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Home , Arghun, Chupan, Genghis Khan, Ghazan, Golden Horde, Ilkhanate

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Il- , after the new Great , Möngke (r.1251–1259), sent his brother Hülegü to MICHAL BIRAN expand Mongol territories into western , The Hebrew University of , primarily against the Assassins, an extreme Isma‘ilite-Shi‘ite sect specializing in political The Il-Khanate was a Mongol state that ruled murder, and the Abbasid . Hülegü in c.1256–1335. It was known left in 1253. In 1256, he defeated to the as ulus Hülegü, the people the Assassins at , next to the Caspian or state of Hülegü (1218–1265), the ’s , adding to his retinue -Din al- founder and grandson of Chinggis Khan , one of the greatest polymaths of the (). Centered in and Muslim , who became his astrologer but ruling also over , Turkme- and trusted advisor. In 1258, with the help nistan, and parts of , , of various Mongol tributaries, including and the southern (, many , he brutally conquered Bagh- ), the Il-Khanate was a highly cos- dad, eliminating the that mopolitan empire that had close connections had nominally led the for more with and Western . It also had a than 500 years (750–1258). Hülegü continued composite administration and legacy that into , but withdrew most of his troops combined Mongol, Iranian, and Muslim after hearing of Möngke’s death (1259). The elements, and produced some outstanding defeat of the remnants of his troops by the cultural achievements. The , a Western at ‘Ayn Jalut (in northern ) construction, is derived from the in 1260 put an end to Mongol advance into (submissive khan or ruler of a polity), West Asia and opened a 60-year between adopted by Hülegü and used to some degree the Il-Khans and the Mamluks. by all members of the dynasty. The limits of Hülegü’s mandate are still debated, but apparently Möngke intended him to return to Mongolia – where his chief POLITICAL HISTORY and sons remained – following the cam- paign. However, with Möngke’s death and the Mongol rule in what later became the Il- subsequent succession struggle between the Khanate began under the united Mongol brothers, Hülegü seized the opportunity to Empire. Chinggis Khan’s bloody invasion of carve out his own state. He supported his the reached up to Khurasan (today’s brother Kubilai (Kublai), thereby securing northeastern Iran, northern Afghanistan, his victory, in return for the latter’s acknowl- and ) and the Caucasus. Under edgment of Hülegü’s position in West Asia. his son Ögedei (r.1229–1241), Mongol gover- The title ilkhan, by then adopted by Hülegü, nors and garrisons were stationed in north- stressed the distinctiveness of ulus Hülegü, eastern Iran, Afghanistan, and, after 1243, whose territory, unlike that of the other Mon- also in Anatolia, and many Muslim polities gol branches, was not assigned by Chinggis in Iran and Iraq became tributaries. The Khan but by Kubilai. Indeed, the Golden birth of the Il-Khanate, however, was in the Horde, which saw parts of the Il-Khanate

The Encyclopedia of Empire, First Edition. Edited by John M. MacKenzie. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. DOI: 10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe362 2 territories, especially Azerbaijan, as their own, at (northern Syria) in 1281, and he died opposed the new polity. In 1262 Golden while planning a campaign of retaliation. Horde forces attacked Hülegü’s; although Despite this, his reign marked a period of they were repulsed, tension between the two consolidation and prosperity, as the conflicts polities continued. The also were limited to the borders. collaborated with the Mamluks, thereby (1284–1295) was marred encouraging Hülegü to find allies in Western by relative instability that affected the econ- Europe and its Crusader clients. Hülegü omy. Abaqa was succeeded by his brother, established the orientation of the Il-Khanate’s Ahmad Tegüder (r.1282–1284), who to foreign policy from then on: close political, the as a Muslim. His and its economic, and cultural cooperation with implications – the preference for Muslim China; diplomatic – albeit futile – mystics (Sufis) over Mongol commanders attempts to cooperate with Western Christi- and attempts to conciliate the unimpressed anity; and continued hostility toward the Mamluks – together with his general incom- Mamluks and its Mongol neighbors, the petence and continued strife with Abaqa’s son Golden Horde in the Caucasus and the Cha- , eventually led to Ahmad’s murder by ghadaids in . Inside his realm, Mongol rebels, who enthroned Arghun in Hülegü worked for reconciliation. Despite his place. his sympathy for and , Arghun’s reign (1284–1291) saw a rapid he patronized and closely