Ilkhanate
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The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate or Il Khanate (Persian: سلسله ایلخانی ), was one of the four divisions within the Mongol Empire. It was centered in the land of Persia (Iran) and also included present-day Iraq, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan (Arran), 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.
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 Turks in 1243, Mongols occupied Anatolia. Sultanate of Rum became a vassal of Ilkhanate Mongols. These occupation lead Turkmens to move towards west to escape from Mongolian tribes. These gave birth to the Ottomans. Hulegu then returned to the Persian heartland and established his dynasty. The succession thereafter continued through his family line.
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.
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[edit] Conversion to Islam
Under the harsh reign of the succeeding emperors after Hulegu, the Muslim majority were oppressed under the Buddhist emperors, who encouraged the flourishing of Tibetan Buddhism and Nestorianism. However, with the conversion of Ghazan to Islam, Islam rose once again, and the Buddhist and Christian counterparts were severely harassed. This pattern continued under his brother Öljeitü, whose 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. 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.
[edit] 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 Öljeytü (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.
- 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)
[edit] See also
- Ilkhani
- Full list of Iranian Kingdoms
- Sarbadars, the famous political movement of the Il-Khanid era of Persia.
[edit] External links
- Ilkhanids Dynasty Mongolian dynasty
- Encylopedia Iranica. Contains more information on the Il-Khanate.
[edit] References
- C.E. Bosworth, The New Islamic Dynasties, New York, 1996.
Marco Polo
- R. Amitai-Preiss: Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War 1260-1281. Cambridge, 1995
