Sultan Uljaytu’s Frontispiece

CLASS RECORDING - 

The commissioning certificate of this Qur’an traces Sultan Uljaytu’s ancestry back to Hülagü and Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan’s grandson Hülagü led a series of Mongol invasions into the Middle East in the 13th century, assuming the title ‘Il Khan’ (‘Lesser Khan’). For a century after taking Baghdad in the 1250s, the Ilkhanids ruled over Iraq, the Caucasus, parts of Asia Minor and all of Iran. Baghdad was a major centre of activity. The arts, especially lavish illumination of holy texts such as this, flourished during the period.