1295Reputable sourceWell documented
Ghazan and the Ilkhanate's Conversion to Islam
On the timeline · around 1295 ·
What happened
In 1295 the Ilkhan Ghazan, ruler of Mongol Persia, converted to Islam — the faith of most of his subjects — and made it the state religion, the first Ilkhan to do so. He also carried out sweeping reforms of taxation, coinage, and administration and sponsored a great flowering of Persian art, science, and history.
Why it matters
Ghazan's conversion marked the point at which the Mongol rulers of the Middle East became fully part of the Islamic world they had once devastated — a pattern of the conquerors being absorbed by the conquered that recurred across the khanates.