In the 1330s, outbreaks of the Black Death ravaged the Ilkhanate and both Abu-Sai'd and his sons were killed by 1335 by the plague. Abu Sa'id died without an heir or an appointed successor, thus leaving the Ilkhanate vulnerable, leading to clashes of the major families, such as the Chupanids, the Jalayirids, and new movements like the Sarbadars.

On his return to Persia, the great voyager Ibn Battuta was amazed to discover that the realm which had seemed to be so mighty only twenty years before, had dissolved so quickly. Ghiyas-ud-Din put a descendant of Ariq Böke, Arpa Ke'un, on the throne, triggering a succession of short-lived khans until "Little" Hasan took Azerbaijan in 1338. In 1357, Jani Beg of the Golden Horde conquered Chupanid-held Tabriz for a year, putting an end to the Ilkhanate remnant.