Key Facts
- Duration
- 1256–1335
- Founder
- Hülegü, grandson of Genghis Khan
- Core territories
- Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkey
- Religion adopted
- Islam (from Ghazan, 1295)
- Last ruler
- Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan (d. 1335)
Imperial Zenith Metrics
Historical Trajectory
Phase I: Rise
Hülegü, son of Tolui and grandson of Genghis Khan, was granted the western territories of the Mongol Empire following the death of his brother Möngke Khan in 1259. He consolidated control over Iran, Iraq, and surrounding regions, sacking Baghdad in 1258 and ending the Abbasid Caliphate, then extending Ilkhanid authority across Anatolia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
Phase II: Zenith
At its height, the Ilkhanate stretched from Anatolia and the Caucasus through Iran to Afghanistan and parts of modern Pakistan. Ilkhanid rulers patronized Persian culture, architecture, and historiography, promoting the concept of Iran as a unified land. Beginning with Ghazan's conversion in 1295, the khanate integrated into the Islamic world, fostering a Persian-Mongol administrative and artistic synthesis.
Phase III: Decline
In the 1330s, the Black Death devastated the Ilkhanate's population and administrative capacity. The death of the last ilkhan, Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan, in 1335 without a clear successor triggered rapid fragmentation. Successor dynasties including the Jalayirids and Muzaffarids carved up the former territory, while the ideology of a unified Iranian realm persisted and was later adopted by the Safavid Empire.
Notable Imperial Reigns
Selected rulers mapping the empire’s trajectory