{{Short description|Ruler of the Mongol Ilkhanate from 1295 to 1304}} {{Distinguish|Mahmud of Ghazni}} {{For|the village in Iran|Ghazan, Iran}} {{Infobox royalty | name = Ghazan | title = [[Khan (title)|Khan]]<br />[[Padishah|Pâdeshâh]] of Iran and Islam<ref name="Komaroff2012">{{cite book|last1=Fragner|first1=Bert G.|editor1-last=Komaroff|editor1-first=Linda|title=Beyond the legacy of Genghis Khan|date=2013|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Brill|location=Leiden|isbn=978-90-474-1857-3|page=73|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mUgyAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA73|access-date=6 April 2017|chapter=Ilkhanid rule and its contributions to Iranian political culture|quote=When Ghazan Khan embraced Islam and proclaimed himself "pādishāh-i Īrān wa Islām" at the end of the thirteenth century (...)}}</ref> | image = Ghazan with wife at his court.jpg | caption = Ghazan with wife at his court | reign = 4 October 1295 – 11 May 1304 | full name = Mahmud Ghazan | predecessor = [[Baydu]] | successor = [[Öljeitü]] | queen = Yedi Kurtka Khatun<br />Bulughan Khatun Khurasani<br />[[Kököchin]]<br />Bulughan Khatun Muazzama<br />Eshil Khatun<br />Dondi Khatun<br />Karamun Khatun<br />[[Khutulun]] | house = [[Ilkhanate|Hulaguid]] | dynasty = [[Borjigin]] | issue = [[Uljay Qutlugh Khatun]] | father = [[Arghun]] | mother = Kultak Egechi | religion = [[Nestorian Christianity]] (until 1295) [[Sunni Islam]] (after 1295) | birth_date = 5 November 1271 | birth_place = [[Abaskun]], [[Ilkhanate]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1304|5|11|1271|11|5|df=y}} | death_place = [[Qazvin]], [[Ilkhanate]]| | succession = [[Il khan]] | succession1 = [[Viceroy]] of [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] | reign1 = 1284–1295 | predecessor1 = [[Arghun]] | successor1 = Nirun Aqa | coronation = 19 October 1295 | regent = [[Nawrūz (Mongol emir)|Nawruz]] | reg-type = [[Naib]] }} '''Mahmud Ghazan'''{{efn|{{langx|mn|Газан, {{MongolUnicode|ᠭᠠᠵᠠᠨ ᠬᠠᠨ}}|translit=Gazan}}, {{langx|fa|غازان خان|translit=Ġāzān xān}}.}} (also '''Ghazan Khan''', sometimes westernized as '''Casanus''';<ref>Schein, p. 806.</ref> 5 November 1271 – 11 May 1304) was the seventh ruler of the [[Mongol Empire]]'s [[Ilkhanate]] division in modern-day [[Iran]] from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of [[Arghun]], grandson of [[Abaqa Khan]] and great-grandson of [[Hulegu Khan]], continuing a long line of rulers who were direct descendants of [[Genghis Khan]]. Considered the most prominent of the [[Ilkhan]]s, he is perhaps best known for converting to [[Islam]] and meeting [[Imam]] [[Ibn Taymiyya]] in 1295 when he took the throne, marking a turning point for the dominant religion of the [[Mongols]] in West Asia.
One of his many principal wives was [[Kököchin]], a Mongol princess (originally betrothed to Ghazan's father Arghun before his death) sent by his great-uncle [[Kublai Khan]].
Military conflicts during Ghazan's reign included war with the [[Mamluk Sultanate]] for control of [[Syria]] and battles with the Turko-Mongol [[Chagatai Khanate]]. Ghazan also pursued diplomatic contacts with Europe, continuing his predecessors' unsuccessful attempts at forming a [[Franco-Mongol alliance]]. A man of high culture, Ghazan spoke multiple languages, had many hobbies, and reformed many elements of the Ilkhanate, especially in the matter of standardizing currency and fiscal policy.
== Childhood == [[File:AbaqaOnHorseArghunStandingGhazanAsAChild.jpg|thumb|left|Ghazan as a child, in the arms of his father [[Arghun]], standing next to Arghun's father [[Abaqa]], mounted on a horse]] Ghazan's parents were [[Arghun]] and his concubine Kultak Egechi of the [[Dörbet Oirat|Dörböd]]. At the time of their marriage, Arghun was 12. Kultak's elder sister Ashlun was the wife of Tübshin, son of Hulagu and the previous viceroy in [[Greater Khorasan]]. According to [[Rashid al-Din Hamadani]], the marriage took place in [[Mazandaran province|Mazandaran]], where Arghun was viceroy.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hamadani|1998||p=590}}</ref>
Ghazan was born on 5 November 1271 in [[Abaskun]] (now near [[Bandar Torkaman]]),<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Magill |first1=Frank Northen |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CurSh3Sh_KMC&pg=PA381 |title=Dictionary of World Biography: The Middle Ages |last2=Aves |first2=Alison |date=1998 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-57958-041-4 |pages=381 |language=en |chapter=Mahmud Ghazan}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Aigle |first=Denise |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZrUBEQAAQBAJ&pg=PT40 |title=Iran under the Mongols: Ilkhanid Administrators and Persian Notables in Fars |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2024 |isbn=978-0-7556-4575-6 |language=en}}</ref> although he was raised in the nomadic palace of the [[orda (organization)|orda]] of his grandfather Abaqa's favorite wife, [[Buluqhan Khatun]], who herself was childless.<ref>Rashid al-Din – Universal history</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=July 2024}} Ghazan and Arghun didn't see each other until Abaqa's attack on [[Qara'unas]] in 1279, when they briefly met.
Ghazan was raised an [[Church of the East|Eastern Christian]],<ref>"Ghazan had been baptized and raised a Christian"[[Richard Foltz]], ''Religions of the Silk Road'', Palgrave Macmillan, 2nd edition, 2010, p. 120 {{ISBN|978-0-230-62125-1}}</ref> as was his brother [[Öljaitü]]. [[Religion in the Mongol Empire|The Mongols were traditionally tolerant of multiple religions]], and during Ghazan's youth, he was educated by a Chinese [[bhikkhu|Buddhist monk]], who taught him [[Old Mandarin]] and [[Buddhism]], as well as the [[Mongolian script|Mongolian]] and [[Uighur script]]s.<ref>Charles Melville, "Padshah-i Islam: the conversion of Sultan Mahmud Ghazan Khan, pp. 159–177"</ref>
=== Under Tekuder === He lived together with Gaykhatu in [[Buluqhan Khatun]]'s encampment in [[Baghdad]] after Abaqa's death. He reunited again with his father when Buluqhan Khatun was wed to Arghun and became Ghazan's step-mother.
