Uzbeg Khan

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Mikhail of Tver before Uzbeg Khan, by Vasili Vereshchagin.

Sultan Mohammed Öz-Beg, better known as Uzbeg (1282–1341, reign 1312–1341), 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.

Öz-Beg assumed the throne upon the death of his uncle Toqta in January 1313. His adoption of Islam as a state religion led to a conspiracy of shamanist princes, which was severely subdued. In the long run, Islam enabled the khan to eliminate interfactional struggles in the Horde and to stabilize state institutions.

Öz-Beg maintained one of the largest armies in the world, which exceeded 300,000 warriors. He employed his military clout to conduct campaigns against the Ilkhanids in Arran in 1319 and 1335. After he found an ally against the Ilkhanids in the shape of Mamluk Egypt, one of Cairo squares was named after him. His memory also survives in the name of Uzbek people and the country in which they live, Uzbekistan.

As regards Russian politics, Öz-Beg supported the earliest princes of Muscovy - his brother-in-law Yury of Moscow and Yury's successor Ivan Kalita - against the westward-leaning Princes of Tver. Three of these - Mikhail of Tver, his son Alexander and grandson Theodor - were killed in Sarai at Öz-Beg's behest. Tver's uprising against the Horde was bloodily suppressed by Muscovite and Tatar forces in 1327.