Career
In 1306 and 1322, after defeating the forces of the Golden Horde and the rebellion of the Keraites Rinchin, the Mongols had given Abu Sa'id, while still the infant heir apparent of Öljaitü, the title of Baghatur (from Mongolian "баатар" meaning "hero, warrior"). In 1325 Chupan defeated another force led by Muhammad Üzbeg Khan of the Golden Horde. The emir Chupan, in turn, even managed to invade the Golden Horde's territories.
Abu Said then fell in love with Bagdad Katun, a daughter of emir Chupan. In August 1327 Abu Sa'id had a son of Chupan, Demasq Kaja, killed, ostensibly for his activities with a former concubine of Öljeitü's. Later Chupan himself was killed by the Kartids, who were the lords of Herat.
In the meantime the Mamluks had beheaded Timurtash, another son of Chupan, who as a governor had revolted against the Ilkhanate years before, and was shown unusual mercy. In the 1330s, outbreaks of the Black Death had ravaged the Ilkhanate. Abu Sa'id had died without an heir or an appointed successor, thus leaving the Ilkhanate to be torn apart from within by the clash of the major families, such as the Chupanids, the Jalayirids, and by new movements like the Sarbadars.
The great voyager Ibn Battuta was amazed upon discovering, on his return to Persia, that what had seemed to be such a mighty realm only twenty years before had dissolved so quickly. The Ilkhanate had lost cohesion after the death of Abu Sa'id, and that of his successor, Arpa Ke'un, becoming a plethora of little kingdoms run by Mongols, Turks, and Persians.