== Rule in Khorasan ==
=== Under Arghun === After the overthrow of [[Tekuder]] in 1284, Ghazan's father Arghun was enthroned as Ilkhan, the 11-year-old Ghazan became viceroy, and he moved to the capital of [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]], never to see Arghun again. Emir Tegene was appointed as his deputy, who he didn't like very much. In 1289, conflict with other Mongols ensued when a revolt was led against Arghun by [[Nawrūz (Mongol emir)|Nawruz]], a young emir of the [[Oirats|Oirat]] clan, whose father had been civil governor of Persia before the arrival of Hulegu. Ghazan's deputy Tegene was among the victims of Nawruz's raid on 20 April 1289 in which he was captured and imprisoned. Nawruz's protege, Prince Hulachu was arrested by Ghazan's commander [[Mulay]] ten days later.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hamadani|1998|p=596}}</ref> When Nawruz was defeated by Arghun's reinforcements in 1290,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hope|first=Michael|date=October 2015|title=The "Nawrūz King": the rebellion of Amir Nawrūz in Khurasan (688–694/1289–94) and its implications for the Ilkhan polity at the end of the thirteenth century|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/nawruz-king-the-rebellion-of-amir-nawruz-in-khurasan-688694128994-and-its-implications-for-the-ilkhan-polity-at-the-end-of-the-thirteenth-century/EC5BF98103E488850438BE1AD7D8E8C6|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies|language=en|volume=78|issue=3|pages=451–473|doi=10.1017/S0041977X15000464|s2cid=154583048|issn=0041-977X|url-access=subscription}}</ref> he fled the Ilkhanate and joined the alliance of [[Kaidu]], another descendant of Genghis Khan who was the ruler of both the [[House of Ögedei]] and the neighboring [[Chagatai Khanate]]. Ghazan spent the next ten years defending the frontier of the Ilkhanate against incursions by the Chagatai Khanate of Central Asia.
=== Under Gaykhatu === When his father, Arghun, died in 1291, Ghazan was prevented from pursuing his claim of leadership in the capital because he was engaged both with Nawruz's raids, and dealing with rebellion and famine in Khorasan and [[Nishapur]]. [[Taghachar]], an army commander who had served the previous three generations of Ilkhans, was probably behind the death of Arghun, and supported Ghazan's uncle [[Gaykhatu]] as the new Ilkhan.<ref>Rashid al ''Din – Ibid'', pp. I,d.III</ref> Despite being boyhood rivals, Gaykhatu sent aid to Ghazan's fight against Nawruz in Khorasan under the leadership of Prince Anbarchi (son of [[Möngke Temür (Ilkhanate)|Möngke Temür]]) and emirs Tuladai, Quncuqbal and El Temür; himself going to Anatolia to quell [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turcoman]] uprisings. However, famine reached his court too in spring and Anbarchi, unable to feed his soldiers, had to leave soon for Azerbaijan again. He again tried to visit Gaykhatu, but after his refusal, he had to go back. Ghazan received [[Kököchin]], a Mongol princess from the [[Yuan dynasty]] in China, on his way back from [[Tabriz]] to Khorasan. She had been brought from the east in a caravan which included [[Marco Polo]] among hundreds of other travellers. She had originally been betrothed to Ghazan's father, IlKhan Arghun, but since he had died during her months-long journey, she instead married his son Ghazan.<ref>Marco Polo, Giovanni Battista Baldelli Boni, [[Hugh Murray (geographer)|Hugh Murray]], ''Société de géographie (France)-The Travels of Marco Polo''.</ref>
In 1294, Ghazan forced Nawruz to surrender at [[Nishapur]]<ref>Jackson, p. 170.</ref> and Nawruz then became one of Ghazan's lieutenants. Ghazan was loyal to his uncle, though he refused to follow Gaykhatu's lead in introducing [[paper currency]] to his province, explaining that the weather of Khorasan was too humid to handle paper.<ref>René Grousset ''The Empire of Steppes''.</ref>
=== Against Baydu === In 1295, [[Taghachar]] and his conspirators, who probably had been behind the death of Arghun, had his successor Gaykhatu killed as well. They then placed the pliable [[Baydu]], a cousin of Ghazan, on the throne. Baydu was primarily a figurehead, allowing the conspirators to divide the Ilkhanate among themselves. Hearing of Gaykhatu's murder, Ghazan marched on Baydu. Baydu explained that Ghazan was away during the events leading to Gaykhatu's fall, therefore nobles had no choice but to raise him to throne.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hope|2016|p=148}}</ref> Nevertheless, Nawruz encouraged Ghazan to take steps against Baydu, because he was nothing but a figurehead under grips of nobles. Baydu's forces commanded by Ildar (his cousin and Prince Ajay's son), Eljidei and Chichak met him near [[Qazvin]]. Ghazan's army were commanded by Prince Sogai (son of [[Yoshmut]]), Buralghi, Nawruz, [[Kutlushah|Qutluqshah]] and Nurin Aqa. The first battle was won by Ghazan but he had to fall back after realising that Ildar's contingent was just a fraction of the whole army he faced, leaving Nawruz behind. Nevertheless, he captured Arslan, a descendant of [[Qasar|Jochi Qasar]].<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hamadani|1998|p=614}}</ref> ==== Conversion to Islam ==== After a short truce, Baydu offered Ghazan co-rulership of the Ilkhanate and offered Nawruz the post of ''sahib-i divan'' to which as a counter-condition Ghazan demanded the revenues of his father's hereditary lands in [[Fars province|Fars]], [[Persian Iraq]] and [[Kerman]]. Nawruz refused these conditions, which led to his arrest. According to an anecdote, he promised to bring Ghazan back tied up on condition of his release. Once he reached Ghazan, he sent back a [[cauldron]] to Baydu; a word play on the Turkish word [[wiktionary:kazan|kazan]]. Nawruz promised him the throne and his help on condition of Ghazan's conversion to [[Islam]]. Ghazan converted to [[Sunni Islam]], on June 16, 1295,<ref>{{cite book|author=A. S. Atiya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w0IOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA256|title=The Crusade in the Later Middle Ages|date = January 1965|isbn = 9780527037000|page=195| publisher=Brill}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dashdondog |first=Bayarsaikhan|date=2010 |title=The Mongols and the Armenians (1220-1335)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HrqqhduBapQC |publisher=BRILL|page=34|isbn=978-9004186354}}</ref> at the hands of [[Fara'id al-Simtayn|Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Mu'ayyid ibn Hamaweyh al-Khurasani al-Juwayni]]<ref>Tadhkirat Al-huffaz of [[Tadhkirat al-huffaz#Works|Al-Dhahabi]]</ref> as a condition for Nawruz's military support.<ref>Amir Nawruz was a Muslim, and offered the support of a Muslim army if Ghazan would promise to embrace Islam in the event of his victory over Baidu" Foltz, p. 128.</ref>
Before converting to Islam based on a political agreement, Ghazan, a neo-Muslim, married his stepmother Bulughan Khatun Muazzema after his father's death, in accordance with the Mongol pagan [[Yasa]] customs. After being informed that it was forbidden by Islamic law, he ignored it and broke the agreement by leaving Islam, leading to the massacre of Syrian Muslims and the conversion of millions of neo-Muslim Tatars in his kingdom to their former religion. In order to dissuade him from doing so, some jurists, considering [[Maslaha]], temporarily considered the marriage legal and encouraged him to remain in Islam, thus saving him from the great harm of Muslim genocide and apostasy and giving Ghazan a long time and opportunity to realize his mistake, so he remained in Islam.<ref>Shari'a Politics, Fahad bin Salih Al-Ajlan, Translated by: Abdullah Majumdar, Edited by Abu Bakr Muhammad Zakaria, September 2025, Pages: 360-364</ref>
Nawruz entered [[Qazvin]] with 4,000 soldiers and claimed an additional number of 120,000 soldiers commanded by Ebügen (in other sources, 30,000)<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hamadani|1998|p=623}}</ref> – descendant of Jochi Qasar – on his way towards Azerbaijan which caused panic among masses which was followed by defections of Taghachar's subordinates (thanks to Taghachar's vizier Sadr ul-Din Zanjani) and other powerful emirs like Qurumishi and [[Chupan]] on 28 August 1295.
