Gházán was succeeded by his brother Úljáytú the son of Arghún, who was crowned on July 21, 1305, under the Reign of Úl­jáytú (A.D. 1305-1316) name of Úljáytú Muḥammad Khudá-banda, being at the time twenty-four years of age. As a child he had, at the desire of his mother Urúk Khátún, been baptised into the Christian church under the name of Nicolas, but later he was converted to Islám by his wife, to whom he was married at a very His earlier name Khar-banda early age. In his youth he had received the curious name of Khar-banda (“ass-servant,” i.e. ass-herd or muleteer), which was afterwards changed to Khudá-banda (“servant of God”). On the former name Rashídu'd-Dín has the following verses in the preface to vol. i of his great history:

<text in Arabic script omitted> <text in Arabic script omitted>

The point of these verses, which are hardly worth trans­lating in their entirety, is that the sum of the numerical values of the nine letters constituting the words Sháh Khar-banda (<text in Arabic script omitted>) is equivalent to that of the fifteen letters in the words Sáya-i-Kháṣ-i-Áfarínanda (<text in Arabic script omitted>), for the first gives 300 + 1 + 5 + 600 + 200 + 2 + 50 + 4 + 5 = 1167, and the second 60 + 1 + 10 + 5 + 600 + 1 + 90 + 1 + 80 + 200 + 10 + 50 + 50 + 4 + 5 = 1167. Since in the Muhammadan, as in the Jewish view, words giving the same numerical equivalent are in some sense identical, the King's name, Khar-banda, is shown to be equivalent to Sáya-i-Kháṣ-i-Áfarínanda , the “Special Shadow (i.e. Protection) of the Creator.” According to Dawlatsháh * (an author on whose uncritical statements no reliance whatever can be placed), “when, on the death of Arghún Khán, Gházán Khán be­came king, Úljáytú Khán fled from him, and for some years wandered with the ass-herds in the district of Kirmán and Hurmuz, on which account he was called Khar-banda, ‘the Ass-herd.’ But others say that this is not so, but that the parents of a very beautiful child give him an ugly name, so that the evil eye may not affect him, and that on this account he was called Khar-banda.”*

Even before Úljáytú was crowned, it was deemed expe­dient to get rid of his cousin Álafrank as a possible claimant Álafrank is put to death to the throne, and he, as well as the general Harqadáq, was accordingly assassinated by three Mongol officers. Úljáytú's first act was to confirm the laws of his predecessor Gházán, and to ordain the strict observance of the Sharí'at, or Canon Law of Islám; and he appointed Rashídu'd-Dín the historian and physician, and Sa'du'd-Dín of Sáwa as joint Chancellors of the Exchequer, with absolute authority over his Persian as opposed to his Mongolian subjects. He visited the cele­brated observatory of Marágha, and installed Aṣílu'd-Dín, the son of the eminent Naṣíru'd-Dín of Ṭús (who, as already mentioned, had died in 1272-3), as Astronomer-royal. * Abú Sa'íd, the son and successor of Úljáytú, was born in the year of the latter's accession, and in the same year was de­posed Sháh Jahán, the last sovereign of the Qará-Khitá'í dynasty of Kirmán. In the same year was founded the Sulṭániyya founded royal city of Sulṭániyya, * near Zanján, which soon assumed the most majestic proportions. Now it is an almost uninhabited ruin, conspicu­ous only for its magnificent though dilapidated mosque; but the name of the royal founder is still remembered in the following doggerel, which I heard from an old man who accompanied me round the mosque when I visited it in November, 1887:

<text in Arabic script omitted>

“O Sháh Khudá-banda, worker of injustice, two fowls for one village!”

The last line is Turkish, but I have never been able to ascertain to what it alludes.

