Ghazan

Mahmud Ghazan (1271–1304) (, , sometimes referred to as Casanus by Westerners) was the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of Arghun and Quthluq Khatun, continuing a long line of rulers who were direct descendants of Genghis Khan. Considered the most prominent of the Ilkhans, he is best known for making a political conversion to Islam in 1295 when he took the throne, marking a turning point for the dominant religion of Mongols in West Asia (Iran, Iraq, Anatolia and Trans-Caucassia). His principal wife was Kököchin, was a Mongol princess (originally betrothed to Ghazan's father Arghun before his death) sent by his Khagan Kublai Khan, and escorted from the Mongol capital to the Ilkhanate by Marco Polo.