Ghazan
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Mahmud Ghazan was the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of Arghun, grandson of Abaqa Khan and great-grandson of Hulegu Khan, continuing a long line of rulers who were direct descendants of Genghis Khan. Considered the most prominent of the il khans, he is perhaps best known for converting to Islam and meeting Imam Ibn Taymiyya in 1295 when he took the throne, marking a turning point for the dominant religion of the Mongols in West Asia: Iran, Iraq, Anatolia, and the South Caucasus.
Ghazan (center) was born as a Buddhist, and converted to Islam as part of a military agreement upon accession to the throne.
Ghazan as a child, in the arms of his father Arghun, standing next to Arghun's father Abaqa, mounted on a horse
Ghazan mounted on a horse.
Seal of Mahmud Ghazan, over the last two lines of his 1302 letter to Pope Boniface VIII. The seal was given to Ghazan by the sixth Great Khan (Emperor ChengZong of Yuan). It is in Chinese script: "王府定國理民之寶", which means "Seal certifying the authority of his Royal Highness to establish a country and govern its people". Overwritten on it vertically, are two lines in Mongolian using the old, Aramaic-based, Uyghur script. Vatican Archives.
Ilkhanate
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The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate, ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids, and known to the Mongols as Hülegü Ulus, was a Mongol khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm was officially known as the Land of Iran or simply Iran. It was established after Hülegü, the son of Tolui and grandson of Genghis Khan, inherited the West Asian part of the Mongol Empire after his brother Möngke Khan died in 1259.
The Ilkhanate under Ghazan
Ilkhanid depiction of mounted warriors pursuing enemies, from Rashid al-Din's Jami' al-tawarikh, early 14th century
Hulagu Khan, founder of the Ilkhanate, with his Christian queen Doquz Khatun
A Mongol horse archer of the 13th century