Il-Khan dynasty

File:Ilkhanate 1256–1353.PNG

Ilkhanate Dynasty, 1256-1323

The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate or Il Khanate (Ch: 伊利汗国, Persian: سلسله ایلخانی), was one of the four khanates within the Mongol Empire. It was centered in Persia (Ch:波斯), including present-day Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, 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

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

After a battle against the Turks in 1243, the Mongols had occupied Anatolia, and the Sultanate of Rum became a vassal of what would later become the Ilkhanate Mongols.

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." This occupation led the Turkmens to move west to escape from the Mongolian tribes, which eventually gave birth to the Ottomans.

Hulegu then returned to the Persian heartland and established his dynasty. His expedition towards Egypt, however, was halted in Palestine in 1260 by a major defeat at the Battle of Ain Jalut at the hands of the Mamluks of Egypt.

Early il-Khanate

Hulagu with his Christian queen Dokuz Khatun. Hulagu conquered Muslim Syria, in alliance with Christian forces from Cilician Armenia, Georgia, and the Franks of the Principality of Antioch.

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.

Franco-Mongol alliance

File:ChristianStatesInTheLevant.jpg

Among the Christian states in the Levant (in yellow) Little Armenia and the northern Frank realms of the Principality of Antioch and the County of Tripoli were the most regular allies of the Ilkhanate.

Many attempts towards the formation of a Franco-Mongol alliance were made between the courts of Western Europe and the Mongol Empire (primarily the Ilkhanate) in the 13th and 14th centuries, starting from around the time of the Seventh Crusade. United in their opposition to the Muslims (mainly the Mamluks), the Ilkhanate and the Franks (designating all western Europeans, but especially those associated with the Crusader States) were only fleetingly and briefly successful at effective cooperation against their common enemy. The fundamental nature of the alliance doomed it from the start and the changing politics of the Middle East sealed its fate.

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 pay the poll tax. Buddhists had the starker choice of conversion or expulsion. 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

The mausoleum of Öljaitü in Soltaniyeh.

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)

Map showing the political situation in southwest Asia in 1345, 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.

Post-Ilkhanate rulers

After the Ilkhanate, the regional states established during the disintegration of the Il-khanate raised their own candidates as claimants.

• Arpa Ke'ün (1335-1336)
• 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

Faravahar background
History of Greater Iran
Empires of Persia · Kings of Persia
Pre-modern
Before Islam  BCE Zayandeh River Civilization prehistoric–? Sialk civilization 7500–1000 Jiroft civilization (Aratta) 3000–? Proto-Elamite civilization 3200–2800 Bactria-Margiana Complex 2200–1700 Elamite dynasties 2800–550 Kingdom of Mannai 10th–7th cent. Median Empire 728–550 Achaemenid Empire 550–330 Seleucid Empire 330–150 Greco-Bactrian Kingdom 250-125 Parthian Empire 248–CE 224 CE Kushan Empire 30–275 Sassanid Empire 224–651 Hephthalite Empire 425–557 Kabul-Shahi dynasty 565–670
After Islamic Conquest  Patriarchal Caliphate 637–651 Umayyad Caliphate 661–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258 Tahirid dynasty 821–873 Alavid dynasty 864–928 Saffarid dynasty 861–1003 Samanid dynasty 819–999 Ziyarid dynasty 928–1043 Buyid Dynasty 934–1055 Ghaznavid Empire 975–1187 Ghori dynasty 1149–1212 Seljuk Empire 1037–1194 Khwarezmid dynasty 1077–1231 Kartids dynasty 1231-1389 Ilkhanate 1256–1353 Muzaffarid dynasty 1314–1393 Chupanid dyansty 1337–1357 Jalayerid dynasty 1339–1432 Timurid Empire 1370–1506 Qara Qoyunlu Turcomans 1407–1468 Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans 1378–1508 Safavid Empire 1501–1722* Mughal Empire 1526–1857 Hotaki dynasty 1722–1729 Afsharid dynasty 1736–1802 * or 1736
Modern SSR = Soviet Socialist Republic
Afghanistan  Durrani Empire 1748–1823 British and Russian influence 1826–1919 Independence and civil war 1919–1929 Mohammedzai rule 1929–1973 Republic of Afghanistan 1973–1978 Communist rule 1978–1992 Recent history of Afghanistan since 1992 Timeline
Azerbaijan  Khanates of the Caucasus 1722–1828 Russian Rule 1828–1917 Democratic Republic 1918–1920 Azerbaijan SSR 1920–1991 Republic of Azerbaijan since 1991
Bahrain  Portuguese rule 1521–1602 British Treaty 1820–1971 Kingdom of Bahrain since 1971
Iran  Zand dynasty 1750–1794 Qajar dynasty 1781–1925 Pahlavi dynasty 1925–1979 Iranian Revolution 1979 Provisional Government 1979 Islamic Republic of Iran since 1979
Iraq  Ottoman Empire 1632–1919 Hashimite monarchy 1920–1958 Coup and Republic 1958–2003 Republic of Iraq since 2004
Tajikistan  Emirate of Bukhara 1785–1920 Bukharan / Uzbek SSR 1920–1929 Tajik Autonomous SSR 1929 Tajik SSR 1929–1991 Republic of Tajikistan since 1991
Uzbekistan  Emirate of Bukhara 1785–1920 Uzbek SSR 1924–1991 Independence 1991 Republic of Uzbekistan since 1991
Pakistan  Sassanid Empire 226–651 Ghaznavid Empire 975-1187