cooperated with succession of ministers: upon his rise he local Muslim bureaucrats and scholars, nota- deposed the Juwayni brothers, executing bly the Juwayni brothers, a Khurasani Shams al-Din and replacing him with the who had served in various Muslim adminis- Mongol Boqa. Three years later, Boqa shared trations for centuries, and Tusi. Shams al- Shams al-Din’s fate, and Arghun appointed Din Juwayni became Hülegü’s chief minister Sa’d al-Dawla (d.1291), whose financial effi- (sahib ), while his brother ‘Ala’ al-Din, ciency and Jewish religion aroused much a notable historian of the Mongols, governed opposition, eventually costing him his life. . Tusi established for Hülegü the Arghun did not launch any attack against observatory in Maragha, which became a mag- the Mamluks, but sent four embassies to the net for international scholars, and was also West in a vain attempt to cement an appointed as inspector of endowments (awqaf). against them. (A famous Syriac record of one All three retained their prominence under such embassy describes the experience of Hülegü’s son and heir Abaqa (r.1265–1280), Rabban Sawma, a Nestorian Onggut born in whose descendants became the dominant , who in 1289 served as Arghun’s rulers of the Il-Khanate. envoy to , visiting, among Abaqa managed to repel a Golden Horde others, Rome and Paris.) From 1288 Arghun threat (1265–1267), and a more serious Cha- was preoccupied by invasions of the Golden ghadaid invasion of Khurasan (1270). This Horde and the Chaghadaids, and from 1289 eastern threat, however, undermined Abaqa’s his commander in Khurasan, the Muslim attempts to cooperate with Edward of Mongol , rebelled, joining forces with in his 1271 . Four embassies the latter. to the West proved to be equally unsuccessful. The turmoil continued under Arghun’s The advance into Anatolia (1277) brother and heir, Geikhatu (r.1291–1295), led Abaqa to launch a full-scale offensive on infamous for his disastrous attempt to employ Syria, but the Mamluks defeated his troops paper (chao) in Iran. While this 3 medium worked well in Yuan China, in the Il- success is hard to estimate, but they certainly Khanate commerce simply stopped and the resulted in at least a modest increase in the court had to abolish the experiment, thus state’s revenue and in public order. hampering the Il-Khanid economy, which died childless at age 33. He was was damaged further by the Il-Khan’s extrav- succeeded by his brother Öljeitü, who was agance. Arghun’s nephew, Baidu, thus in a uniquely favorable position, unthreat- deposed Geikhatu in early 1295, but was him- ened by and commanders, enjoying self dethroned only a few later by the continued service of Rashid al-Din, and Arghun’s son Ghazan (r.1295–1304). benefiting from the general Mongol peace Ghazan’s reign is considered the apex of concluded in 1304. Öljeitü tried to ally the Il-Khanate, partly because the greatest with Europe in a attack against the Il-Khanid historian, Rashid al-Din (d.1318), Mamluks, but when this came to naught, served as Ghazan’s and commemorated he attacked them himself in 1312, only to him as an ideal ruler, a fact facilitated by Gha- acknowledge his inability to defeat them. zan’s conversion to . Ghazan, formerly He managed, however, to repulse a Chagha- the of Khurasan, converted before daid threat in 1316. Öljeitü had more success his accession, partly under the influence of with his domestic policies, subjecting Gilan, Nowruz, with whom he had become recon- Kirman, and Anatolia to direct Il-Khanid rule ciled. Under Ghazan, Islam became the state (at the expense of local ), encourag- religion of the Il-Khanate. But while Ghazan ing trade with China and , and in general appropriated Islamic trappings and policies – overseeing a period of prosperity. He is also persecuting Buddhists, reinstating the famous for adopting Shi‘ism, a fact that (the paid by and under might have triggered his anti-Mamluk poli- Muslim rule), and patronizing Islamic cies, and building a new capital, Sultaniyya – he did not renounce his Mon- in northwestern Iran, where his gol legacy or change his foreign policy, conti- still stands. nuing relations with China and Europe and Öljeitü was succeeded by his son, Abu Sa‘id attacking the Mamluks with new vigor and (r.1316–35), who acceded to the throne at the now, also, Islamic justifications. In 1299 Gha- age of 12. Real power lay with his Mongol zan’s forces won the only decisive Il-Khanid guardian, the chief commander and devout victory against the Mamluks, which led to a Muslim Chopan, who orchestrated the execu- hundred days’ of . The tion of Rashid al-Din. Chopan coped success- Mongols soon evacuated Syria, partly due to fully with various threats from the Golden troubles in the East (and perhaps logistical Horde and the Chaghadaid. He also initiated concerns), and their further attacks in 1300 a peace agreement with the Mamluks, even- and 1303 were repulsed. Ghazan’s reign tually signed in 1323. His growing power, also witnessed successive purges of Mongol however, stoked the opposition of other com- princes and commanders (including Now- manders, perhaps initially encouraged by ruz), a tendency that continued under his Abu Sa‘id, who eventually moved to Chopan’s heirs. Ghazan is also famous for a series of side (1319). Abu Sa‘id’s attempts to assert his reforms, again lauded by Rashid al-Din, their independent rule, however, led to Chopan’s architect, which aimed to limit the comman- execution in 1327, together with many sup- der’s power and restore , porters and family members (though by then safety (through the Jam, the Mongol postal Abu Sa‘id was married to Chopan’s daughter, system), and the state’s revenues. Their whom he took from another commander). 4

Throughout his actual rule, Abu Sa‘id was a considerable retinue of officials, women, assisted by his able vizier, Ghiyath al-Din, merchants, scholars, adventurers, and soldiers. son of Rashid al-Din. Abu Sa‘id’s last years It was mainly in the ordu that policy was were peaceful, and economic and cultural decided and ambassadors received, despite relations with China and the and Mam- the fact that the Il-Khans built palaces and luk sultanates flourished more than ever. cities. The ordu’s summer pastures were Nevertheless, the period was also marked by mainly in Azerbaijan, while their winter pas- inter-commander rivalries and the growing tures were either there or in the environs power of the court’s women, often the com- of Baghdad. Likewise, the Il-Khanid army manders’ relatives. When Abu Sa‘id died sud- remained mainly a nomadic army of lightly denly without an heir (perhaps poisoned by mounted archers, although it made use of var- Chopan’s daughter), the royal house, cur- ious auxiliaries, some of them . The tailed by repeated purges, had no good candi- nucleus of this army was the invading troops date for the throne. The Il-Khanate was that arrived with Hülegü in the , divided among various competing polities, and included representatives of all the Mongo- many of which were led by comman- lian branches, many Muslim Turks from ders, mainly Chinggisid sons-in-, who Central Asia, as well as auxiliaries such as the used a lesser Chinggisid prince as puppet thousand Chinese engineers. To this khan. Simultaneously, dynasties of Persian were added the Mongol troops who had origin ruled in southern Iran, and various already been serving in the Middle East and a local dynasties – including the Ottomans – substantial number of auxiliaries from subser- rose to power in Anatolia. Il-Khanid preten- vient rulers, such as , , ders held power in Khurasan up to 1353, but Iranians, and troops from al-Jazira (today’s only Leng (Tamerlane) (r.1370–1405) northern Iraq, southeastern , and managed to forge the scattered fragments of northeasternSyria)andAnatolia,mostofthem the Il-Khanate into his newly created empire, also mounted. The Mongol troops were organ- centered in . Unlike the situation ized decimally, in the regular Inner Asian fash- in China, the Mongols never left Iran but were ion. For most of the period they did not receive eventually assimilated into the local popula- regular payments but were expected to pay tion (probably mostly with Turkish groups). . Gradually, and certainly after Ghazan’s reign, Mongol tribes had control over large swathes of , from which they INSTITUTIONS, ADMINISTRATION, enjoyed at least some of its produce, while most AND ECONOMY of them remained . The (keshig), numbering The Il-Khans retained a distinct Inner Asian approximately 10 000 men (more under Gha- style of rule even after adopting Islam. Their zan), functioned as the ruler’s security unit, composite administration,however,combined protecting him day and night in shifts of four the local bureaucratic tradition with the Mon- guarding units. It took care of his household’s gol patrimonial one, and, in a typical Inner needs and well-being, its members serving, Asian amalgamation, was characterized by among other things, as envoys, cup-bearers, various forms of duality. Throughout their scribes, tax collectors, and investigators. The reign, the Il-Khans remained nomads, moving keshig also served as his elite forces and pri- between summer and winter pastures, their vate police. The four leaders of the guarding mobile camp (ordu) accompanying them with units enjoyed considerable political influence 5 along with their military command. By the women and sometimes also members residing end of the Il-Khanate the vizier often