Which Ilkhan converted to Islam in 1295?

The Ilkhan who converted to Islam in 1295 was Ghazan. His conversion marked a major religious and political turning point for the Ilkhanate, the Mongol state centered in Iran and parts of the Middle East.

Ghazan was a grandson of Abaqa Khan and a great-grandson of Hulagu, the founder of the Ilkhanate. Before becoming khan, Ghazan converted to Sunni Islam on June 16, 1295, in connection with an alliance with the powerful Mongol commander Nawruz. He later took the throne in October of the same year and adopted the Islamic name Mahmud.

Ghazan’s conversion helped align the Ilkhanate more closely with its largely Muslim population and influenced administration, law, and public religious policy. It did not erase the region’s diversity: Ghazan continued to tolerate Christians, Jews, Buddhists, and other communities. Arghun, Abaqa, and Hulagu were his ancestors or predecessors, not the Ilkhan identified by this conversion.