ILKHANATE


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.

Contents
Hulegu
Early il-Khanate
Conversion to Islam
Disintegration
Il-Khanid Dynasty rulers
See also
External links
References

Hulegu


Hulagu, Genghis Khan's grandson and founder of the il-Khan

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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