Baidu Khan

Born: Unknown Died: October 4, 1295 Reigned: 1295 Khanate: Ilkhanate Title: Ilkhan

Overview

Baidu Khan was the seventh Ilkhan, a grandson of Hulagu who ruled for only a few months in 1295 before being overthrown by his cousin Ghazan. He came to power as the leader of the rebellion against Geikhatu Khan and was rewarded with the throne, but proved unable to consolidate his position against Ghazan's challenge. His brief reign is notable for the stark contrast it presents with what followed: Baidu's removal cleared the way for Ghazan Khan, one of the greatest rulers of the Ilkhanate, whose conversion to Islam transformed the dynasty permanently.

Rise to Power

Baidu organized the conspiracy that ended Geikhatu Khan's reign in early 1295. The Mongol commanders who were alienated by Geikhatu's misgovernance — the paper money disaster, the empty treasury, the general incompetence — rallied around Baidu and made him Ilkhan following Geikhatu's strangling. Baidu was a Christian, or at least a consistent patron of the Nestorian Christian community, and represented the traditional Mongol religious orientation as opposed to the Islamic direction that the dynasty would shortly take.

Rule and Achievements

Baidu's few months of rule were defined entirely by the challenge from Ghazan:

• He was recognized as Ilkhan in the early months of 1295 following the rebellion against Geikhatu
• He immediately faced the challenge of Ghazan, Arghun's son and the governor of Khorasan, who had his own claim and his own military force
• Ghazan converted to Islam as a political act in the summer of 1295, gaining the support of the Muslim population and clergy — a move that transformed the political dynamics of the succession contest
• Baidu's forces were defeated in battle, and he was captured and executed in October 1295

His reign lasted no more than seven or eight months.

Legacy

Baidu Khan's brief reign is historically significant only as the final episode before Ghazan's Islamic transformation of the Ilkhanate. His Christian sympathies and his traditional Mongol religious orientation represented the end of the Ilkhanate's non-Muslim phase. The dynasty he briefly headed would, under Ghazan, become a Muslim state and a patron of Persian Islamic culture. Baidu himself left no institutional legacy, his tenure too short to accomplish anything. He is remembered as the last Ilkhan of the traditional Mongol religious orientation.