ABSTRACT
The Il-Khanate spread over many regions, cities and states. The new regime’s presence was felt to varying degrees in different places. In a general sense security, especially on the roads, was increased and this greatly increased and promoted not only commercial exchange but also cultural exchange.544 In Rum the Il-Khans’ impact on daily life was minimal, in Azerbaijan, especially in the areas east of Lake Urumiyeh, their presence would have been unavoidable. In general over the first decades, the Mongol rulers were content to encourage cooperation in order to ensure that trade, agriculture and industry flourished and taxes continued to be paid. The process of cultural integration, already apparent at the highest levels in the princely ordus, had centuries of contact between the steppe and the sown on which to further develop. Often the ruling élites were themselves Turks only two or three generations removed from the steppe and both parties appeared to agree it desirable and possible that a symbiotic relationship be established.
