Overview
Ghazan II was the last nominal Ilkhan. He is known almost entirely from coins struck in his name and from a few medieval texts. He appears to have been a figurehead of the Chobanid ruler Malek Ashraf, who held real power in northwestern Iran.
Rise to Power
Ghazan II succeeded Anushirvan, another Chobanid figurehead, in 1356.
Rule and Achievements
- Coins in his name were struck across a wide area, including Mardin (1356), Qom (1357), Tabriz, Tbilisi, Maragha, Ray, Soltaniyeh and Urmia
- A contemporary history records that when the Golden Horde khan Jani Beg demanded Malek Ashraf's submission in 1357, Malek Ashraf answered that Ghazan was the ruler there and the emirate was his own
- He is also mentioned in Nur al-Din Azhdari's Ghazan-nama
Legacy
Ghazan II died in 1357, the year Jani Beg took Tabriz, and the title of Ilkhan was not used again. A century after Hülegü founded the Ilkhanate, its name was still worth borrowing, but only as cover for others' power.