Ger or Yurt, the Mongols home, press here if you are lost, or want to break out somebodies frame or just dont see the whole site...Guyuk Khan 20-08-2004

Figure left : scanned from a stamp

Text below: http://www.iranica.com/articles/v11f4/v11f4048.html

Mongol great khan, given posthumously the regnal title Ting-tsung. He was the eldest son of Ögödei by his chief wife Töregene, and was born in 1206. When his father ascended the imperial throne in 1229, he gave Güyük his own appanage in the Emil-Qobuq region. He saw service in China, and from about 1236 participated in the campaign against the Qipchaq and other peoples of the western steppe, during which he quarreled with his cousin Batu, the effective founder of the Golden Horde (q.v.), who was in command. The two men remained enemies, and after Ögödei's death in 1241, Batu, fearing that Güyük would succeed him, prevaricated and failed to attend the assembly (quriltay) to elect a new sovereign. Consequently Güyük was not enthroned until 24 August 1246. During the five-year interregnum Töregene, as regent, worked for her son's succession, though Güyük fell out with her and after her death instituted a purge of her advisers and appointees.

"I do not understand these words of yours. Tengri (Eternal heaven) has slain and annihilated these people, becasue they had adhered neither to Genghis Khan nor to the Khakhan (Ogedei Khan), both of whom have been sent to make known God's command."

Guyuk Khan, explaining to the Pope the actions of the Mongols in the invasion of Europe. Obviously, Guyuk is using divine justification.
Source: Storm from the East

Güyük made fresh arrangements for the government of client states such as Rum and Georgia. Reinforcements were sent to the armies operating in China, and Carpini reported that Güyük was planning a new invasion of eastern Europe. Otherwise Güyük appears to have spent his brief reign in preparations for a struggle with Batu. The general Eljigidei was ordered to Persia to supersede or overthrow Batu's commanders in the Transcaucasus, and Güyük's own departure for the west with an army in 1247 was believed to be directed against his cousin, who made ready to oppose him. Güyük's death in April 1248 at Qum-senggir on the river Ürunggü averted a major war in Central Asia. The Franciscan missionary William of Rubruck later heard rumors both that he had been poisoned and that he had perished in a drunken brawl with one of Batu's brothers. According to Raæid-al-Din Fazµl-Allah, Güyük had accepted the throne only on the stipulation that it would remain in his branch of the family. But in the event, this was ignored; his cousin Möngke (Mengü) was elected Khan in 1251, and Güyük's widow Ogul Qaimiæ , who had been regent, and many others of his family were executed.

"This is an order sent to the great Pope that he may know and understand it. You have said: "Become a Christian, it will be good." Thou hast been presumptuous: thou hast sent a petition. This petition of thine We have not understood. How dost thou know whom God forgives, to whom He shows mercy? By the power of God from the going up of the sun to his going down He has delivered all the lands to Us; We hold them. Except by the command of God, how can anyone do [anything]? Now you must say with a sincere heart: "We shall become your subject; we shall give [our] strength." Thou in person, at the head of the kings, must all together at once come to do homage to Us. We shall then recognize your submission. And if you do not accept God's command, and act contrary to Our command, We shall regard you as enemies."

Güyük's Letter to the Pope
Source: http://www.heritagemadison.org/guyuk.htm

 

The sources claim that Güyük favored Christians and was hostile to Islam. Jovayni and Raæid-al-Din explain that he had been reared by his father's Christian minister Qadaq (Qadaq). Yet it is possible that his Christian sympathies, like those of other members of the Chingizid dynasty, have been overstated. According to Juzjani, Güyük was influenced by toyins, i.e., Buddhists, and it is also noteworthy that he maintained in office the imam Emad-al-Molk Moháammad K¨otani, one of his father's ministers . Güyük's reign was marked by severe dearth, and his extravagant generosity, on which Jovayni comments , clearly undermined the government finances, but he was not necessarily a feeble ruler. He was feared for his severity, and at his accession he called in all edicts (yarligs) and patents of authority (payzas) issued by the princes since his father's death.