Ilkhanate: Map & History

History

When Muhammad II of Khwarazm ordered a contingent of merchants, dispatched by the Mongols, to be killed, Genghis Khan declared war on the Anushtegin dynasty in 1219. The Mongols overran the empire, occupying the major cities and population centers between 1219 and 1221. Iran was ravaged by the Mongol detachment under Jebe and Subutai, who left the area in ruin. Transoxiana also came under Mongol control after the invasion.

Muhammad II's son Jalal al-Din Mangburni returned to Iran in c. 1224 after fleeing to India. The rival Turkic states, which were all that remained of his father's empire, quickly declared their allegiance to Jalal. He repulsed the first Mongol attempt to take Central Persia.

Government

In contrast to the China-based Yuan dynasty, who excluded the native population from gaining control of high offices, the Ilkhanids ruled their realm through a Central Asian–Persian ("Tajik") administration in partnership with Turco-Mongol military officers. Not all of the Persian administrators were Muslims or members of the traditional families that had served the Seljuqs and Khwarazmians (e.g., the Juvayni family). For example, the Ilkhanate vizier from 1288 to 1291 was Sa'ad al-Dawla, a Jew, while the prominent vizier and historian Rashid-al-Din Hamadani was a Jewish convert to Islam.

The Ilkhanid rulers, who were keen to increase their autonomy, supported their Persian bureaucrats' promotion of the traditional Iranian idea of kingship.

Culture

The Ilkhanid period saw the creation of numerous written works devoted to history. They were typically intended for Ilkhanid administrators or even written for a particular ruler. Many of the writers in the early period were scholars who were trained under pre-Mongol dynasties but received patronage under the new regime. The most famous work of this time is the Jami' al-tawarikh ('Compendium of Histories') of Rashid al-Din, initially commissioned by Ghazan but presented to Öljeitü upon its completion in 1307. Its first surviving volume is a history of the Mongol dynasty while the second is a history of the Iranian and Islamic world, along with stories of other cultures.

Legacy

The emergence of the Ilkhanate had an important historical impact in West Asia. The establishment of the unified Mongol Empire had significantly eased trade and commerce across Asia. The communications between the Ilkhanate and the Yuan dynasty headquartered in China encouraged this development. The dragon clothing of Imperial China was used by the Ilkhanids, the Chinese Huangdi (Emperor) title was used by the Ilkhanids due to heavy influence upon the Mongols of the Chinese system of politics.