Uzbeg Khan
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.
Oz-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.
Oz-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 they live in.
As regards
Russian politics, Oz-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 Oz-beg's behest. Tver's uprising against the Horde was bloodily suppressed by Muscovite and Tatar forces in
1327.
*
List of Khans of the Golden Horde