• Ilkhani
• Full list of Iranian Kingdoms
• Sarbadars, the famous political movement of the Il-Khanid era of Persia.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Atwood, Christopher P. (2004). The Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. Facts on File, Inc. ISBN 0-8160-4671-9.
• C.E. Bosworth, The New Islamic Dynasties, New York, 1996.
• R. Amitai-Preiss: Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War 1260-1281. Cambridge, 1995

External links

• Ilkhanids Dynasty Mongolian dynasty
• Encyclopedia Iranica. Contains more information on the Il-Khanate.
• [1] Contains a searchable database for Ilkhanid coins

Mongol Empire
Politics, organization and daily life	Military Campaigns		People		Terms
Organization of state under Genghis Khan Mongol military tactics and organization Daily Life in the Mongol Empire Khanates Ilkhanate Chagatai Khanate Golden Horde Yuan Dynasty Notable cities Karakorum Samarkand Sarai Batu Sarai Berke Tabriz Dadu Bolghar Bukhara Ukek Majar Azaq Saray-Jük Xacitarxan		Asia 1205–1209 Western China 1211–1234 Northern China 1218–1220 Khwarizm 1231-1259 Korea 1243 Anatolia 1251–1259 Persia, Syria and Mesopotamia (Timour) 1257 Vietnam (first) 1258 Baghdad 1259 Syria (first) 1274 Japan (first) 1277 Myanmar (first) 1279 Southern China 1281 Syria (second) 1281 Japan (second) 1284 Vietnam (second) 1287 Myanmar (second) 1287 Vietnam (third) 1292 India (first) 1293 Java 1297 India (second) 1299 India (third) 1299 Syria (third) 1300-1301 Syria (fourth) 1304 Syria (fifth) Europe 1220-1222 Georgians and the Cumans of the Caucasus 1222-1223 the Kuban, Astrakhan, Russia, Ukraine 1223 Volga Bulgaria (first) 1236 Volga Bulgaria (second) 1237-1238 Russia 1239-1240 Ukraine 1241 Hungary, Poland, Bohemia, Austria 1242 Bulgaria 1258-1259 Halych-Volynia 1259 Lithuania and Poland 13th, 14th and 15th punitive mongol-tatars raids in Russia 1287 Poland		Emperors and rulers Genghis Khan Börte Ogedei Khan Tolui Khan Töregene Khatun Guyuk Khan Mongke Khan Kublai Khan Prominent military generals Subedei Jebe Muqali Bo'orchu Borokhul Jelme Chilaun Khubilai Guo Kan Kadan Burundai Nogai Khan		Titles Khagan Khan and Khatan Jinong Khong Tayiji Political and military terms Yam Pax Mongolica Yassa Kurultai Nerge Mangudai Tumen

ar:إلخانات az:Elxanilər Dövləti de:Ilchane es:Ilkanato fa:ایلخانیان fr:Houlagides it:Ilkhanato ms:Ilkhanat nl:Il-kanaat ja:イルハン朝 no:Ilkhanate pl:Ilchanidzi pt:Ilkhanato ru:Хулагуиды sr:Илканат fi:Il-kaanien valtakunta sv:Ilkhanatet tr:İlhanlılar zh:伊兒汗國

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Il-Khan dynasty  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Il-Khan dynasty"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.