The Jalayirid Sultanate (Persian: جلایریان, romanized: Jalāyiriyān), also Ilka dynasty or Ilkanids, was a Mongol dynasty which ruled over modern-day Iraq and western Iran after the breakup of the Ilkhanate in the 1330s. It expanded for about fifty years, until disrupted by Timur's conquests and the revolts of the Qara Qoyunlu Turkoman. After Timur's death in 1405, there was a brief attempt to re-establish the sultanate in southern Iraq and Khuzistan. The Jalayirids were finally eliminated by the Qara Qoyunlu in 1432.
The Jalayirids originated from the Jalayir tribe, which was a prominent Mongolian tribe hailing from the area of the River Onon in eastern Mongolia, but in the 14th century in West Asia they became "largely Turkicized or at least Turkish-speaking". They are credited with bolstering Turkic influence in Arabic-speaking Iraq so much so that Turkic became the second-most-spoken language after Arabic. Still, the Jalayirid bureaucracy used Mongolian, Arabic and Persian in its documents. The Jalayirids were great contributors to Persianate culture: their role as artistic patrons marks an important period in the evolution of Persian art, where it developed major aspects that would serve as the basis of later Persian paintings.
History
The dynasty was also called the "Ilka dynasty" or "Ilkanids" after Hasan Buzurg's great-grandfather Ilka Noyan.
The history of the Sultanate of Jalayirid can be divided into four phases:
- The first phase was during the early years when the dynasty was practically autonomous but theoretically accepted the authorization of the Ilkhanate state.
- The second phase, corresponding to the rule of Shaykh Uways Jalayir (1356–1374), is the peak of the Jalayirids.
- The third phase was a weakening period that began after the death of Uways.
- The fourth phase was when the country became exposed to external attacks by Timur and the Qara Qoyunlu and where the dynasty came to an end.
Early years
During the disintegration years of the Ilkhanate after the death of Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan in 1335, the family of emir Ilge (Īlgā) Noyan, known as Köke (Kukā, 'Blue') Ilge, descendants of the Jalayirid tribe, first emerged as the inheritors of the traditional governors of the southwestern lands of the Ilkhanate. The Jalairs hailed from pasturelands along the River Onon in Mongolia and produced several military commanders during the Mongol era. According to the Jami' al-tawarikh written by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, Ilge, who accompanied Hulegu on his great expedition to West Asia in the 1250s, was among the generals who besieged the Assassins' strongholds in Qohestan in 1256. Besides, Ilge joined the expedition to Baghdad and was tasked with overseeing the rebuilding of the city after its siege in 1258. Ilge Noyan served Hülegü until the khan's death in 1265. When the Abaka khan came to the throne in 1265 and was identified as a senior emir, Ilge was in charge of the ordos ("royal headquarters"). Ilge was one of the main military leaders in conflicts with the Mamluks and Jochids, neighbors and opponents of the Ilkhanate, in Baghdad, Syria, Diyarbakir and the Caucasus.
Ilka Noyan's sons Aq Buqa (Āqbuqā), Tughu were also in the service of Abaga khan. Aq Buqa, who was promoted to mir-e mirān (commander-in-chief) by Gaykhatu, was later assassinated by Baydu's supporters in 1295. He became the patron (murabbī) of Sadr al-Din Zanjani, Kaykhatu's grand vizier. Aq Buqa was married to Ghazan Khan's sister Ūljatāy Sulṭān, but after his death, his son Husain married his father's wife and took the title of gūrgān (greregen) or royal son-in-law.
Husain first served Oljaitu and then Abu Sa'id, and took part in the march on Gilan in 1317. He was later appointed ruler of Arran in 1313 and died in Khorasan in 1322.
Hasan Buzurg (1335–1356)
After the death of Husain, his son Shaykh Hasan ("Hasan Buzurg", "Hasan The Great") became the head of the family. He was both the cousin of Abu Sa'id and the nephew of Amir Choban.
