Ilkhanate

State · 1294–1343 CE · at its largest around 1294 CE

After Ghazan's conversion to Islam, the Mongol rulers of Iran became patrons of Persian culture: vizier Rashid al-Din compiled a pioneering world history, and painters blended Chinese and Persian styles in illuminated manuscripts. Tabriz grew into a cosmopolitan trading hub.

On its lands while it lasted

Silk Road (c. 130 BCE – c. 1450 CE): A network of overland caravan routes linking China with Central Asia, Persia and the Mediterranean, along which silk, spices, horses, religions, technologies and diseases travelled for more than 1,500 years.
Palmyra (c. 261–1929 CE): Capital of Palmyrene Empire (261–269).
Knights Templar (c. 1119–1312 CE): Hugues de Payens and fellow knights founded this military order in Jerusalem around 1119 to protect pilgrims, with headquarters on the Temple Mount. It grew rich and powerful until Pope Clement V dissolved it in 1312 under pressure from Philip IV of France.
Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517 CE): Mamluk slave-soldiers seized power in Egypt, founding a sultanate that ruled Egypt and Syria until the Ottoman conquest.
Qarshi (c. 1294 CE): Capital of Chagatai Khanate (1294–1462).
Tabriz (c. 1294 CE): Capital of Ilkhanate (1294–1335), Chobanids (1344–1357), Jalayirid Sultanate (1358–1388), and 2 more.
Founding of the Ottoman state (c. 1299 CE): Osman I, leader of a Turkish principality in northwestern Anatolia, founded the dynasty whose state grew into the Ottoman Empire, which lasted until 1922.
Kütahya (c. 1305 CE): Capital of Germiyanids (1305–1429).
Balikesir (c. 1305 CE): Capital of Beylik of Karasi (1305–1343).
Karaman (c. 1305 CE): Capital of Beylik of Karaman (1305–1467).
Sogut (c. 1305 CE): Capital of Ottoman Empire (1305–1329).
Kastamonu (c. 1309 CE): Capital of Beylik of Sinop (1309–1332), Beylik of Isfendiyar (1309–1398).
Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca (1324–1325 CE): Mansa Musa of Mali made the hajj with a vast retinue, and his lavish spending of gold in Cairo was said to have depressed its value there for years, spreading Mali’s fame to Europe and the Middle East.
Antalya Province (c. 1326 CE): Capital of Beylik of Teke (1326–1423).
Timur (1336 CE – 1405 CE): Turco-Mongol conqueror born near Kesh (Shahrisabz) who built an empire from Anatolia to India, sacked Delhi in 1398 and made Samarkand his capital.