- Gaykhatu
Gaykhatu (also spelt Gaikhatu) (? - 1295) was the fifth
Ilkhanate ruler inIran . He reigned from 1291 to 1295. During his reign, Gaykhatu was a noted dissolute who was addicted to wine, women, and sodomy. Hisbuddhist baghshi gave himtibetian name Rinchindorj.Reign
He had originally been governor of
Seljuk Anatolia , and was nominated for the throne by an influential Mongol commander,Ta'achar , who had murdered Gaykhatu's brotherArghun and intended to promoteBaydu , but Baydu didn't show up at the "quriltai ", so Gaykhatu was enthroned instead. [Atwood, p. 234] He was to care for a princess by the name ofKoekecin . Gaykhatu's wife, Padshah Hatun, was the daughter of Kitlugh Turkan (Turkan Khatun) and Kirman. Padshah took the title Safwad al dunya wa al-Din (literally, Purity of the earthly world and of the faith) after Djalal da-Din Abu'l-Muzzafar was deposed as head of theMongol tribe, who reigned in southeastern Iran. Padshah was known for killing her stepbrother, Suyurghatamish, but one of his clansmen, Khurdudjin, managed to avenge her by putting her to death with permission from Baydu during his reign as Ilkhan.Royal extravagance
Gaykhatu is known to have spent government money in an extravagant way. Among his beneficiaries were the Nestorian Christians, who praise him abundantly for his gifts to the Church, as apparent in the history of
Mar Yahballaha III . [Luisetto, p.146]Introduction of paper money
In 1294, Gaykhatu had wanted to replenish his treasury emptied by royal extravagance and a great cattle plague. In response, his
vizier Ahmed al-Khalidi proposed the introduction of a recent Chinese invention called "chao" (paper money). Gaykhatu agreed and called forKublai Khan 's ambassadorBolad inTabriz . After the ambassador showed how the system worked, Gaykhatu printed banknotes which imitated the Chinese ones so closely that they even had Chinese words printed on them. TheMuslim confession of faith was printed on the banknotes as a sop to local sentiment.The plan was to get the his subjects to use only paper money, and allow Gaykhatu to control the treasury. The experiment was a complete failure, as the people and merchants refused to accept the banknotes. Soon,
bazaar riots broke out, and economic activities came to a standstill, and the Persian historian Rashid ud-din speaks even of "'the ruin ofBasra ' which ensued upon the emission of the new money" (Ashtor 1976, p. 257). Gaykhatu had no choice but to withdraw the use of paper money.He was assassinated shortly after that, strangled by a bowstring so as to avoid bloodshed. ["Steppes, p. 377"] His cousin
Baydu , another puppet placed byTa'achar , succeeded Gaykhatu but only lasted a few months before himself being assassinated.References
* Atwood, Christopher P. (2004). "The Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire". Facts on File, Inc. ISBN 0-8160-4671-9.
*Rene Grousset , "Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia", 1939
* Luisetto, Frédéric, "Arméniens et autres Chrétiens d'Orient sous la domination Mongole", Geuthner, 2007, ISBN 978-2-7053-3791-9External links
* [http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/womeninpower/Womeninpower1250.htm Women in power (1250-1300)]
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