Godan Khan
Godan (Chinese: 闊端; also romanized as Goden, Koden or Khodan) (1206–1251) was a grandson of Genghis Khan. He was the second son of Ögedei Khan and his wife Töregene Khatun, and a brother of Güyük Khan. He is broadly known as Godan Khan, even though he did not have the monarchical title of khan. He is also known as Prince Godan.
Sam van Schaik states:
- After the death of Genghis, the vast empire that he had created was divided between his descendants in a series of messy, dispute-ridden successions reminiscent of those that had racked the Tibetan empire centuries earlier. The Tibetan borderlands of Amdo came under the rule of Goden, one of Genghis's grandsons.[1]
Godan was in charge of the regions of the Mongolian Empire that bordered on Tibet.[2]
In 1240, Godan ordered an invasion of Tibet, which met little resistance.[1]
In 1244, Godan summoned Sakya Pandita to his court to represent the Tibetans. Sakya Pandita arrived at Godan's court in 1246 with his two nephews, Drogön Chögyal Phagpa and Chakna Dorji.
Godan compelled the Sakya Pandita to convince the leadership of the various Tibetan clans to accept Mongol rule, which they did.[1]
According to traditional Tibetan accounts, Godan was suffering from an illness when the Sakya Pandita met him, and the Sakya Pandita cured him of the illness.[3] Godan then became Sakya Pandita's disciple and converted to Buddhism.[3]
The Sakya Pandita's nephew Drogön Chögyal Phagpa would eventually become a teacher of Kublai Khan, and Kublai Khan appointed Chögyal Phagpa as the temporal ruler of Tibet.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 van Schaik 2011, Chapter 4.
- ↑
Sakya Paṇḍita Kunga Gyeltsen, Treasury of Lives
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Powers 2007, p. 387.
Sources
Powers, John (2007), Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, Shambhala Publications. Archive version, pp. 386–387- van Schaik, Sam (2011), Tibet. A History, New Haven & London: Yale University Press
External links
Godan Khan, Wikipedia
