Ghazan

Mahmud Ghazan 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, grandson of Abaqa Khan and great-grandson of Hulegu Khan, continuing a long line of rulers who were direct descendants of Genghis Khan. Considered the most prominent of the il khans, he is perhaps best known for converting to Islam and meeting Imam Ibn Taymiyya in 1295 when he took the throne, marking a turning point for the dominant religion of the Mongols in West Asia: Iran, Iraq, Anatolia, and the South Caucasus.

5 November 1271

Born on the same birth day (5 November): Banarsi Das Gupta • Beardsley Ruml • Charles Chauncy • Charles MacArthur • Don Falcone • Etta Moten Barnett • Hideya Tawada • Ida Tarbell • Jeb Stuart Magruder • Jim Steranko • John Brown (essayist) • John Harwood (journalist) • Keith McLeod • Marcus J. Ranum • Raymond Loewy • Roy Rogers • Trey Lyles • Vivien Leigh • Walter Gieseking