History of Iran : Mongol Period 1256 -1383 At Iran Travel.Biz


Mongol Period
1256 -1383


In the early 13th century, the Mongol empire, under the leadership of Genghis Khan, grew out of their origional homeland in the eastern zone of the Asian steppe, savagely wiped out towns and villages, left endless trails of devestation, and created the greatest catastrophy that had ever overtaken mankind, and dominated most of Asia. After the death of Genghis khan, the empire was divided among his heirs. Having captured Baghdad and all Iran, Hulagu khan, son of Genghis khan, founded the II-Khanid dynasty. The II-Khans consolidated their position in Iran and reunited the region as a political and territorial entity after centuries of fragmented rule by local dynasties. Under Persian int1uence, the Mongols eventually converted to Islam, and encouraged development of the arts and sciences. New systems of taxation ,vere introduced, armed forces were reformed and communications reorganized. When the last khan died without a male heir in 1335, the territory broke up into small states ruled mainly by Iranians.


1256 Mongol Commander Hulagu crossed Oxus, took possession of his domains, and assumed ruling the western part of the Mongol Empire, known as the II-Khanid Empire.
1256 Hulagu Khan seized the Castle of Alamut, Ismaili stronghold, and put an end to the assassins.
He seized and imprisoned the leader of the Ismailis in Qazvin, invaded the fortress, and massacred its inhabitants. The community did not die out completely, but scattered throughout the country. We will hear of the Ismailis again in 1770, when, with the blessing of the Zand family, they were in control of the cities of Kerman and Bam.
J257 Hulagu Khan chose Maragheh as his capital.
Maragheh was rich in rivers and pastures, and bore some semblance to Mongolia.
1257 Sheikh Ajal Sa'di Shirazi completed his great literary work, Bustan (''The Orchard'').
- Hulagu defeated the Caliph's army and captured and  executed al-Musta'sim, the last of the Abbasid Caliphs
1258 Hulagu Khan began his devastating assault on Baghdad, and ended 525 years of the Abbasid Caliphate.
He took Khajeh Nasireddin Tusi, the renowned astronomer and politician of his time, as a confidant.
The mainstay of Muslim orthodoxy, the Abbasid Caliph was captured and disgracefully put to death.
1258 Sa'di Shirazi completed his masterpiece, Golestan (''The Rose Garden').
- Sa'di dedicated his celebrated works, Bustan and Golestan, to the Atabeg Abu Bakr of Fars.
1260 Hulagu captured Syria but was decisively defeated by the  Egyptian army.
1265 Abagha ascended the II-Khanid throne in Persia after the  death of Hulagu.
1268 The Christians lost Antioch.
1273 Mowlana Jalaleddin Rumi, the founder of the Mowlaviyyeh order of Sufism (The Whirling Dervishes), died at 66.
He is most famous for his lyrics and for his didactic epic 'Masnavi-ye Ma'navi' (Spiritual Couplets), which widely influenced Muslim mystical thought and literature.
1274 Khajeh Nasireddin Tusi, a Persian astronomer of exceptionally wide scholarship, died in Baghdad.
Tusi, taking advantage of his position as head of the ministry of religious bequests, had a fine observatory built in Maragheh. He wrote many books in Arabic and Persian, and improved upon earlier Arabic translations of Euclid, Ptolemy, Autolycus, Theodosius, Apollonius, and others. He also made original contributions to mathematics and astronomy: his 'Zij Ilkhani' is a splendidly accurate table of planetary movements. His 'Tajrid al-aqa'id' is a highly
esteemed treatise on Shi'i dogmatics. His most famous and popular work is the 'Akhlaq Naseri', a treatise on ethics in the Greek tradition drawing upon the 11th-century 'Tahzib al-khlaq' of Ibn Meskavayh, which he drafted while a prisoner of the Assassins and later revised for his Mongol master. This work has been translated into English.