After defeating his rivals, Hasan Buzurg strengthened his ties with Muhammad Khan ("Pir Hussein"), who ruled Anatolia at the time. This reflected Hasan Buzurg's attempts to reestablish Chinggisid legitimacy, as Muḥammad Khan was a descendant of Hülegü through his son, Möngke Temür. Hasan Buzurg then proceeded to Tabriz where he put Muhammad on the throne and married the granddaughter of Chupan and the wife of Abu Sa'id, Dilshad Khatun. Shaykh Ḥasan was the ‘biklārī bik [beglerbeg], or amīr al-umarā’’.
For a short time in 1337–1338, Hasan Buzurg's authority was recognized in all parts of the Ilkhanate Empire except Khorasan, but after being expelled by Ḥasan-e Kucak and his brother Malek Ašraf in 1338–1339, he was forced to evacuate Azerbaijan and his power only held in Iraq. Shaikh Hasan became the lord of the powerful Mongol tribe of the Oirats in the 1340s, in their territories in Diyarbakr and northern Iraq.
Hasan Buzurg died in July 1356 and was buried in Najaf. He was succeeded by his son, Shaikh Uways Jalayir.
The Great Jalayirid Shāhnāmeh
The first Jalayirid ruler, Shaykh Hasan-i Buzurg (r. 1340–1356) ruled initially from Baghdad, but then obtained the control of Tabriz right after the death of Abu Sa'id, where he was able to set up a puppet Ilkhanid khan in the person of Muhammad Khan. After losing out to the Chobanids, Shaykh Hasan-i Buzurg returned to Baghdad, probably with some of the most important manuscripts of the Ilkhanid atelier. Post-Ilkhanid manuscripts are notably difficult to date, but one of their technical characteristic is the use of the margin with accompanying text, unknown in any pre-Jalayirid manuscript. One of these works is the Great Jalayirid Shahnameh (Istanbul, TSMK, H. 2153), parts of which were likely created in the 1340s-1350s during the rule of Hasan Buzurg (especially one scene of combat on horse, and one scene showing the capture of prisoners), while other parts date to Shaykh Uvays (1356–74).
Shaykh Uways period (1356–1374)
According to historian Patrick Wing, while the Jalayirid sultans sought to preserve the social and political order of the Ilkhanate, they claimed to be the legitimate heirs of the rule of this order. At the center of Jalayirid claims to Ilkhanid heritage was their attempt to control Azerbaijan, the main center of the Ilkhanate. This province represented the symbolic heritage and material wealth of the Ilkhanate and became the focus of the Jalayirid political program.
The Jaliyirids were inheritors of the political and constitutional framework established by Chinggis Khan and his descendants, and Shaykh Uways considered himself as "resurector of the traditions of the Changizkhanid state, unfurler of the banners of the Sacred Law of the Prophet, kindler of the flame of the Muhammadan faith, distinguished by the support of God, Lord of the worlds".
Shortly after Shaykh Uways Jalayir succeeded his father, the Chobanids (old rivals of the Jalayrids) were overrun by the forces of the Golden Horde under Jani Beg in 1356-57. Jani Beg occupied the Georgian capital of Tiflis in 1356, and issued his own coinage there, followed by the coinage of his son Berdi Beg Juchid. Then the Chobanid ruler Malek Asraf was executed and Azerbaijan was conquered by the Jalayrids.
Following Jani Beg's withdrawal from Azerbaijan, as well as his son Berdi Beg’s similar abandonment of the region in 1358, the area became a prime target for its neighbors. Shaykh Uways Jalayir, who at first had recognized the sovereignty of the Blue Horde, decided to take the former Chobanid lands for himself, even as a former amir of Malek Asraf’s named Akhichuq attempted to keep the region in Mongol hands. The Jalayirids occupied the Georgian capital Tiflis in 1357-1358, where they also minted their own coinage in the name of Shaykh Uways Jalayir.
The northern campaign ended prematurely, and in 1359 the Muzaffarid ruler Shah Shoja managed to occupy Azerbaijan and Arran for four months, briefly capturing Tabriz, the capital city of the Jalayirids. Shah Shoja was forced to turn back when internal conditions in Fars deteriorated: his second brother's son, Shah Yahya, had risen in revolt in Isfahan. Shah Shoja had to make peace with the Jalayirids, and offered to marry his son Zain al-Abidin to a sister of Shaikh Hussain Jalayir. The Jalayirids refused the offer and invaded the territory held by the Muzaffarids, although Shah Shoja managed to prevent them from getting any further than Soltaniyeh. Shaykh Uways Jalayir reconquered Azerbaijan with its capital of Tabriz in 1360. In addition to Baghdad, he could now boast Tabriz as a large city under his control.
