Archaeologists have recently discovered what appears to be the remains of an ancient palace that may have belonged to Genghis Khan’s grandson Hulagu Khan in the Çaldıran district of eastern Turkey’s Van province.
With the excavation still ongoing the findings by the team led by Ersel Çağlıtütuncigil of the Izmir Katip Çelebi University Turkish-Islamic Archeology Department include unearthed shards of tricolor-glazed ceramics and pottery, porcelain, bricks, and glazed roof tiles.
Historical records from the 1260s detail the construction of Hulagu Khan’s palace but fail to mention its location. The team believes that this site may just be the missing residence.
For Munkhtulga Rinchinkhorol, a Mongolian Academy of Sciences archaeologist working on the dig “‘s’-like symbols on the roof-ending tiles,” also known as the “svastika pattern or tamga,” are “one of the power symbols of the Mongol Khans.”
Artifact and historical records provide information to the researchers working under Turkey’s General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism believe that these could be the first known architectural remains dating to the Ilkhanate.
Adding to the significance of this discovery, Çağlıtütuncigil adds that
“No Ilkhanid work has been encountered until now. In this sense, this study was a first,”
Hulagu Khan, a Mongol ruler who lived from circa 1217 to 1265 CE. was known for his military expeditions and the sack of Baghdad City. After the fracture of the Mongol empire, Hulagu Khan ruled a smaller empire, known as the Ilkhanate State. It included the territories of present-day Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Turkey. The Ilkhanate collapsed in the early century, making this find an interesting addition to historical records.
Ultimately, more research is needed to place this residence as the site of the Hulagu Khan’s palace.