When are the Chobanids shown on the map?

The border data draws the Chobanids 1344–1362. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.

How large were the Chobanids?

At their greatest extent drawn on this map, the Chobanids covered about 207,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives them across the years they are drawn, not necessarily their greatest extent in history.

Central Asia · The Mongol uluses

Chobanids

drawn on the map 1344–1362

See it on the map → Wikipedia ↗

Shown on the map: 1344–1362
Peak area: 207k km²
Region: Central Asia

Overview and identity

The Chobanids (Chupanids) were a Mongol family of the Suldus clan that rose to prominence in 14th-century Persia. First serving as commanders under the Ilkhans, they seized de facto control of much of the western Ilkhanid realm after that dynasty's collapse, ruling Azerbaijan (their base at Tabriz), Arran, parts of Asia Minor, Mesopotamia and west-central Persia from 1338 to 1357, while their Jalayirid rivals held Baghdad. Their state is generally dated 1335/1338–1357; the project's peak-area figure is 207,000 km². Unlike the khanates of Central Asia proper, the Chobanids were an amirate ruling through puppet Ilkhanid khans rather than sovereigns in their own right.

Origins and ethnolinguistic background

The family patriarch, Amir Chupan, was a Mongol commander of the Suldus tribe who served three successive Ilkhans beginning with Ghazan Mahmud. Mongolian and Persian were the languages of court and administration, and the family intermarried repeatedly with the house of Hulagu, acquiring quasi-royal legitimacy.

Chronology and major rulers

Chupan's dominance at the Ilkhanid court provoked noble conspiracies; in 1327 the Ilkhan Abu Sa'id forced him to flee to Herat, where the Kartids executed him, and several of his sons were killed or fled to the Golden Horde and Mamluk Egypt. His daughter Baghdad Khatun, however, married Abu Sa'id and wielded great influence (she was executed by Arpa Ke'un in 1335). After Abu Sa'id's death without heir in 1335, the Ilkhanate disintegrated. Chupan's grandson Hasan Kucek ("Hasan the Small") rallied the family, defeated the Jalayirids in 1338, and founded a Chobanid realm around Tabriz, elevating Sati Beg — sister of Abu Sa'id and Chupan's widow — to the puppet throne and forcing her to marry his own puppet, Suleiman Khan. Hasan Kucek fought the Jalayirids and fended off Togha Temur of Khurasan until his death in 1343 amid family infighting; his cousin Pir Husayn governed Fars and Isfahan (1339–1342) before the Injuids displaced the Chobanids in the south. Hasan's brother Malek Ashraf eliminated their uncles and, by the end of 1344, controlled the realm, ruling behind the puppet Anushirwan (1344–1357).

Government, economy, culture and religion

The Chobanids preserved the Ilkhanid administrative apparatus in northwestern Iran: Persian bureaucrats, Mongol military households, and nominal Chinggisid sovereignty. Their court at Tabriz patronized Persian manuscript painting — the celebrated "small Shahnameh" manuscripts and the Mu'nis al-ahrar frontispiece (Isfahan, 1341) date from their era. They were Sunni Muslims ruling a religiously mixed population.

Military and major conflicts

Their wars were constant but indecisive: against the Jalayirids for Iraq (a failed attempt on Baghdad in 1347), against the Injuids and Muzaffarids for Fars (a failed expedition in 1350), and against Togha Temur's Khurasanians. Malek Ashraf's growing cruelty alienated his subjects.

Decline, fall and legacy

In 1357 the Golden Horde khan Jani Beg overran Azerbaijan, captured Tabriz, executed Malek Ashraf and carried his family north; the Chobanid line was then killed off in Persia. Azerbaijan passed first to the Golden Horde, then to the Jalayirids. Their two-decade state is chiefly remembered as a bridge between Ilkhanid and later Turkmen rule in Azerbaijan, and for the outstanding Persian painting produced under its patronage.

Common questions

What were the Chobanids?: The Chobanids (Chupanids) were a Mongol family of the Suldus clan that rose to prominence in 14th-century Persia. First serving as commanders under the Ilkhans, they seized de facto control of much of the western Ilkhanid realm after that dynasty's collapse, ruling Azerbaijan (their base at Tabriz), Arran, parts of Asia Minor, Mesopotamia and west-central Persia from 1338 to 1357, while their Jalayirid rivals held Baghdad.
When are the Chobanids shown on the map?: The border data draws the Chobanids 1344–1362. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.
How large were the Chobanids?: At their greatest extent drawn on this map, the Chobanids covered about 207,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives them across the years they are drawn, not necessarily their greatest extent in history.
Who ruled the Chobanids?: Chupan's dominance at the Ilkhanid court provoked noble conspiracies; in 1327 the Ilkhan Abu Sa'id forced him to flee to Herat, where the Kartids executed him, and several of his sons were killed or fled to the Golden Horde and Mamluk Egypt. His daughter Baghdad Khatun, however, married Abu Sa'id and wielded great influence (she was executed by Arpa Ke'un in 1335).
How did the Chobanids end?: In 1357 the Golden Horde khan Jani Beg overran Azerbaijan, captured Tabriz, executed Malek Ashraf and carried his family north; the Chobanid line was then killed off in Persia. Azerbaijan passed first to the Golden Horde, then to the Jalayirids.
How were the Chobanids governed?: The Chobanids preserved the Ilkhanid administrative apparatus in northwestern Iran: Persian bureaucrats, Mongol military households, and nominal Chinggisid sovereignty.
What did the economy and culture of the Chobanids rest on?: Their wars were constant but indecisive: against the Jalayirids for Iraq (a failed attempt on Baghdad in 1347), against the Injuids and Muzaffarids for Fars (a failed expedition in 1350), and against Togha Temur's Khurasanians. Malek Ashraf's growing cruelty alienated his subjects.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Wikipedia: Chobanids en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chobanids
Encyclopaedia Iranica: Chobanids (C. Melville & A. Zaryab), cited in the Wikipedia article www.iranicaonline.org/articles/chobanids

This entry was written from the sources above and last updated 27 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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