In Tabriz, Shaykh Uvays built a palace complex known as the dawlat-khāna ("House of Fortune"), the main building of the Jalayirid period. It was the royal residence and the center of administration. Clavijo described the dawlat-khāna as a great palace with twenty thousand rooms.
Amongst these edifices there was a great house, which was surrounded by a wall, very beautiful and rich, in which there are twenty thousand chambers and apartments; and they say that this house was built by a ruler of Persia, named Sultan Veis; with the treasure that was paid him, as tribute, by the Sultan of Babylon. He called this house Tolbatgana which means "the house of fortune". This house is well built.
In Baghdad, the Jalayirid governor Marjan b. Abdallah built the Khan Mirjan complex (kulliya) between 1357 and 1359. It had many decoration and inscribed panels made by local artists, especially works by the calligrapher and illuminator Ahmad Shah, known as the "Golden Pen" (zarrin qalam) of Tabriz.
In 1364, Shaykh Uways Jalayir campaigned against the Shirvan Shah Kai-Ka’us, but a revolt begun by the governor of Baghdad, Khwaja Mirjan, forced him to return to reassert his authority. That same year, he occupied Shiraz, capital of the Muzaffarid Shah Shoja, in support of his rival brother Shah Mahmud, and struck coins in his own name in the southern city. In 1366, Shaykh Uways Jalayir marched against the Qara Qoyunlu, defeating their leader, Bairam Khwaja, at the battle of Mush. Later, he defeated the Shirvanshah, who had attacked Tabriz twice in the meantime. According to Zayn al- Dīn Qazvīnī and Ḥāfiẓ Abrū, Kā’ūs readily overpowered all of Shirvan and Darband for Shaykh Uways Jalayir, and remained a faithful servant as long as he lived. After the death of Kā’ūs, Shaykh Uways Jalayir confirmed his son, Hūshang, as the successor of Shirvanshahs.
Due to his campaigns, Shaykh Uways Jalayir spent much time in Iran, and he died in Tabriz in 1374. During his lifetime, the Jalayirid state reached its peak in power. In addition to his military adventures, which were considerable, he was known for his attempts to revive commercial enterprise, which had suffered heavily in the past years, in the region, as well as his patronage to the arts. His chronicler, Abu Bakr al-Qutbi al Ahri, wrote of Shaykh Uways Jalayir’ deeds in the Tarikh-i Shaikh Uvais. Shaykh Uways Jalayir was succeeded by his son Shaikh Hasan Jalayir. He appointed his son Hassan as his successor in Baghdad. After his death the power of the dynasty began to weaken sharply.
Art of the book
The Jalayirids led some of the most important changes in Persian art, at the junction between the creations of the Il-Khanate in the 13–14th century, and those of the Safavids in the 16th century. They contributed to the formation of Persian miniatures, especially through the introduction of Chinese-inspired natural landscapes. According to Ernst J. Grube, Jalayirid painting was the source of "modern" Persian-Islamic painting. The characteristics of the Jalayirid school of miniatures were lyrical scenes with elegant small figures in lavish interiors or lush natural surroundings, painted in pastel colors. The subject matters were generally poetic, rather than epic.
Shaykh Uvays (r. 1356–74), the son of Shaykh Hasan-i Buzurg, campaigned successfully against the Qara Qoyunlu, the Shirvan-Shah, the Golden Horde and the Muzaffarids, expanding from Baghdad to Azerbaijan and establishing his capital in Tabriz until the end of his reign. But he was also a great sponsor of the arts, and was described as a refined and artistic ruler, himself capable in various arts. The majority of the paintings of the Great Jalayirid Shāhnāma are attributed to his reign. He is also credited with a remarkable Kalila and Dimna, dated to 1370-74 (Istanbul University Library F.1422).