Hulagu Khan established the Ilkhanate after his campaigns westward under Möngke Khan's orders, most infamously sacking Baghdad in 1258 and ending the Abbasid Caliphate — an institution that had endured five centuries. The early Ilkhanate coinage under Hulagu presents particular attribution difficulties because the western Persian mints were still adjusting to Mongol administrative control, and several issues show transitional formulae mixing pre-existing Islamic mint conventions with Mongol overlord titulature.
Hulagu died in 1265 without converting to Islam, and his coins reflect that ambiguity — issued by a ruler who kept Christian wives, patronized Buddhist monasteries, and governed a predominantly Muslim population.
Hulagu Khan established the Ilkhanate after his campaigns westward under Möngke Khan's orders, most infamously sacking Baghdad in 1258 and ending the Abbasid Caliphate — an institution that had endured five centuries. The early Ilkhanate coinage under Hulagu presents particular attribution difficulties because the western Persian mints were still adjusting to Mongol administrative control, and several issues show transitional formulae mixing pre-existing Islamic mint conventions with Mongol overlord titulature.
Hulagu died in 1265 without converting to Islam, and his coins reflect that ambiguity — issued by a ruler who kept Christian wives, patronized Buddhist monasteries, and governed a predominantly Muslim population.