Trebizonds' status in the Anatolian Blockade by Ilkhanids

During the fifty-years of the Mongol invasion, Anatolia (Asia Minor) became increasingly important for the Mongols. After the establishment of the Ilkhanids Mongol government in Iran, the eastern and central parts of Anatolia was seized by Ilkhanids. Until the end of their rule, they extended their domains to the borders of the Byzantine Empire. Henceforth, Ilkhanids important goal was to cut off the relationship between the Golden Horde, the Russian Mongol, and the Mamluks in Egypt and Syria. Practically, to prevent the development of the relations of these rivals, the Ilkhanids made some kind of Anatolian blockade, which enjoyed great success in using the port of Trebizond. In the middle of this relationship, the Byzantine Empire, whose capital was Constantinople, had a commercial significance. Therefore, the Ilkhanids government was forced to establish friendly relations with the Byzantine Empire. To maintain its commercial life, Byzantine Empire had to create a trade balance with the Venice and Genoa republics which had commercial relations with the ports of Kaffa in the north of the Black Sea and Alexandria in the southern Mediterranean. This was also not something the Ilkhanids government could ignore. At the same time, the port of Trebizond, which was exclusively available to the Ilkhanids, was the main focus of its policy towards all the activists mentioned above, and during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, this port entered into the stage of trade and politics of the Black Sea.