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Map of the Ilkhanate in the 13th–14th centuries
TheIlkhanate (Persian:ایلخانان;Mongolian:ᠶᠡᠯᠬᠠᠨ) was aMongol state that ruledPersia,Iraq,Caucasus, and parts ofAnatolia andCentral Asia from 1256 to 1335. It was founded byHulagu Khan, a grandson ofGenghis 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 brotherMöngke Khan. In 1256, he destroyed theNizari Ismaili state in Persia, ending the power of the Assassins. In 1258, he capturedBaghdad and killed the lastAbbasid 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 atMaragheh, then atTabriz, and later atSoltaniyeh. The state covered most of modern Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and parts of Turkey and Afghanistan. Hulagu and his successors fought wars against theMamluk Sultanate of Egypt, but they were defeated at theBattle 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 followedBuddhism orTengrism. In 1295, KhanGhazan converted toIslam 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 likeRashid al-Din, who wrote the famousJami al-Tawarikh ("Compendium of Chronicles").[4]
Under Ghazan and his successorÖljeitü, 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 KhanAbu Sa'id in 1335, the Ilkhanate broke apart. Without a strong ruler, local dynasties such as theJalayirids,Chobanids, andMuzaffarids took power in Persia. The Mongol elite were absorbed into Persian society, and the Ilkhanate disappeared as an independent state.[6]
↑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
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