app- outside Iran, as well as to certain commanders eared as equivalent to these four comman- and officials. ders, supplementing them and approving Direct Il-Khanid administration also had the ruler’s and letters. Although he a dual character. The Mongols frequently did not have a guard unit under his com- appointed two people, often one local and mand, the vizier was able to lead military one foreigner, to the same office. This was true campaigns. The keshig was also the nursery in the central administration, where there of both the Il-Khanate’s civil and military were usually two heads of the civil administra- elites, and a major channel of acculturation, tion, often called vizier or sahib al-diwan as sons and brothers of leading commanders, or musharif al-mamalik (inspector of the subject rulers and officials, Mongols and non- kingdoms); in the provincial administration, Mongols alike, grew up there together. where supervisors (darughachi or shihna) The keshig’s members were favorite mar- functioned side by side with the deputies riage partners of the , and often (na’ib or ) as the ’ ; held hereditary posts, although their personal and in the field of law, where Mongol yarghu- connections with the rulers made them highly chis (judges) were employed side by side with vulnerable to purges and court intrigues. Each Muslim qadis, thus retaining the importance ruler had his own keshig, and in times of polit- of both Yasa (Jasaq, the law ascribed to ical instability several keshigs existed simulta- Chinggis Khan) and (Muslim law). neously. Commanders and often also While some leading Persian with had their own smaller guard units. The insti- a long tradition of administrative service tution continued to function even in post- retained their position under the Mongols – Mongol Iran, and its members manned the the notable example is the Juwaynis – many Il-Khanid administration side by side with “newcomers,” among them Jews, Christians, the local, mostly Persian, . migrant Muslims, and a significant number Il-Khanid administration was composite: of Mongols, chosen for their skills and loyalty, the regions of the royal summer and winter also staffed the administration. This double pastures and the northern belt bureaucracy, often marred by corruption, (Khurasan to Anatolia) were ruled directly, was certainly an economic burden. while its southern territories and eastern and The economy of Il-Khanid Iran is still a western peripheries were indirectly adminis- debated issue. Iranian national histories paint tered, mainly by local dynasties (e.g., the Sel- the whole period as a time of decline, caused juks of Rum, the Kara-Khitai of Kirman, the by the devastating initial invasion, combined of Faris, the Shabankara’is, the with capricious Mongol taxation. Recent of , the Kartids of , research, mainly by Lane and Aigle, suggests the kings of Georgia and Armenia, and the a more nuanced picture, regionally and other- rulers of Gilan and ), supervised wise. First, while the 1220s invasion was by Mongol appointees (darughachi or shihna). indeed devastating, it involved mainly Khur- Some of the local dynasties were gradually asan, leaving southern and western Iran eliminated, especially during Öljeitü’s reign, intact. Hülegü’s campaign, while detrimental their territories transferred to direct Il-Khanid to Iraq and al-Jazira, hardly hurt other parts rule. Even in the directly administered realm, of the future Il-Khanate. Provinces that however, specific territories were allocated as remained border areas, vulnerable to repeated of the royal family, including its invasions by Mongols or Mamluks, such as 6

Khurasan or al-Jazira, never fully recovered, music, and , therefore especially but Azerbaijan, southern Iran, and even thrived. Two of the greatest achievements of Baghdad flourished under Mongol rule. The the era were the composition of the first world sources suggest that the state’s income from history and the huge advance in manuscript agriculture drastically declined in comparison illumination. Rashid al-Din’s Compendium to the situation under the Seljuqs, even after of , commissioned by Ghazan and Ghazan’s reforms. This can be explained by Öljeitü, included not only a detailed history the fact that not all revenues reached the cen- of the Mongols from the pre-Chinggisid tral treasury, and by the increase in the period to the reign of Kubilai’s successor, importance of both trade and to Temür Öljeitü (r.1307–1311), but also sec- the empire’s economy. The Il-Khans actively tions dedicated to the annals of China, India, promoted international trade. Maritime trade the Muslim world, the Jews, and the , with China and India was particularly robust, written with the help of informants from and