Seeing imminent defeat, Baydu asked for Taghachar's support, ignorant of his defection. After realising Taghachar's withdrawal, he fled to Emir Tukal in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] on 26 September 1295. Ghazan's commanders found him near [[Nakhchivan (city)|Nakhchivan]] and arrested him, taking back to [[Tabriz]], having him executed on October 4, 1295.[[File:GhazanOnHorse.JPG|thumb|right|Ghazan mounted on a horse.]]
== Early reign == Ghazan declared his victory after the execution of Baydu on the outskirts of [[Tabriz]] on 4 October 1295,<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Fisher|1998|p=379}}</ref> he entered the city. After this declaration, several appointments, orders and executions came as usual – Gaykhatu's son Alafrang's son-in-law Eljidai Qushchi was executed, [[Nawrūz (Mongol emir)|Nawrūz]] was rewarded with {{Transliteration|mn|[[nawab|naʾibate]]}} of state and was given extreme power, akin to [[Buqa]]'s back in the day of Arghun. Nawrūz, on his part, issued a formal edict in opposition to other religions in the Ilkhanate. Nawruz loyalists persecuted Buddhists and Christians to such an extent that [[Buddhism in Iran]] never recovered,<ref>Roux, p. 430.</ref> the Church of the East cathedral in the Mongol capital of [[Maragheh]] was looted, and churches in [[Tabriz]] and [[Hamadan]] were destroyed.
Baydu loyalists too were purged – emirs Jirghadai and Qonchuqbal were executed on 10 and 15 October respectively. Qonchuqbal was specifically hated for his murder of Aq Buqa Jalair, his executioner was Nawrūz's brother Hajji, who was also Aq Buqa's son-in-law.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hamadani|1998|p=629}}</ref> Taghachar's protege, Sadr al-Din Zanjani was granted the office of vizier following deposition of Baydu's vizier, Jamal al-Din. He reappointed [[Taghachar]] to the Anatolian viceroyalty on 10 November 1295. Another series of executions came after 1296: Prince Ajai's son Ildar fled to Anatolia on 6 February but was captured and executed;<ref>{{Cite thesis |first=Jonathan Z |last=Brack |title=Mediating Sacred Kingship: Conversion and Sovereignty in Mongol Iran |degree=PhD |publisher=University of Michigan |date=2016 |hdl=2027.42/133445 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> Yesütai, an [[Oirats|Oirat]] commander who supported Hulegu's son-in-law Taraghai, in his migration to [[Mamluk Sultanate]] Syria, was executed on 24 May and Buralghi Qiyatai, a commander who was rebellious against Arghun was executed on 12 February.
Meanwhile, [[Nogai Khan]], kingmaker in the [[Golden Horde]], was murdered and his wife Chubei fled to Ghazan with his son Torai<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hamadani|first=Rashidaddin|url=https://paxmongolicadotorg.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/boyle_1971_rashid_al_din.pdf|title=The Successors of Genghis Khan|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=1971|isbn=0-231-03351-6|pages=129|translator-last=Boyle|translator-first=John Andrew|author-link=Rashid-al-Din Hamadani|translator-link=John Andrew Boyle}}</ref> (or Büri<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hamadani|1998|p=365}}</ref>) who was [[Abaqa Khan|Abaqa]]'s son-in-law in 1296.
=== Purge of nobles === Ghazan eased the troubles with the [[Golden Horde]], but the [[House of Ögedei]] and Chagatais of Central Asia continued to pose a serious threat to both the Ilkhanate and his overlord and ally to the Great Khan in China. When Ghazan was crowned, the [[List of Chagatai khans|Chagatai khan]] [[Duwa]] invaded Khorasan on 9 December 1295. Ghazan sent two of his relatives, Prince Sogai (son of [[Yoshmut]]) and Esen Temür (son of [[Qonqurtai]]), against the army of Chagatai Khanate, but they deserted, believing this was Nawrūz's plot to further deprive the nobility of their possessions.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hope|2016|p=166}}</ref> Nawrū informed Ghazan of this plot, subsequently executing them in 1296. Another Borjigid prince, Arslan who was captured by Ghazan previously and pardoned, revolted in [[Biləsuvar|Bilasuvar]]. After a series of battles near [[Beylagan (city)|Baylaqan]] he too was captured and executed, along with the rebellious emirs on 29 March.
Following the purge of princes, Taghachar was thought to have been implicated in the rebellion of Prince Sogai and was declared a rebel.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Melville|first=Charles|chapter=Anatolia under the Mongols|date=2009-03-12|chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/CBO9781139055963A006/type/book_part|title=The Cambridge History of Turkey|pages=51–101|editor-last=Fleet|editor-first=Kate|edition=1|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/chol9780521620932.004|isbn=978-1-139-05596-3|access-date=2020-04-27}}</ref> Taghachar strengthened himself in [[Tokat]] and resisted against Ghazan's commanders Harmanji, Baltu and Arap (son of [[Samagar]]). He was soon arrested by Baltu near [[Delice]] and was delivered to Ghazan in 1296. Shortly afterwards Ghazan reluctantly ordered the murder of Taghachar; he recognised that he had been a help and that he was not an imminent threat, and explained his decision by reference to a Chinese story about the execution of a commander who saved a future emperor by betraying a former one.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Fisher|1998|p=381}}</ref> His protege Sadr ul-Din Zanjani was revoked from the vizierate and arrested in March 1296, but pardoned thanks to the intervention of Buluqhan Khatun.
The purges were followed by the executions of [[Chormaqan]]'s grandson Baighut on 7 September 1296, Hazaraspid ruler [[Afrasiab I]] in October 1296, Baydu's vizier Jamal ud-Din Dastgerdani on 27 October 1296. [[File:GhazanSeal1302LetterToBonifaceVIII.JPG|thumb|Seal of Mahmud Ghazan, over the last two lines of his 1302 letter to [[Pope Boniface VIII]]. The seal was given to Ghazan by the sixth Great Khan ([[Emperor Chengzong of Yuan|Emperor ChengZong of Yuan]]). It is in Chinese script: "王府定國理民之寶", which means "Seal certifying the authority of his Royal Highness to establish a country and govern its people". Overwritten on it vertically, are two lines in Mongolian using the old, [[Aramaic]]-based, [[Uyghur script]]. [[Vatican Library|Vatican]] Archives.<ref>Michaud, Yahia (Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies) (2002). Ibn Taymiyya, Textes Spirituels I-XVI", Chap. XI</ref>]]
==== Revolt of Baltu ==== Taghachar's death triggered the revolt of Baltu of the [[Jalayir]], in Anatolia, where he was stationed since Abaqa's reign. He was supported by Ildar (son of [[Qonqurtai]]), who was arrested and executed in September 1296. Two months later, Qutluqshah invaded Anatolia with 30,000 men and crushed Baltu's revolt, arresting him in June. He was brought to [[Tabriz]] and jailed there until 14 September 1297, when he was executed along with his son. Seljuk Sultan of Rum [[Mesud II]] on the other hand was arrested and jailed in [[Hamadan]].<ref name=":0" />
==== Fall of Nawrūz ==== Nawrūz soon embroiled himself in an argument with Nurin Aqa, who was more popular with the military and then left [[Khorasan province|Khorasan]]. After returning to the west, he survived an assassination attempt by a soldier named Tuqtay, who claimed that Nawrūz murdered his father, [[Arghun Aqa]]. Soon he was accused of treason by Sadr al-Din Khaladi, ''sahib-divan'' of Ghazan by a secret alliance with the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamlukes]]. Indeed, according to Mamluk sources, Nawrūz corresponded with [[Lajin|Sultan Lajin]].<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hope|2016|p=168}}</ref> Using the opportunity, Ghazan started a purge against Nawrūz and his followers in May 1297. His brother Hajji Narin and his follower Satalmish were executed, along with Nawrūz's children in [[Hamadan]], his other brother Lagzi Güregen was also put to death in Iraq on 2 April 1297. His 12-year-old son Toghai was spared due to efforts of Bulughan Khatun Khurasani, Ghazan's wife [[Arghun Aqa]]'s granddaughter and given to the household of Amir Husayn. Others who were spared, were his brother Yol Qutluq and his nephew Kuchluk. Later that year Ghazan marched against Nawrūz himself, who at the time was the commander of the army of Khorasan. Ghazan's forces were victorious at a battle near Nishapur. Nawrūz took refuge at the court of the king of [[Herat]] in northern [[Afghanistan]], but the Malik betrayed him and delivered Nawrūz to [[Kutlushah]], who had Nawrūz executed immediately on August 13.<ref name="Roux, p.432">Roux, p. 432</ref>
