They oscillated between Sunni and Shi'a Islam, though after the beginning of the Safavid dynasty Iran would become officially Shi'a. Although the Khanate disintegrated, it brought stability to the region for about a century. Their rule is usually dated from 1256 to 1353.

After a battle against the Turks in 1243, the Mongols had occupied Anatolia, and the Sultanate of Rum became a vassal of what would later become the Ilkhanate Mongols. The founder of the Ilkhanate dynasty was Hulegu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan and brother of Mongke 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." In 1258, they effectively ended the Abbasid caliphate when they took Baghdad, although a surviving member of the family fled to Egypt where Abbasid’s continued to use the title caliph until 1517, when they passed it on to the Ottoman Emperor. This occupation led the Turkmens to move west to escape from the Mongolian tribes, which eventually gave birth to the Ottomans. Hulegu then returned to the Persian heartland and established his dynasty. His expedition towards Egypt, however, was halted in Palestine in 1260 by a major defeat at the Battle of Ain Jalut at the hands of the Mamluks of Egypt.

 

Religion

In the period after Hulegu, the il-khans increasingly adopted Tibetan Buddhism. Christian powers were encouraged by what appeared to be a favoring of Nestorian Christianity but this probably went no deeper than their traditional even handedness (Medieval Persia 1040-1797; David Morgan, 64). Thus the Il-khans were markedly out of step with the Muslim majority they ruled. However, Ghazan, shortly before he overthrew Baidu, converted to Islam and his official favoring of Islam went along with a marked attempt to bring the regime closer to the non-Mongol majority. Christian and Jewish subjects however lost their equal status with Muslims and again had to pay the poll tax. Buddhists had the starker choice of conversion or expulsion. In foreign relations however things this conversion had no effect and Ghazan fought the Mamluks for Syria. For the most part, this policy continued under his brother Öljeitü despite suggestions that he might seek to favor the Shiah version of Islam. He succeeded in conquering Gilan on the Caspian coast and his magnificent tomb in Soltaniyeh remains the best known monument of Ilkhanid rule in Persia.

 

Controversy of Religion 

 

One of the most distinguished scholars of the time, Ibn Taymiyyah refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Mongol’s claim to be Muslim, and encouraged jihad against them. He considered their claim to be true Muslim was compromised by their adherence to the law of Yasa Code, rather than to Sharia, Islamic Law. He introduced the idea that the term jahilia (ignorance) could be used of Mongol society, and that it was a religious duty to oppose them. He also opposed alliances with the Christian Crusaders, and with Shi’a although his own Sultan was attempting to foster an alliance with the latter. Taymiyyah moved to Damascus in 1268, then under the Mamluks of Egypt who had halted the Mongol's advance east in 1260 when they won the Battle of Ain Jalut. In 1300, he was dispatched to Cairo to recruit support for a war against the Mongols. That year he was also part of the resistance against the Mongol attack on Damascus and personally went to the camp of the Mongol general to negotiate release of captives, insisting that Christians as “protected people” as well as Muslims should be released, despite his generally hostile attitude towards them. In 1305, he took part in the anti-Mongol Battle of Shakhab. In 1400, Timur succeeded in sacking Damascus, despite the best efforts of Ibn Khaldun to negotiate a truce.

 

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 later carved a state from the Jalayirids, ostensibly to restore the old khanate.