Arghún was succeeded by his brother Gaykhátú, whose coronation did not take place till July 22, 1291, four months Accession of Gaykhátú (A.D. 1291- 1295) and a half after his predecessor's death. During this interval, in spite of the fact that Tugháchár and other chiefs of the Mongols had hastened to appoint governors in the different provinces, anarchy was rampant, and Afrásiyáb, of the House of Hazárasp, which had ruled over Luristán since the middle of the twelfth century, broke out in an abortive revolt and for a while held Iṣfahán.

Gaykhátú, whom the author of the Ḥabíbu's-Siyar describes as “the most generous of the children of Húlágú,”

Dissolute and extravagant character of Gaykhátú chose Ṣadru'd-Dín Aḥmad Khálidí of Zanján, better known as Ṣadr-i-Jahán, as his prime minister. Both the monarch and his minister were disposed to extravagance and prodigality, and the former at any rate to the pleasures of the table and other less reputable enjoyments. Thus it soon happened that the treasury was empty, and, money being urgently Introduction of paper money (chao) required, Ṣadr-i-Jahán determined to introduce the chao, or paper money, which was current in the Chinese Empire. To this end establishments for manufacturing the chao were erected in all the principal towns, and stringent laws were enacted to restrict the use of the precious metals as far as possible. Full descriptions of the projected paper money are preserved to us in the Ta'ríkh­i-Waṣṣáf * and other histories of the period. The notes consisted of oblong rectangular pieces of paper inscribed with some words in Chinese, over which stood the Muham­madan profession of faith, “There is no god but God, Muḥammad is the Apostle of God,” in Arabic. Lower down was the scribe's or designer's name, and the value of the note (which varied from half a dirham to ten dínárs) inscribed in a circle. A further inscription ran as follows: “The King of the world issued this auspicious chao in the year A.H. 693 [A.D. 1294]. Anyone altering or defacing the same shall be put to death, together with his wife and children, and his property shall be forfeited to the exchequer.” Proclamations were also sent to Shíráz and other towns explaining the advantages of the new currency, answering imaginary objec­tions against it, and declaring that:

<text in Arabic script omitted>

“If in the world this chao gains currency,
Immortal shall the Empire's glory be,”

and that poverty and distress would entirely disappear. One ingenious provision in the laws affecting the chao was that notes worn and torn by circulation were to be returned to the chao-khána, or Mint, and new notes, less by ten per cent. than the amount thus refunded, were to be given to the person so returning them.

The issue of the chao in Tabríz was fixed for the month of Dhu'l-Qa'da, 693 (Sept.-Oct., 1294). In three days the Unpopularity of the chao bazaars of Tabríz were closed and business was practically at a standstill, for no one would accept the chao, and gold and silver had been withdrawn from circulation. The popular rage was largely directed against 'Izzu'd-Dín Muẓaffar, who had been in­strumental in introducing the hated paper money, and such verses as the following were composed about him:

<text in Arabic script omitted>

“Pride of the Faith, * Protection of the Land,
Would that thy being from the world were banned!

Hence Muslim, Guebre and Jew first magnify
God, and declare His Power and Unity;
Then, humbly praying, bow them in the dust,
And thus invoke the Judge All-wise and Just:—
‘Lord, send him not victorious, * we pray:
Cause all his schemes and plans to go astray!’”

Similar disturbances broke out at Shíráz and in other cities, and, yielding to the representations of the Mongol The chao is withdrawn nobles and others, Gaykhátú finally consented to recall the obnoxious chao and abolish the paper currency which had intensified instead of ameliorating the financial crisis.

Shortly after this untoward experiment, Gaykhátú, in one of those drunken orgies which were habitual to him,

Gaykhátú insults his cousin Baydú grossly insulted his cousin Baydú, a grandson of Húlágú, and caused him to be beaten by one of his retainers. Next morning, when he came to his senses, he repented of his action, and endeavoured to conciliate Baydú by means of gifts and honours. Baydú, for reasons of expediency, concealed his resentment for the time, but soon afterwards, encouraged by certain disaffected Mongol nobles, he openly revolted against Gaykhátú, who, betrayed by his general Tugháchár, was taken prisoner and put to death at Múqán, on Thursday, 6 Jumáda 11, 694 (April 23, 1295).

Baydú was crowned soon after this at Hamadán, and after celebrating his accession in the usual drunken fashion Baydú (April­Oct., A.D. 1295) of the Mongols, * proceeded to appoint Tughá-chár commander-in-chief, dismiss the late premier Ṣadr-i-Jahán, and replace him by Jamálu'd-Dín Dastajirdání. He did not, however, long enjoy the high position which he had gained, for six months after his accession he was overcome by Gházán, the son of his cousin Arghún, and, in the words of Khwándamír, * “quaffed a full cup of that draught which he had caused Gaykhátú to taste.”

The accession of Gházán, the great-grandson of Húlágú, marks the definite triumph of Islám over Mongol heathenism,

Gházán (A.D. 1295-1304) and the beginning of the reconstruction of Per­sian independence. He was born on December 4, 1271, and was therefore not twenty-four years of age when he assumed the reins of government. At the youthful age of seven he accompanied his grandfather Abáqá on his hunting expeditions, and at the age of ten his father Arghún made him governor of Khurásán, under the tutelage of the Amír Nawrúz, the son of Arghún Ághá, who for thirty-nine years had governed various Persian provinces for Chingíz Khán and his successors. The Amír Nawrúz had Gházán's conversion to Islám embraced Islám, and it was through him that Gházán was converted to that faith, for at the beginning of his struggle with his rival Baydú he had been persuaded by Nawrúz to promise that, if God should grant him the victory, he would accept the religion of the Arabian Prophet. This promise he faithfully fulfilled; on Sha'bán 4, 694 (June 19, 1295), he and ten thousand Mongols made their profession of faith in the presence of Shaykh Ṣadru'd-Dín Ibráhím, * the son of the eminent doctor Sa'du'd-Din al-Ḥamawí. Nor did Gházán lack zeal for his new convictions, for four months after his conversion he permitted Nawrúz to destroy the churches, synagogues and idol-temples at Tabríz. He also caused a new coinage bearing Muhammadan inscriptions to be struck, and by an edict issued in May, 1299, prohibited usury, as contrary to the Muhammadan religion. In November, 1297, the Mon­gol amírs adopted the turban in place of their national head-dress.

There was still, however, a considerable section of Mon­gols, princes, nobles and others, which regarded Gházán's Disaffection of the old-fashioned Mongol nobles conversion with active dislike. This led to sundry rebellions and intrigues, which, however, were sternly repressed; and in the course of one month, according to the Ḥabíbu's-Siyar (loc. cit., p. 85), no fewer than five Princes and thirty-seven amírs of the Mongols were put to death by Gházán and Nawrúz. Naw-rúz himself, however, in spite of all that Gházán owed him, was suspected by his master of secretly intriguing with the Sultan of Egypt, and, though he fled to Herát and sought refuge with Malik Fakhru'd-Dín Kurt, he was taken and put to death. Shortly afterwards Jamálu'd-Dín Dastajir-dání, the Ṣadr-i-Jahán * and his brother Quṭb-i-Jahán, were also put to death, and the great historian and physician Rashídu'd-Dín Faḍlu'lláh was made prime minister. Gházán was a stern ruler; “his reign,” as Sir Henry Howorth ob­serves , * “was marked by a terrible roll of executions, and, as d'Ohsson says, there is hardly a page of Rashídu'd-Dín at this time without a notice of the execution of some public functionary.”