=== Relationship with other Mongol khanates === Ghazan maintained strong ties with the Great Khan of the [[Yuan dynasty|Yuan]] and the Golden Horde. In 1296 [[Temür Khan]], the successor of Kublai Khan, dispatched a military commander, Baiju, to Mongol Persia.<ref>Yuan Chueh ''Chingjung chu-shih chi'', ch. 34. p. 22.</ref> Five years later Ghazan sent his Mongolian and Persian retainers to collect income from Hulegu's holdings in China. While there, they presented tribute to Temür and were involved in cultural exchanges across Mongol Eurasia.<ref>''Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia'' by [[Thomas T. Allsen]], p. 34.</ref> Ghazan also called upon other Mongol Khans to unite their will under Temür Khan, in which he was supported by Kaidu's enemy, [[Bayan (khan)|Bayan Khan]] of the [[White Horde]]. Ghazan's court had Chinese physicians present.<ref>{{cite book|author=J. A. Boyle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=16yHq5v3QZAC&q=there+were+chinese+physicians+at+the+court+of+ghazan&pg=PA417|title=The Cambridge History of Iran|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1968|isbn=0-521-06936-X|editor=J. A. Boyle|edition=reprint, reissue, illustrated|page=417|access-date=2010-06-28}}</ref>
== Later reign == In order to stabilize the country Ghazan attempted to control the situation<ref>Jackson, p. 177.</ref> and continued the executions – Taiju (son of [[Möngke Temür (Ilkhanate)|Möngke Temür]]) on 15 April 1298 on charges of [[sedition]], vizier Sadr ul-Din Zanjani on 4 May and his brother Qutb ul-Din and with cousin Qawam ul-Mulk on 3 June on charges of [[embezzlement]], Abu Bakr Dadqabadi on 10 October. Ghazan appointed a Jewish convert to Islam – [[Rashid-al-Din Hamadani]] as new vizier succeeding Sadr ul-Din Zanjani, a post which Rashid held for the next 20 years, until 1318.<ref name="Roux, p.432" /> Ghazan also commissioned Rashid-al-Din to produce a history of the Mongols and their dynasty, the ''[[Jami' al-Tawarikh]]'' "Compendium of Chronicles" or ''Universal History''. Over several years of expansion, the work grew to cover the entire history of the world since the time of [[Adam]], and was completed during the reign of Ghazan's successor, Öljaitü. Many copies were made, a few of which survive to the modern day.
After Taiju's execution, he appointed Nurin Aqa as viceroy of [[Arran (Caucasus)|Arran]] on 11 September 1298.
=== Revolt of Sulemish === Sulemish, who Qutlughshah appointed as viceroy in [[Anatolia]] after Baltu's revolt, rebelled himself in 1299. He assembled a 20,000 strong force, which postponed Ghazan's plan to invade Mamluk-controlled [[Syria (region)|Syria]]. Qutlughshah was forced to come back from Arran and won a victory against him, on 27 April 1299 near [[Erzincan]], causing the rebels to flee to [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk Egypt]]. He returned with [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk]] reinforcements to [[Anatolia]] but was defeated again. He was brought to [[Tabriz]] and executed by burning on 27 September 1299.<ref name=":0" />
=== Mamluk-Ilkhanid War === {{main|Mongol invasions of the Levant}}
[[File:Mongol raids into Syria and Palestine ca 1300.svg|thumb|Mongol operations in the Levant, 1299–1300]] Ghazan was one of a long line of Mongol leaders who engaged in diplomatic communications with the Europeans and [[Crusades|Crusaders]] in attempts to form a [[Franco-Mongol alliance]] against their common enemy, primarily the Egyptian [[Mamluk Sultanate]]. He already had the use of forces from Christian vassal countries such as [[Cilician Armenia]] and [[Georgian Empire|Georgia]]. The plan was to coordinate actions between Ghazan's forces, the Christian military orders, and the aristocracy of Cyprus to defeat the Egyptian Mamluks, after which [[Jerusalem]] would be returned to the European Crusaders.<ref>"The Trial of the Templars", Malcolm Barber, 2nd edition, page 22: "The aim was to link up with Ghazan, the Mongol Il-Khan of Persia, who had invited the Cypriots to participate in joint operations against the Mamluks".</ref> Many Europeans are known to have worked for Ghazan, such as [[Isol the Pisan]] or [[Buscarello de Ghizolfi]], often in high positions. Hundreds of such Western adventurers entered into the service of Mongol rulers.<ref>Roux, p. 410.</ref> According to historian [[Peter Jackson (historian)|Peter Jackson]], the 14th century saw such a vogue of Mongol things in the West that many new-born children in Italy were named after Mongol rulers, including Ghazan: names such as ''Can Grande'' ("Great Khan"), ''Alaone'' ([[Hulegu]], Ghazan's great-grandfather), ''Argone'' ([[Arghun]], Ghazan's father) or ''Cassano'' (Ghazan) were recorded with a high frequency.<ref>Peter Jackson, ''The Mongols and the West'', p. 315.</ref>
In October 1299, Ghazan marched with his forces towards Syria and invited the Christians to join him.<ref>Demurger, p. 143.</ref> His army took the city of [[Aleppo]], and was there joined by his vassal King [[Hethum II, King of Armenia|Hethum II]] of the [[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia]], whose forces included some [[Knights Templar|Templars]] and [[Knights Hospitaller|Hospitallers]], and who participated in the rest of the offensive.<ref>Demurger, p. 142 (French edition) "He was soon joined by King Hethum, whose forces seem to have included Hospitallers and Templars from the kingdom of Armenia, who participated to the rest of the campaign."</ref> The Mongols and their allies defeated the Mamluks in the [[Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar]],<!-- Note: Demurger says that this was the Second Battle of Homs --> on December 23 or 24, 1299.<ref name="demurger-142" /> One group of Mongols then split off from Ghazan's army and pursued the retreating Mamluk troops as far as [[Gaza City|Gaza]],<ref>Demurger, p. 142 "The Mongols pursued the retreating troops towards the south, but stopped at the level of Gaza"</ref> pushing them back to Egypt. The bulk of Ghazan's forces proceeded to [[Damascus]], which surrendered somewhere between December 30, 1299, and January 6, 1300, though its [[Citadel of Damascus|Citadel]] resisted.<ref name="demurger-142">Demurger, p. 142.</ref><ref>Runciman, p. 439.</ref><ref>"Adh-Dhababi's Record of the Destruction of Damascus by the Mongols in 1299–1301", Note 18, p. 359.</ref> Most of Ghazan's forces then retreated in February, probably because their horses needed fodder. He promised to return in the winter of 1300–1301 to attack Egypt.<ref>Demurger, p. 146.</ref><ref name="schein-raid">Schein, 1979, p. 810</ref> About 10,000 horsemen under the Mongol general [[Mulay]] were left to briefly rule Syria, before they too retreated due to Mamluk raids.<ref>Demurger (p. 146, French edition): "After the Mamluk forces retreated south to Egypt, the main Mongol forces retreated north in February, Ghazan leaving his general Mulay to rule in Syria".</ref> ====Interaction with Mamluk delegation of Muslim scholars==== Ghazan was indeed feared and despised by the [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk]]s, who sent a delegation of leading scholars and [[imam]]s including [[Ibn Taymiyya]], north from Damascus to [[al-Nabek|al-Nabk]], where Ghazan was encamped, in January 1300, in order to persuade Ghazan to stop his attack on Damascus. Ibn Taymiyya also may have met the envoys of Ghazan, including the qadi Diya' al-Din Muhammad, in Damascus in August 1301.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Aigle|first1=Denise|title=The Mongol Invasions of Bilād al-Shām by Ghāzān Khān and Ibn Taymīyah's Three "Anti-Mongol" Fatwas|url=http://mamluk.uchicago.edu/MSR_XI-2_2007-Aigle.pdf|publisher=University of Chicago|page=110|access-date=23 February 2017}}</ref> On one of these occasions, it is reported that not one of the scholars dared to say anything to Ghazan except [[Ibn Taymiyyah]] who said:
''"You claim that you are a Muslim and you have with you Mu'adhdhins, [[Mufti]]s, [[Imam]]s and [[Shaykh]]s but you invaded us and reached our country for what? Although your father and your grandfather, [[Hulegu]] were non-believers, they did not attack us and they kept their promise. But you promised and broke your promise."''
