Which khanate was established by Hulagu Khan?

Hulagu Khan established the Ilkhanate, the Mongol khanate that ruled much of Iran and neighboring lands.

Hulagu was a grandson of Genghis Khan and the brother of Möngke and Kublai Khan. In the 1250s, Möngke sent him west with a large army to expand Mongol control in the Islamic world. Hulagu captured the Nizari Ismaili stronghold of Alamut in 1256 and destroyed Baghdad in 1258, ending the Abbasid caliphate there.

His realm centered on Persia and included parts of Iraq, the Caucasus, Anatolia, and Central Asia. Hulagu became the first Ilkhan, a title often understood as “subordinate khan,” reflecting the dynasty’s original relationship with the Great Khan. The Ilkhanate later developed substantial independence, especially after Möngke’s death in 1259.

The answer is often confused with the Golden Horde, Chagatai Khanate, and Yuan dynasty. Those were separate Mongol successor states associated respectively with Jochi’s line, Chagatai’s line, and Kublai’s rule in China. The Ilkhanate’s defining region was Iran and the wider southwestern Mongol world.