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Who was Oz Beg and where did Ibn Battuta meet him?

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Engraving of Ibn Battuta in Egypt, standing on a decorated stone block with another man, overlooking ancient Egyptian columns and palm trees in the background. — Ibn Battuta Ibn Baṭṭūṭah (right) with an Egyptian man in Egypt.

Öz Beg (reigned 1312–1341) was a Mongol leader and the khan of the Golden Horde, a realm in southern Russia that reached its greatest power under his rule. Although he was a convert to Islam, he maintained a policy of religious tolerance, welcoming Christian missionaries and supporting the princes of Moscow.1

Ibn Battuta met Öz Beg in Saray, the capital of the Golden Horde located on the lower Volga River. During his travels, Ibn Battuta also accompanied the khan’s wife, a Byzantine princess, on an excursion to Constantinople.2