In that meeting, Ibn Taymiyyah prayed for Ghazan Khan: "O Allah! If You know that Ghazan is fighting to uphold Your Word and to strive in Your way, then help him. And if his aim is only to gain worldly power and wealth, then reward him accordingly."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kathir |first1=Ibn |author1-link=Ibn Kathir |title=كتاب البداية والنهاية - ط دار ابن كثير (Al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya)|publisher=[[Al-Maktaba al-Shamela]]|page=136 |url=https://shamela.ws/book/30097/7387#p1 |access-date=14 April 2026 |quote=مسار الصفحة الحالية: فهرس الكتاب ثم دخلت سنة ثمان عشرة وسعمئة وممن توفي فيها من الأعيان البالسي (١)، ولد سنة خمسين وستمئة ببَالِسَ (٢)، وسمع من أصحاب ابن طبرزد، وكان شيخًا جليلًا بشوش الوجه حسنَ السَّمت، مقصدًا لكل أحد، كثير الوقار، عليه سيما العبادة والخير، [وكان يوم قازان في جملة من كان مع الشيخ تقي الدين بن تيمية لما تكلم مع قازان، فحكى عن كلام شيخ الإسلام تقي الدين لقازان وشجاعته وجرأته عليه، وأنه قال لترجمانه قل للقان: أنت تزعم أنّك مسلم ومعك مؤذِّنون وقاضٍ ها مام وشيخ على ما بلغنا فغزوتنا وبلغت بلادنا على ماذا؟ وأبوك وجدك هولاكو كانا كافرين وما غَزَوا بلاد الإسلام، بل عاهدوا قومنا، وأنت عاهدت فغدرت وقلت فما وفيت! قال: وجرت له مع قازان وقُطْلوشاه وبُولاي أمورٌ ونُوَبٌ، قام ابن تيمية فيها كلها لله، وقال الحق ولم يخش إلا الله ﷿. قال وقرَّب إلى الجماعة طعامًا فأكلوا منه إلا ابن تيمية، فقيل له ألا تأكل؟ فقال: كيف آكل من طعامكم وكله ممّا نهبتم من أغنام النَّاس وطبختموه بما قطعتم من أشجار الناس، قال: ثم إن قازان طلب منه الدعاء فقال في دعائه: "اللَّهم إن كان هذا عبدك محمود إنما يقاتل لتكون كلمتك هي العليا وليكون الدين كله لك فانصره وأيده وملِّكه البلاد والعباد، وإن كان إنما قام رياءً وسمعةً وطلبًا للدنيا ولتكون كلمته هي العليا وليذلَّ الإسلامَ وأهلَه فاخذُلْه وزلزله ودمِّرْه واقطع دابره". قال: وقازان يؤمن على دعائه، ويرفع يديه. قال: فجعلنا نجمع ثيابنا خوفًا من أن تتلوث بدمه إذا أمر بقتله. قال: فلما خرجنا من عنده قال له قاضي القضاة نجم الدين بن صَصْرَى وغيره: كدت أن تهلكَنا وتهلكَ نفسك، والله لا نصحبُك من هنا، فقال: وأنا والله لا أصحبكم. قال فانطلقنا عصبة وتأخر هو في خاصَّة نفسه ومعه جماعة من أصحابه، فتسامعت به الخوَّاقين والأمراء من أصحاب قازان فأتوه يتبرَّكون بدعائه، وهو سائر إلى دمشق، وينظرون إليه، قال: والله ما وصل إلى دمشق إلا في نحو ثلثمئة فارس في ركابه، وكنت أنا من جملة من كان معه، وأما أولئك الذين أبَوْا أن يصحبوه فخرج عليهم جماعة من التَّتر فشلحوهم عن آخرهم، هذا الكلام أو نحوه، وقد سمعت هذه الحكاية من جماعة غيره، وقد تقدم ذلك] (٣). توفي الشيخ محمد بن قَوام ليلة الإثنين الثاني والعشرين من صفر بالزَّاوية (٤) المعروفة بهم غربيّ الصالحية والناصرية والعادلية، وصُلّي عليه بها ودُفن بها، وحضر جنازته ودفنه خلق كثير وجم غفير، وكان في جملة الجمع الشيخ تقي الدين بن تيمية، لأنه كان يحبه كثيرًا، ولم يكن للشيخ محمّد مرتب على (١) ترجمته في الدرر الكامنة (٤/ ١٢٤) والدارس (٢/ ٢٠٨ - ٢٠٩) والشذرات (٦/ ٤٩). (٢) "بالس": بلدة بين حلب والرّقة، كانت على ضفة الفرات الغربية، فلم يزل الفرات يشرق عنها حتى صارت بينهما في أيامنا هذه أربعة أميال. ياقوت. (٣) ما بين الحاصرتين ليس في ب. (٤) القوامية البالسيّة، الدارس (٢/ ٢٠٨ - ٢٠٩) منادمة الأطلال (ص ٣١١). (Current page path: Book index. Then the year 718 AH began, and among those who died in it from the notables was Al-Balsi (1), who was born in the year 650 AH in Balis (2), and he heard from the companions of Ibn Tabarzad. He was a venerable sheikh, cheerful in countenance and handsome in appearance, a destination for everyone, very dignified, with the marks of worship and goodness upon him. [And on the day of Qazan, he was among those who were with Sheikh Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyyah when he spoke with Qazan, so he related what Sheikh al-Islam Taqi al-Din said to Qazan and his courage and boldness towards him, and that he said to his interpreter, “Tell the Qazan: You claim that you are a Muslim and you have muezzins, a judge, a sheikh, as we have heard, so you invaded us and reached our lands, on what basis? And your father and grandfather Hulagu were infidels and they did not invade the lands of Islam, but rather they made a covenant with our people, and you made a covenant and then betrayed it and said something and did not fulfill it!” He said: He had dealings with Qazan, Qutlu Shah, and Bulay, and in all of them, Ibn Taymiyyah stood up for God, spoke the truth, and feared none but God. He said: He offered food to the group, and they all ate except Ibn Taymiyyah. He was asked, "Won't you eat?" He replied, "How can I eat your food when it is all from what you have plundered from people's sheep and cooked with what you have cut down from people's trees?" He said: Then Qazan asked him to pray, and in his prayer, he said: "O God, if this servant of Yours, Mahmud, is fighting only so that Your word may be supreme and all religion may be for You, then grant him victory, support him, and make him ruler over the lands and the people. But if he has risen only for show, reputation, and worldly gain, so that his word may be supreme and Islam and its people may be humiliated, then forsake him, shake him, destroy him, and cut off his roots." He said: Qazan said "Amen" to his prayer and raised his hands. He said: We began gathering our clothes, fearing that they would be stained with his blood if he ordered him to be killed. He said: When we left him, the Chief Justice Najm al-Din ibn Sasra and others said to him: You almost caused our destruction and your own destruction. By God, we will not accompany you from here. He said: And by God, I will not accompany you. He said: So we set off as a group, and he stayed behind with his own group and a group of his companions. The Khawak and the princes of Ghazan’s companions heard about him and came to him to seek blessings from his supplication, while he was traveling to Damascus, and they looked at him. He said: By God, he did not reach