Ilkhanate
Encyclopedia
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate (Mongolian
: Hülegü-yn Ulus; Mongolian Cyrillic
: Хүлэгийн улс; ; ), was a Mongol khanate
established in Azerbaijan
and Persia in the 13th century, considered a part of the Mongol Empire
. The Ilkhanate was based, originally, on Genghis Khan
's campaigns in the Khwarezmid Empire in 1219–1224, and founded by Genghis's grandson, Hulagu
, in what territories which today comprise most of Iran
, Iraq
, Afghanistan
, Turkmenistan
, Armenia
, Azerbaijan
, Georgia
, Turkey
, and some regions of western Pakistan
. The Ilkhanate initially embraced many religion
s, but was particularly sympathetic to Buddhism
and Christianity
. Later Ilkhanate rulers, beginning with Ghazan in 1295, embraced Islam
.
. The term il-Khan means "subordinate khan
" and refers to their initial deference to Möngke Khan and his successor Great Khans of the entire empire. The title "Ilkhan", borne by the descendants of Hulagu and later another Borjigin princes in Persia, does not materialize in the sources until after 1260.
executed the merchants dispatched by the Mongols, Genghis Khan
declared war on Khwārazm-Shāh dynasty in 1219. The Mongols overran the whole empire, occupying all major cities and centers between 1219 to 1221. Persian Iraq was ravaged by the Mongol detachment under Jebe
and Subedei, they left the area in ruin. Transoxiana
came under the Mongol control after the invasion. The undivided area west of the Transoxiana was the inheritance of Genghis Khan's Borjigin
family. Thus, families of the latter's four sons appointed their officials under the Great Khan's governors, Chin-Temur, Nussal and Korguz
, there.
Muhammad's son Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu
returned to Iran in c.1224 after his exile in India. Rival Turkic states remained of his father's empire quickly declared their allegiance to him. He repulsed the first Mongol attempt to take Central Persia. However, Jalal ad-Din was overwhelmed and crushed by Chormaqan
's army sent by the Great Khan Ögedei in 1231. During the Mongol expedition, Azerbaijan
and southern Persian dynasties in Fars and Kerman
voluntarily submitted to the Mongols and agreed to pay tributes. To the west, Hamadan
and the rest of Persia was secured by Chormaqan. The Mongols turned their attention to Armenia and Georgia in 1234 (or 1236). They completed the conquest of the Kingdom of Georgia
in 1238; however, the Mongol Empire began to attack western parts of Greater Armenia which was under the Seljuks the next year.
In 1236 Ogedei commanded to raise up Khorassan
and populated Herat
. The Mongol military governors mostly made their camp in Mughan plain
, Azerbaijan. Realizing the danger of the Mongols, rulers of Mosul
and Cilician Armenia submitted to the Great Khan. Chormaqan divided the Transcaucasia region into three districts based on military hierarchy. In Georgia, the population were temporarily divided into eight tumens. By 1237 the Mongol Empire had subjugated most of Persia, excluding Abbasid
Iraq and Ismaili
strongholds, and all of Afghanistan
and Kashmir
.
After the battle of Köse Dağ
in 1243, the Mongols under Baiju
occupied Anatolia
, and the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm and the Empire of Trebizond
became vassals of the Mongols.
Guyuk Khan
abolished decrees, issued by the Mongol princes, had given orders on the revenue of districts in Persia and given also orders of exemption to others in c.1244.
In accordance with the governor Arghun the Elder's (Arghun agha) complaint, Mongke Khan
prohibited ortog-merchants and nobles to abuse relay stations, yam (route)
, and civilians in 1251. He ordered a new census and decreed that each man in the Mongol ruled-Middle East must pay in proportion to his property. Persia was divided between four districts under Arghun. Mongke Khan granted the Kartids
authority over Herat, Jam, Bushanj, Ghor, Khaysar, Firuz-Kuh, Gharjistan, Farah, Sistan
, Kabul, Tirah, and Afghanistan (the Sulaiman Mountains) all the way to the Indus River
.
