Letter from Güyük Khan to Pope Innocent IV explained

In 1246, Güyük Khan sent a letter to Pope Innocent IV, demanding his submission. The letter was in Persian and Middle Turkic, which was used for the preamble.^[1]

The preamble reads as follows:^[2]

The letter was a response to a 1245 letter, Cum non solum, from the pope to the Mongols.

Güyük, who had little understanding of faraway Europe or the pope's significance in it, demanded the pope's submission and a visit from the rulers of the West to pay homage to Mongol power:^[3]

Bibliography

• Rachewiltz, I, Papal Envoys to the Great Khans, Stanford University Press, 1971.

Notes and References

1. Book: The Mongol Empire between Myth and Reality: Studies in Anthropological History. Denise Algie. 173. 2014.
2. Book: History and Historiography of Post-Mongol Central Asia and the Middle East: Studies in Honor of John E. Woods. 2006. John E. Woods . Ernest Tucker . 191. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag.
3. Rachewiltz, p. 103.