<P> Nearly a century of conquest and civil war was followed by relative stability, the Pax Mongolica, and international trade and cultural exchanges flourished between Asia and Europe . Communication between the Yuan dynasty in China and the Ilkhanate in Persia further encouraged trade and commerce between east and west . Patterns of Yuan royal textiles could be found on the opposite side of the empire adorning Armenian decorations; trees and vegetables were transplanted across the empire; and technological innovations spread from Mongol dominions towards the West . Pope John XXII was presented a memorandum from the eastern church describing the Pax Mongolica: "...Khagan is one of the greatest monarchs and all lords of the state, e.g., the king of Almaligh (Chagatai Khanate), emperor Abu Said and Uzbek Khan, are his subjects, saluting his holiness to pay their respects ." However, while the four khanates continued to interact with one another well into the 14th century, they did so as sovereign states and never again pooled their resources in a cooperative military endeavor . </P> <P> In spite of his conflicts with Kaidu and Duwa, Yuan emperor Temür established a tributary relationship with the war - like Shan people after his series of military operations against Thailand from 1297 to 1303 . This was to mark the end of the southern expansion of the Mongols . </P> <P> When Ghazan took the throne of the Ilkhanate in 1295, he formally accepted Islam as his own religion, marking a turning point in Mongol history after which Mongol Persia became more and more Islamic . Despite this, Ghazan continued to strengthen ties with Temür Khan and the Yuan dynasty in the east . It was politically useful to advertise the great khan's authority in the Ilkhanate, because the Golden Horde in Russia had long made claims on nearby Georgia . Within four years, Ghazan began sending tribute to the Yuan court and appealing to other khans to accept Temür Khan as their overlord . He oversaw an extensive program of cultural and scientific interaction between the Ilkhanate and the Yuan dynasty in the following decades . </P> <P> Ghazan's faith may have been Islamic, but he continued his ancestors' war with the Egyptian Mamluks, and consulted with his old Mongolian advisers in his native tongue . He defeated the Mamluk army at the Battle of Wadi al - Khazandar in 1299, but he was only briefly able to occupy Syria, due to distracting raids from the Chagatai Khanate under its de facto ruler Kaidu, who was at war with both the Ilkhans and the Yuan dynasty . </P>

Who was the ruler who united the mongols and conquered a vast empire