Damascus except with about three hundred horsemen in his retinue, and I was among those who were with him. As for those who refused to accompany him, a group of Tatars came out against them and stripped them all naked. This is the story or something like it, and I heard this story from a group of others, and that has already been mentioned (3). Sheikh Muhammad ibn Qawam died on the night of Monday, the twenty-second of Safar, at the zawiya (4) known by their name, west of al-Salihiyya, al-Nasiriyya, and al-Adiliyya. The funeral prayer was performed there, and he was buried there. A large and numerous crowd attended his funeral and burial. Among them was Sheikh Taqi al-Din ibn Taymiyya, who loved him dearly. Sheikh Muhammad had no rank based on (1) his biography in al-Durar al-Kaminah (4/124), al-Daris (2/208-209), and al-Shadharat (6/49). (2) "Balis": a town between Aleppo and Raqqa, which was on the western bank of the Euphrates. The Euphrates continued to flow east of it until, in our time, the distance between them became four miles. Yaqut. (3) What is between the brackets is not in B. (4) Al-Qawamiyya al-Balisiya, al-Daris (2/208-209), Munadamat al-Atlal (p. 311).) |trans-title=[[al-Bidaya wa l-Nihaya]]}}</ref>
====Other operations==== In July 1300, the Crusaders formed a small fleet of sixteen galleys with some smaller vessels to raid the coast, and Ghazan's ambassador traveled with them.<ref name="demurger-147">Demurger, p. 147.</ref><ref name="schein-811">Schein, 1979, p. 811.</ref> The Crusader forces also attempted to establish a base at the small island of [[Ruad Island|Ruad]], from which raids were launched on [[Tartus]] while awaiting Ghazan's forces. However, the Mongol army was delayed, and the Crusader forces retreated to Cyprus, leaving a garrison on Ruad which was besieged and captured by Mamluks by 1303 (see [[Siege of Ruad]]).
[[File:GhazanAndKingOfArmenia1303.JPG|thumb|left|Ghazan ordering the King of Armenia [[Hethum II]] to accompany Kutlushah on the 1303 attack on [[Damascus]].<ref>In "Le Royaume Armenien de Cilicie", pp. 74–75.</ref>]] In February 1301, the Mongols advanced again with a force of 60,000, but could do little else than engage in some raids around Syria. Ghazan's general [[Kutlushah]] stationed 20,000 horsemen in the [[Jordan Valley (Middle East)|Jordan Valley]] to protect Damascus, where a Mongol governor was stationed.<ref name="richard-481">Jean Richard, p. 481.</ref> But again, they were soon forced to withdraw.
Plans for combined operations with the Crusaders were again made for the following winter offensive, and in late 1301, Ghazan asked Pope [[Boniface VIII]] to send troops, priests, and peasants, in order to make the Holy Land a Frank state again.<ref name="richard-481" /> But again, Ghazan did not appear with his own troops. He wrote again to the Pope in 1302, and his ambassadors also visited the court of [[Charles II of Anjou]], who on April 27, 1303, sent [[Gualterius de Lavendel]] as his own ambassador back to Ghazan's court.<ref>Schein, p. 813.</ref>
In 1303, Ghazan sent another letter to [[Edward I]] via [[Buscarello de Ghizolfi]], reiterating his great-grandfather Hulegu Khan's promise that the Mongols would give Jerusalem to the Franks in exchange for help against the Mamluks.<ref>''Encyclopædia Iranica'' article</ref> The Mongols, along with their Armenian vassals, had mustered a force of about 80,000 to repel the raiders of the [[Chagatai Khanate]], which was under the leadership of [[Qutlugh Khwaja]].<ref>Demurger, "Jacques de Molay", p. 158.</ref> After their success there, they advanced again towards Syria. However, Ghazan's forces were utterly defeated by the Mamluks just south of Damascus at the decisive [[Battle of Marj al-Saffar (1303)|Battle of Marj al-Saffar]] in April 1303.<ref name="demurger-158">Demurger, p. 158.</ref> It was to be the last major Mongol invasion of Syria.<ref>Nicolle, p. 80.</ref>
== End of reign == After military campaigns, Ghazan returned to his capital Ujan in July 1302 and made several appointments: Nirun Aqa and [[Öljaitü]] were reconfirmed in Arran and Khorasan as viceroys respectively, while [[Mulay]] was sent to [[Diyarbakir]] and [[Kutlushah|Qutluqshah]] was assigned to Georgia. He received a concubine from [[Andronikos II Palaiologos]] in 1302, who may be the Despina Khatun that later married to Öljaitü.<ref name=":1">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hamadani|1998|p=654}}</ref> On 17 September 1303, Ghazan betrothed his daughter Öljei Qutlugh to Bistam, son of his brother [[Öljaitü]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The court of the Il-khans, 1290-1340 : the Barakat Trust Conference on Islamic Art and History, St. John's College, Oxford, Saturday, 28 May 1994|date=1996|publisher=Oxford University Press |editor=Raby, Julian |editor2=Fitzherbert, Teresa |isbn=0-19-728022-6|location=Oxford|pages=201|oclc=37935458}}</ref>
According to Rashid al-Din, Ghazan became depressed after his wife Karamun's death on 21 January. He once told his amirs that "life was a prison... and is not a benefit".<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hamadani|1998|p=661}}</ref> Later in March/April, he nominated his brother Öljaitü as his successor, as he had no son his own. Eventually, he died on 11 May 1304 near [[Qazvin]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kolbas |first=Judith |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KTNTAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA355 |title=The Mongols in Iran: Chingiz Khan to Uljaytu 1220–1309 |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-136-80296-6 |pages=355 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> He was bathed in the water of Lar [[Damavand]] valley of [[Mazandaran]].
