The Issues and Basis on Legitimizing the Rule of Ilkhans Based on Numismatic Evidence with Emphasis on the Verse 26 of Surah Al-Imran

Legitimacy has always been one of the most important goals of governments. The upcoming research endeavors to clarify the issue of legitimacy in the era of the Mughal patriarchs (Ilkhans) during the two periods of their political life. In this research, numismatic evidences have been used to conduct a comparative study of the basis and the issue of legitimacy in two stages of "Muslim" and "non-Muslim" Ilkhans. The data on the coins is considered a suitable tool for measuring historical information. The article is responding to the question of how to explain the process of legitimization of "non-Muslim" and "Muslim" rulers of the Ilkhanid era based on numismatic evidence. It uses the method of “historical explanation” and the precise references to the coins. This study proposes the claim that the use of Qur’anic verses and narrations in the non-Muslim age of Ilkhans on coins was widespread, and this is a sign of the Mongol rulers' attention to the religion of the subjugated people, and seeking legitimacy through that. The findings of the research show that the most prominent and important Islamic pattern common in the coins of the "non-Muslim" age of Ilkhans, especially the time of Halaku khan, is verse 26 of Surah Al-Imran, where the verse "Opponents of Governments" can also be mentioned. After the Ilkhans became "Muslims", this particular verse has been used more cautiously and exclusively in Iraq for some reasons. This has shown the necessity of the legitimacy of the Muslim patriarchs (Ilkhans) in this important region of the caliphate based on this verse. In general, the use of this verse in the Muslim period is very limited compared to the "non-Muslim" period.