The actual founder of the Ilkhanate dynasty was Hulagu Khan
, grandson of Genghis Khan and brother of both Möngke Khan
and Kublai Khan
. Möngke dispatched him to establish a firm Tolui
d control over the Middle East, and ordered him return to Mongolia when his task was accomplished. Taking over from Baiju in 1255 or 1256, he had been charged with subduing the Muslim kingdoms to the west "as far as the borders of Egypt." This occupation led the Turkmens to move west into Anatolia
to escape from the Mongolian tribes. He established his dynasty over the southwestern part of the Mongol Empire that stretched from Transoxiana
to Syria
. He destroyed the Ismaili Nizari
Hashshashin
s and the Abbasid Caliphate in 1256 and 1258 respectively. After that he advanced as far as Gaza, briefly conquering Ayyubid-Syria
.
Möngke's death forced Hulagu to return from the Persian heartland for the preparation of Khuriltai (selection of a new leader). He left a small force behind to continue the Mongol advance, but it was halted in Palestine
in 1260 by a major defeat at the battle of Ain Jalut
at the hands of the Mamluk
s of Egypt
. Due to geo-political and religious issues and deaths of three Jochi
d princes in Hulagu's service, Berke
declared open war on Hulagu in 1262 and possibly called his troops back in Iran. According to Mamluk historians, Hulagu might have massacred Berke's troops and refused to share his war booty with Berke.
The Yuan Dynasty
in the east maintained a friendly relationship and held nominal suzerainty over the Ilkhanate until the fall of the latter in the 1330s. Hulagu's descendants ruled Persia for the next eighty years, tolerating multiple religions including Shamanism, Buddhism, and Christianity, ultimately adopting Islam as a state religion in 1295. However, despite this conversion, the Ilkhans remained opposed to the Mamluk
s (who had defeated both Mongol invaders and Crusaders). The Ilkhans launched several invasions of Syria, but were never able to gain and keep significant ground against the Mamluks, eventually being forced to give up their plans to conquer Syria, along with their stranglehold over their vassals the Sultanate of Rum and the Armenian kingdom in Cilicia
. This was in large part due to civil war in the Mongol Empire, and the hostility of the khanates to the north and east. The Chagatai Khanate
in Moghulistan
and the Golden Horde
threatened the Ilkhanate in the Caucasus
and Transoxiana, preventing expansion westward. Even under Hulagu's reign, the Ilkhanate was engaged in open warfare in the Caucasus
with the Mongols in the Russian steppes.
Hulagu took with him many Chinese scholars, astronomers, and the famous Persian astronomer Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
learned about the mode of the Chinese calculating tables
. The observatory was built on a hill of Maragheh.
(West Europeans were collectively called Franks by Muslims and Asians in the Crusades era) and the Mongols (primarily the Ilkhanate) in the 13th and 14th centuries, starting from around the time of the Seventh Crusade
. United in their opposition to the Muslim
s (mainly the Mamluks), the Ilkhanate and the Europeans were still never able to satisfactorily combine their forces against their common enemy.
In the period after Hulagu, the Ilkhans increasingly adopted Tibetan Buddhism
. Christian powers were encouraged by what appeared to be a favoring of Nestorian Christianity
but this probably went no deeper than their traditional evenhandedness. Thus the Ilkhans were markedly out of step with the Muslim majority they ruled. Ghazan, shortly before he overthrew Baydu
, converted to Islam
and his official favoring of Islam coincided with a marked attempt to bring the regime closer to the non-Mongol majority. Christian and Jewish subjects lost their equal status with Muslims and again had to pay the poll tax. Buddhists had the starker choice of conversion or expulsion.
In foreign relations, the conversion to Islam had little to no effect and Ghazan continued to fight the Mamluks for control of Syria. But the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar
, which was the Mongols' only major victory over the Mamluks, disproved his control over Syria, which lasted but a few months. For the most part, Ghazan's policies continued under his brother Öljeitü despite suggestions that he might begin to favor the Shi'a brand of Islam after he came under the influence of Shi'a theologians Al-Hilli
and Maitham Al Bahrani
. Öljeitü succeeded in conquering Gilan on the Caspian coast and his magnificent tomb in Soltaniyeh
remains the best known monument of Ilkhanid rule in Persia.
After Abu Sa'id
's death in 1335, the khanate began to disintegrate rapidly, and split up into several rival successor states, most prominently the Jalayirids. Hasar's descendant Togha Temür
, who was the last of the obscure Ilkhan pretenders, was assassinated by Sarbadars in 1353. Timur
later carved a state from the Jalayirids, ostensibly to restore the old khanate. The historian Rashid-al-Din Hamadani wrote a universal history for the khans around 1315 which provides much material for their history.
. The communications between Ilkhanate and the Yuan Dynasty
headquartered in China
encouraged this development.
