Gaykhatu

Gaykhatu was Ilkhan of Persia from 1291 until 1295. He was the younger son of Abaqa and was raised to power by the leaders of his country after the death of his brother Arghun. ¹ He came to the throne on 23 Rajab 690, which the article gives as 22 July 1291. ¹

On his accession he adopted the Buddhist, Tibetan, names Rin-chen rDo-rje, "precious jewel". The article adds that he was in no way hostile to the Muslims and that he was the only Ilkhan who did not carry out any executions. ¹

Earlier, as an official in Asia Minor, he had been renowned for his unbounded liberality. As Ilkhan, the article says, he squandered the state treasury within a short time, gave himself to drunkenness and, apart from an attack on Asia Minor in 1292, paid no attention to affairs of state. ¹ This is the verdict of the article, which follows the Persian chronicles of Rashid al-Din and Wassaf named in its bibliography; other sources may judge him differently. ¹

His wife in part of this period was Padshah Khatun, who had first been the wife of Abaqa. When he came to the throne in 690 he gave her the province of Kirman, according to the article on the Kutlugh-Khanids. ²

To prevent a financial collapse, his finance minister Sadr al-Din Ahmad ibn Razzaq Khalidi, also called Zanjani, who had held office since 1292, advised him to introduce paper money on the Chinese pattern. The Persian name chaw is taken from the Chinese word for it. The population was unaccustomed to this currency and it was not covered by treasury reserves, so the state's finances collapsed in the autumn of 1294. ¹ The article on the Mongols calls the episode a low point of the reign and a disastrous failure. ³ The paper money was withdrawn afterwards. ¹

Gaykhatu was deserted by his amirs and troops when Prince Baydu of Baghdad advanced against him. Three days after his defeat at Hamadan, on 3 Jumada I 694/21 March 1295, he was taken prisoner and executed. ¹ After six months of civil war his nephew Ghazan succeeded him. ¹

The separate article on Baydu gives a different date for his end, saying he was strangled on Thursday 6 Jumada II/21 April 1295. The museum records both and does not choose between them. ¹