Ilkhanate Dynasty
The 'Ilkhanate', also spelled 'Il-khanate' or 'Il Khanate' (), was one of the four major divisions within the
Mongol Empire. It was centered in
Persia, including present-day
Iran,
Iraq,
Afghanistan, and western
Pakistan. It was based, originally, on
Genghis Khan's campaigns in the
Khwarezmid Empire in
1219-
1224, and the continual expansion of Mongol presence under the commands of
Chormagan,
Baiju, and
Eljigidei.
Hulegu
Ilkhanid
horse archer. Although this drawing postdates the period of Ilkhanid rule and instead belongs to the
Timurid dynasty (1370-1507) its subject is not a contemporary one. For example, the rider's costume (including his distinctive owl-feathered headdress) was no longer in fashion at the Timurid court, although the imagery must have appealed to a Timurid audience given the dynasty's claims to Mongol ancestry. The artist,
Muhammad ibn Mahmudshah al-Khayyam, probably based his composition on an Ilkhanid work perhaps preserved in an album. These albums, which were first assembled in Iran in the fifteenth century, contained paintings, calligraphy, sketches, designs, and stencils for transferring designs that served as models and source materials for later generations of artists.
The founder of the Ilkhanate dynasty was
Hulegu Khan, grandson of
Genghis Khan and brother of
Mongke khan. 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." His expedition, however, was halted in
Palestine by a stinging defeat at the
Battle of Ain Jalut at the hands of the
Mamluks of Egypt.
After a battle against the Turks in 1243, the Mongols occupied Anatolia. The
Sultanate of Rum became a vassal of the Ilkhanate Mongols. This occupation led the Turkmens to move west to escape from the Mongolian tribes. This gave birth to the
Ottomans. Hulegu then returned to the Persian heartland and established his dynasty. The succession thereafter continued through his family line.
Early il-Khanate
The term il-Khan means "subordinate
khan" and refers to their initial deference to
Mongke as
great khan and ultimate sovereign of the entire empire. Hulegu's descendants ruled
Persia for the next eighty years, beginning as shamanists, then Buddhists and ultimately converting to Islam. However, the Il-khans remained opposed to the
Mamluks (who had defeated both Mongol invaders and crusaders), but were never able to gain significant ground against them, eventually being forced to give up their plans to conquer
Syria, and their stranglehold over their vassals the
Sultanate of Rum and the
Armenian kingdom in
Cilicia. This was due to the hostility of the khanates to the north and east--the
Chagatai khanate in Mughulistan and the
Blue Horde of
Batu threatened the Il-khanate in the Caucasus and Transoxiana, preventing expansion westward. Even under Hülegü's reign, the Ilkhanate was engaged in open warfare in the
Caucasus with the Mongols in the Russian steppes.
Conversion to Islam
In the period after
Hulegu, the il-khans 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 even handedness(Medieval Persia 1040-1797, David Morgan p64). Thus the Il-khans were markedly out of step with the Muslim majority they ruled. However,
Ghazan, shortly before he overthrew
Baidu, converted to
Islam and his official favoring of Islam went along with a marked attempt to bring the regime closer to the non-Mongol majority. Christian and Jewish subjects however lost their equal status with Muslims and again had to the poll tax. Buddhists had the starker choice of conversion or expulsion.(Medieval Persia 1040-1797, David Morgan p72) In foreign relations however things this conversion had no effect and Ghazan fought the Mamluks for Syria. For the most part, this policy continued under his brother
Öljeitü despite suggestions that he might seek to favor the
Shiah brand of Islam. He succeeded in conquering
Gilan on the Caspian coast and his magnificent tomb in
Soltaniyeh remains the best known monument of Ilkhanid rule in Persia.
Disintegration
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. The last of the obscure Il-khan pretenders was assassinated in
1353.
Timur the Lame later carved a state from the Jalayirids, ostensibly to restore the old khanate.
The historian
Rashid al-Din wrote a
universal history for the khans around 1315 which provides much material for their history.
Il-Khanid Dynasty rulers
★
Hülegü (1256-1265)
★
Abaqa (1265-1282)
★
Ahmad Tegüder (1282-1284)
★
Arghun (1284-1291)
★
Gaykhatu (1291-1295)
★
Baydu (1295)
★
Mahmud Ghazan (1295-1304)
★
Muhammad Khodabandeh (Oljeitu) (1304-1316)
★
Abu Sa'id Bahadur (1316-1335)
★
Arpa Ke'ün (1335-1336)
''Fragmentation. The regional states established during the disintegration of the Il-khanate raised their own candidates as claimants.''
Map showing the political situation in southwest Asia ten years after the death of Abu Sa'id. The Jalayirids, Chobanids, Muzaffarids, Injuids, Sarbadars and Kartids took the Ilkhanate's place as the major powers in Iran.
★
Musa (1336-1337) (puppet of 'Ali Padshah of Baghdad)
★
Muhammad (1336-1338) (
Jalayirid puppet)
★
Sati Beg (1338-1339) (
Chobanid puppet)
★
Sulayman (1339-1343) (Chobanid puppet, recognized by the
Sarbadars 1341-1343)
★
Jahan Temur (1339-1340) (Jalayirid puppet)
★
Anushirwan (1343-1356) (non-dynastic Chobanid puppet)
★ Ghazan II (1356-1357) (known only from coinage)
''Claimants from eastern Persia (Khurasan):''
★
Togha Temür (c. 1338-1353) (recognized by the
Kartids 1338-1349; by the Jalayirids 1338-1339, 1340-1344; by the Sarbadars 1338-1341, 1344, 1353)
★ Luqman (1353-1388) (son of Togha Temür)
See also
★
Ilkhani
★
Full list of Iranian Kingdoms
★
Sarbadars, the famous political movement of the Il-Khanid era of Persia.
External links
★
Ilkhanids Dynasty Mongolian dynasty
★
Encyclopedia Iranica. Contains more information on the Il-Khanate.
★
[1] Contains a searchable database for Ilkhanid coins
References
★ C.E. Bosworth, ''The New Islamic Dynasties'', New York, 1996.
★ R. Amitai-Preiss: ''Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War 1260-1281''. Cambridge, 1995
★
Marco Polo
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