Two months after Úljáytú's succession he received em­bassies from three of the Mongol rulers (of whom Tímúr Ambassadors received and despatched by Úljáytú Qá'án, Emperor of China, was the most im­portant) to announce the truce which had just been concluded between them. Three months later arrived an embassy from Túqtáy, and shortly afterwards Úljáytú despatched ambassadors to Egypt, to assure Sulṭán Náṣir of his friendly disposition. He was also in correspondence with Philip le Bel, Edward the Second, and Pope Clement V. The bearer of the Íl-khán's letters to and from these potentates was Thomas Ildouchi, * who, as d'Ohsson observes (vol. iv, pp. 590-8), evidently concealed from the European courts to which he was accredited the fact that his master Úljáytú had em­braced Islám; for the letters on both sides are extant, and both Edward II (in a letter dated Nov. 30, 1307) and Pope Clement V (in a letter dated March 1, 1308) assume explicitly that Úljáytú would help them in extirpating what they describe as “the abominable sect of Mahomet.” Úljáytú, meanwhile, was preoccupied with devising some test whereby he might prove the sincerity of the numerous Jews who at this time desired to profess Islám. This was finally effected by the learning of Rashídu'd-Dín, who, as his history shows, was thoroughly conversant with Jewish tradition and doctrine, and was even accused by his ene­mies of being a Jew, or of regarding Judaism with undue favour. The intending proselyte was bidden to partake of camel's flesh seethed in milk, and the sincerity of his con­version was judged by his readiness to eat this doubly-unlawful food. It was about this time also (April 14, 1306) that the aforesaid Rashídu'd-Dín presented the finished portion of his great historical work, the Jámi'u't-Tawáríkh to Úljáytú.

The chief wars of Úljáytú's reign were the conquest of Wars Gílán in the early summer of 1307 and the capture of Herát in the latter part of the same year. In both campaigns a gallant resistance was made, and success was not achieved by the Mongols without serious losses. In the defence of Herát especially the most con­spicuous courage and resource were shown by the Ghúrí captain, Muḥammad Sám, to whose charge the city had Executions been entrusted by Fakhru'd-Dín Kurt. He was, however, ultimately taken by treachery and put to death. Amongst other notable persons who suffered death in Úljáytú's reign were Músá the Kurd, who claimed to be the Mahdí or appointed Saviour of Islám; Sa'du'd-Dín, the associate and later the rival of Rashídu'd-Dín, who was executed on a charge of peculation from the treasury; and Táju'd-Dín Áwají, an extreme Shí'ite, who had tried to convert Úljáytú to his doctrines. But what the unfortunate Táju'd-Dín failed to accomplish nevertheless Úljáytú's reli­gious views was brought about by other means. Úljáytú be­longed to the Ḥanafí sect, the doctors of which, relying on the royal favour, waxed arrogant, until the King was induced by his minister Rashídu'd-Dín to incline to the Sháfi'í doctrine. Thereupon violent disputes took place in Úljáytú's presence between the repre­sentatives of these two Sunní schools, who, in the heat of controversy, brought against each other such abominable accusations that Úljáytú was greatly annoyed with both, and even the Mongol nobles, who were by no means squeamish, professed disgust, and began to ask whether it was for this that they had abandoned the faith of their ancestors, to which they now called on Úljáytú to return. The Íl-khán was further alarmed by a violent thunder-storm by which he was overtaken about this time, and which, according to the Mongols and their bakshís or priests (who, expelled by Gházán, would appear to have returned to Persia under his successor, unless, as d'Ohsson implies, they were brought back ad hoc) was a signal of the Divine displeasure. * For some time he was distracted with doubt, until at length he was persuaded by the Amír Taramtáz to follow Gházán's example and adopt the Shí'ite creed. This he ultimately did, * after he had visited 'Alí's tomb and there seen a vision which convinced him that the homage of the faithful was due, after the Prophet, to 'Alí ibn Abí Ṭálib and his descendants.

Úljáytú conducted one campaign against Syria, of which the chief event was the siege of Raḥbat, which, however, the Campaign a­gainst Syria Mongols were obliged to raise when the town was reduced to the last extremity on account of the heat and the scarcity of provisions. As the result of dissensions between the brothers of the house of Qatáda who ruled Mecca alternately according to the fortune of war, Úljáytú's name was for a while substituted in public prayer in the Holy City for that of the Egyptian Sultan Náṣir.

Úljáytú died at Sulṭániyya from the sequelae of an attack of gout on December 16, 1316, at the comparatively early Death of Úljáytú in A. D. 1316 age of thirty-five. He is described as “virtuous, liberal, not readily influenced by calumny; but, like all Mongol princes, addicted to spirituous drinks, and chiefly occupied with his pleasures.” His funeral obsequies were celebrated with great pomp, and he was mourned by his subjects for eight days. He had twelve wives, who bore him six sons and three daughters, but five of the former and one of the latter died in childhood. His surviving son, Abú Sa'íd, succeeded him; his two surviving daughters were married to the Amír Chúbán, and one of them, Sátí Beg, subsequently held for a short time the position of queen in the year 1339.