Ghazan himself appears to have dabbled in Sufism. According to the testimony of Shaykh Sadr al-Din Ibrahim Hammuiya, recorded in several Mamluk sources, Ghazan was given a woolen coat by him, indicating that perhaps the Ilkhan was initiated as a Sufi. This is not to say that Ghazan's relations with Sufis were trouble-free. In 703/1303, word came to him of a conspiracy of Sufi shaykhs and others to depose and replace him with his cousin, Ala Fireng, son of the Ilkhan Gaykhatu (r. 1291–95).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Amitai-Preiss|first=Reuven|date=1999|title=Sufis and Shamans: Some Remarks on the Islamization of the Mongols in the Ilkhanate|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3632297|journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient|volume=42|issue=1|pages=33–34|doi=10.1163/1568520991445605|jstor=3632297|issn=0022-4995|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
== Legacy ==
=== Religious policy === [[File:DiezAlbumsStudyingTheKoran.jpg|thumb|200px|Ghazan studying the [[Quran]].]] As part of his conversion to Islam, Ghazan changed his first name to the Islamic ''Mahmud'', and Islam gained popularity within Mongol territories. He showed tolerance for multiple religions, encouraged the original archaic Mongol culture to flourish, tolerated the shias, and respected the religions of his [[Georgian people|Georgian]] and [[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia|Armenian]] vassals. Ghazan therefore continued his forefather's approach toward [[religious tolerance]]. When Ghazan learned that some Buddhist monks feigned conversion to Islam due to their temples being earlier destroyed, he granted permission to all who wished to return to [[Tibet]] or [[Kashmir]] and other regions in [[India]] where they could freely follow their faith and be among other Buddhists.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O45CAAAAIAAJ&q=thomas+walker+arnold+preaching|title=The Preaching of Islam|work=google.com|last1=Arnold|first1=Sir Thomas Walker|year=1896}}</ref> The Mongol [[Yassa]] code remained in place and Mongol shamans remained politically influential throughout the reign of both Ghazan and his brother and successor [[Öljaitü]], but ancient Mongol traditions eventually went into decline after Öljaitü's demise.<ref>Amitai, see Section VI–Ghazan, Islam and Mongol Tradition– p. 9 and Section VII–Sufis and Shamans, p. 34.</ref> Other religious upheaval in the Ilkhanate during Ghazan's reign was instigated by Nawruz, Ghazan put a stop to these exactions by issuing an edict exempting the Christians from the ''[[jizya]]'' (tax on non-Muslims),<ref>Foltz, p. 129.</ref> and re-established the Christian Patriarch [[Mar Yaballaha III]] in 1296. Ghazan reportedly punished religious fanatics who destroyed churches and synagogues in Tabriz on 21 July 1298.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hamadani|1998|p=642}}</ref>
[[File:GhazanCoin.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Double silver [[dirham]] of Ghazan.<ref>For numismatic information: [http://mehmeteti.150m.com/ilkhanids/ghazanmahmud.htm Coins of Ghazan] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080201141332/http://mehmeteti.150m.com/ilkhanids/ghazanmahmud.htm |date=2008-02-01 }}, [http://mehmeteti.150m.com/ilkhanids/hpags-pa.htm Ilkhanid coin reading] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080201141337/http://mehmeteti.150m.com/ilkhanids/hpags-pa.htm |date=2008-02-01 }}.</ref><br />'''Obv:''' {{Langx|ar|لاإله إلا الله محمد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم/ ضرب تبريز/ في سنة سبع ...ر|translit=Lā ilāha illa llāha Muḥammadun rasūlu llāhi ṣalla llāhu ʽalayhi wa-sallam / ḍuriba Tabrīz / fī sanati sabʽin ...|lit=There is no God but Allah, Muhammad is His Prophet, Peace be upon him/ Minted in Tabriz in the year ...7}} : ""<br />'''Rev:''' Legend in [[Mongolian script]] (except for "Ghazan Mahmud" in Arabic): ''Tengri-yin Küchündür. Ghazan Mahmud. Ghasanu Deledkegülügsen'': "By the strength of the Heaven/ Ghazan Mahmud/ Coin struck for Ghazan".<br /> [[Tabriz]] mint. {{convert|4.0|gr|abbr=on}}. Silver.|alt=]]
=== Reforms === [[File:Mongol coin Shiraz Iran AH 700 AD 1301.jpg|thumb|Gold coin under Ghazan, [[Shiraz]], [[Iran]], AH 700, AD 1301.]] Ghazan was a man of high culture, with many hobbies including linguistics, agro-techniques, painting, and chemistry. According to the [[Byzantine]] historian [[Pachymeres]] (1242–1310): "No one surpassed him, in making saddles, bridles, spurs, greaves and helmets; he could hammer, stitch and polish, and in such occupations employed the hours of his leisure from war."<ref>"Maḥmūd Ghāzān." ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''. 2009</ref> Ghazan spoke numerous languages, including Chinese, Arabic, and "Frank" (probably Latin), as well as his own native language Mongolian.<ref>"Ghazan was a man of high culture. Besides his mother tongue Mongolian, he more or less spoke Arabic, Persian, Indian, Tibetan, Chinese, and "Frank", probably [[Latin]]." in ''Histoire de l'Empire Mongol'', [[Jean-Paul Roux]], p. 432.</ref>
In addition to his religious deep impact on Persia, Ghazan had unified [[Measurement|measure]]s, [[Currency|coinage]] and weights in the Ilkhanate. He ordered a new census in Persia to define the Dynasty's [[fiscal policy]]. He began to reuse wilderness, non-producing and abandoned lands to raise crops, strongly supporting the use and introduction of Eastern Asian crops in Persia, and improved the [[Yam (route)|Yam]] system. He constructed hostels, hospitals, schools, and posts. Envoys from the court received a per diem [[stipend]], and those of the nobility traveled at their own expense. Ghazan ordered only envoys bearing urgent military intelligence to use the staffed postal relay service. Mongol soldiers were given {{Transliteration|mn|[[iqta]]s}} by the Ilkhanid court, where they were allowed to gather revenue provided by a piece of land. Ghazan also banned lending at interest.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1080/02634937.2019.1652799|title = The role of the ortoq in the Mongol Empire in forming business partnerships|journal = Central Asian Survey|volume = 38|issue = 4|pages = 531–547|year = 2019|last1 = Enkhbold|first1 = Enerelt|s2cid = 203044817}}</ref>
Ghazan reformed the issuance of ''[[jarliq]]s'' (edicts), creating set forms and graded seals, ordering that all jarliqs be kept on file at court. Jarliqs older than 30 years were to be cancelled, along with old [[paiza]]s (Mongol seals of authority). He fashioned new paizas into two ranks, which contained the names of the bearers on them to prevent them from being transferred. Old paizas were also to be turned in at the end of the official's term.
In fiscal policy, Ghazan introduced a unified bi-metallic currency including Ghazani dananeer ( plural of dinar ), and reformed purchasing procedures, replacing the traditional Mongol policy on craftsmen in the Ilkhanate, such as organizing purchases of raw materials and payment to [[artisans]]. He also opted to purchase most weapons on the open market.
