Ilkhanate

 ( 13th Century In Iran ) 

The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as Hülegü Ulus ().

The Ilkhanate's core territory was situated in what is now the countries of Iran, Azerbaijan, and Turkey. At its greatest extent, the Ilkhanate also included parts of modern Iraq, Syria, Armenia, Georgia, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, part of modern Dagestan, and part of modern Tajikistan. Later Ilkhanid rulers, beginning with Ghazan in 1295, converted to Islam. In the 1330s, the Ilkhanate was ravaged by the Black Death. The last ilkhan, Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan, died in 1335, after which the Ilkhanate disintegrated.

The State of the Ilkhanate was known as the Ulus of Hülegü to the Mongols during that time, as their territory was derived from one of uluses allocated to Genghis (Chinggis) Khan's descendants.http://mongol.huji.ac.il/sites/default/files/wbeoe362-ilkhanate%20biran2016%20eoe.pdf Kim, Hodong. "Formation and Changes of Uluses in the Mongol Empire" /ref> The Ilkhanid rulers, although of non-Iranian origin, tried to advertise their authority by tying themselves to the Iranian past, and they recruited historians to present the Mongols as heirs to the Sasanian Empire (224–651). Native intellectuals interested in their own history interpreted the unification by the Mongols as a revival of their long-lost dynastic tradition, and the concept of "Land of Iran" ( Irān-zamin) was considered an important ideology and was further developed by the later Safavid Iran (1501–1736). Similar to the development in China under the Yuan dynasty, the revival of the concept of territorial unity, although not intended by the Mongols, became a lasting legacy of Mongol rule in Iran.

Muhammad II's son Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu returned to Iran in c. 1224 after fleeing to India. The rival Turkic states, which were all that remained of his father's empire, quickly declared their allegiance to Jalal. 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 the southern Persian dynasties in Fars province and Kerman voluntarily submitted to the Mongols and agreed to pay tribute.Timothy May Chormaqan, p. 47

To the west, Hamadan and the rest of Persia was secured by Chormaqan. The Mongols invaded Armenia and Georgia in 1234 or 1236, completing the conquest of the Kingdom of Georgia in 1238. They began to attack the western parts of Bagratid Armenia, which was under the Seljuks, the following year. By 1237 the Mongol Empire had subjugated most of Persia (including modern-day Azerbaijan), Armenia, Georgia (excluding Abbasid Iraq and Ismaili strongholds), as well as all of Afghanistan and Kashmir.Thomas T. Allsen Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia, p. 84 After the Battle of Köse Dağ in 1243, the Mongols under Baiju Noyan occupied Anatolia, while the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm and the Empire of Trebizond became vassals of the Mongols.

In 1236 Ögedei commanded Greater Khorasan to be restored and the city of Herat repopulated. The Mongol military governors mostly made camp in the Mughan plain in what is now Azerbaijan. Realizing the danger posed by the Mongols, the rulers of Mosul and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia submitted to the Great Khan. Chormaqan divided Transcaucasia into three districts based on the Mongol military hierarchy. In Georgia, the population was temporarily divided into eight tumens.Kalistriat Salia History of the Georgian Nation, p. 210 In 1244, Güyük Khan stopped raising of revenue from districts in Persia as well and offered tax exemptions to others.C. P. Atwood-Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire, see: Monqe Khan In accordance with a complaint by the governor Arghun Aqa, Möngke Khan prohibited ortogh-merchants (Mongol-contracted Muslim traders)X. Liu. The Silk Road in World History, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2010 p. 116E. Endicott-West. Merchant Associations in Yuan China: The "Ortoy,"Asia Major, Third Series, Vol. 2 No. 2, Academica Sinica, 1989 and nobles from abusing relay stations and civilians in 1251.M. Th. Houtsma E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936, Volume 1, p. 729 He ordered a new census and decreed that each man in the Mongol-ruled West Asia must pay in proportion to his property. Persia was divided between four districts under Arghun. Möngke Khan granted the Kartids authority over Herat, Jam, Pushang (Fushanj), Ghor, Khaysar, Firuz-Kuh, Gharjistan, Farah, Sistan, Kabul, Tirah, and Afghanistan.Ehsan Yar-Shater Encyclopædia Iranica, p. 209

Due to the suspicious deaths of three princes in Hulegu's service, Berke of the Golden Horde declared war on Hulegu in 1262. According to Mamluk historians, Hulegu might have massacred Berke's troops and refused to share his war booty with Berke. Berke sought a joint attack with Baybars and forged an alliance with the Mamluks against Hulegu. The Golden Horde dispatched the young prince Nogai Khan to invade the Ilkhanate but Hulegu forced him back in 1262. The Ilkhanid army then crossed the Terek River, capturing an empty Jochid encampment, only to be routed in a surprise attack by Nogai's forces. Many of them were drowned as the ice broke on the frozen Terek River. In 1262, Hulegu gave Greater Khorasan and Mazandaran to Abaqa and northern Azerbaijan to Yoshmut. Hulegu himself spent his time living as a nomad in southern Azerbaijan and Armenia. During his early rule, the Ilkhanate experienced mass revolts by its subjects, with the exception of the Seljukids and in Anatolia and Mardin. It was not until Shams al-Din Juvayni was appointed as vizier after 1262 that things started calming down and a more sustainable administration was implemented.