The Ilkhanate also helped to pave the way for the later Safavid dynastic state, and ultimately the modern country of Iran. Hulagu's conquests had also opened Iran to Chinese influence from the east. This, combined with patronage from his successors, would develop Iran's distinctive excellence in architecture. Under the Il Khans, Iranian historians also moved from writing in Arabic, to writing in Persian.
The rudiments of double-entry accounting were practiced in the Ilkhanate and were developed indepen- dently from the accounting practices used in Europe. This accounting system created primarily from socio-economic necessities caused by agricultural and fiscal reforms of Ghazan Khan in 1295-1304.
After the Ilkhanate, the regional states established during the disintegration of the Ilkhanate raised their own candidates as claimants.
---
Mongolian language
The Mongolian language is the official language of Mongolia and the best-known member of the Mongolic language family. The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5.2 million, including the vast majority of the residents of Mongolia and many of the Mongolian residents of the Inner...
: Hülegü-yn Ulus; Mongolian Cyrillic
Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet
The Mongolian Cyrillic script is the writing system used for the Khalkha dialect of the Mongolian language as the standard dialect of the modern state of Mongolia. Cyrillic has not been adopted by the Khalkha in the Inner Mongolia region of China, who still use the Mongolian script.Mongolian...
: Хүлэгийн улс; ; ), was a Mongol khanate
Khanate
Khanate, or Chanat, is a Turco-Mongol-originated word used to describe a political entity ruled by a Khan. In modern Turkish, the word used is kağanlık, and in modern Azeri of the republic of Azerbaijan, xanlıq. In Mongolian the word khanlig is used, as in "Khereidiin Khanlig" meaning the Khanate...
established in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
and Persia in the 13th century, considered a part of the Mongol Empire
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...
. The Ilkhanate was based, originally, on Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
's campaigns in the Khwarezmid Empire in 1219–1224, and founded by Genghis's grandson, Hulagu
Hulagu Khan
Hulagu Khan, also known as Hülegü, Hulegu , was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Southwest Asia...
, in what territories which today comprise most of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, and some regions of western Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. The Ilkhanate initially embraced many religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
s, but was particularly sympathetic to Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
and Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. Later Ilkhanate rulers, beginning with Ghazan in 1295, embraced Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
.
Definition
According to the historian Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, Kublai granted Hulagu (Hulegu) the title of Ilkhan after his defeat of Ariq BokeAriq Boke
Ariq Böke , the components of his name also spelled Arigh, Arik, Bukha, Buka , was the youngest son of Tolui , a son of Genghis Khan. After the death of his brother the Great Khan Mongke, Ariq Boke briefly took power while his brothers Kublai and Hulagu were absent...
. The term il-Khan means "subordinate khan
Khan (title)
Khan is an originally Altaic and subsequently Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turko-Mongol tribes living to the north of China. 'Khan' is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289...
" and refers to their initial deference to Möngke Khan and his successor Great Khans of the entire empire. The title "Ilkhan", borne by the descendants of Hulagu and later another Borjigin princes in Persia, does not materialize in the sources until after 1260.
Early Mongol rule in Persia
When Muhammad II of KhwarezmMuhammad II of Khwarezm
Ala ad-Din Muhammad II was the ruler of the Khwarezmid Empire from 1200 to 1220. His ancestor was a Turkic slave who eventually became a viceroy of a small province named Khwarizm. After his father died, Muhammad inherited his father's lands, and it was from there he began expanding outwards...
executed the merchants dispatched by the Mongols, Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
declared war on Khwārazm-Shāh dynasty in 1219. The Mongols overran the whole empire, occupying all major cities and centers between 1219 to 1221. Persian Iraq was ravaged by the Mongol detachment under Jebe
Jebe
Chepe Noyan was one of the prominent Noyans of Genghis Khan. His clan was Besud, which belonged to the Taichud tribe, which was at the time of Genghis Khan under Targudai Khiriltug's leadership....
and Subedei, they left the area in ruin. Transoxiana
Transoxiana
Transoxiana is the ancient name used for the portion of Central Asia corresponding approximately with modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, southern Kyrgystan and southwest Kazakhstan. Geographically, it is the region between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers...
came under the Mongol control after the invasion. The undivided area west of the Transoxiana was the inheritance of Genghis Khan's Borjigin
Borjigin
Borjigin , also known as the Altan urug , were the imperial clan of Genghis Khan and his successors....
family. Thus, families of the latter's four sons appointed their officials under the Great Khan's governors, Chin-Temur, Nussal and Korguz
Korguz
Korguz was an Uyghur governor of Khorasan during the reign of the Mongol rulerOgedei Khan. He began his career teaching Mongol children and thereafter assumed governorship of Khorasan. Originally a Buddhist, he converted to Islam later in his life. Korguz defied the family of the recently...
