Nestorian Christianity in Asia and Contacts with the Mongol Court (1240s)

Timeline

1. 1241–1245Baghdad · IraqThe Nestorian Eastern Patriarch was based in Mesopotamia, governing dioceses from Persia to Central Asia. In the 1240s the Persian region under Mongol rule was relatively stable; Nestorian churches and monasteries continued to operate, and dioceses sent envoys to the Great Khan's court seeking religious tolerance and commercial passage documents.
2. 1246–1250Court of the Mongol Empire · Mongolian PlateauDuring Güyük Khan's reign, Nestorian bishops and clergy reached the Mongol court along trade routes, taking part in contacts with Western European envoys. Nestorian Christianity had a long tradition among Mongol allies such as the Ongud; by the late 1240s church figures began paving the way for the religious policies and larger-scale diplomacy of Möngke Khan's later reign, forming a pluralistic religious landscape alongside Latin Christianity and Tibetan Buddhism.