Hulegu Khan

Hulegu (c. 1217–1265), grandson of Genghis Khan and son of Tolui and Sorghaghtani Beki, conquered much of West Asia and founded Persia's Ilkhanate. In 1252–1253 Möngke sent him west with a fifth of the empire's army.

He destroyed the Nizari Assassins in 1256, the year he was named il-khan. When the Abbasid caliph al-Musta'sim refused to surrender, Hulegu took Baghdad on 10 February 1258; a week of massacre followed, the caliph was killed, and the Abbasid caliphate ended. In 1260 his armies took Aleppo and Damascus, but news of Möngke's death drew him east with most of his troops.

The small force left behind was beaten by the Mamluks at Ain Jalut that September, stopping Mongol expansion westward. He died in February 1265 and was buried on Shahi Island in Lake Urmia, the only Ilkhan whose funeral included human sacrifice; his son Abaqa succeeded him.