Nicholas Tekudar Khan, the son of Hulagu, who became Christian in his childhood, and as a result of his frequent contact with Muslims and his relationship with their senior imams and scholars, he became Muslim and declared his Islam, and was called Sultan Ahmed Tekudar, and ruled as a successor to his brother Abaqa Khan, so Muslims were encouraged by his Islam and rule.

He tried to strengthen relations with his Muslim neighbors, but the Mongol princes and his rival, his nephew Arghun ibn Abaqa Khan, did not like this, so they fought and executed him in August 1384.

Birth and upbringing

Ahmed Tekodar was born in the forties of the 13th century AD, and sources do not agree on his exact date of birth.

He was the seventh son of the Mughal leader Hulagu Khan, the founder of the "Ilkhanid" state by his wife Quti Khatun, whose name at birth was Nicholas Tekudar Khan.

As a child, Tekodar was a Christian, following the Church of the East like his mother, under whom he was raised.

During his father's campaign against Iran, the Levant and Iraq, Tekodar was in China and only went to Iran under his brother Abaqa Khan.

Circumstances of his assumption of power

Hulagu had founded a state in Iran known as the "Mongol Ilkhanate State in Persia", and after his death in 1265 CE, his son Abaqa Khan took power, following in his father's footsteps in violence and bloodshed.

The Mamluk state in Egypt and the Levant was a target of Abaqa Khan, and his conflict with it continued throughout his rule.

The Mamluks defeated the Ilkhanid state in several battles, including the Battle of Al-Bireh and the Battle of Ain Jalut, led by Sultan al-Zahir Baybars and Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun.

Christianity was prevalent among the Mongols before Islam, and Abaqa Khan's marriage to the Byzantine emperor led to an alliance aimed at eliminating Muslims.

With the death of Abaqa Khan, a struggle began after him for the throne, with some seeing his son as the ruler, and others believing that the eldest member of the family should rule, following Genghis Khan's law.

Coronation of Tekodar and Islam

The Mongol princes held a meeting and chose to follow the law of Genghis Khan, and Ahmed Tekudar was crowned ruler, and this was a herald for the Muslims under the rule of the Mongols, and the Muslims of the Mamluk state as well.

After celebrating Tekodar's coronation, he ordered the treasury in the city of Shahutla to be brought, distributed money and gifts to the Khawatin, princes and their sons, and gave to army soldiers and the needy.

After assuming power, he became the first Ikhani ruler to surrender, and Muslims touched in his Islam honesty rather than greed for political gains, because of his behavior, which showed devotion to Islam and adherence to it.

After his Islam, he turned the Ilkhanid state into a sultanate, and worked to consolidate the relationship with the Islamic world and Muslim leaders, and sent books to the jurists of Baghdad informing them of his Islam and the sincerity of his desire to serve and defend Islam, so they rejoiced for that and promised him the protector of Islam and Muslims, and called him "the publisher of the religion of God shown" and then a number of Mongols became Muslim at his hands.

He sought to spread Islam among the Mongol princes, and his attempt was not very successful, but he was able to form the hearts of some of them with grants, gifts and titles.

Tekodar wanted peace with his Muslim neighbors and the replacement of war and conflict with peace and reconciliation between them, so he sent a delegation to Sultan Al-Mansur Qalawun in Egypt in 1382, and among the delegation was Sheikh Kamal al-Din Abd al-Rahman al-Rafi'i, who was said to have been Muslim at his hands, and the scholar Qutb al-Din Shirazi, judge of the city of Sivas, and the Sultan of the Seljuks of Rum Bahaa al-Din Atabek Masoud.

The delegation was sent to Sultan Qalawun to inform him of Tekodar's conversion to Islam and his desire to make peace with the Mamluks and establish friendship between the two countries.

The delegation briefed the Mamluk Sultan on Sultan Ahmed Tekodar's initiatives to implement Sharia and take care of the interests of Muslims, including pilgrims' affairs, reforms of the endowment system, etc., and informed Sultan Qalawun of Tekodar's desire to unify the work of the Mamluk and Ilkhanid states to spread and revive Islam in Mongol society.

They informed Sultan Qalawun of Tekodar's suspension of the decision of the Mongol Shura Council to launch a major campaign against the Levant, in response to their defeat by the Mamluks in the Second Battle of Homs, which Abaqa Khan had decided to prepare before his death.

Sultan Qalawun's response came 3 months later, in the same year, congratulating Sultan Tekodar on his Islam, praising his efforts in applying the provisions of Islamic law, and asking him to ally between the two states against the Crusaders.

This response was with the Mamluk sultan's fear of the Mongol treachery, so he was not sure of the support of the Mongol princes for Tekudar, especially since the Mamluks had defeated them in previous battles.

The impact of his Islam on Muslims

The arrival of a Muslim to power in the Mongol state played a major role in the progress of Muslims, so the Islam of Tekodar had a strong impact in Iran, where the Muslims were strengthened.

The country's indigenous Persian population aspired to rule again, and Muslims reached key positions in the state and held administrative positions in the Mongol state.

Some Ilkhans took advantage of Islam to achieve rival military victories for the Mamluks, but many Mongols subsequently Islamized, and Tekudar played an important role.

The position of the Mongol leaders on his Islam

Arghun bin Abaqa Khan was in conflict with his uncle Sultan Ahmed over the rule, and he was accompanied by a group of Mongol princes, demanding that he take the throne and assume leadership.

Islam Tekudar was an important factor in establishing a political front against him, so Arghun and those with him revolted against his rule, and criticized his message to the Mamluk Sultan and considered it a departure from the decision of the Mongol Shura Council.

Arghun Khan the Buddhist presided over the campaign against Tekudar, based in Khorasan, and the two sides met in a fierce battle on April 21, 1384, in which Tekodar defeated and captured his nephew Arghun and those with him.

End of his reign and death

The defeat of Arghun did not satisfy the Mongol princes, so they met and decided to depose Tekudar from power and release the captivity of Arghun, and proposed to appoint Hulagu son of Hulagu Ilkhana to Iran.

The plan was to free Arghun from captivity in a small battle between Tekodar's forces and the conspirators against him.

A number of princes loyal to Tekodar were killed in that battle, and Sultan Ahmed fled from Khorasan to Azerbaijan, to regain the strength of his army and gather his forces to resume.

The Mongol Shura Council did not implement the proposal for Hulagu's inauguration, but installed Arghun ibn Abaqa Ilkhana, and after his coronation he went to Azerbaijan to fight his uncle Tekudar.

Before he arrived in Azerbaijan, a group of Tekodar's followers handed him over to Argun, after witnessing his growing strength and multiplying followers.

Arghun executed his uncle Ahmad Tekudar on the tenth of August 1384, making him the first Muslim Mongol Ilkhan to be killed by the Mongols.