U368 Mongol Conquest
Week 14, Monday:  Crisis and restoration of the Il-qan regime

 

  1. Hüle'ü and Abagha:  early era
    1. No centralized currency or weights and measures
    2. (Nomadic) army intended to be tax-payers (as per Ögedei's laws)
    3. Main funds of ordos of princesses from interest from ortaq ("partners")
    4. Extremely simple book-keeping; treasury on island in lake Urmiah
    5. Khan Ahmad empties treasury to secure support, Argun does the same
  2. Finance practices from Abaga through Argun
    1. Regular payments to nobility, grain to some soldiers, but...
    2. Payments made by drafts on provinces; prevents budgeting
    3. Messengers abuse power of the paiza and jarliq; ortaqs tax-exempt
    4. Tax bidding and informers (ayqaq) ratchet up tax-revenues
    5. Frequent collusion between clearks, viziers, commanders in disbursements
  3. Crisis of Geikhatu and Baidu:  Ulus emirs in charge (1291-1295)
    1. 1287-1297:  general Eurasian financial crisis; silver supplies dorp sharply
    2. Sa'd ad-Daula tries to tightens budget, overthrown by ulus emirs 1291
    3. Ta'achar (Ba'arin) murders Arghun, then Geikhatu, then turns Baidu
    4. Geikhatu empties treasure; Sadr ad-din Zanjani's chao scheme >total failure
    5.  Baidu:  empire (except Khorasan) divided between four ulus emirs
  4. Islamization and politics:  terror (1295-1297)...
    1. Nawruz (Oyirad vizier & beylerbey) converts Ghazan Khan; little Sufi influence
    2. Massive purges of political opponents (many Oyirads flee to Egypt)
    3. Persecution (popular and official) of non-Islamic religions
      1. 1291:  Fall of Sa'd ad-Daula; anti-Jewish riots in Baghdad, Hamadan
      2. Nawruz proscribes non-Islamic religions, esp. Buddhism ("idolatry")
      3. 1295, 1297:  anti-Christian riots, Catholicus arrested, extortion
  5. Islamization and politics:   ...and policy (1298 on)
    1. 1297:  Ghazan Khan executes Nawruz, shows favor to Catholicus
    2. 1298, 1306 on:  trial poll tax, dress rules; regular from 1318 on
    3. Öljeyitü favors Twelver Shi'ism; Abu Sa'id supports Sunni Islam
    4. Both cool to Christians; sporadic Kurd/Syrian/Armenian conflicts
  6. Financial reforms
    1. Ghazan Khan grants fiefs ('iqta) to Mongol armies, also to ordos
      1. Decentralizes payment of money, allows semi-sedentarization
    2. Prohibited lending at interest; abolished ortaq system; jam very restricted
    3. Tax farming, drafts on provinces (temporarily) abolished
    4. Centralized weights and measures, highly successful silver and gold coinage
    5. Still 4 Mongol ulus emirs & beylerbeyi vs. Persian vizier and sahib divan