1275 Abaqa Khan built a palace on the ruins of a site already sacred to the Sassanians, Takht-e Soleiman, or The Throne of Solomon, centred on a perpetual lake in the crater of an extinct volcano.
1282 Upon the death of II-Khan Abagha, his son Prince Arghun was a candidate for the throne but was forced to yield to a stronger rival, his uncle Teguder.
- Arghun accused Teguder's followers of having poisoned his
 father and protested Teguder's conversion to Islam.
1283 Alaeddin Joveini (b.1226), Persian governor and historian from Jovein in Neishabur, died.
He visited Mongolia, accompanied the Mongol II-Khan Hulegu on his campaigns against the Ismailis of Alamut and the Baghdad Caliphate, and saved the famous library of Alamut from destruction. He wrote a history of the Mongols and of the dynasty of the Kharazm Shahs, which has considerably influenced historical tradition in the East and is a historical authority of first rank.
1284 Arghun was enthroned, and as an ardent Buddhist countermanded the Islamic policies of his predecessor. Arghun, as the head of rebellion against Teguder, succeeded in overthrowing him and having him executed.
1284 Arghun appointed his 13-year-old son Ghazan viceroy of the provinces of northeastern Persia.
Ghazan resided in that area for the next 10 years and defended the frontier against the Chagatai Mongols of Central Asia and then against his own lieutenant Nowruz, who had risen in revolt with the Chagatai.
1285 Arghun sought alliances with the Christian West, writing to Pope Honorius IV in hopes of renewing the war against the Egyptian Mamluks.
1287 Arghun sent emissaries to such leaders as Pope Nicholas IV, Edward I of England, and Philip IV of France.
Except for an exchange of letters, nothing came of this diplomacy, and the war against Egypt was not resumed.
1289 Arghun appointed an anti-Islamic Jew, Sa'd od-Dowleh, first as his minister of finance and then as vizier of his entire empire.
The predominantly Muslim population may have resented the rule of a Buddhist and a Jew, but their administration proved lawful and just and restored order and prosperity.
1289 The Christians lost Tripoli.
1290 The Radekan tomb tower was constructed.
This provides a very good example of an important group of tomb towers in which the body of the tower is composed of
an engaged cluster of almost round shafts, where the circular shafts alternate with prismatic flanges and both are elaborately ornamented.
1291 While Arghun was dying, fevered and bedridden, the factions opposed to Sa'd od-Dowleh rose up and put  Arghun and his minister to death.
1291 Gaykhatu, Arghun's brother, came to the II-Khanid throne. 1291 Sheikh Mosleheddin Sa'di Shirazi, the outstanding Persian poet, died at 107 in Shiraz.
He acquired the traditional learning of Islam at the Nezamiyeh madrassa in Baghadad. The unsettled conditions following the Mongol invasion of Persia led him to wander abroad through Anatolia, Syria, Egypt, and Iraq. He refers in his work to travels in India and Central Asia, but these cannot be confirmed. In North Africa, he was held captive by the Franks and put to work in the trenches of the fortress of Tripoli. He was an elderly man when he reappeared in his native Shiraz, where he is said to have  spent the rest of his life.
1291 The fall of Acre marked the end of Christian power in Syria
 and Palestine.
1295 Baydu, Gaykhatu's cousin, dethroned him and usurped the 
 IL Khanid throne.
1295 Ghazan defeated and deposed Baydu.
After a first encounter, followed by a truce, Ghazan spent the summer in the mountains north of present-day Tehran, where he adopted Mahmud' as his name and declared himself a convert to Islam on the advice of Nowruz, with whom he was now reconciled. His example was followed by the troops under his command. It was thus as the head of a Muslim force that he resumed the attack against Baydu, who, deserted by his supporters, was captured and executed on the very day of Ghazan's entry into the new 11­Khanid capital of Tabriz.
Ghazan Khan introduced profound social and administrative changes that were to have a lasting impact on the future systems of government.
