Agents of the Ordu: unravelling Ilkhanid networks in Medieval Eurasia

Thesis

This dissertation reinterprets Mongol diplomacy and governance by analysing the Ilkhanate, the Mongol polity ruling Persia from the mid-thirteenth to mid-fourteenth century. It argues that diplomacy was not limited to external relations but was embedded in internal governance, functioning as a continuous process of negotiation between rulers and diverse elites.

The study introduces the category of the agent to describe individuals who mediated between the Ilkhans and their constituencies. These agents, whether nobles, Persian administrators, Nestorian clerics, Armenian kings, or Italian merchants, acted simultaneously as representatives of their communities and as servants of Mongol rulers. Their influence derived from their ability to occupy strategic positions within networks that linked otherwise disconnected groups. By applying concepts such as brokerage, the dissertation shows how agents exercised power through their capacity to extend their networks to bridge cultural, religious, and political divides.

Persia’s religious diversity, contested frontiers, and central role in Eurasian geopolitics created conditions in which negotiation and compromise were indispensable. By examining the interactions of different groups at the ordu, the study defines “internal diplomacy” as the balancing of power within the empire, and demonstrates how these processes shaped external relations as well.

The thesis is organised in two parts: the first analyses relations between the ilkhan, the military aristocracy, and the Persian administrative elite; the second explores outward diplomacy through Eastern Christians, Armenians, and Italian merchants. The conclusion reframes diplomacy in the Mongol world as a mode of governance sustained through compromise, brokerage, and negotiation.

Authors: Liberati, R

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-1z9r85mb5
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: Persia; Mongol Empire; Ilkhanate; diplomacy
• Subjects: Diplomatic History; Medieval History