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It is said that Pope Boniface VIII endeavoured by a display of his connection with Ghazan Khan to excite the Christian princes to another Crusade, and it was probably this connection with the head of the Christian Church which led to a general impression among Western writers that Ghazan Khan was not sincere in his conversion to Mohammedanism, and was at heart a Christian.
Arghun died in 1291, and although his eldest son, Ghazan, ultimately took up his father's projects and even decisively defeated the Egyptian army in Syria , his losses forced him to return to Persia. It was reported that he had died a Christian and in the Franciscan habit, but there is no proof of this.
The poor princess was put under the care of Prince Ghazan, the son of Prince Arghun, who did not ascend the throne until 1295, when his uncle, the usurper, was strangled. What became of the princess we do not hear, but on parting with Nicolo, Matteo, and Marco Polo, she bestowed on them great marks of favour.
He was at that time at the head of an army on the borders of Persia. He was of a diminutive stature, but of a great soul, and, on afterwards ascending the throne, acquired renown for his talents and virtues. What became of the Eastern bride, who had traveled so far in quest of a husband, is not known; but every thing favorable is to be inferred from the character of Ghazan.
Malcolm, in remarking on Ghazan Khan's accession to the throne of Persia, says that Henry IV. of France similarly changed his creed to secure the crown. Ghazan Khan reigned about the middle of the thirteenth century, and was known in Europe for his supposed readiness to assist in re-establishing the Christians in the Holy Land.
Unfortunately for the royal bride who was the object of this splendid naval expedition, the bridegroom, the Mogul king, had died some time before her arrival, leaving a son named Ghazan, during whose minority the government was administered by his uncle Kai-Khatu. According to the directions of the regent, the princess was delivered to the youthful prince, son of her intended spouse.
It is not clear whether Ghazan Khan apostatized from the religion of his ancestors or that of the Christians, but he is believed to have been attached all his life to the latter faith, though he does not appear to have made a public declaration of his belief in its doctrines.
She lies buried by the side of her husband at Lahore, the capital of the Punjab. The subject of Ghazan Khan's succession to the throne of Persia is an unusually interesting one. He was a Moghul chief of the line of Chengiz Khan, and, holding Persia in tributary dependence for his sovereign master the Khakan, was at the head of one hundred thousand tried Tartar warriors.
Ghazan Khan was the first of this race of kings from the line of Chengiz who threw off all allegiance to Tartary by directing that the name of the monarch of that empire should not in future be put on the Persian coins. On the coins which he struck, the Mohammedan creed, 'There is no God but God, and Mohammed is His Prophet, was inscribed instead of the name and titles of the Khakan.
They were detained five months on the coast of Sumatra, and there were even longer detentions off the southern coast of India, so that more than two years had passed since their departure from Fokien, when they arrived at the camp of the then reigning prince of Persia. The Khan of Persia, they found, had died before they set sail from China, and his son, Ghazan Khan, reigned in his stead.
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