Hulagu Khan

Hulagu Khan, also known as Hulagu, Hülegü or Hulegu (Хүлэгү, Khülegü; Chagatai/Persian: ہلاکو - Halaku; Arabic: هولاكو; c. 1217 – 8 February 1265), was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Southwest Asia and established the Illkhanate.

Hulagu
Khan
Hulagu with his Kerait queen Doquz Khatun
Reign	1217 - 1265
Died	8 February 1265
Burial	Lake Urmia
Consort	Doquz Khatun
Father	Tolui
Mother	Sorghaghtani Beki
Religion	Buddhism[note 1][1][2][3]

Son of Tolui and the Kerait princess Sorghaghtani Beki, he was a grandson of Genghis Khan, and the brother of Arik Boke, Mongke and Kublai Khan. He was also the step-father of Absh Khatun. Hulagu's army greatly expanded the southwestern portion of the Mongol Empire, founding the Ilkhanate of Persia. Under his leadership, the Mongols destroyed the two greatest centers of Islamic power, Baghdad in the year 1258,^[4] and Damascus, causing a shift of Islamic influence to the Mamluks in Cairo.

The Polos

Nicolò and Maffeo in Bukhara, where they stayed for three years. They were invited by a envoy of Hulagu (right) to travel east to visit the Great Khan Kubilai.

Niccolò and Maffeo Polo reportedly travelled to the realm of Hulagu and stayed in the city of Bukhara, in modern day Uzbekistan, where the family lived and traded for three years from 1261 to 1264.

Notes

1. Though Hülagü Khan was a Buddhist, he was also influenced by Nestorian Christianity through his wife, as well as by traditional Tengrist beliefs of the Mongols.