Ilkhanate
The
Ilkhanate (also spelled
Il-khanate or
Il Khanate) was one of the four divisions within the
Mongol Empire. It was centered in the land of
Persia and included present-day
Iraq,
Iran,
Afghanistan, and
Azerbaijan. 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
Kublai 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 the death of the khan Möngke, after which the Mongols largely withdrew, and suffered a sharp defeat at the
Battle of Ain Jalut. After the accession of his brother Kublai, Hulegu returned, and the succession thereafter continued through his family--the true start of the Il-Khans, a term which means "subordinate
khan", and refers to their initial deference to Kublai in ultimate sovereignty. Hulegu's descendents ruled Persia for the next eighty years, ultimately converting to Islam. (
Ghazan was the first khan to do so.) 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 aims on
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 Ilkhanate 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.
- Hülëgü 1256-1265
- Abaqa 1265-1281
- Tekuder 1281-1284
- Arghun 1284-1291
- Gaikhatu 1291-1295
- Baidu 1295
- Ghazan 1295-1304
- Öljeitü 1304-1316
- Abu Sa'id 1316-1335 (last of Chinggisid il-khans)
- Arpa Ke'un 1335-1336
- Musa 1336-1337
- Muhammad 1337-1338
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.
Category:History of Mongolia
Category:Persian history
de:Ilchane
es:Ilkanato
ja:イルハン朝