Arghun

Arghun (1258–10 March 1291), son of Abaqa, was the fourth Ilkhan of Persia, ruling from 1284, when he overthrew his uncle Ahmad Tekuder. A Buddhist tolerant of Christians, between 1285 and 1290 he sent embassies to the Pope and to France and England, seeking in vain a joint campaign against the Mamluks.

In 1289 he executed the all-powerful Buqa and made the Jewish physician Sa'ad al-Dawla his vizier. After taking an alchemical sulphur-and-mercury elixir he fell ill and died in March 1291. His sons Ghazan and Öljeitü later reigned.