Caucasia land, in the course of history, has been considered as one of the strategic regions of the world. Its geopolitical importance mostly pertains to the Caucasus Mountains dividing this region into two parts: north and south. The geopolitical role of this region became prominent once more after the foundation of the Ilkhanid dynasty in Iran, in south part of the Caucasus Mountains and the Golden horde dynasty in the north, i.e. Qepchaq plain. The feudal rulers of Golden horde who, prior to the presence of the Ilkhanid, had settled in the north part of the Caucasus kept encroaching upon the south Caucasia. After the foundation of Ilkhanid dynasty, the Caucasia land was added to the possessions of Hulagu. This caused an apprehension for the feudal rulers of Golden horde. Having noticed the importance of Caucasia, the Ilkhanid rulers constructed the capital city of their monarchy in the vicinity of this region so as to prevent the occupation of the land by their rival, i.e. Golden horde rulers. This rivalry led the two emperors to adopt special policies in the bilateral or international relations. The present research, taking a historical methodology, makes an attempt to investigate some of the most important policies and measures.

Abstract: South Caucasus¡ conquered by Mongols and controlled by Ilkhanids¡ was the homeland of Bagrationi administration. The governors in this region¡ except Arran and Karabakh¡ were under the supreme ruling command of Bagrationi. So there had been some political affairs between the governors and Ilkhanids. Seeking a reasonable explanation and analysis regarding South Caucasus development from religious point of view¡ this article is to answer this question: what was the impact of Ilkhanid’s foreign affairs¡ namely religious policy¡ on Christians in this region?The findings¡ based on the documents and library resources¡ confirm the significance of south Caucasus for the Ilkhanids either as a strategic territory or for the rival claim of Golden Horde in the region. The non Muslim Ilkhanids made a great effort to not only give advantage to the Christians to prevent them from coalition with the Golden Horde¡ also to take advantage from Christians hostility against Muslims to win the Golden Horde and Mamluks at the same time. On the other hand¡ the Christians of South Caucasus were looking forward to misusing the ideological differences between non Muslim Ilkhanids and Mulims for the sake of Christianity transcendence. Although Ilkhanids’ conversion to Islam relatively changed the pattern of religious policy against Christians¡ the general policy of the converted Ilkhanids remained unchanged towards non Muslim Ilkhanids. This was regarding the utilization of their military force and also to maintain the land as a strategic retaining territory against the Golden Horde.

Georgia was one of regions, which due to its strategic and somehow religious circumstances, had a spectacular importance in the Mongol empire. This critical position was intensified following the establishment of the Ilkhanid government and its confrontation with the Golden Horde in Qipchaq. On the other hand, a set of political, military, and social factors in the region and throughout the Ilkhanid realm forced Ilkhans to be content with the continuation of local sovereignties, avoiding direct dominance over the region. It was under such circumstances that the role of the Bageratid local kingdom, its relation with the Ilkhanids and the subsequent developments were given a historical significance. As a result, political developments in Georgia became a subset of the situation in the Ilkhanid government and its relations with the Golden Horde. This article explains and analyses political developments in Georgia based on its subordination to the Ilkanid rule. It represents how Ilkhans, on the one hand, exploited Bageratids’ supremacy in the region to maintain their own domination over the region and, on the other hand, attempted to control their power in different ways

As the territories of the Mongol Empire was divided among the descendants of Genghis Khan, the tribal relationships between the members of a house determined the relations between different regins. In this regard, the relations between the rulers of Cuman-Kipchak confederation (The golden horde) with the Ilkhanates in Iran, and consequently with the Jalairid Sultanate as the political heirs to the Ilkhanates, is greatly important. Although the Jalairids were not in thrall to the Imperial House, as a mongol tribe they played an important role in Genghis’ conquests and in the establishment of the Ilkanate rule. Furthermore, they replaced the Ilkhanates in the relations with the Khans of Cumancia. The current research has employed a historical method and has enjoyed first-hand sources in exploring the relations between the Golden Horde and the Jalairid rulers. Our assumption is that the approach adopted by Cumancia Khans in engaging with the Jalairids, is the continuation of the belligerent policies formerly employed in dealing with the Ilkhanates. The findings of this research suggest that Azerbaijan was at the crossroad of these relations, as a result of which Tabriz became hotbed of tensions of conflicts on various occasions. Although the rise of Teimur as a common enemy could be a turning point in the Jalairids’ relations with the Golden Horde, however, their plans for unity fell through and triggered the decline and fall of the two.

After the invasion of Mongols led by Hulagu Khan to the West and establishment of Ilkhanid Government, Iran political ties entered a new phase and experienced a remarkable and unprecedented development in terms of direct relations with the East and the West. The relations between the Ilkhanids and the Golden Horde which shared vast borderlines in the West and East of the Caspian Sea were mostly based on opposition and enmity rather than interaction and amity. The vicissitudes of hostile relations between the two governments both ruled by descendents of Genghis Khan, started since the establishment of Ilkhanid government and existed until the end of it. These tensions and conflicts were generated by various factors among which the most important ones were undefined borders, attempted expansionism by both sides, conflicts on ruling over regions such as Caucasus and Azerbaijan, trade and economic factors, differences in religion, interventions made by other rival governments such as Egypt that provoked more hostility, and ill-treatment toward the Nationals of the rival government practiced by both sides.

