Dilshad Khatun (; died 27 December 1351), also Delshad, was a Chobanid princess. She was the wife of Ilkhan

Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan (June 2, 1305 – December 1, 1335; ), also spelled Abusaid Bahador Khan, Abu Sa'id Behauder (Modern , ''Abu sayid Baghatur Khan'', in modern Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet, Mongolian), was the ninth ruler (c. 1316 – 1335) ...

, and after him

Hasan Buzurg Shaikh Hasan (), also known as "Hasan Buzurg" ("Hasan The Great"), Hassan the Jalair or Hassan-e Uljatâï was the first of several de facto independent Jalayirid rulers of Iraq and central Iran. Early years He was born to Amir Husain Jalayir ...

, the first ruler of the

Jalayirid Sultanate The Jalayirid Sultanate () was a dynasty of Mongol Jalayir origin, which ruled over modern-day Iraq and western Iran after the breakup of the Ilkhanate in the 1330s.Bayne Fisher, William. ''The Cambridge History of Iran'', p. 3: "From then until ...

, and the mother of his son and successor Shaikh Awais.

Family

Dilshad Khatun was the daughter of Demasq Kaja, and the granddaughter of Amir

Chupan Amir Chūpān (; died October/November 1327), also spelt Choban or Coban, was a Chupanids, Chupanid noble of the Ilkhanate, and nominal general of the Mongol Empire. He was ennobled by Yesün Temür (Yuan dynasty), Emperor Taiding of Yuan as Duke ...

, who was the leading Mongol amir of the Ilkhanid period. Her mother was Tursin Khatun, daughter of Irinjin Kurkan, and Konchak Khatun, daughter of Ahmed Tekuder Khan, and Armini Khatun. She had three sisters, Sultan Bakht Khatun, Dendi Shah Khatun and Alam Shah Khatun. Her aunt was Baghdad Khatun, who was the wife firstly of Hasan Buzurg and after him of Abu Sa'id.

Marriage to Abu Sa'id

After her father's death in 1327, Dilshad Khatun was brought under the protection of her aunt Baghdad, who had become wife of Abu Sa'id after having first been married to Hasan Buzurg. When Dilshad attained maturity Abu Sa'id fell in love with her. He divorced her aunt Baghdad Khatun, and married her in 1333. At the end of life, he was not happy with his wives, but loved Dilshad very much. Therefore, Baghdad became very jealous.

Widowhood

After the Abu Sa'id's death in 1335,

Arpa Ke'un Arpa Ke'un, also known as Arpa Khan or Gavon or Gawon (; died 1336), was an Ilkhan (1335–1336) during the disintegration of the Ilkhanate, the Mongol state in Southwest Asia based in Persia. Life Not much is known of Arpa's earlier life, exce ...

, was chosen as his successor by the vizier, Ghiyas-al-Din Muhammad. Dilshad, who was pregnant with Abu Sa'id's child, fled to Amir Ali Padishah his uncle, leader of tribe of Oirad and governor of Diyarbakir. Her presence strengthened Ali Padishah's position. Seven months later, on 18 May 1336, she gave birth to a daughter. However, sources do not provide information about this child's name and life.

Marriage to Hasan Buzurg

Shortly afterward Ali Padishah was defeated and killed by Hasan, a rival claimant to the throne, who then married Dilshad. She bore Hasan, three sons: Shaikh Awais, who succeeded his father in 1356; Qasim, who died in 1367-68 and was buried in Najaf, and Zahid, who was born on 3 August 1351, shortly before his mother's death, and died in 1371–72. According to Shabankarai, she also bore

Tandu Khatun Tandu Khatun () or ''Tindu Khatun'' () was a Jalayirid princess and sovereign of the Jalairid Sultanate in Iraq in 1411–1419. Background Her parentage is uncertain. According to Abd al-Razzaq Samarqandi, she was the daughter of Shaikh Awais ...

Political influence

Dilshad brought about the death of Misr Khwaja, who had killed her father. Although married to Hasan, she remained to some extent a partisan of her Chobanid kinsmen, some of whom found temporary asylum in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

. When, in the summer of 1347, her cousin Malek Ashraf led an expedition against the capital, she reportedly persuaded Hasan, who wanted to flee to the fortress of Komak on the Euphrates, to stay and defend the city. When the Chobanid army withdrew Dilshad prevented the Jalayirids from pursuit and even welcomed some of Malek Ashraf's associates. Dilshad Khatun enjoyed undisputed power over Jalayirid Iraq, as well as considerable influence in Syria. She was said to have been charitable to the poor.

Death

Dilshad Khatun died on 27 December 1351, and was buried in

Najaf Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...

. It was suspected that she had been poisoned by Hasan who suspected her sympathies with Malek Ashraf. After her death, Hasan seized her agents and associates.