, there.
Muhammad's son Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu
Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu
Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, also known as Mengübirti or Manguberdi or Minkburny in the east was the last ruler of the Khwarezmid Empire...
returned to Iran in c.1224 after his exile in India. Rival Turkic states remained of his father's empire quickly declared their allegiance to him. He repulsed the first Mongol attempt to take Central Persia. However, Jalal ad-Din was overwhelmed and crushed by Chormaqan
Chormaqan
Chormaqan was one of the most famous generals of the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan and Ögedei Khan. He was also a member of the keshik....
's army sent by the Great Khan Ögedei in 1231. During the Mongol expedition, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
and southern Persian dynasties in Fars and Kerman
Kerman
- Geological characteristics :For the Iranian paleontologists, Kerman has always been considered a fossil paradise. Finding new dinosaur footprints in 2005 has now revealed new hopes for paleontologists to better understand the history of this area.- Economy :...
voluntarily submitted to the Mongols and agreed to pay tributes. To the west, Hamadan
Hamadan
-Culture:Hamadan is home to many poets and cultural celebrities. The city is also said to be among the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities.Handicrafts: Hamadan has always been well known for handicrafts like leather, ceramic, and beautiful carpets....
and the rest of Persia was secured by Chormaqan. The Mongols turned their attention to Armenia and Georgia in 1234 (or 1236). They completed the conquest of the Kingdom of Georgia
Kingdom of Georgia
The Kingdom of Georgia was a medieval monarchy established in AD 978 by Bagrat III.It flourished during the 11th and 12th centuries, the so-called "golden age" of the history of Georgia. It fell to the Mongol invasions of the 13th century, but managed to re-assert sovereignty by 1327...
in 1238; however, the Mongol Empire began to attack western parts of Greater Armenia which was under the Seljuks the next year.
In 1236 Ogedei commanded to raise up Khorassan
Greater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...
and populated Herat
Herat
Herāt is the capital of Herat province in Afghanistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of about 397,456 as of 2006. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan...
. The Mongol military governors mostly made their camp in Mughan plain
Mughan plain
Mugan plain is a plain in northwestern Iran and the southern part of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The highest density of irrigation canals is in the section of the Mugan plain which lies in the Republic of Azerbaijan. It is located on the bank of the Aras river extending to Iran...
, Azerbaijan. Realizing the danger of the Mongols, rulers of Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
and Cilician Armenia submitted to the Great Khan. Chormaqan divided the Transcaucasia region into three districts based on military hierarchy. In Georgia, the population were temporarily divided into eight tumens. By 1237 the Mongol Empire had subjugated most of Persia, excluding Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
Iraq and Ismaili
Ismaili
' is a branch of Shia Islam. It is the second largest branch of Shia Islam, after the Twelvers...
strongholds, and all of Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
.
After the battle of Köse Dağ
Battle of Köse Dag
The Battle of Köse Dağ was fought between the Seljuk Turks of Anatolia and the Mongols on June 26, 1243 at the defile of Köse Dağ, a location between Erzincan and Gümüşhane in northeast Anatolia, modern Turkey, and ended in a decisive Mongol victory....
in 1243, the Mongols under Baiju
Baiju
Baiju was a Mongol commander in Persia appointed by Ögedei Khan to succeed Chormagan, and expand Mongol power further in that area....
occupied Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
, and the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm and the Empire of Trebizond
Empire of Trebizond
The Empire of Trebizond, founded in April 1204, was one of three Byzantine successor states of the Byzantine Empire. However, the creation of the Empire of Trebizond was not directly related to the capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, rather it had broken away from the Byzantine Empire...
became vassals of the Mongols.
Guyuk Khan
Güyük Khan
Güyük was the third Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. As the eldest son of Ögedei Khan and a grandson of Genghis Khan, he reigned from 1246 to 1248...
abolished decrees, issued by the Mongol princes, had given orders on the revenue of districts in Persia and given also orders of exemption to others in c.1244.
