Arghun
Arghun Khan was the fourth ruler of the Mongol empire's Ilkhanate division, from 1284 to 1291. He was the son of Abaqa Khan, and like his father, was a devout Buddhist. He was known for sending several emissaries to Europe in an unsuccessful attempt to form a Franco-Mongol alliance against the Muslim Mamluks in the Holy Land. It was also Arghun who requested a new bride from his great-uncle Kublai Khan. The mission to escort the young Kököchin to Arghun reportedly went with Marco Polo. Arghun died before Kököchin arrived, so Arghun's son Ghazan married her instead.
Early life
Arghun was born to Abaqa Khan and Qaitmish Egec̆i in 8 March 1258 near Baylaqan. He grew up in Khorasan under care of Sartaq Noyan who was his military commander of encampment and Jochigan Noyan who was his atabeg. He commanded an army at the age of 20 against Negudaris. He left his father's encampment on 14 July 1279 for Seistan where he captured Öljai Buqa. After Abaqa's death in 1282, he was talked out of running against his uncle Ahmad Tekuder in the kurultai. Tekuder was duly chosen as sultan. He is also known as Sultan Ahmad.Bid for the throne
Tekuder's election brought Juvayni brothers to power, who were accused of charges of embezzlement before. However Arghun believed Juvayni brothers were responsible for his father's death by poisoning. He came to Baghdad to spend winter of 1282-1283 and restarted the investigation on embezzlement accusation which may have caused Ata Malik's stroke on 5 March 1283. His hatred grew upon hearing rumors that Shams al-Din Juvayni sent someone to poison him. Another cause of friction was Tekuder's order of arrest of Malik Fakhr ud-Din, governor of Ray, whom Arghun appointed.Tekuder on the other hand began to be suspicious of his half-brother Qonqurtai and Arghun's potential alliance. He sent military contingents commanded by Prince Jushkab, Uruq and Qurumushi to station in Diyar Bakr, so Qonqurtai and Arghun wouldn't be connected. Qonqurtai was accused of conspiracy and was arrested by Tegüder's son-in-law, Alinaq - the viceroy of Georgia on 17 January 1284 and was executed next day. Another contingent of army was sent to Jazira, from where Gaykhatu and Baydu fled to Khorasan, to Arghun's encampment while several emirs such as Taghachar and Doladai were arrested.
Arghun started an open rebellion upon his return from Baghdad to Khorasan in 1283 to gain allegiance of minor nobles and amirs. Tekuder's next step was to send Alinaq with 15,000 men against Arghun on 29 January, while ilkhan himself followed Alinaq on 26 April from his main army composed of Armenians and Georgians in addition to Mongols stationed in Mughan plain near Bilasuvar. Arghun prevailed on Alinaq in battle on 4 May south to Qazvin but nevertheless retreated to his lands in Khorasan. Ala ud-Daula Simnani, future Sufi saint of Kubrawiya order also fought in Arghun's army during this battle. Arghun tried to make truce on halfway, which Ahmad against advices of his councillors, refused it. Another embassy sent by Arghun, this time led by his son Ghazan arrived at Tekuder's camp near Semnan on 31 May. Embassy was a success, as Ahmad accepted truce on condition if Arghun sends his brother Gaykhatu as a hostage. Arghun agreed to terms and sent his brother accompanied by two amirs, including Nawruz to custody of Buqa, then most senior of Tekuder's commanders on 13 or 28 June. Buqa in turn handed over him to Ahmad who put Gaykhatu in Tödai Khatun's encampment. Despite this, Tekuder continued hostilities and kept advancing on Arghun. This made Buqa to harbor resentment towards Tekuder and grow more sympathetic to Arghun. On the other hand, he lost Tekuder's favor who started to invest his trust in Aq Buqa, another Jalair general.
Seeing developments, Arghun sook refuge in Kalat-e Naderi, a strong fortress on 7 July with 100 men. But he was forced to surrender to Alinaq four days later. Victorious Tekuder left Arghun at Alinaq's captivity while himself left for Kalpush, where his main army was stationed. This was an opportunity Buqa was seeking - he broke into Alinaq's camp and set Arghun free, while killing Alinaq. Tekuder fled west and looted Buqa's encampment near Sultaniya in revenge. He continued on to his own pasturelands near Takht-i Suleyman on 17 July planning to escape to Golden Horde via Derbent. However, Qaraunas sent by Buqa soon caught up with him and arrested Tekuder. He was turned over to Arghun on 26 July on Ab-i Shur pasturelands, near Maragha.
Reign
Arghun was informally enthroned on 11 August 1284 following Tekuder's execution. A series of appointments came after coronation, as was custom - His cousins Jushkab and Baydu were assigned to viceroyalty of Baghdad, Buqa's brother Aruq as his emir; while his brother Gaykhatu and uncle Hulachu were assigned to viceroyalty of Anatolia, Khorasan being assigned to his son Ghazan and his cousin Kingshu with Nawruz being their emir. Buqa, to whom he owed his throne was also awarded with dual office of sahib-i divan and amir al-umara, combining both military and civil administration on his hands. Shams al-Din Juvayni was among the executed people as Arghun tried to avenge his father's supposed murder. The official approval by Kublai came only 23 February 1286, who not only confirmed Arghun's position as ilkhan, but also Buqa's new title - chingsang. Following this, Arghun had a second, this time official coronation ceremony on 7 April 1286.Fall of Buqa
Arghun saw the government as his own property and didn't approve of Buqa and Aruq's arrogance and excesses, which soon raised them many enemies. Aruq practically ruled Baghdad as his own appanage, not paying taxes to central government, murdering his critics. Sayyid Imad ud-Din Alavi's murder on 30 December 1284 angered Buqa to the point summoning Abish Khatun herself to his court. It was Jalal ad-Din Arqan, one of her attendants first to reveal the details of murder, after which Arqan was sawed in half. She was ordered to pay blood money worth 700.000 dananeer to Sayyed's sons as the result of court. Other emirs, including Tuladai, Taghachar and Toghan started to conspire with Arghun to depose overpowered Buqa. His first step was to investigate former non-paid Salghurid taxes. As a result, he gained over 1.5 million dananeer from Fars province. His next step came in 1287, when Buqa fell ill. He investigated Aruq in same fashion and started to control Baghdad's income as well, replacing him with Ordo Qiya. Another replacement came when Buqa's ally Amir Ali Tamghachi was removed from governorate of Tabriz.Perceiving that he had lost the khan's favour, Buqa organized a conspiracy in Prince Jushkab and Arghun's vassal king Demetre II of Georgia were implicated. Buqa promised Jushkab the throne on condition of appointment as naib of the empire upon success. However Jushkab sent news to Arghun about the treachery. Arghun in his turn sent his new emir Qoncuqbal to arrest Buqa. It's unknown how Rusudan escaped the purge by Arghun but Demetre II was summoned to capital and imprisoned as well. Buqa was put to death on January 16, 1289. He was succeeded as vizier by a Jewish physician, Sa’ad al-Daula of Abhar. Sa'ad was effective in restoring order to the Ilkhanate's government, in part by aggressively denouncing the abuses of the Mongol military leaders.