- Ghazan Khan suppressed a number of revolts against his authority.
No fewer than five princes of the blood were executed for their complicity. Nowruz himself, who had helped raise Ghazan to the throne, was soon to pay with his life for suspected collusion with the Mamluks.
1298 Yaqut al-Musta'simi, famous calligrapher, died.
 He composed an anthology and a collection of aphorisms.
1298 Rashideddin (b.ca.1247), the greatest statesman of his time, became vizier to Ghazan Khan.
He was perhaps the real author of the fiscal reforms that went under his master's name.
1300 Ghazan Khan invaded Syria, defeated the Egyptian army at Horns, and made a triumphal entry into Damascus.
Upon his return to Persia, however, Syria was re-occupied by the Mamluks.
1301 Sheikh Zahid Gilani, for 25 years the master of Sheikh Safieddin Ardabili, died at 85.
With his death Sheikh Safieddin took over the Zahidiyyeh order and transformed it into his own Safavid Sufi order.
1304 Ghazan Khan died due to illness and his brother, Oljeitu, began to rule.
During Ghazan Khan's reign, the II-Khans lost all contact with the remaining Mongol chieftains of China. His reign also saw a Persian cultural renaissance in which scholars like Rashideddin flourished under his patronage.
Oljeitu was baptized a Christian and given the name Nicholas by his mother. As a youth, he converted to Buddhism and later to the Sunni branch of Islam, taking the name Mohammad Khodabandeh.
- Oljeitu moved the II-Khanid capital from Tabriz to Soltaniyyeh. 1309 Oljeitu converted to Shi'ism. 1310 Greatly influenced by the Iraqi Shia theologian Ibn al­  Mutahhar al-Hilli, a pupil of Khajeh Nasireddin Tusi, Oljeitu embraced Shi'ism and on his return from a visit to the tomb of Imam Ali (A) in Iraq (1309-10), he proclaimed Shia Islam to be the state religion of Persia.
1310 The magnificent stucco mihrab in the Jame mosque of Isfahan was made.
The inscriptions, made and signed by Haidar, a pupil of the distinguished calligrapher Yaqut al-Musta'simi, mention the names of the twelve Shia imams, artistically decorated with floral motifs, and that might be a n indication of Oljeitu's conversion to Shi'ism.
1311 Qotboddin Shirazi (b.1236), Persian astronomer and physician, died.
In his two comprehensive astronomical works he has given what is conceivably the best Arabic account of astronomy (cosmography) with the help of mathematics.
1312 Oljeitu pursued the traditional hostility between the 11­
Khans and the Mamluks with a badly organized invasion of Mamluk territory. The expedition had to be abandoned after the expected help from European princes failed to materialize.
1313 Tomb tower at Bastam was built.
The facade of this monument, like that of Gonbad-e Qabus, comprises prismatic flanges.
1313 The mausoleum of Oljeitu, Iran's Taj Mahal, was completed at Sultaniyeh.
This typically Mongol style octagonal mausoleum is one of Iran's supreme architectural achievements. The 53 m (177 ft) high and 24 m (80 ft) in diameter dome, solidly covered with light blue faience tile, rests on a wide and rich stalactite cornice. Eight embellished minarets with blue patterns rise from the corners of the building and surround the dome. The monument reflects both the Dome of the Rock, and in its location in the open countryside, the nomadic tents of Turko-Mongol tribes.
1316 II-Khan Oljeitu died, and his son II-Khan Abu Sa'id ascended
 the throne.
- Abu Sa'id reconverted to Sunni Islam and thus averted the unrest among Sunnis caused by Oljeitu's conversion to Shi'ism.
During his reign, factional disputes and internal disturbances became rampant.
1318 Rashideddin, Persian statesman and historian, and the author of a universal history, died. He became vizier to Ghazan in 1298 and served under his successor Oljeitu.