In accordance with the governor Arghun the Elder's (Arghun agha) complaint, Mongke Khan
Möngke Khan
Möngke Khan , born Möngke, , was the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from July 1, 1251 – August 11, 1259. He was the first Great Khan from the Toluid line, and made significant reforms to improve the administration of the Empire during his reign...
prohibited ortog-merchants and nobles to abuse relay stations, yam (route)
Yam (route)
Yam is a supply point route messenger system employed and extensively used and expanded by Genghis Khan and used by subsequent Great Khans and Khans.Relay stations were used to give food, shelter and spare horses for Mongol armies messengers...
, and civilians in 1251. He ordered a new census and decreed that each man in the Mongol ruled-Middle East must pay in proportion to his property. Persia was divided between four districts under Arghun. Mongke Khan granted the Kartids
Kartids
The Kartid Dynasty was a Persian dynasty that ruled over a large part of Khorassan during the 13th and 14th centuries...
authority over Herat, Jam, Bushanj, Ghor, Khaysar, Firuz-Kuh, Gharjistan, Farah, Sistan
Sistan
Sīstān is a border region in eastern Iran , southwestern Afghanistan and northern tip of Southwestern Pakistan .-Etymology:...
, Kabul, Tirah, and Afghanistan (the Sulaiman Mountains) all the way to the Indus River
Indus River
The Indus River is a major river which flows through Pakistan. It also has courses through China and India.Originating in the Tibetan plateau of western China in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar in Tibet Autonomous Region, the river runs a course through the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir and...
.
First Ilkhan
Hulagu Khan
Hulagu Khan, also known as Hülegü, Hulegu , was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Southwest Asia...
, grandson of Genghis Khan and brother of both Möngke Khan
Möngke Khan
Möngke Khan , born Möngke, , was the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from July 1, 1251 – August 11, 1259. He was the first Great Khan from the Toluid line, and made significant reforms to improve the administration of the Empire during his reign...
and Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan , born Kublai and also known by the temple name Shizu , was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China...
. Möngke dispatched him to establish a firm Tolui
Tolui
Tolui, was the youngest son of Genghis Khan by his chief khatun Börte...
d control over the Middle East, and ordered him return to Mongolia when his task was accomplished. Taking over from Baiju in 1255 or 1256, he had been charged with subduing the Muslim kingdoms to the west "as far as the borders of Egypt." This occupation led the Turkmens to move west into Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
to escape from the Mongolian tribes. He established his dynasty over the southwestern part of the Mongol Empire that stretched from Transoxiana
Transoxiana
Transoxiana is the ancient name used for the portion of Central Asia corresponding approximately with modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, southern Kyrgystan and southwest Kazakhstan. Geographically, it is the region between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers...
to Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. He destroyed the Ismaili Nizari
Nizari
'The Shī‘a Imami Ismā‘īlī Tariqah also referred to as the Ismā‘īlī or Nizārī , is a path of Shī‘a Islām, emphasizing social justice, pluralism, and human reason within the framework of the mystical tradition of Islam. The Nizari are the second largest branch of Shia Islam and form the majority...
Hashshashin
Hashshashin
The Assassins were an order of Nizari Ismailis, particularly those of Persia that existed from around 1092 to 1265...
s and the Abbasid Caliphate in 1256 and 1258 respectively. After that he advanced as far as Gaza, briefly conquering Ayyubid-Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
.
Möngke's death forced Hulagu to return from the Persian heartland for the preparation of Khuriltai (selection of a new leader). He left a small force behind to continue the Mongol advance, but it was halted in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
in 1260 by a major defeat at the battle of Ain Jalut
Battle of Ain Jalut
The Battle of Ain Jalut took place on 3 September 1260 between Mamluks and the Mongols in eastern Galilee, in the Jezreel Valley, not far from Ein Harod....
at the hands of the Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
s of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. Due to geo-political and religious issues and deaths of three Jochi
Jochi
Jochi was the eldest of the Mongol chieftain Genghis Khan's four sons by his principal wife Börte. An accomplished military leader, he participated in his father's conquest of Central Asia, along with his brothers and uncles.-Early life:...
d princes in Hulagu's service, Berke
Berke
Berke Khan was the ruler of the Golden Horde who effectively consolidated the power of the Blue Horde and White Hordes from 1257 to 1266. He succeeded his brother Batu Khan of the Blue Horde and was responsible for the first official establishment of Islam in a khanate of the Mongol Empire...
declared open war on Hulagu in 1262 and possibly called his troops back in Iran. According to Mamluk historians, Hulagu might have massacred Berke's troops and refused to share his war booty with Berke.
