Baiju

Who was Baiju?

Baiju was a Mongol commander in Persia appointed by Ögedei Khan to succeed Chormagan, and expand Mongol power further in that area.

Baiju took over command in 1241 or 1242, and immediately moved against the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm, shattering its power at the Battle of Köse Dag in 1243. After this battle, the Sultanate became a vassal state of the Mongol empire and was forced to release David VI Narin. He installed his protégé David Narin to the throne of Georgia to oppose Queen Rusudan's decision. However, the Mongols had few forces in the area, and were content to maintain their vassals with punitive raids. Baiju led Mongol tumens to raid Syria in 1246. Despite his small successes there, his next two attempts to invade the Abbasid Caliphate in Iraq met less success in 1238-1246.

At the end of the regency following Ögedei's death, however, Baiju was replaced by the new khan Güyük with Eljigidei in 1246, but Eljigidei and his entire family were purged in the accession of Möngke Khan in 1251 or 1252. Under Baiju in the 1240s and 1250s, the Mongols retained their power in what is roughly modern-day Iran, and tolerated the independence of the Sultanate, Georgia, and petty states in Iran as clients, interfering with dynastic succession and extracting tribute militarily as necessary. However, the Abbasids in Baghdad and the Assassins in the Elbruz mountains maintained their independence until the coming of Hulegu, Möngke's brother, in 1255.