Accused by his rivals of having poisoned his sovereign, he was put to death by Oljeitu's son Abu Sa'id.
Rashideddin's history, 'Jame at-tawarikh', covers realms even beyond the Muslim world.
1320 Mahmud Shabestari (b.ca.1250 in Shabestar near Tabriz), Persian mystic and writer, died.
His fame rests entirely on his poem in rhyming couplets, called 'Golshan Raaz' ("The Rose Garden of the Secret"). Golshan Raaz, written in 1311 or possibly 1317, is a poetical expression of Shabestari's retreat from the temporal world. It consists of questions and answers about mystical doctrines.
1324 Khajeh Mohammad Shirazi, who was to acquire the title 'Hafez' and become a great Persian lyric poet and panegyrist, was born in Shiraz.
The title of 'Hafez' is given to anyone who can recite the whole Qur'an by heart.
1324 Marco Polo died in Venice.
From 1271 to 1295 he journeyed from Europe to China through Persia. He remained in China for 17 of those years. His'II milione' ("The Million"), known in English as the 'Travels of Marco Polo', became a geographical classic.
1330 Shah Nematollah Vali was born in Syria.
1334 Sheikh Safieddin Ardabili, the renowned mystic and founder of the Safavid Sufi order, died at 81 in Ardabil.
Popularity of the Safavid order was attributed in part to Safieddin's policy of hospitality, especially to all who sought refuge. One of the sheikh's appellations was Khalil-e Ajam (the Persian Abraham, who is noted for hospitality in Persian folklore).
1335 II-Khan Abu Sa'id, the last notable Mongol ruler, died without leaving an heir.
With his death, the unity of the dynasty was fractured. Thereafter, various II-Khanid princes ruled as
authorities until 1353.
1336 Timur (Tamerlane), who later became a celebrated Turkic conqueror of Islamic faith, was born at Kish, near Samarqand.
Timur was a member of a Mongol subgroup that had settled in Transoxiana (now roughly corresponding to Uzbekistan) after taking part in Genghis Khan's son Chagatai's campaigns in that region. Timur thus grew up in what was known as the Chagatai khanate.
1337 Abd ur-Razzaq led the democratic movement of Sarbedaran against the oppression of Mongol tax collectors.
A former functionary of Persian origin, Abd founded a popular republic led by cable men who had risen against Mongol rule from their center at Sabzevar in  and spread out to Neishabur and Mazandaran.
 1339 Hamd Allah Mostowfi Qazvini, Persian historian and
 geographer from Qazvin, died.
 His work is important for the period of the II-Khans.
1339 New centers of power were asserting their independence
 after the decline of the II-Khans.
- Two of the notable dynasties that emerged were AII-e­Jalayer , or the Jalalyrids, in Baghdad and Syria, and AII-e­Mozaffar, or the Mozaffarids, in Shiraz, Isfahan, Kerman and Yazd.
1347 The first onset of the Black Death, pandemic of plague, ravaged Europe for five years.
It took a proportionately greater toll of life than any other known epidemic or war up to that time.
1352 Kamaleddin Khaju Kermani (b.1290), Persian poet, died in
 Shiraz.
1366 Having defeated the governor of Transoxiana, Timur  achieved firm possession of that region.
1368 Ibn Battuta (b.1304 in Tanjiers, Morocco), one of the world's most renowned travelers and authors of travel books, died.
1368 Ibn Yamin (b.1287), the most important Persian poet of epigrams, died. He was one of the earliest to write on the Shia Imams and the tragedy of Karbala.
1370 Timur proclaimed himself sovereign of the Chagatai line of
 khans and restorer of the Mongol Empire in Samarqand.
1371 Obeyd Zakani (b.1300), Persian poet from Qazvin, died.
 He was a satirical and erotic poet, who wrote such works as  'The Morals of Aristocracy' and 'The Book of the Beard', a  ue between the poet and the beard, reaarded as a  destroyer of youthful beauty.