Everything about Mahmud Ghazan totally explained
Mahmud Ghazan or Qazaan the
Khan of the
Tartars (original Mongol name:
Ghazan Khan, Ch:合贊, b.
November 5,
1271 – d.
May 11,
1304), was the seventh ruler of the
Mongol empire's Ilkhanate division in
Iran from
1295 to
1304. Western chroniclers sometimes referred to him as
Casanus or
Cassanus.
Biography
Ghazan was the son of
Arghun Khan and
Buluqhan Khatun. He was also the brother of the earlier Ilkhan ruler
Gaykhatu, and a cousin of his predecessor
Baidu, whom Ghazan toppled.
Ghazan had been baptized and raised a Christian, as well as his brother
Oljeitu. During his youth, he also followed
Buddhism, which was one of the dominant religions in the Mongol empire at that time.
His principal wife during his lifetime was
Kökechin, who had been brought from China by
Marco Polo. In 1291
Kubilai khan had entrusted Marco with his last duty, to escort the Mongol princess Koekecin (
Cocacin in
Il Milione) to her betrothed, the Ilkhan
Arghun. The party traveled by sea, departing from the southern port city of
Quanzhou and sailing to
Sumatra, and then to
Persia, via
Sri Lanka and
India (where his visits included
Mylapore,
Madurai and
Alleppey, which he nicknamed Venice of the East). In 1293 or 1294 the Polos reached the Ilkhanate, ruled by
Gaykhatu after the death of Arghun, and left Koekecin with the new Ilkhan. She married Ghazan when he acceded to the throne.
Ghazan was a man of high culture who spoke numerous languages, including Chinese, Arabic and "Frank" (probably Latin). Numerous Europeans are known to have worked for Ghazan, often in high positions, such as
Isol the Pisan or
Buscarello de Ghizolfi. Hundreds such Western adventurers entered into the service of Mongol rulers.
Conversion to Islam
Prior to his time, under the harsh reign of the succeeding emperors after
Hulegu, the Muslim majority were oppressed under Ilkhanid rulers, who encouraged the flourishing of
Tibetan Buddhism and
Nestorianism.
Ghazan managed to annex power from
Baydu in 1295 with the help of the prominent Muslim Mongol amir
Nawrūz. Ghazan was convinced to convert to
Sunni Islam by Nawrūz, as a condition for the latter's military support in toppling Baidu. Along with his conversion, Ghazan changed his first name to the Arab name
Mahmud. Islam started to rise again in Mongol lands.
However, various sources stated that even with Ghazan's conversion to Islam, he still practiced Mongol Shamanism at large and worshipped
Tengri. The
Yassa code remained in place and Mongol Shamans were allowed to remain in the Ilkhanate empire and remained politically influential throughout his reign as well as Oljeitu's, but ancient Mongol traditions eventually went into decline with the demise of Oljeitu.
Temporary persecution of other faiths
According to the history of
Mar Yaballaha, Nawruz issued an edict according to which:
Buddhist temples (
Pagodas had been built in
Tabriz and
Sultaniye, and numerous monks had immigrated from
Sin-Kiang,
Tibet or
China) and chased Buddhists out of Ilkhan dominion or converted them to Islam, a move from which Iranian
Buddhism never recovered.
The Christians were also severely affected. The cathedral of
Maragha, the Mongol capital, was looted. Churches in Tabriz and
Hamadan were also destroyed.
Ghazan soon however put a stop to these exactions by issuing an edict exempting the Christians from the
jizya and stated that "none of them shall abandon his faith, that the Catholicus shall live in the state to which he hath been accustomed". Mar Yaballaha was reestablished in his functions in 1296, signaling a return to previous policies.
Ghazan eliminated the partisans of Nawrūz for treason in May 1297. He then marched against Nawrūz, then commander of the army of
Khorassan, in 1297, and vanquished him near
Nishapur. Nawrūz took refuge at the court of the
malik of
Herat, in northern
Afghanistan, but the latter actually betrayed him and delivered him to Ghazan, who had him executed immediately on August 13th.
Ghazan thereafter attempted to control the situation. The following year he nominated
Rashid al-Din, a Jew converted to Islam, as prime minister, a post he'd hold continuously between 1298 to 1318. Despite his conversion, due to his cultural roots, Ghazan also encouraged the original archaic
Mongol culture to flourish. He tolerated the
Shiites as well.
Ibn Taymiyyah
Ghazan's interaction with
Sheikh ul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah is especially noteworthy. Ibn Taymiyyah went with a delegation of
ulamaa, to talk to Mahmud Ghazan in order to stop his attacks on the
Muslims. Not one of them dared to say anything to him except
Ibn Taymiyyah who said: "You claim that you're Muslim and you've with you
Muezzins,
Muftis,
Imams and
Shaykh but you invaded us and reached our country (modern day
Syria) for what? While your father and you grandfather,
Hulagu were non-believers, they didn't attack and they kept their promise. But you promised and broke your promise."