Hulegu fell ill in February 1265 after several days of banquets and hunting. He died on 8 February and his son Abaqa succeeded him in the summer.

Abaqa's death in 1282 triggered a succession struggle between his son Arghun, supported by the Qara'unas, and his brother Tekuder, supported by the Chinggisid aristocracy. Tekuder was elected khan by the Chinggisids. Tekuder was the first Muslim ruler of the Ilkhanate but he made no active attempt to proselytize or convert his realm. However he did try to replace Mongol political traditions with Islamic ones, resulting in a loss of support from the army. Arghun used his religion against him by appealing to non-Muslims for support. When Tekuder realized this, he executed several of Arghun's supporters, and captured Arghun. Tekuder's foster son, Buaq, freed Arghun and overthrew Tekuder. Arghun was confirmed as ilkhan by Kublai Khan in February 1286.

During Arghun's reign, he actively sought to combat Muslim influence, and fought against both the Mamluks and the Muslim Mongol emir Nawruz in Khorasan. To fund his campaigns, Arghun allowed his viziers Buqa and Sa'd-ud-dawla to centralize expenditures, but this was highly unpopular and caused his former supporters to turn against him. Both viziers were killed and Arghun was murdered in 1291.

Hulegu's descendants ruled Persia for the next eighty years, tolerating multiple religions, including Shamanism, Buddhism, and Christianity, and ultimately adopting Islam as a state religion in 1295. However, despite this conversion, the Ilkhanids remained opposed to the Mamluks, who had defeated both Mongol invaders and Crusaders. The Ilkhanids 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 Hulegu's reign, the Ilkhanate was engaged in open warfare in the Caucasus with the Mongols in the Russian steppes. On the other hand, the China-based Yuan dynasty was an ally of the Ikhanate and also held nominal suzerainty over the latter (the Emperor being also Great Khan) for many decades.Christopher P. Atwood Ibid

Ghazan converted to Islam under influence of Nawrūz and made Islam the official state religion. Christian and Jewish subjects lost their equal status and had to pay the jizya (minority religion tax). Ghazan gave Buddhists the starker choice of conversion or expulsion and ordered their temples to be destroyed; though he later relaxed this severity.

In terms of foreign relations, the Ilkhanids' conversion to Islam had little to no effect on its hostility towards other Muslim states, and conflict with the Mamluks for control of Syria continued. The Battle of Wadi al-Khaznadar, also known as the Third Battle of Homs, was the only major victory by the Mongols over the Mamluk Sultanate, ended the latter's control over Syria for a few months.

For the most part, Ghazan's policies continued under his brother Öljaitü despite suggestions that he might begin to favor Twelver Shi'ism after he came under the influence of the theologians al-Allama al-Hilli and al-Bahrani.Ali Al Oraibi, "Rationalism in the school of Bahrain: a historical perspective", in Shīʻite Heritage: Essays on Classical and Modern Traditions by Lynda Clarke, Global Academic Publishing 2001 p. 336

Öljeitü, who had been baptism as an infant and had flirted with Buddhism, eventually became a Hanafi school, though he still retained some residual shamanism. In 1309–10, he became a Shi'ite Muslim.

In a 1290 letter sent to Pope Nicholas IV, Arghun called himself Ilkhan Il.Antoine Mostaert, Francis Woodman Cleaves. Les Lettres de 1289 et 1305 des ilkhan Arγun et Ölǰeitü à Philippe le Bel'' (Boston: Harvard University Press, 1974), p. 17 Google Book preview The continued use of the title "Ilkhan" outside of the Mongol coinage in Iran suggests that Ghazan and his Muslim successors still carried the title in the fourteenth century. Indeed, Öljaitü and Abu Sa'id held the title of Ilkhan along with their Islamic, Mongolian and Persian titles.Thomas T. Allsen. Culture and conquest in Mongol Eurasia. Cambridge University Press, 2004, p. 36Shayestehfar, Mahnaz. " The Impact of Chinese Seals on the Structure, Design, and Usage of the ĪlKhānids Seals and Coins". Design Engineering 2021, No. 09 (2021): 6723. doi:10.17762/de.vi.7698.

