Ilkhan Öljaitü converts to Shia Islam

1304

The Mongol ruler of Persia, baptized a Christian and once a Buddhist, declared himself a Shia Muslim and struck coins bearing the names of the Twelve Imams. He also commissioned a magnificent mausoleum at Sultaniyya whose soaring dome remains one of the largest brick vaults ever built. His conversion shifted the religious landscape of Iran and foreshadowed the Safavid establishment of Shiism as state faith.