Although they had three thousand soldiers with crossbows on the city walls and had set up three hundred catapults, a large quantity of missiles, and burning oil, the city's defenders were fearful.

By the Saturday night all the walls were covered with Mongols. The Mongols now descended from the walls and began to kill and plunder. The townspeople fought back, though they were widely dispersed in the city walls.

They then drove all the survivors, men and women, out onto the plain. It was commanded by the Mongols that the town should be destroyed in such a manner that the site could be plowed as farmland; and that not even cats and dogs should be left alive.

A daughter of Genghis Khan, the wife of the Mongol general Toghachar, entered the town with her escort. The Mongols killed all but 400 citizens, who were saved from slaughter due to their skills as craftsmen.

They severed the heads of the slain from their bodies and heaped them up in piles, keeping those of the men separate from those of the women and children. By the time the Mongols finished, the houses were leveled and the rose gardens became furnaces. Flies, wolves, and vultures feasted on the dead bodies."

Your assignment submission should be in paragraph form and include a thoughtful response to the prompts below. Remember, proper spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar is expected.

Questions to Answer within your paragraph: (4 points for each correct answer, the remaining 4 points are to be based on your use of correct paragraph form.)
1. Why did the Mongols launch this deadly attack on the city of Nishapur?

2. In your opinion, why did the Mongols see the need to kill almost all of the inhabitants of the city?

3. Do you think that civilians should be targeted in warfare? Why or why not?

4. What reasons might military leaders have for targeting civilians in war?