On coins, Ghazan omitted the name of the [[Great Khan]], instead inscribing his own name upon his coins in [[Iran]] and [[Anatolia]]. But he continued to diplomatic and economic relations with the Great Khan at Dadu.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> In [[Kingdom of Georgia|Georgia]], he minted coins with the traditional Mongolian formula "Struck by the Ilkhan Ghazan in the name of Khagan" because he wanted to secure his claim on the [[Caucasus]] with the help of the Great Khans of the [[Yuan dynasty]].<ref>''Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia'' by Thomas T. Allsen, p. 33.</ref> He also continued to use the Great Khan's Chinese seal which declared him to be a wang (prince) below the Great Khan.<ref>Mostaert and Cleaves ''Trois documents'', p. 483.</ref>
His reforms also extended to the military, as several new guard units, mostly Mongols, were created by Ghazan for his army center. However, he restricted new guards' political significance. Seeing Mongol commoners selling their children into slavery as damaging to both the manpower and the prestige of the Mongol army, Ghazan budgeted funds to redeem Mongol slave boys, and made his minister [[Bolad]] (the ambassador of the Great Khan Kublai) commander of a military unit of redeemed Mongol slaves.{{Clear}}
==Family== [[File:Ghazan with wife at his court.jpg|thumb|Ghazan and his wives at court|alt=]] Ghazan had nine wives, 6 of them being principal wives and one being concubine:
*Yedi Kurtka Khatun – daughter of Möngke Temür Güregen (from [[Taichiud|Suldus]] tribe) and Tuglughshah Khatun (daughter of [[Qara Hülegü]]) *Bulughan Khatun Khurasani – daughter of Amir Tasu (from [[Eljigin]] clan of [[Khongirad]]) and Menglitegin, daughter of [[Arghun Aqa]] *#A stillborn son (born 1291 in [[Damavand, Iran|Damavand]]) *[[Kököchin]] Khatun (b. 1269, m. 1293 at [[Abhar]], d. 1296) – relative of [[Buluqhan Khatun]] *Bulughan Khatun Muazzama (m. 17 October 1295 at [[Tabriz]], d. 5 January 1310) – daughter of Otman Noyan (from [[Khongirad]] tribe), widow of [[Gaykhatu]] and [[Arghun]] *#[[Uljay Qutlugh Khatun]] – married firstly to Bistam, son of [[Öljaitü]], married secondly to his brother [[Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan|Abu Sa'id]] *#Alju (b. 22 February 1298 in [[Arran (Caucasus)|Arran]] – 20 August 1300 in [[Tabriz]]) *Eshil Khatun (betrothed in 1293, married on 2 July 1296 at [[Tabriz]], d. 5 August 1309, bur. [[Shanb Ghazan]]) – daughter of Tugh Timur Amir-Tüman (son of Noqai Yarghuchi of [[Bayads|Bayauts]]) *Dondi Khatun (d. 9 February 1298) – daughter of Aq Buqa (from [[Jalairs|Jalayir]] tribe), widow of Gaykhatu *Karamün Khatun (m. 17 July 1299, d. 21 January 1304) – daughter of Qutlugh Temür (cousin of Bulughan Khatun Muazzama, from [[Khongirad]] tribe) *Günjishkab Khatun – daughter of Shadai Güregen (great-grandson of Chilaun) and Orghudaq Khatun (daughter of [[Jumghur]]) *Eirene Palaiologina, daughter of [[Andronikos II Palaiologos|Andronikos II]]<ref name=":1" /> (married in 1302) ==In popular culture== * In 1985 Egyptian drama series [[:ar:ابن تيمية (مسلسل)|Ibn Taymiya]] by [[Qatar TV]], Ghazan was portrayed by Egyptian actor [[:ar:أحمد ماهر (ممثل)|Ahmed Maher]], where Ghazan is portrayed in the historical sequence of encounter debate with [[Ibn Taimiya]]. * In the animated series [[The Legend of Korra]], there is a fictional character named Ghazan which loosely assimilates with Ghazan Khan. * In the series [[Kuruluş: Osman]]'s season 4, Ghazan's name has been mentioned many times, his orders or letters have been mentioned, and envoys have been sent on his behalf: his adopted daughter [[List of Kuruluş: Osman characters|Esrigun Hatun]], a fictional character and various generals or envoys (such as [[Naimans]] (Komutan or [[List of Kuruluş: Osman characters|commander Nayman]] or other Mongol commanders) have been seen to work for Ghazan. It shows that Ghazan Khan has converted to Islam and is helping Osman Ghazi suppress internal enemies or rebels of the Mongols. At first, commander Nayman was sent by Ghazan to kill Osman, later Ghazan converts to Islam, but Nayman hates it and Ghazan again sent his daughter Esrigun to help Osman.
== References == === Notes === {{Notelist}} === Citations === {{Reflist}}
== Sources == {{commons category|Ghazan}} *Adh-Dhababi, ''Record of the Destruction of Damascus by the Mongols in 1299–1301'' Translated by Joseph Somogyi. From: Ignace Goldziher Memorial Volume, Part 1, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100124054605/http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/articles/somogyi1.htm Online] (English translation). *{{cite journal|author=Amitai, Reuven |author-link=Reuven Amitai |title=Mongol Raids into Palestine (AD 1260 and 1300)|journal=[[Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society]]|year=1987|pages=236–255}} *{{cite book|author=Barber, Malcolm|author-link=Malcolm Barber|title=The Trial of the Templars|edition=2nd|year=2001|publisher=University Press, Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-67236-8}} *Encyclopædia Iranica, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927032850/http://www.encyclopediairanica.com/articles/v10f2/v10f216a.html Article on Franco-Persian relations] *{{Citation|last=Fisher|first=William Bayne|title=The Cambridge History of Iran|volume=5|date=1998}} *[[Richard Foltz|Foltz, Richard]], ''Religions of the Silk Road'', Palgrave Macmillan, 2nd edition, 2010 {{ISBN|978-0-230-62125-1}} *{{cite book|author=Demurger, Alain|title=Jacques de Molay|language=fr|publisher=Editions Payot&Rivages|year=2007|isbn=978-2-228-90235-9}} * {{cite book|author=Jackson, Peter|title=The Mongols and the West: 1221–1410|year=2005|publisher=Longman|isbn=978-0-582-36896-5}} *{{Citation|last=Hamadani|first=Rashidaddin|title=Compendium of Chronicles|date=1998|publisher=Harvard University, Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations|oclc=41120851|author-link=Rashid-al-Din Hamadani|translator-last=Thackston|translator-first=W.M}} *{{Citation|last=Hope|first=Michael|title=Power, politics, and tradition in the Mongol Empire and the Ilkhanate of Iran|date=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-108107-1|oclc=959277759}} *{{cite book|author=Michaud, Yahia (Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies)|language=fr|title=Ibn Taymiyya, Textes Spirituels I-XVI|url=http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/it/works/ITA%20Texspi.pdf|publisher="Le Musulman", Oxford-Le Chebec|year=2002}} * {{cite book|author=Nicolle, David|title=The Crusades|series=Essential Histories|publisher=Osprey Publishing|year=2001|isbn=978-1-84176-179-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/crusades00nico}} * {{cite book|author=Richard, Jean|title=Histoire des Croisades|url=https://archive.org/details/histoiredescroi00huilgoog|year=1996|publisher=Fayard|isbn=2-213-59787-1}} *{{cite book|title=A history of the Crusades 3|author=Runciman, Steven|author-link=Steven Runciman|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0-14-013705-7|year=1987 |orig-date=first published in 1952–1954}} *{{cite journal|title=Gesta Dei per Mongolos 1300. The Genesis of a Non-Event|author=Schein, Sylvia|journal=The English Historical Review|volume=94|issue=373| pages=805–819|date=October 1979|doi=10.1093/ehr/XCIV.CCCLXXIII.805|jstor=565554}} * {{cite book|author=Roux, Jean-Paul| author-link=Jean-Paul Roux|title=Histoire de l'Empire Mongol |language=fr| year=1993| publisher=Fayard| isbn=2-213-03164-9}} {{s-start}} {{s-reg}} {{succession box | before = [[Baydu]] | title = [[Ilkhan]] | years = 1295–1304 | after = [[Öljaitü]] }} {{s-end}}
{{Mongol Empire}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1271 births]] [[Category:1304 deaths]] [[Category:Il-Khan emperors]] [[Category:Mongol Empire Muslims]] [[Category:13th-century monarchs in Asia]] [[Category:14th-century monarchs in Asia]] [[Category:14th-century crusades]] [[Category:Converts to Islam from Christianity]]