The
Ilkhanate, also spelled
Il-khanate (,
Ilkhanan; ,
Hulagu-yn Ulus), was established as a
khanate that formed the southwestern sector of the
Mongol Empire, ruled by the
Mongol House of Hulagu. It was founded in the 13th century and was based primarily in
Iran as well as neighboring territories, such as present-day
Azerbaijan and the central and eastern parts of present-day
Turkey. The Ilkhanate was originally based on the campaigns of
Genghis Khan in the
Khwarazmian Empire in 1219–24 and was founded by
Hulagu Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan. With the
fragmentation of the Mongol Empire after 1259 it became a functionally separate khanate. At its greatest extent, the state expanded into territories that today comprise most of
Iran,
Iraq,
Armenia,
Azerbaijan,
Georgia,
Turkmenistan,
Turkey, western
Afghanistan, and southwestern
Pakistan. Later Ilkhanate rulers, beginning with
Ghazan in 1295, would convert to
Islam.