Which grandson of Genghis Khan founded the Ilkhanate in Persia?

Hulagu Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan, founded the Ilkhanate in Persia. He was a son of Tolui and a brother of Möngke Khan and Kublai Khan, placing him in the Toluid branch of the Mongol royal family.

In the 1250s, Möngke, then Great Khan, sent Hulagu west to consolidate Mongol rule in Iran and surrounding regions. Hulagu’s campaigns destroyed the Nizari Ismaili strongholds and captured Baghdad in 1258, ending the Abbasid caliphate’s political power there.

The state he established became known as the Ilkhanate, a Mongol-ruled kingdom centered in Iran and Mesopotamia. Its territories also reached into Iraq, the Caucasus, Anatolia, Syria, Afghanistan, and parts of Central Asia. Hulagu initially acknowledged the Great Khan’s supremacy, but the Persian-based khanate developed substantial independence.

The other choices were also major Mongol rulers, but they belonged to different branches or ruled different successor states. Kublai founded the Yuan dynasty in China, while Batu established the Golden Horde in the western steppe.