Ilkhanid-Armenian relations (1220-1335)

Eventhough there is detailed information in the sources not so well revisited, the Ilkhanate and the Armenian relations begin with the first Westward march towards the end of 1220. The conflict of the Khwarazmshah Muhammad and Jalal al-Din after him with the Mongols, caused Mongol conquerors to enter Caucasia many times. At the en of these events, which make an important phase in the foundation of the Ilkhanate, the Khwarazmshah existence in the Caucasia was removed, and a strong Mongol domination was established instead. In 1236 the Greater Armenia was divided among the Mongol Noyans, and after the Battle of Köse Dagh in 1243, the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia also accepted the Mongol souzereingnty. This process that continued from the mentioned battle to the arrival of Hülegü to the Asia Minor, shows the feature of a "transition period". Beacuse, the Armenians who showed resistence to the earlier Mongol raids became fully vassal to the Mongols from then on, and voluntarily participated in the Mongol expeditions in Asia Minor, including the Battle of Köse Dagh. During this period, the Anatolia, Caucasia, and Iran each gained the status of a province, and the Armenians increased the pace of their diplomatic ventures in terms of friendliness with the Mongols. For instance, firstly Smbat, the brother of King Het'um I, visited Batu and Güyük, and then, king himself paid homage to Möngke. The Armenians, who were uneasy for being under the Muslim domination for a long time, with the motivation of the ideas to own the Holy Lands as well, accepted to be the voluntary collaborators of the Mongols. As a result of that, contrary to the preceding periods, the Greater Armenia and the Little Armenia united politically for the first time. The quickly densifying relations with Hülegü, mostly bore the motivation to own the Holy Lands. But the appearence of Baybars and his successors in the stage of history, formed an unexpected barrier in front of the plans deemed to be activated in terms of Ilkhanate-Armenian relations. The other facts that occured between the Chinggisid uluses, on the other hand, overturned the political balance in Asia Minor, and setting the stage for new alliances, caused the political, social, and economical posture of the above mentioned geography to change substantially. Due to the religious conversion started with Ghazan in the Ilkhanates, the military support that never came from the Papacy and the Crusader forces against the Mamluks, and the continuous attacks from the Mamluks, the aim to own the Holy Lands, which was desired on the ground of the Ilkhanate-Armenian alliance, could never attain any success. On the other hand, this political alliance between the Ilkhanate and the Armenian, gave way to a series of political, social and cultural interactions. In this work, we tried to address these facts in all its aspects in the frame of the Ilkhanate-Armenian alliance, and struggled to shed light on an extremely important phase of the Medieval Asia Minor.