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{{Short description|Mongol Military commander}}
{{Hatnote|For the leader of the Chagatai Khanate in the 14th century, son of Duwa, see [[Eljigidey]].}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Eljigidei Noyan
| termend             = 1251
| appointer           = [[Güyük]]
| battles             = 
| termstart           = 1247
| office              = [[Viceroy]] of [[Mongol Empire]] in [[Near East]]
| death_date          = 1251
| birth_date          = 
| predecessor         = [[Baiju Noyan]]
| successor           = [[Baiju Noyan]]
| image               = 
| caption             = 
| native_name         = ᠡᠯᠵᠢᠭᠲᠡᠢ ᠨᠣᠶᠠᠨ
}}
'''Eljigidei''' '''Noyan''' ({{Langx|mn|ᠡᠯᠵᠢᠭᠲᠡᠢ ᠨᠣᠶᠠᠨ}}, d. 1251) was a [[Mongol]] commander in [[History of Iran|Persia]].

== Career ==
He was a commander of the [[Kheshig]] during reign of [[Ögedei Khan|Ögedei]], the second ruler of the [[Mongol Empire]] and the third son of [[Genghis Khan]]. Following the election of [[Güyük]] in 1246, he replaced [[Baiju Noyan|Baiju]], [[Batu Khan|Batu]]'s protégé. He departed from Mongolia in September 1247 and arrived in [[Talas, Kyrgyzstan|Talas]] in April 1248, which coincided with Güyük's death. Upon arrival in [[Khorasan Province|Khorasan]], he stationed in [[Badghis Province|Badghis]] region.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/eljigidei-|title=ELJIGIDEI – Encyclopaedia Iranica|website=www.iranicaonline.org|access-date=2020-04-23}}</ref> Supposedly possessed of [[Christians|Christian]] sympathies like the khan, Eljigidei was ordered to advance into [[Syria]], and planned an advance on [[Baghdad]]. This advance was, ideally, to be conducted in alliance with [[Louis IX of France]], in concert with the [[Seventh Crusade]]. However, Güyük's sudden death made Eljigidei postpone operations until after the [[interregnum]]. Still, Eljigidei wrote a letter from his camp in Khorasan.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=AIGLE|first=DENISE|date=2005|title=The Letters of Eljigidei, Hülegü, and Abaqa: Mongol Overtures or Christian Ventriloquism?|journal=Inner Asia|volume=7|issue=2|pages=143–162|doi=10.1163/146481705793646883|jstor=23615692|issn=1464-8172|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00381967/file/InnerAsia.pdf }}</ref>  

Eljigidei never managed to hold real command but only on paper. After the election of [[Möngke]], however, Eljigidei and his two sons were implicated in an aborted conspiracy to declare the election invalid.<ref>{{Citation|last=Dashdondog|first=Bayarsaikhan|title=MONGOL NOYANS IN GREATER ARMENIA (1220–1245)|date=2011|work=The Mongols and the Armenians (1220-1335)|pages=43–70|publisher=Brill|jstor=10.1163/j.ctt1w8h10n.10}}</ref> Though supposedly innocent, Eljigidei was arrested and put to death as well in winter of 1251 or 1252. [[Baiju Noyan|Baiju]] was subsequently returned to command in Persia.

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:1250s deaths]]
[[Category:13th-century Mongols]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:13th-century Iranian people]]
[[Category:Mongol Empire people]]
[[Category:Generals of the Mongol Empire]]


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