Öz Beg Khan

Sultan Mohammed Öz Beg, better known as Uzbeg or Ozbeg (1282–1341, reign 1313–1341), was the longest-reigning khan of the Golden Horde, under whose rule the state reached its zenith. He was succeeded by his son Jani Beg.

He was the son of Toghrilcha and grandson of Mengu-Timur, who had been khan of the Golden Horde from 1267–1280.

Coronation and Conversion to Islam by the Horde

Öz Beg's father Togrilcha was one of Genghisid princes that overthrew Tode-Mengu (r.1280–1287). Later, he was executed by Tokhta (1291–1312). Tokhta took Togrilcha's wife and sent his son Öz Beg to exile in a distant region of the Golden Horde: either Khorazm or the country of Circassians.

Converted to Islam by Ibn Abdul Hamid, a Sufi Bukharan sayyid and sheikh of the Yasavi order, Öz Beg assumed the throne upon the death of his uncle Tokhta in January 1313 with the help of the former Khans' vizier Temur Qutlugh and of Bulaghan (or Bayalun) khatun. At first, many Mongol nobles were against him and organized a plot to kill the new khan. Öz Beg discovered the plot and crushed the rebels. His adoption of Islam as a state religion led to a conspiracy of Shamanist and Buddhist princes, which he subdued severely. Öz Beg determinedly spread Islam among the Golden Horde and allowed missionary activities to expand in the surrounding regions. Öz Beg found out that his competitor was backed by the envoys of the Great Khan Ayurbarwada Buyantu and this fact helped deteriorate his relationship with the Yuan Dynasty. The last of his rebellious relatives was shamanist Khan Ilbasan of the White Horde, who was murdered in 1320. Öz Beg installed the Muslim Mubarak Khwaja as a replacement to the throne of the White Horde, but he discouraged their independence. In the long run, Islam enabled the Khan to eliminate inter factional struggles in the Horde and to stabilize state institutions. Russian scholar Lev Gumilev wrote that in this manner was Öz Beg able to turn the khanate into a sultanate.