Military operations
Even though Ghazan was a Muslim, he attempted to conquer Muslim lands of Syria. He was also one of a long line of Mongol leaders who engaged in diplomatic communications with the Europeans to form a
Franco-Mongol alliance, or at least attempt to form such an alliance, against their common enemy the Saracens. He already had the use of forces from Christian vassal countries such as
Cilician Armenia and
Georgia. The plan was to coordinate actions between Ghazan's forces, the
Christian military orders, and the
aristocracy of Cyprus, to defeat the Muslims, after which Jerusalem would be returned to the Christians.
Campaign of winter 1299-1300
In the summer of 1299,
King Hetoum II of Armenia sent a message to Ghazan to obtain his support. Ghazan marched with his forces towards Syria and sent letters to the Franks of Cyprus (the King of Cyprus, and the heads of the
Knights Templar, the
Hospitallers and the
Teutonic Knights), inviting them to come join him in his attack on the
Mamluks in Syria. Ghazan's first letter was sent on October 21, which arrived 15 days later. He sent a second letter in November.
There is no record of any reply, but Ghazan moved ahead and successfully took the city of
Aleppo. There, Ghazan was joined by King Hetoum, whose forces included some Templars and Hospitallers from the kingdom of Armenia, who participated in the rest of the offensive. The Mongols and their allies defeated the Mamluks in the
Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar, on December 23 or 24, 1299. pushing them back to Egypt. The bulk of Ghazan's forces then proceeded on to Damascus, which surrendered somewhere between December 30, 1299, and January 6, 1300, though its Citadel resisted. Ghazan then retreated most of his forces in February, probably because their horses needed fodder. He promised to return in the winter of 1300-1301 to attack Egypt.
In the meantime the remaining forces of the Mongols, about 10,000 horsemen under the Mongol general
Mulay, ruled over Syria, and engaged in raids as far south as Jerusalem and Gaza. But that small force had to retreat when the Mamluks returned in May 1300.
In July 1300, the Crusaders formed a small fleet of sixteen galleys with some smaller vessels, to raid the coast.
Campaign of winter 1300-1301
The ships then returned to Cyprus, and prepared for an attack on Tortosa in late 1300.
James II of Aragon also sent a congratulation letter to Ghazan for his victories. A joint force was sent to the island of Ruad as a staging area, from which raids were launched on Tortosa, while awaiting the arrival of the Mongols. However, Ghazan's forces were delayed, and the Crusader forces ended up returning to Cyprus, leaving a garrison on Ruad.
In February 1301, the Mongols did arrive with a force of 60,000, but could do little else than engage in some raids around Syria.
Kutlushah (Qutlugh-Shah for the Mongols, Cotelesse in Frank sources) stationed 20,000 horsemen in the
Jordan valley to protect Damas, where a Mongol governor was stationed. Soon however, they'd to withdraw. The
Templar of Tyre wrote:
Campaign of winter 1301-1302
Plans for combined operations were again made for the following winter offensive. A letter has been kept from Jacques de Molay to Edward I, and dated April 8, 1301, informing him of the troubles encountered by Ghazan, but announcing that Ghazan was supposed to come in Autumn:
Ghazan's ambassadors stayed at the court of
Charles II of Anjou. When they returned to Persia after April 27, 1303, they were accompanied by
Gualterius de Lavendel, as ambassador of Charles II to Ghazan.
Campaign of winter 1302-1303
Siege of Ruad (September 1302)
A small garrison of Templars, consisting in 120 knights, 500 bowmen and 400 Syrian helpers, under the Templar
Maréchal (Commander-in-Chief)
Barthélemy de Quincy were attacked by Mamluk forces in the
Siege of Ruad. The Templars finally had to surrender on September 26, 1302, following a promise of safe conduct. The promise wasn't honoured, and all the bowmen and Syrian helpers were killed, and the Templar knights sent to Cairo prisons.
1303 offensive
In 1303, the Mongols appeared in great strength (about 80,000) together with the Armenians. Ruad having been lost, Crusaders forces from Cyprus were deprived of the possibility to make contact with Mongol troops in 1303, and only conducted naval attacks on the Syrian coast, raiding
Damour, south of
Beyrout.
However Mongol forces with their Armenian allies were defeated at Homs on March 30, 1303, and at the decisive
Battle of Shaqhab, south of Damas, on April 21, 1303. It is considered to be the last major Mongol invasion of Syria. Also in 1303, Ghazan had again sent a letter to Edward I, in the person of
Buscarello de Ghizolfi, reinterating Hulagu's promise that they'd give Jerusalem to the Franks in exchange for help against the Mamluks.
However, Ghazan died on May 10, 1304, and Crusader dreams of a rapid reconquest of the Holy Land were destroyed.
Ghazan was succeeded by his brother
Oljeitu, who continued the adoption of Islam, and later by his nephew
Abu Sa'id and niece
Sati Beg.
Western influence
According to historian
Peter Jackson, the 13th century saw such a vogue of Mongol things in the West that many new-born children in Italy were named after Mongol rulers, including Ghazan: names such as
Can Grande ("Great Khan"),
Alaone (
Hulagu),
Argone (
Arghun) or
Cassano (Ghazan) are recorded with a high frequency.
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