20 Facts About Hulagu Khan

Hulagu's brother Mongke Khan had been installed as Great Khan in 1251.

Mongke charged Hulagu Khan with leading a massive Mongol army to conquer or destroy the remaining Muslim states in southwestern Asia.

Hulagu Khan's campaign sought the subjugation of the Lurs of southern Iran, the destruction of the Nizari Ismaili state, the submission or destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad, the submission or destruction of the Ayyubid states in Syria based in Damascus, and finally, the submission or destruction of the Bahri Mamluke Sultanate of Egypt.

Mongke ordered Hulagu Khan to treat kindly those who submitted and utterly destroy those who did not.

Hulagu Khan vigorously carried out the latter part of these instructions.

Hulagu Khan easily destroyed the Lurs, and the Assassins surrendered their impregnable fortress of Alamut without a fight, accepting a deal that spared the lives of their people in early 1256.

Il Milione, a book on the travels of Venetian merchant Marco Polo, states that Hulagu Khan starved the caliph to death, but there is no corroborating evidence for that.

Hulagu Khan intended to send forces southward through Palestine toward Cairo.

Hulagu Khan then allied himself with a fellow Mamluk leader, Baybars in Syria, who not only needed to protect his own future from the Mongols but was eager to avenge for Islam the Mongol capture of Damascus, looting of Baghdad, and conquest of Syria.

Hulagu Khan initiated a large series of raids on Hulagu's territories, led by Nogai Khan.

In retaliation for his failure, Hulagu Khan killed Berke's ortogh, and Berke did the same in return.

Hulagu Khan was a Christian of the Church of the East and Hulagu was friendly to Christianity.

Hulagu Khan's favorite wife, Doquz Khatun, was a Christian, as was his closest friend and general, Kitbuqa.

Hulagu Khan sent multiple communications to Europe in an attempt to establish a Franco-Mongol alliance against the Muslims.

Hulagu Khan had fourteen wives and concubines with at least 21 issues with them:.

Hulagu Khan's funeral was the only Ilkhanate funeral to feature human sacrifice.

Hulagu Khan laid the foundations of the Ilkhanate and thus paved the way for the later Safavid dynastic state, and ultimately the modern country of Iran.

Hulagu Khan's conquests opened Iran to both European influence from the west and Chinese influence from the east.

Recent translations of various Tibetan monks' letters and epistles to Hulagu Khan confirms that he was a lifelong Buddhist, following the Kagyu school.

Hulagu Khan patronized Nasir al-Din Tusi and his researches in Maragheh observatory.