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
in the east maintained a friendly relationship and held nominal suzerainty over the Ilkhanate until the fall of the latter in the 1330s. Hulagu's descendants ruled Persia for the next eighty years, tolerating multiple religions including Shamanism, Buddhism, and Christianity, ultimately adopting Islam as a state religion in 1295. However, despite this conversion, the Ilkhans remained opposed to the Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
s (who had defeated both Mongol invaders and Crusaders). The Ilkhans launched several invasions of Syria, but were never able to gain and keep significant ground against the Mamluks, eventually being forced to give up their plans to conquer Syria, along with their stranglehold over their vassals the Sultanate of Rum and the Armenian kingdom in Cilicia
Cilicia
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
. This was in large part due to civil war in the Mongol Empire, and the hostility of the khanates to the north and east. The Chagatai Khanate
Chagatai Khanate
The Chagatai Khanate was a Turko-Mongol khanate that comprised the lands ruled by Chagatai Khan , second son of the Great Khan Genghis Khan, and his descendents and successors...
in Moghulistan
Moghulistan
Moghulistan or Mughalistan is a historical geographic unit in Central Asia that included parts of modern-day Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and the Chinese Autonomous Region of Xinjiang...
and the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
threatened the Ilkhanate in the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
and Transoxiana, preventing expansion westward. Even under Hulagu's reign, the Ilkhanate was engaged in open warfare in the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
with the Mongols in the Russian steppes.
Hulagu took with him many Chinese scholars, astronomers, and the famous Persian astronomer Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
Khawaja Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan Ṭūsī , better known as Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī , was a Persian polymath and prolific writer: an astronomer, biologist, chemist, mathematician, philosopher, physician, physicist, scientist, theologian and Marja Taqleed...
learned about the mode of the Chinese calculating tables
Chinese astronomy
Astronomy in China has a very long history, with historians considering that "they [the Chinese] were the most persistent and accurate observers of celestial phenomena anywhere in the world before the Arabs."...
. The observatory was built on a hill of Maragheh.
Franco-Mongol alliance
Many attempts towards the formation of a Franco-Mongol alliance were made between the courts of Western EuropeWestern Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
(West Europeans were collectively called Franks by Muslims and Asians in the Crusades era) and the Mongols (primarily the Ilkhanate) in the 13th and 14th centuries, starting from around the time of the Seventh Crusade
Seventh Crusade
The Seventh Crusade was a crusade led by Louis IX of France from 1248 to 1254. Approximately 800,000 bezants were paid in ransom for King Louis who, along with thousands of his troops, was captured and defeated by the Egyptian army led by the Ayyubid Sultan Turanshah supported by the Bahariyya...
. United in their opposition to the Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s (mainly the Mamluks), the Ilkhanate and the Europeans were still never able to satisfactorily combine their forces against their common enemy.
Conversion to Islam
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
. Christian powers were encouraged by what appeared to be a favoring of Nestorian Christianity
Nestorianism
Nestorianism is a Christological doctrine advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428–431. The doctrine, which was informed by Nestorius's studies under Theodore of Mopsuestia at the School of Antioch, emphasizes the disunion between the human and divine natures of Jesus...
but this probably went no deeper than their traditional evenhandedness. Thus the Ilkhans were markedly out of step with the Muslim majority they ruled. Ghazan, shortly before he overthrew Baydu
Baydu
Baydu was the sixth ruler of the Mongol empire's Ilkhanate division in Iran. He succeeded his cousin Gaykhatu as khan of the Ilkhanate state in 1295....
, converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and his official favoring of Islam coincided with a marked attempt to bring the regime closer to the non-Mongol majority. Christian and Jewish subjects lost their equal status with Muslims and again had to pay the poll tax. Buddhists had the starker choice of conversion or expulsion.
In foreign relations, the conversion to Islam had little to no effect and Ghazan continued to fight the Mamluks for control of Syria. But the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar
Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar
The Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar, also known as the Third Battle of Homs, was a Mongol victory over the Mamluks in 1299.-Background:In 1260, Hulagu Khan had invaded the Middle East all the way to Palestine. Before he could follow up with an invasion of Egypt, he was called back to Mongolia. He left...
