Mongol Imperial Policies and Herat

Chapter 2 (years 677/1278 to 729/1329). Examines Chingissid political fault lines, viz., rivalries among Jochids, Toluids (Golden Horde), Ogedeids and Chaghataids, the four branches of Chingiz Khan’s family, and how factionalism impacted on Iran, Khurasan, and Herat. Grand Qa’an Mongke installed Shams al-Dīn Kart, his Tajik bondsman, as ruler of Herat, with a mandate to govern vast tracts of eastern Persia. Shams al-Dīn Kart’s stewardship was undermined by the political machinations of Chinggisid factions; and his absences from Herat while campaigning against the Ilkhanate’s enemies, including the Golden Horde. His legacy is a rudimentary state, bound together by a mosaic of loyalists.