Abu Sa'id (Ilkhanid dynasty)

Abu Sa'id (June 2, 1305, Ujan – December 1, 1335) (Persian: ابو سعید بهادرخان) also Abusaid Bahador Khan, Abu Sayed Behauder (Mongolian: ᠪᠦᠰᠠᠢ ᠪᠠᠬᠠᠲᠦᠷ ᠬᠠᠨ᠂ Busayid Baghatur Khan), was the ninth ruler of the Ilkhanate state in Iran (1316–1335).

In 1306 and 1322, after defeating the Golden Horde army and Kerait Rinchin's rebellion, the Mongols gave him, then infant heir apparent of Öljeitü, the title of Baghatur (in modern Mongolian Баатар) meaning "hero". During his early rule, the distinguished Judeo-Muslim scholar and Vizier Rashid-al-Din Hamadani was beheaded; emir Chupan became de facto the ruler of the country. In 1325 Chupan defeated another force led by Muhammad Üzbeg Khan of the Golden Horde and even invaded their territories again.

Abu Said fell in love with Bagdad Katun, a daughter of Chupan. The emir's efforts to keep Abu Sa'id from marrying his daughter, who was already married to Hasan Buzurg, another powerful kingmaker of the era, did not help the situation. In August 1327 Abu Sa'id had a son of Chupan, Demasq Kaja, killed, ostensibly for his activities with a former concubine of Öljeitü's. Later Chupan himself was killed by the Kartids, lords of Herat. In the meantime the Mamluks beheaded Timurtash, son of Chupan, who as a governor had revolted against the Ilkhanate in earlier times, being shown an unusual mercy.

Abu Sa'id died without an heir or an appointed successor, leaving the Ilkhanate eaten from inside by the power of the major families, as the Chupanids, the Jalayirids, or by new movements as the Sarbadars. The state lost cohesion after his death, becoming a plethora of little kingdoms run by Mongols, Turks, and Persians. The great voyager Ibn Battuta was amazed at discovering, on his return to Persia, that what had seemed to be such a mighty realm only twenty years before had dissolved so quickly.

References

• Atwood, Christopher P. (2004). The Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. Facts on File, Inc. ISBN 0-8160-4671-9.