Ilkhanate

History

The state founded by Genghis Khan's grandson Hülegü after he conquered Persia and the Middle East. Ilkhan means subordinate khan, a title that acknowledged the Great Khan above. Once the empire split over who that Great Khan was, however, the Ilkhanate acted as an independent state in all but name.

Rulers of Persia

Hülegü's army swept through the Islamic world and took Baghdad, capital of the Abbasid caliphate. In the generations that followed, the Mongols there gradually took up Persian culture and Islam.

A state that bought learning

The capital, Tabriz - Tabriz, in north-western Iran, was the capital of the Ilkhanate. It sat where the roads from the Caucasus, Anatolia and Persia met, so merchants and envoys were always passing through.Under Ghazan Khan it was rebuilt into a centre of learning with hospitals, libraries and an observatory, and it was here that painting techniques arriving from China passed through Persian hands and grew into a new style of miniature.After the Ilkhanate broke apart, whoever held this city held Azerbaijan, so rival powers fought over it in turn. Its covered bazaar, still standing, is counted among the oldest markets in the world., was a market where merchants from Europe and India met, and a great observatory at Maragha recorded the movements of the stars. The vizier Rashid al-Din compiled the Jami' al-tawarikh, a history that gathered the Mongols, China, India and Europe into one book — a remarkably early attempt to tell the story of many peoples together.

Borders on every side

To the north it clashed with the Golden Horde over Caucasus pasture, to the east with the Chagatai Khanate - The khanate that grew from the share given to Chagatai, second son of Genghis Khan, ruling the steppes and oasis cities of Central Asia. over Khorasan - A vast historical region in Central Asia and the Iranian plateau, spanning parts of modern-day Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Its name means 'Land of the Rising Sun.' During the 8th century, it was the primary breeding ground for the Abbasid Revolution, as its diverse population of Persian converts and dissatisfied Arab tribes provided the vital support needed to overthrow the Umayyad dynasty., and to the west it fought the Mamluks of Egypt for decades. Envoys went several times to the pope and the kings of Europe proposing a joint attack on the Mamluks, but the two sides never managed to act together.

From conquerors to kings of the land

When Ghazan Khan accepted Islam in 1295, the Ilkhanate became far more a Persian state. Taxes were reformed and mosques and schools were built, but when Abu Sa'id died without an heir in 1335 the realm broke into pieces.

The legend of the island in the lake

Hülegü is said to have been buried on Shahi Island in Lake Urmia. Stories long claimed that great treasure was placed in the tomb and the site hidden from everyone, and to this day no grave has been found.