Geikhatu Khan

Born: c. 1271 Died: March 24, 1295 Reigned: 1291-1295 Khanate: Ilkhanate Title: Ilkhan

Overview

Geikhatu Khan was the fifth Ilkhan, a son of Abaqa who succeeded his brother Arghun in 1291. He is best remembered for a remarkable and disastrous experiment in economic policy: the introduction of paper money — the chao — into the Persian economy in 1294, modeled on the Chinese paper currency system used by the Yuan dynasty. The experiment collapsed almost immediately, causing economic chaos and contributing to Geikhatu's unpopularity. He was overthrown and strangled by his own commanders in 1295, one of the shortest reigns of the Ilkhanate period.

Rise to Power

Geikhatu came to power in 1291 following Arghun Khan's death. He was the preferred candidate of the military faction that supported him, though his reign quickly demonstrated that political support was not the same as governing competence. He was known for his dissolute personal habits and his lack of interest in the rigorous administration that the Ilkhanate required.

Rule and Achievements

Geikhatu's four-year reign is primarily remembered for its failures:

• He introduced the Chinese-style paper money (chao) into Persia in 1294 on the advice of his minister Sadr al-Din Zanjani, attempting to solve the Ilkhanate's fiscal problems
• The experiment was an immediate catastrophe — Persian merchants refused to accept the paper currency, markets closed, and the economy seized up. The paper money scheme was abandoned within two months
• He conducted raids into Armenia and Georgia but produced no significant territorial gains
• He was known for extravagant personal spending that depleted the treasury
• His misgovernance alienated the Mongol military establishment and the Persian population alike

In 1295, the commander Baydu organized a rebellion. Geikhatu was captured and strangled — the traditional Mongol method of executing a Chingisid, which avoided the spilling of royal blood.

Legacy

Geikhatu Khan is remembered primarily as a cautionary example of economic mismanagement. His paper money experiment was historically significant as the first attempt to introduce a Chinese-style paper currency into a predominantly Islamic economy, and its failure demonstrated the limits of transplanting institutional innovations across cultural contexts. His short, chaotic reign contrasted sharply with the relative stability of his predecessors and contributed to the political crisis that ultimately brought the reforming Ghazan Khan to power.