GUYUK

also spelled Kuyuk born 1206, Mongolia died 1248, Mongolia grandson of Genghis Khan and eldest son and successor of gdei, the first khagan, or great khan, of the Mongols. Gyk was elected to the throne in 1246, partly through the maneuvering of his mother. He was strongly influenced by Nestorianism, a form of Christianity considered a heresy by Western Christians, and he favoured Christian advisers. His election to the throne embittered the conqueror of Russia, Batu (d. c. 1255), also a grandson of Genghis. Gyk's early death, however, prevented the dispute from tearing the Mongol Empire completely asunder.