Posted
on November 5, 2016
It
always surprises me when we know the exact birthday of someone who
lived a really, really long time ago. Naturally, when we do, it's the
birthdate of someone really important. A king, probably, or an
emperor or some other sort of ruler.
From
1295 to 1304, Ghazan was the ruler of the Ilkhanate. If you don't
know what “the Ilkhanate” refers to, you are not alone! Most of
us do not know that Genghis Khan's grandson created a state – a
part of the Mongol Empire – that was made up of most of what we
know call Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkmenistan,
Turkey, and parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It was called the
Ilkhanate.
 |
| The Mongol Empire shortly before the breakup, above. After the partitioning of the empire, below. |
This
region was ruled by direct descendants of Genghis Khan, and it
remained a Mongol khanate even after the the Mongol Empire was split
up into four chunks.
One
of those descendants-of-Genghis-Khan was Mahmud Ghazan. Born in 1271,
Ghazan spoke several languages, including Chinese, Arabic, Latin, and
his own native language of Mongolian. He had many hobbies, including
saddle making, metal smithing, and other craftswork. Also, Ghazan did
a bit more in the vein of diplomacy than (it seems to me) other
leaders of his time cared to do. I mean, don't get me wrong, he had
his cousin killed so that he could take over as ruler of the
Ilkhanate and he waged war often, and well...But he also put a stop
to some of the religious persecution other rulers did, he tried
maintained alliances with other Mongol khanates, and he tried to
establish diplomatic relations with European powers. He introduced
standardized coins and measures, he constructed hostels and hospitals
and schools, and he is known for other reforms, as well.
Ghazan
is not that famous for those good traits, however. Instead, he is
most famous for converting from Buddhism to Islam. He did so in order
to gain and keep political power, but that did change things so that
Islam became the dominant religion of Mongols in the region.
By
the way, Ghazan's principal wife was a Mongol princess sent by Kublai
Khan, escorted from the Mongol capital to the Ilkhanate by Marco
Polo.
Although
I have never heard of Ghazan (or his wife, Kokochin) before, I have
definitely heard of several people in the tale of his life: Genghis
khan, Kublai Khan, and Marco Polo!
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