Manifestation of the Concept of Iran in the Ilkhanid Era (According to the Historical Epics)

After the establishment of the Ilkhanid government, for the first time since the fall of the Sassanids, the name of Iran was revived as a land with political and geographical independence, and the Ilkhanate were called the rulers of the vast land of Iran from Jeyhun to the Euphrates. This issue has been mentioned in the histories of the Ilkhanid period. This research studies how the concept of Iran is represented in the important historical epics of the Ilkhanid era, namely Homayoonnameh, Changizi Shahnameh, Zafarnameh, Shahanshahnameh, to determine how much the poets of these historical epics tried to call the realm of the Ilkhanid Iran. The results of this study show that in these poems there are two different attitudes towards Iran: in Shahnameh, Zafarnameh and Shahanshahnameh, the domain of the Ilkhanid rulers is often called Iran and its borders as from Jeyhun to Rome and Egypt. Furthermore, the Ilkhanid rulers are introduced as Iranian kings who defend the borders of Iran. But in Homayoonnameh such examples are rarely seen. It seems that the most important reason for Homayoonnameh’s different approach is that this poem was written early in the formation of the Ilkhanid government, when the concept of Iran and Iranian identity were still less considered; but the composition of the other three poems was done in the period of stability of this dynasty. The personal views of the poets are also influential in their approaches. The main purpose of Zajaji was to narrate the history of Islam, but Kashani, Mostufi and Tabrizi included their Iranianist views in interpreting historical events. These two different and meaningful approaches in these poems show that the poets have consciously and purposefully used the name of Iran in their works. In addition, the results of the research prove that in the period of stabilization of the Ilkhanid rule, Iran was once again recognized as an independent territory with certain geographical borders, which the kings knew their duty to defend against the invading enemies.