Last Days of Ghazan-Khan and the Crisis in the Ilkhanid Rule

The rule of Ghazan-Khan is one of the crucial reigns during the whole of the Ilkhanid era. His official conversion to Islam which was followed by many Mongols in Iran along with administrative, economic, cultural and social reforms are the main lines of his attempts which have been considered by contemporary historians and also the Ilkhanid researchers. These developments left him as a celebrated and highly capable king who created a relatively peaceful and flourishing period. In spite of this, it seems that in the last year of his rule the situation was different in many aspects. This matter with its details has been neglected in sources and so has remained ambiguous. During this year, Ghazan who was sick seriously lost most of his previous authority; therefore, the Ilkhanid government faced some important challenges and crises. This article is going to illustrate and analyze events in this last stage of Ghazan-Khan's reign and life. To do so, historical records from different sources, including the Ilkhanid and the Mamluk ones, are considered critically and comparatively. Consequently, this study presents a new view over the Ghazan Khan's rule especially in its last year. It also considers Ghazan Khan's death from a different angle.