Ilkhanate
.png)
The Ilkhanate (Persian: ایلخانان; Mongolian: ᠶᠡᠯᠬᠠᠨ) was a Mongol state that ruled Persia, Iraq, Caucasus, and parts of Anatolia and Central Asia from 1256 to 1335. It was founded by Hulagu Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan, after his campaigns in the Middle East. The name "Ilkhan" means "subordinate khan," showing that the rulers were at first loyal to the Great Khan in Mongolia.[1]
Hulagu began his campaigns in 1253 under orders from his brother Möngke Khan. In 1256, he destroyed the Nizari Ismaili state in Persia, ending the power of the Assassins. In 1258, he captured Baghdad and killed the last Abbasid Caliph, ending the Abbasid Caliphate. This shocked the Islamic world, but it gave the Mongols control of Mesopotamia.[2]
The Ilkhanate’s capital was first at Maragheh, then at Tabriz, and later at Soltaniyeh. The state covered most of modern Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and parts of Turkey and Afghanistan. Hulagu and his successors fought wars against the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt, but they were defeated at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260. This was the first major Mongol defeat in the Middle East.[3]
The Ilkhanate was at first religiously diverse. Hulagu’s wife Dokuz Khatun was a Christian, and many Mongols followed Buddhism or Tengrism. In 1295, Khan Ghazan converted to Islam and made it the official religion. This helped the Ilkhanate gain support from the local population. Ghazan also reformed taxes, supported Persian culture, and encouraged historians like Rashid al-Din, who wrote the famous Jami al-Tawarikh ("Compendium of Chronicles").[4]
Under Ghazan and his successor Öljeitü, the Ilkhanate reached its height. They built mosques, palaces, and the great city of Soltaniyeh, which became a center of art and architecture. Trade grew with Europe, especially with Italian merchants from Genoa and Venice. The Ilkhanate tried to form alliances with Christian Europe against the Mamluks, but these plans never succeeded.[5]
After the death of Khan Abu Sa'id in 1335, the Ilkhanate broke apart. Without a strong ruler, local dynasties such as the Jalayirids, Chobanids, and Muzaffarids took power in Persia. The Mongol elite were absorbed into Persian society, and the Ilkhanate disappeared as an independent state.[6]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Reuven Amitai, The Mongols in the Islamic Lands: Studies in the History of the Ilkhanate, Routledge, 2024, pp. 1–5. Google Books
- ↑ B. Spuler, “Īlkhāns,” in *Encyclopaedia of Islam*, Leiden: Brill, 1986, pp. 118–125. Internet Archive
- ↑ David Morgan and Stefan Kamola, “The Ilkhanate, 1260–1335,” in *The Cambridge History of the Mongol Empire*, Cambridge University Press, 2024, pp. 145–170. Cambridge University Press
- ↑ George Lane, “Ilkhanate: Mongol Rule in Medieval Western Asia, 1256–1335,” *Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History*, Oxford University Press, 2019. Oxford University Press
- ↑ Timothy May, Dashdondog Bayarsaikhan, and Christopher Atwood, eds., New Approaches to Ilkhanid History, Brill, 2020, pp. 200–210. Internet Archive
- ↑ Michael Hope, Power, Politics, and Tradition in the Mongol Empire and the Ilkhanate of Iran, Oxford University Press, 2016, pp. 85–90. Oxford University Press