Indicating how two European states, Aragon and Castile, started trade relationship with the East, this article is to investigate the causes of their trade contracts with Baybars, Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, and the effects of Pop Gregory X’s economic sanctions because of these trade relationships. Mongol’s domination of Asian main trade roads, and then, Ilkhanids’ hostility with Golden Horde led to insecurity of trade road from China to the Europe, and it was replaced by China-Europe marine trade route which was Red Sea-Mediterranean Sea, and was redoubled the importance of Mamluks due to their domination of some parts of this Marine route. Therefore, Aragon and Castile were
forced to improve their trade relationship with Baybars, in order to provide their needs from the Far East. Because of Aragon and Castile’s being in need of Baybars help, Pop’s economic sanctions had not any considerable effect on these trade relationships.

The Ilkhanate pursued a hostile line towards the Mamluk Sultanate, a policy that consumed a chunk of their resources and had political ramifications for them. Shedding light on these relations and assessing their ramification could deliver a more accurate outlook on power bargains and foreign relations within the Ilkhanate system. The research findings suggest that the attitude and political bases of the Ilkhanate vis-à-vis the Mamluk Sultanate was drastically defined by their failure in the Battle of Ain Jalut which put an end to their ambition of expanding into Europe; this ushered in a chapter of enduring hostility in their political relations. This hostile attitude coupled with the emergence of the notion of asylum, set the stage for an expansive network of machination, libel, sectarianism, insecurity of lives and jobs within the Ilkhanate internal dealings and, at the same time, pushed them towards conversion to Islam as a means to legitimize their power and the battles they fought against the Mamluk Sultanate. Moreover, on foreign policy plain this rift precipitated close relations between the Ilkhanate and Europe on the one hand, and close times between the Mamluk Sultanate and the Golden Horde on the other, which eventually led Egyptians to bear cultural and religious impact on them and for the Europeans to acquaint themselves with the orient.

Although Iranian pottery has attracted the attention of art researchers and many studies have been conducted in this area, there is still the need for research in this regard. Islamic art scholars divide Iranian pottery into different categories according to historical periods, production centers or methods. Lajvardina is one of the most noticeable decorative styles in the Iranian pottery about which no comprehensive study has been carried out yet. These earthenware products have unique physical and technical characteristics thanks to the Iranians' great experiences in pottery making. The most notable feature of decoration in lajvardina is the use of a gold sheet and a background with the lajvard (lapis lazuli blue), turquoise or white glaze, painted in red, black and white. In most cases, the original patterns were gilded and their edges were painted in red. The gilded decorations in the Iranian pottery through the use of gold glaze or sheet were common during the Seljuk period, and lajvardina is not distinct from the other products of its own age in terms of its glaze and body formulation. The combination of these elements is among the visual features of lajvardina, with no history in Iranian art before this era. The present developmental research, whose data have been collected using library documents and resources, used the historical analysis method to determine the causes of the emergence, evolution and abolition of lajvardina in Iran and other countries. The results suggested that lajvardina life in Iranian pottery is limited to the late seventh century until the late eighth century. The construction of the single-colored lajvard and the combination of the technical features of Mina'i and some Iranian pottery traditions led to lajvardina. Eventually, lajvardina replaced Mina'i completely at the end of the seventh century. What makes it distinct from the other pottery decoration methods used in Iran is its use of distinctive color ranges, geometric patterns, and lajvardina gilding. Soltaniyeh, Hasanlu, Neyshapour, and Siraf Port are among the regions where lajvardina was discovered. However, the greatest Iranian lajvardina works were obtained from Abaqa Khan's Palace located in Takht-e Soleyman. These discoveries are not limited to Ilkhanate Iran; a few remains of these earthenware products have been found in Jordan, Egypt and Italy as well. Archaeologists' findings are indicative of lajvardina common use in Golden Horde regions, remarkable in terms of number, diversity and geographic distribution. The trade relations between Italian and Egyptian businessmen and the residents of Golden Horde justify the discovery of lajvardina remains in Italy, Egypt and Jordan. Since there has been no evidence of the construction of these works in areas outside the boundaries of Ilkhanate Iran, the lajvardina under question cannot definitely be considered to be local products. The decline of the Ilkhanate decreased the lajvardina production, the last major use of which was shown in Samarkand, dating back to the late eighth century AH. The production of lajvardina pottery in the late eighth century became an old technique.

The access to seas and high seas was one of the significant concerns of Iranian government's foreign policy during history. The geographical position of Iran- located two seas in north and south of it- provided a golden opportunity for Iranian government to have the influential role in international trade and protection of national security. Ilkhanid government settled in a land which lying from Oxus in east to Euphrates in west and from southern coasts of Black sea in north to Persian Gulf in south. By employing marine policy in commercial relations, Ilkhanid government played a substantial role in international trade during middle Ages. The factors of Ilkhanid's marine trade were based on dominance over Caucasus and election of Azarbayejan district as capital, sovereignty over Mesopotamia in order to control Red Sea and Indian Ocean and also influence over Anatolia and Asia Minor in order to control the southern ports of Black Sea. This marine policy had some considerable consequences such as control of commercial routes between East and West, Competition with Golden Horde and Mamalik government, relations with commercial government of Mediterranean districts and inauguration of commercial road of Tabriz to Hormoz and from Hormoz to Indian Ocean and China Sea which was regarded to be a significant event in international trade history.
This research investigates the role of Ilkhanid's marine policy in changes of marine trades between East and West. The outcome of such research demonstrates that Ilkhanid government not only resisted against local marine and its rivals but also had the effective role in connection of marine trade districts of Mediterranean, Black Sea and Indian Ocean.

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.