Interestingly, the Mongols fairly readily converted to Islam when they remained in the Crimea etc. Birds of a bloody feather.
That’s very true. Am thinking their aim wasn’t to destroy islam, more to conquer land, gain ruling power, and take revenge. They destroyed the Abbasid arab caliphate in Baghdad though, many other muslim rulers elsewhere along with tens of thousands people burning entire cities/towns. But religiously mongols were quite tolerant. I suppose being a bunch of nomadic tribes, it was easy for them to assimilate & give into the more dominant culture. Especially by the 13th C. islam was fairly embedded in central asia. On that note, muslims haven’t always and only used brutality to convert others. Dissimulation is another technique they often use to entice ppl. I read your essay, it’s great!