1. 1115 Great Saljuq sultan Muhammad
(r ) sends expedition to aid
Muslims against crusaders, opposed
by Muslim rulers of Aleppo and
Damascus. Subsequently Great Saljuq
empire fragments
Reign of ‘Abbasid caliph
al-Nasir, who ruled much of Iraq
independent of Saljuq control

2. Saljuq Sultanate of Rum
Sanjar (r )
Merv

3. 1141 Qara-Khitai take Transoxiana
Sanjar imprisoned by his troops
1156 Death of Sanjar. Khurasan fragments
Late 12th/early 13th c. Khwarazm-Shahs
of Khwarazm take W. Khurasan and
Transoxiana

4. 1164 Lord of Alamut Hasan II (r. 1162-66)
declares arrival of Last Day, becomes
viewed as Imam, as do successors
1210 Imam Hasan III (r ) declares
loyalty to Sunni Islam. Possibly a case
of taqiyya (dissimulation)?
1221 Muhammad III reclaims position of
Imam

5. 1206 Temujin/Temuchin (Chinggis/Genghis
Khan, r ) forms confederation of
Mongol tribes, launches armies into China
1219 Genghis Khan declares war on Khwarazm-
Shahs. By 1227 has overthrown both Qara-
Khitai and Khwarazm-Shahs
1229 Quriltai (Mongol tribal assembly) chooses
Ogedai (r ) as new Great Khan
Batu invades Russia and E. Europe

6. 1241 Death of Ogedai. Batu returns to east
1243 Bayju Noyan defeats Saljuqs of Rum at
Kose Dagh, turning region into Mongol
protectorate
1255 Hulegu/Hulagu (d. 1265), brother of
Great Khan Mongke (r ),
launches invasion into Persia and Iraq
1256 Hulegu takes Alamut, destroys Persian
Assassins

7. 12th February 1258 Hulegu takes Baghdad,
puts ‘Abbasid caliph al-Musta‘in (r
58) to death
1260 Hulegu takes Aleppo, then Damascus,
then returns to east after death of Mongke
July 1260 Mamluk sultan Qutuz/Kutuz
(r ) sets out from Cairo with
army. Advance party under Baybars
scouts out Mongol army

8. 3rd Sept 1260 Mamluks defeat Mongols at
‘Ayn Jalut. Baybars becomes
Mamluk Sultan (r )

9. 1261 Baybars installs al-Mustansir (r. 1261) as
‘Abbasid caliph in Cairo. ‘Abbasid caliphs
reign in Cairo until 1517
1262 Ruler of Golden Horde forms alliance
with Baybars against ruler of Il-Khanate
1273 Baybars destroys Syrian Assassins
1281 Qalawun (r ) defeats army of
Il-Khan Abaqa (r ) at Hims

10. Khanate of the Golden Horde
Chaghatay Khanate
Il-Khanate
Great Khanate of China and Mongolia

11. 1282 Death of Abaqa from delirium tremens.
Succeeded by brother Teguder Ahmad
1303 Mamluks defeat Mongols for third time,
bring Mongol expansion to its end