Kadan was the son of the
Khagan Ögedei Khan and one of his
concubines. Kadan's grandfather was
Genghis Khan and his brother was
Güyük Khan. During the
Mongol invasion of Europe, Kadan,
Baidar (son of
Chagatai Khan) and
Orda Khan (the eldest brother of
Batu Khan and khan of the
White Horde), led the Mongol diversionary force which attacked
Poland while the main Mongol force struck the
Kingdom of Hungary.
In early 1241 Kadan's forces sacked the Polish towns of
Lublin, Zawichost and
Sandomierz. Kadan then attacked
Masovia, while Baidar burned the evacuated Polish capital,
Kraków and then
Bytom, and Orda Khan ravaged the southwestern border of
Lithuania and the Polish Baltic coast. The three leaders were then to attack the
Silesian capital
Breslau. Baidar began to besiege the town, but marched north with Kadan and Orda to
Liegnitz to defeat the forces of
Henry II the Pious, Duke of Silesia, before the Polish duke could join King
Wenceslaus I of Bohemia. After defeating some forces of
Konrad I of Masovia, Kadan's forces joined with Baidar's and Orda's at Liegnitz. The Christian army was crushed in the ensuing
Battle of Liegnitz of
April 9 1241.
Mongol casualties were heavier than expected in the battle, however, and Kadan was reluctant to directly attack Wenceslaus' Bohemian forces. Kadan and Baidar skirmished against the Bohemians and were able to prevent the Bohemian king from helping King
Béla IV of Hungary. After raiding
Moravia, the Mongol diversionary force went to Hungary.
During the winter of 1241-1242, Kadan sacked
Buda on the way to
Győr. While besieging Italian mercenaries defending
Székesfehérvár, Kadan was forced to withdraw his troops after an early thaw flooded the land around the town. The Mongol prince was then sent south with one
tumen to search for Béla in
Croatia. Kadan first sought the Hungarian king at
Zagreb, which he sacked, and then pursued him into
Dalmatia. While Béla hid at
Trogir, Kadan's tired forces were defeated by a Croatian army at
Fiume. Kadan had his Hungarian prisoners executed as supplies began to run out. To the king's surprise, Kadan headed south past Trogir toward
Ragusa. While he was nearing
Scutari, Kadan heard of the death of his father, Ögedei Khan. Kadan's raids through
Bulgaria on his retreat from Central Europe induced the young
Kaliman I of Bulgaria to pay tribute and accept
Batu Khan as his liege.
In 1251 Kadan accepted the election of
Möngke Khan as Khagan. Kadan was loyal to
Kublai Khan and supported his army against
Ariq Böke. Kadan and his descendents owned
Tangud land during the
Yuan Dynasty. Rashid Addin wrote that they had never revolted against the Khagans.
In many medieval sources, Kadan was mistranslated by chroniclers as
Kaidu, leading to confusion about who participated in the European campaign.
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