APersonIndependent states
Özbeg Khan
Khan of the Golden Horde (1313-1341): ruler during the state's most powerful period, who made Islam the official religion of the Golden Horde.
Özbeg Khan took the throne in 1313 and reigned for twenty-eight years. He proclaimed Islam the state religion, and Islamisation and Turkicisation of the Golden Horde nobility accelerated in his time. Mosques and madrasas were built in New Sarai.
In his reign the Golden Horde was the hub of the trade routes, with caravans travelling safely from the Crimean ports to Khwarazm. In 1333 Ibn Battuta stayed at Özbeg Khan's camp and described his court. Some scholars connect the later name of the Uzbek people with his.
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Updated: November 12, 2026