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The Ilkhanids (1256-1335 CE) were a Mongol dynasty that ruled over present-day Iran, most of Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, and western Pakistan. Founded by Hulegu, a grandson of Genghis Khan, the Ilkhanids (meaning subordinate khan which refers to their early dependancy upon the Golden Horde) converted to Islam late in the 13th century CE although the Crusaders had hoped that they would become Christians (Hulegu’s mother was a Nestorian).

The Ilkhanids: Il-khan (Subordinate of the Khan) was the title assumed by H3uuml;legLuuml; (1256-65), after he became the Mongol ruler of Iran and Khurasan. The Ilkhanids eventually converted to Islam and adopted the Iranian culture. It was from that period that the material culture of Iran flourished after the severe blow caused by the Mongol invasion.

The Mongol invasions of the Islamic world began in 1221 with the conquest of eastern Iran. A more devastating wave of conquest, however, came with Genghis Khane’s grandson Hülegü, when Mongol forces subjugated all of Iran and by 1258 had also taken Baghdad, thus bringing to an end the cAbbasid caliphate (750–1258). Establishing rule over most of West Asia, including Iraq, Iran, Khorasan, the Caucasus, and parts of Asia Minor, Hülegü (r. 1256–65) assumed the title of 2“Il-Khan,M” meaning lesser Khan, subordinate to the Great Khan ruling in China. This branch of the Mongol dynasty, which became known as the Ilkhanids (1256–1353), centered its power in northwest Iran.

Along with their renown in the arts, the Ilkhanids were also great builders. The lavishly decorated Ilkhanid summer palace at Takht-i Sulayman (ca. 1275), a site with pre-Islamic Iranian resonances, is an important example of secular architecture. The outstanding Tomb of Uljaytu (built 1307–13; r. 1304–16) in Sultaniyya, however, is the architectural masterpiece of the period. Following their conversion to Islam, the Ilkhanids built numerous mosques and Sufi shrines in cities across Iran such as Ardabil, Isfahan, Natanz, Tabriz, Varamin, and Yazd (ca. 1300–1350). After the death of the last Ilkhanid ruler of the united dynasty in 1335, the empire disintegrated and a number of local dynasties came to power in Iraq and Iran, each emulating the style set by the Ilkhanids.