In 1221 the Mongols invaded Iran, leaving death and destruction in the wake of their armies. Once again, as six hundred years before, events moved with startling rapidity. Between 1219 and 1227, Mongol hordes had overrun and largely destroyed Bokhara, Samarqand, Marv, Neishabur, and all of northern Iran. The loot, murder, rapes and destruction, which attended these conquests, was without parallel in history; the loss to art and learning in northern Iran was incalculable. Fortunately the south escaped, and this greatly assisted eventual recovery.
Chengiz Khan (1165-1227) left to his grandson Hulagu Khan to establish the Mongol rule in Iran. A quarter of a century later, Iran became the center of a new Mongol dynasty called the Ilkhans by the historians. The second wave of Mongol invasion started from 1251 when Hulagu Khan set out to destroy the Assassins in their mountain fortress and to extinguish the Caliphate in Baghdad. He was successful in both -at the price of further extensive bloodshed and destruction.
The later Mongols, however, as though to amend for the shortcomings of their forebears, really went in for Civilization, and even Culture. The Mongols also encouraged tourism; having been indefatigable travelers themselves, this was no doubt a form ofpublic relations, which came to them naturally. Marco Polo was their most famous beneficiary. His route across Iran is an indication of the important centers of that time: Tabriz, (soon to become the Mongol capital), Saveh, Kashan, Yazd, Kerman, Hormoz, Sirjan, Kerman again, Tabas and Neishabur. As they settled down the Mongols initiated another era of great building.
Ghazan Khan established magnificent religious and educational institutions at Tabriz, and built, on the outskirts of that city, a tomb for himself. Oljaitu (1304-16) completed the city of Sultanieh, including the great mausoleum, which still stands and bears his name.
After Oljaitu's death in 1316 thedynasty broke down through domestic squabbles and a period of chaos ensued, in which the only relatively stable element was provided by the Muzaffarid dynasty in southern Iran, one of whom, Shah Shoja, is famous in history as the patron of the poet Hafez. The collapse of organized central government meant that the way lay open to the next wave of invasion from central Asia -that of Timur Lang.