, which was the Mongols' only major victory over the Mamluks, disproved his control over Syria, which lasted but a few months. For the most part, Ghazan's policies continued under his brother Öljeitü despite suggestions that he might begin to favor the Shi'a brand of Islam after he came under the influence of Shi'a theologians Al-Hilli
Al-Hilli
Jamal ad-Din Hasan ibn Yusuf ibn 'Ali ibn Muthahhar al-Hilli , also known as al-Allamah al-Hilli , born December 15, 1250 CE , died December 18, 1325, was a Twelver Shia theologian and mujtahid. Known as a Marja , he was one of the greatest Muslim jurists and scholars of his time...
and Maitham Al Bahrani
Maitham Al Bahrani
Sheikh Maytham bin Ali Al Bahrani was a leading 13th Century Twelver Shi'a Islamic theologian who lived in Bahrain. Al Bahrani wrote on Twelver doctrine, affirmed free will, the infallibility of prophets and imams, the appointed imamate of `Ali, and the occultation of the Twelfth Imam...
. Öljeitü succeeded in conquering Gilan on the Caspian coast and his magnificent tomb in Soltaniyeh
Soltaniyeh
Soltaniyeh is a city in and capital of Soltaniyeh District of Abhar County, Zanjan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 5,684, in 1,649 families. Soltaniyeh, located some to the north-west of Tehran, used to be the capital of Mongol Ilkhanid rulers of Persia in the 14th century....
remains the best known monument of Ilkhanid rule in Persia.
Disintegration
Abu Sa'id (Ilkhanid dynasty)
Abu Sa'id also Abusaid Bahador Khan, Abu Sayed Behauder , was the ninth ruler of the Ilkhanate state in Iran ....
's death in 1335, the khanate began to disintegrate rapidly, and split up into several rival successor states, most prominently the Jalayirids. Hasar's descendant Togha Temür
Togha Temür
Togha Temür , also known as Taghaytimur, was a claimant to the throne of the Ilkhanate in the mid-14th century. Of the many individuals who attempted to become Ilkhan after the death of Abu Sa'id, Togha Temür was the only one who hailed from eastern Iran, and was the last major candidate who was of...
, who was the last of the obscure Ilkhan pretenders, was assassinated by Sarbadars in 1353. Timur
Timur
Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...
later carved a state from the Jalayirids, ostensibly to restore the old khanate. The historian Rashid-al-Din Hamadani wrote a universal history for the khans around 1315 which provides much material for their history.
Legacy
The emergence of Ilkhanate had an important impact in this region. The Mongol Empire had significantly eased trade and commerce across AsiaAsia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. The communications between Ilkhanate and the Yuan Dynasty
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
headquartered in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
encouraged this development.
The Ilkhanate also helped to pave the way for the later Safavid dynastic state, and ultimately the modern country of Iran. Hulagu's conquests had also opened Iran to Chinese influence from the east. This, combined with patronage from his successors, would develop Iran's distinctive excellence in architecture. Under the Il Khans, Iranian historians also moved from writing in Arabic, to writing in Persian.
The rudiments of double-entry accounting were practiced in the Ilkhanate and were developed indepen- dently from the accounting practices used in Europe. This accounting system created primarily from socio-economic necessities caused by agricultural and fiscal reforms of Ghazan Khan in 1295-1304.
House of Hulagu (1256-1335).Ilkhanate Mongol kings
- Hulagu KhanHulagu KhanHulagu Khan, also known as Hülegü, Hulegu , was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Southwest Asia...
(1256–1265) - Abaqa KhanAbaqa KhanAbaqa Khan , also Abaga , or Abagha Khan, was the second Mongol ruler of the Persian Ilkhanate. The son of Hulagu Khan and Yesuncin Khatun, he reigned from 1265–1282 and was succeeded by his brother Tekuder Khan...
(1265–1282) - Ahmad Tegüder (1282–1284)
- ArghunArghunArghun Khan aka Argon was the fourth ruler of the Mongol empire's Ilkhanate, from 1284 to 1291. He was the son of Abaqa Khan, and like his father, was a devout Buddhist...
(1284–1291) - GaykhatuGaykhatuGaykhatu was the fifth Ilkhanate ruler in Iran. He reigned from 1291 to 1295. During his reign, Gaykhatu was a noted dissolute who was addicted to wine, women, and sodomy...
(1291–1295) - BayduBayduBaydu was the sixth ruler of the Mongol empire's Ilkhanate division in Iran. He succeeded his cousin Gaykhatu as khan of the Ilkhanate state in 1295....
