HISTORY'S MANY HORRORS : PRECIS

ONE must also take into account the 13th century destruction by the Mongols of Baghdad and its legendary library BAIT UL HIKMAT, where all scholars of note were educated.

In Spain, another important centre of learning, thousands of Arabic manuscripts were burnt when it was conquered by Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile in 1492. Over three million Arabs and Jews were executed or exiled.

YET another factor was the Black Death, a pandemic that struck the Middle East, along with Europe and North Africa, in the mid-14th century and which killed up to 75 million people.

Many scholars and Sufis left the cities for rural areas or other countries, Including India, and the dynamic centres of learning ceased to exist.

The World Students Society thanks Durriya Kazi.