was closely connected with the continen- the respective realms. The Il-Khanate was tal trade, where especially became a a formative period in the development of center of East–West commerce, transferring Persian painting, especially manuscript illu- goods to Italy, Byzantium, Syria, and Samar- mination. It witnessed a dramatic increase kand even in times of conflict, and hosting a in the number of illustrations, subject matter, considerable community of Italian traders. artistic output, and patronage, and absorbed The tamgha (commercial tax) must have been motifs and techniques mainly from China, a significant source of revenue, as was the but also from Buddhist and Christian paint- nomads’ tax (qobchur), paid mainly in - ing. The most famous illustrated works mals, but we do not have specific data for include Rashid al-Din’s history and the Per- either. The cultural and intellectual splendor sian epic, the . In both the heroes that characterized the Il-Khanate strongly of the past – be they Iranian, Muslim, or suggests a flourishing economy. Chinese – were depicted in Mongol dress, thereby both legitimizing the conquering CULTURE Mongols and assisting their acculturation. The Mongols also left a distinct mark on Even the greatest critics of the Mongols admit the Iranian landscape, building the Maragha that the Il-Khanid period was a time of phe- observatory under Hülegü, Abaqa’s palace nomenal creativity for Iranian culture, in at Takht-i Sulayman in , con- the arts, sciences, and historiography. While structed on the site of the Sasanid palace Iranians today typically ascribe this to the and luxuriously decorated with citations from , who were able to flourish despite the Shahnameh, a mausoleum and new quar- Mongol wreckage, recent scholarship has ter at Tabriz under Ghazan, and the city shown that the Il-Khans contributed much of Sultaniyya under Öljeitü, as well as patron- to this efflorescence from the very beginning izing a host of , , and of their regime, both directly – as patrons, Sufi lodges in their Muslim period. Sufi activ- investors, and consumers – and indirectly, ity and also prospered under the Il- by promoting Eurasian integration and Khans, from Hülegü onward, and many -cultural contacts, notably with Yuan enjoyed the court’s patronage. Apart from China. Fields that fitted with the Mongols’ the centers at Azerbaijan, regional centers taste, norms, and interests, such as astron- of cultural production flourished notably at omy, medicine, , historiography, Baghdad, , and Anatolia. 7

Apart from these products of cultural vital- Aigle, D. 2008. “Iran under Mongol Domination: ity, a demographic change that augmented The Effectiveness and Failings of a Dual Admin- ” ’ the role of the Turco-Mongolians in the Ira- istrative System. Bulletin d études orientales, – nian population, and a couple of functioning Suppl. 57: 65 78. ’ Allsen, T. T. 2001. Culture and Conquest in imperial institutions, the Il-Khanate s main Mongol . : Cambridge Uni- legacy was the revival of the notion of Iran versity Press. as a distinct political entity within the Muslim Amitai, R. 2007. The Mongols in the Islamic Lands: world for the first time since the Arab con- Studies in the History of the Il-Khanate. Alder- quest of the . In this respect, it shot: Ashgate/Variorum. can be claimed that the Il-Khanate laid the Amitai-Preiss, R. 1995. Mongols and Mamluks: – – foundation for the Safavids and for the mod- The Mamluk Ilkhanid War, 1260 1281. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ern nation-state of Iran. Komaroff, L. (Ed.) 2006. Beyond the Legacy of Genghis Khan. Leiden: Brill. SEE ALSO: Abbasid Caliphate; China, imperial: Lane, G. 2003. Early Mongol Rule in Thirteenth- 6. period, 1279–1368; : Century Iran: A Persian . Richmond: 4. Late medieval (including Syria: Ayyubid, Curzon. “ Mamluk); Golden Horde Khanate; Islam and Melville, C. 1997. The Fall of Amir and the Decline of the Il-Khanate, 1327–37: empire; , Great; Nomads; A Decade of Discord in Mongol Iran.” Papers ; Safavid Empire; Timurid on , no. 30. Bloomington: Research Empire Institute for Inner Asian Studies, Indiana University. FURTHER READING Melville, C. 2006. “The Keshig in Iran.” In L. Komaroff (Ed.), Beyond the Legacy of Genghis Aigle, D. (Ed.) 1997. L’Iran face à la domination Khan: 135–164. Leiden: Brill. mongole. /Leuven: Institut français de Morgan, D. O. 2007. The Mongols, 2nd ed. Oxford: recherche en Iran/Diffusion, Peeters. Blackwell. Aigle, D. 2005. Le Fārs sous la domination mongole: Pfeiffer, J. (Ed.) 2014. Politics, Patronage, and politique et fiscalité, XIIIe–XIVe. Paris: Associa- the Transmission of Knowledge in 13th–15th tion pour l’avancement des études iraniennes. Century Tabriz. Leiden: Brill.