(1295) - Mahmud GhazanMahmud GhazanMahmud Ghazan was the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of Arghun and Quthluq Khatun, continuing a line of rulers who were direct descendants of Genghis Khan...
(1295–1304) - Muhammad Khodabandeh (Oljeitu) (1304–1316)
- Abu Sa'id BahadurAbu Sa'id (Ilkhanid dynasty)Abu Sa'id also Abusaid Bahador Khan, Abu Sayed Behauder , was the ninth ruler of the Ilkhanate state in Iran ....
(1316–1335)
After the Ilkhanate, the regional states established during the disintegration of the Ilkhanate raised their own candidates as claimants.
House of Hulagu (1336-1357)
- MusaMusa (Ilkhanid dynasty)Musa Khan was an Ilkhan from 1336 to 1337 and a grandson of Baydu.He was installed to the throne of the Ilkhanate by the governor of Baghdad, 'Ali Padsah, on April 12, two days after the latter had defeated Arpa Ke'un in battle. Musa was meant to be a puppet to 'Ali. However, Musa was challenged by...
(1336–1337) (puppet of 'Ali Padshah of Baghdad) - MuhammadMuhammad Khan (Ilkhan)Muhammad Khan was a claimant to the throne of the Ilkhanate. He was a great-grandson of Mengu Timur, who was a son of Hulegu....
(1336–1338) (JalayiridJalayiridsThe Jalayirids were a Mongol Jalayir dynasty which ruled over Iraq and western Persia after the breakup of the Mongol Khanate of Persia in the 1330s....
puppet) - Sati BegSati BegAl-sultana al-radila Sati Beg Khan Khallad Allah Mulkaha was a claimant to the throne of the Ilkhanate during the fragmentation of Persia in the mid-14th century. She was the uterine sister of the Ilkhan Abu Sa'id....
(1338–1339) (Chobanid puppet) - SulaymanSuleiman KhanSuleiman Khan was a Chobanid puppet for the throne of the Ilkhanate during the breakdown of central authority in Persia. He was the great-grandson of the Ilkhan Hülegü's third son Yoshmut....
(1339–1343) (Chobanid puppet, recognized by the SarbadarsSarbadarsThe Sarbadars were a mixture of religious dervishes and secular rulers that came to rule over part of western Khurasan in the midst of the disintegration of the Mongol Ilkhanate in the mid-14th century...
1341–1343) - Jahan TemurJahan TemurJahan Temür was a Jalayirid candidate for the throne of the Ilkhanate in the late 1330s. He was the son of Ala-Fireng and the grandson of the Ilkhan Gaykhatu....
(1339–1340) (Jalayirid puppet) - AnushirwanAnusirvanAnushirwan Khan occupied the Ilkhanid throne from 1344 until his death in 1357. He was a puppet of the Chobanid ruler Malek Ashraf and possessed no power of his own....
(1343–1356) (Chobanid puppet) - Ghazan II (1356–1357) (known only from coinage)
House of Hasar
Claimants from eastern Persia (Khurasan):- Togha TemürTogha TemürTogha Temür , also known as Taghaytimur, was a claimant to the throne of the Ilkhanate in the mid-14th century. Of the many individuals who attempted to become Ilkhan after the death of Abu Sa'id, Togha Temür was the only one who hailed from eastern Iran, and was the last major candidate who was of...
(c. 1338–1353) (recognized by the KartidsKartidsThe Kartid Dynasty was a Persian dynasty that ruled over a large part of Khorassan during the 13th and 14th centuries...
1338–1349; by the Jalayirids 1338–1339, 1340–1344; by the Sarbadars 1338–1341, 1344, 1353) - Luqman (1353–1388) (son of Togha Temür and the protege of TimurTimurTimur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...
)
Family tree (House of Hulagu)
See also
- Full list of Iranian Kingdoms
- SarbadarsSarbadarsThe Sarbadars were a mixture of religious dervishes and secular rulers that came to rule over part of western Khurasan in the midst of the disintegration of the Mongol Ilkhanate in the mid-14th century...
, the famous political movement of the Ilkhanid era of Persia. - Hazaras
External links
- Ilkhanids Dynasty Mongolian dynasty
- Encyclopedia Iranica. Contains more information on the Ilkhanate.
- http://tokakte.virtualave.net Contains a searchable database for Ilkhanid coins
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