Considered the most prominent of the Ilkhans, 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.

One of his many principal wives was Kököchin, a Mongol princess (originally betrothed to Ghazan's father Arghun before his death) sent by his great-uncle Kublai Khan.

Military conflicts during Ghazan's reign included war with the Mamluk Sultanate for control of Syria and battles with the Turko-Mongol Chagatai Khanate.

A man of high culture, Ghazan spoke multiple languages, had many hobbies, and reformed many elements of the Ilkhanate, especially in the matter of standardizing currency and fiscal policy.

[3] Ghazan was born on 5 November 1271 in Abaskun (now near Bandar Torkaman),[4][5] although he was raised in the nomadic palace of the orda of his grandfather Abaqa's favorite wife, Buluqhan Khatun, who herself was childless.

The Mongols were traditionally tolerant of multiple religions, and during Ghazan's youth, he was educated by a Chinese Buddhist monk, who taught him Old Mandarin and Buddhism, as well as the Mongolian and Uighur scripts.

In 1289, conflict with other Mongols ensued when a revolt was led against Arghun by Nawruz, a young emir of the Oirat clan, whose father had been civil governor of Persia before the arrival of Hulegu.

[9] When Nawruz was defeated by Arghun's reinforcements in 1290,[10] he fled the Ilkhanate and joined the alliance of Kaidu, another descendant of Genghis Khan who was the ruler of both the House of Ögedei and the neighboring Chagatai Khanate.

When his father, Arghun, died in 1291, Ghazan was prevented from pursuing his claim of leadership in the capital because he was engaged both with Nawruz's raids, and dealing with rebellion and famine in Khorasan and Nishapur.

The first battle was won by Ghazan but he had to fall back after realising that Ildar's contingent was just a fraction of the whole army he faced, leaving Nowruz behind.

Meanwhile, Nogai Khan, kingmaker in the Golden Horde, was murdered and his wife Chubei fled to Ghazan with his son Torai[26] (or Büri[27]) who was Abaqa's son-in-law in 1296.

Ghazan eased the troubles with the Golden Horde, but the House of Ögedei and Chagatais of Central Asia continued to pose a serious threat to both the Ilkhanate and his overlord and ally to the Great Khan in China.

Shortly afterwards Ghazan reluctantly ordered the murder of Taghachar; he recognised that he had been a help and that he was not an imminent threat, and explained his decision by reference to a Chinese story about the execution of a commander who saved a future emperor by betraying a former one.

After returning to the west, he survived an assassination attempt by a soldier named Tuqtay, who claimed that Nawrūz murdered his father, Arghun Aqa.

His 12-year-old son Toghai was spared due to efforts of Bulughan Khatun Khurasani, Ghazan's wife Arghun Aqa's granddaughter and given to the household of Amir Husayn.

[36] In order to stabilize the country Ghazan attempted to control the situation[37] and continued the executions – Taiju (son of Möngke Temür) on 15 April 1298 on charges of sedition, vizier Sadr ul-Din Zanjani on 4 May and his brother Qutb ul-Din and with cousin Qawam ul-Mulk on 3 June on charges of embezzlement, Abu Bakr Dadqabadi on 10 October.

Ghazan appointed a Jewish convert to Islam – Rashid-al-Din Hamadani as new vizier succeeding Sadr ul-Din Zanjani, a post which Rashid held for the next 20 years, until 1318.

Over several years of expansion, the work grew to cover the entire history of the world since the time of Adam, and was completed during the reign of Ghazan's successor, Öljaitü.

[29] Ghazan was one of a long line of Mongol leaders who engaged in diplomatic communications with the Europeans and Crusaders in attempts to form a Franco-Mongol alliance against their common enemy, primarily the Egyptian Mamluks.

The plan was to coordinate actions between Ghazan's forces, the Christian military orders, and the aristocracy of Cyprus to defeat the Egyptians, after which Jerusalem would be returned to the Europeans.

[41] His army took the city of Aleppo, and was there joined by his vassal King Hethum II of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, whose forces included some Templars and Hospitallers, and who participated in the rest of the offensive.

[43] One group of Mongols then split off from Ghazan's army and pursued the retreating Mamluk troops as far as Gaza,[44] pushing them back to Egypt.

[50] On one of these occasions, it is reported that not one of the scholars dared to say anything to Ghazan except Ibn Taymiyyah who said: "You claim that you are Muslim and you have with you Mu'adhdhins, Muftis, Imams and Shaykhs but you invaded us and reached our country for what?

In July 1300, the Crusaders formed a small fleet of sixteen galleys with some smaller vessels to raid the coast, and Ghazan's ambassador traveled with them.

Plans for combined operations with the Crusaders were again made for the following winter offensive, and in late 1301, Ghazan asked Pope Boniface VIII to send troops, priests, and peasants, in order to make the Holy Land a Frank state again.

[55] In 1303, Ghazan sent another letter to Edward I via Buscarello de Ghizolfi, reiterating his great-grandfather Hulegu Khan's promise that the Mongols would give Jerusalem to the Franks in exchange for help against the Mamluks.

[59] After military campaigns, Ghazan returned to his capital Ujan in July 1302 and made several appointments: Nirun Aqa and Öljaitü were reconfirmed in Arran and Khorasan as viceroys respectively, while Mulay was sent to Diyar Bakr and Qutluqshah was assigned to Georgia.

According to the testimony of Shaykh Sadr al-Din Ibrahim Hammuiya, recorded in several Mamluk sources, Ghazan was given a woolen coat by him, indicating that perhaps the Ilkhan was initiated as a Sufi.

According to the Byzantine historian Pachymeres (1242–1310): "No one surpassed him, in making saddles, bridles, spurs, greaves and helmets; he could hammer, stitch and polish, and in such occupations employed the hours of his leisure from war.

[72] In Georgia, he minted coins with the traditional Mongolian formula "Struck by the Ilkhan Ghazan in the name of Khagan" because he wanted to secure his claim on the Caucasus with the help of the Great Khans of the Yuan dynasty.