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The Religious Arts under the Ilkhanids
Double-page colophon (left side) from the Anonymous Baghdad Qur’an [Iraq, Baghdad] Frieze tile [Iran (Kashan)] Hasan ibn cAli ibn Ahmad Babavaih: Tile panel Tile from a mihrab [Iran] Hasan ibn Sulaiman al-Isfahani: Qur'an stand


The Mongol period was as eclectic in religious matters as it was in cultural and artistic ones. While the Mongols believed in shamanism, they embraced other religions for several reasons, ranging from a personal desire for the spiritual to issues of control and political and social cohesion. The century of Ilkhanid domination in Greater Iran witnessed the practice of Buddhism, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The Mongols of the steppes believed in shamans—spiritual guides who could intercede between humans and the powerful spirits of good and evil. Both Genghis Khan (d. 1227) and his son Ögödei (r. 1229–41) were shamanists. One of Genghis's grandsons, Kublai Khan (r. 1260–95), embraced Buddhism, which was also officially adopted in Iran and Iraq under his brother Hülegü (r. 1256–65), founder of the Ilkhanid dynasty. Buddhism grew strong in Iran under Arghun (r. 1284–91). Christianity was popular with Ilkhanid women: Hülegü's wife was a Nestorian and Arghun's son (later Il-Khan Öljeitü) was baptized Nicholas in honor of Pope Nicholas IV (papacy 1288–92), who had sent several envoys inviting Arghun to convert to Christianity. Jews were prominent and formed significant communities at Isfahan and Hamadan. The powerful vizier Rashid al-Din (d. 1318) was a Jewish convert and his interest in Judaism is reflected in his Jamic al-tavarikh (Compendium of Chronicles). After the conversion of Arghun's son Ghazan (r. 1295–1304) to Islam in 1295, Buddhism lost its hold in western Asia. Ghazan encouraged theological debates primarily between the Sunni and the Shici approaches to Islam. These debates grew more active under Ghazan's successor Öljeitü (r. 1304–16), who officially converted to Shici Islam in 1310. Sunni authority was reinstated under the reign of his son Abu Sacid (1316–35).

Virtually nothing is left of Ilkhanid religious art and architecture from the period before the conversion to Islam. After Ghazan's conversion, an aggressive program of construction and decoration of mosques was undertaken, while tolerance toward Shici Islam and Sufism promoted the building of tombs and shrines (12.44) devoted to Sufi saints. The best Iranian craftsmen produced mosque furniture and furnishings (10.218; 09.87; 1983.345). Large-scale luxurious Qur'an manuscripts (55.44) were commissioned for religious institutions. Ilkhanid manuscript illustrations provide rare examples of representations of the prophet Muhammad and his companions, probably influenced by the circulation of Christian, especially Armenian, illustrated gospels and by the eclectic approach to religion in Iran at the time.


West Asia, Iran, Religious Art, Islam, Religious Art, Buddhism, Religious Art, Islam, Calligraphy, Qur'an, Religious Art, Islam, Furniture, Religious Art, Islam, Book, Book, Manuscript, Book, Manuscript, Islamic

Department of Islamic Art, Department of Islamic Art

A New Visual Language Transmitted Across Asia, The Art of the Book in the Ilkhanid Period, Courtly Art of the Ilkhanids, Folios from the Great Mongol Shahnama (Book of Kings), Folios from the Jami' al-tavarikh (Compendium of Chronicles), The Legacy of Genghis Khan, The Mongolian Tent in the Ilkhanid Period, Takht-i Sulayman and Tile Work in the Ilkhanid Period, Yuan Dynasty, Abridged List of Rulers: Islamic World,

China, 1000-1400 A.D., Iran, 1000-1400 A.D., Iraq, 1000-1400 A.D.,

West Asia, 1000-1400 A.D.