The State of the Ilkhanate was known as the ulus of Hülegü to the Mongols during that time. Kublai Khan and his successors regarded the Ilkhans as subordinate rulers, a view corroborated by Persian sources, which note that the Great Khans issued edicts and patents of authority to confirm the coronation of Ilkhans such as Abagha and Arghun.Rashid al-Dīn Faḍl-Allāh b. Abīl-Khayr Hamadānī. Jami’u’t al-Tawarikh:A Compendium of Chronicles by Rashiduddin Fazlullah, trans. Wheeler M. Thackston, Classical Writings of the Medieval Islamic World: Persian Histories of the Mongol Dynasties, III, vol. 2 (London and New York, 2012), p. 513, section: 1060–1061; pp. 561–562, sections: 1161–1162Thomas T. Allsen. Culture and conquest in Mongol Eurasia. Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp. 25, 27–28 In the official History of the Yuan dynasty, the Ilkhans are termed "Prince of the Blood" or "Imperial Prince".Thomas T. Allsen. Culture and conquest in Mongol Eurasia. Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp. 153–154, 155 The Yuan rulers conferred upon the Ilkhan's great commanders and viziers (ministers) prestigious titles such as Chancellor, the Minister of the Branch Office of the Revenue Ministry, the Minister for Assisting Government and Pacifying People, Commander Unequalled in Honor,Thomas T. Allsen. Culture and conquest in Mongol Eurasia. Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp. 40–41 and Superintendent of Hermitage Bureau along with seals.YOKKAICHI, Yasuhiro. "Chinese Seals in the Mongol Official Documents in Iran: Re-Examination of the Sphragistic System in the Ll-Khanid and Yuan Dynasties". Journal of the Turfan Studies: Essays on the Third International Conference on Turfan Studies, The Origins and Migrations of Eurasian Nomadic Peoples / 吐鲁番学研究：第三届吐鲁番学暨欧亚游牧民族的起源与迁徙国际学术研讨会论文集, 2010, pp. 218–219 www.academia.eduUyar, Mustafa. " Buqa Chīngsāng: Protagonist of Qubilai Khan’s Unsuccessful Coup Attempt against the Hülegüid Dynasty". Belleten 81, No. 291 (2017): p. 379 For example, the Great Khan Yesün Temür (r. 1323–1328) granted the Ilkhanid great commander Chupan the prestigious title "vice-grand minister for establishing the governance" and the noble rank of Duke of Yi, along with a golden tablet and a seal. Chupan used the seal to stamp official documents.Yokkaichi, Yasuhiro. " Four Seals in’Phags-pa and Arabic Scripts on Amīr Čoban's Decree of 726 AH/1326 CE". Orient 50 (2015): 25–33. To reinforce their authority, both Kublai and his successor Temür dispatched their own agents, including Bolad, Qadan, and Baiju, to Iran to oversee and influence Ilkhanid politics.Uyar, Mustafa. " Buqa Chīngsāng: Protagonist of Qubilai Khan's Unsuccessful Coup Attempt against the Hülegüid Dynasty". Belleten 81, No. 291 (2017): pp. 383–384Thomas T. Allsen. Culture and conquest in Mongol Eurasia. Cambridge University Press, 2004., pp. 33–34, 76–77

In his letter dispatched to Philip IV of France in 1305, the Il-Khan Öljaitü addressed only Temür with the title Qaghan (Great Khan) and treated other Chinggisid khans of the Golden Horde and Central Asia as his equals.Antoine Mostaert, Francis Woodman Cleaves. Les Lettres de 1289 et 1305 des ilkhan Arγun et Ölǰeitü à Philippe le Bel (Boston: Harvard University Press, 1974), p. 55 Google Book preview

The Ilkhanid rulers, who were keen to increase their autonomy, supported their Persian bureaucrats' promotion of the traditional Iranian idea of kingship. The Persian concept of monarchy over a territorial empire, or more specifically, the "Kingship of the Land of Iran" ( pādshāhi-ye Irān-zamin), was easily sold to their Mongol masters by these bureaucrats. A lasting effect of the Mongol conquests was the emergence of the "national state" in Iran during the Ilkhanate era. The Ilkhanate Mongols remained nomadic in their way of life until the end of the dynasty. Their nomadic routes covered central Iraq, northwest Iran, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. The Mongols administered Iraq, the Caucasus, and western and southern Iran directly with the exception of Georgia, the Artuqid sultan of Mardin, and Kufa and Luristan. The Qara'unas Mongols ruled Greater Khorasan as an autonomous realm and did not pay taxes. Herat's local Kart dynasty also remained autonomous. Anatolia was the richest province of the Ilkhanate, supplying a quarter of its revenue while Iraq and Diyarbakir together supplied about 35 percent of its revenue.

In 1330, the annexation of Abkhazia resulted in the reunification of the Kingdom of Georgia. However, tribute received by the Il-Khans from Georgia sank by about three-quarters between 1336 and 1350 because of wars and famines.D. M. Lang, Georgia in the Reign of Giorgi the Brilliant (1314–1346). Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 17, No. 1 (1955), pp. 74–91

While Abu Sa'id eventually concluded a peace treaty with the Mamluks in 1322, the rivalry between the two powers continued diplomatically. Abu Sa'id, as a Muslim ruler, sought to demonstrate his legitimacy further abroad in Islamic terms, particularly through efforts to exert influence over the two holy cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina. Even prior to the peace treaty's conclusion, the Ilkhan began sending large and richly equipped pilgrimage ( hajj) caravans from Iraq. In 1330 he went so far as to include, at great cost, an elephant in the caravan.

[[Mongol Empire]] 

[[Il-Khanate]] 

Astarabad Emirate 

[[Salghurids]] 

[[Qutluq-KhanidsQutlugh-Khanids]]