Güyük Khan

Güyük Khan was the eldest son of Ögedei and became great khan of the Mongol Empire in 1246 after a prolonged regency dominated by his mother Töregene. His reign attempted to reverse some appointments and policies of the regency and was marked by hostility towards his cousin Batu, ruler of the western ulus.

Güyük died in 1248 while travelling west with an army, possibly before an open confrontation, leaving another disputed succession. Güyük Khan also worked as Khagan of the Mongol Empire. Güyük Khan was born in Khamag Mongol and died in Mongol Empire.

Conn Iggulden’s Empire of Silver follows the generation after Genghis Khan, placing Güyük among the princes whose ambitions complicate Ögedei’s succession and the western conquests. Neal Stephenson’s The Mongoliad: Book 1 introduces the imperial family from the viewpoint of Europeans trying to reach and kill Ögedei; The Mongoliad: Book 2 moves closer to the khan’s court and the rivalries among his heirs, including Güyük. In The Mongoliad: Book 3, those succession tensions become part of the immediate danger surrounding the assassination mission at the centre of Mongol power. Cecelia Holland’s Until the Sun Falls views the same generation from the western armies under Batu and Subutai, where Güyük’s status as an imperial prince and his rivalry with other commanders affect the cohesion of a conquest stretching deep into Europe.