Etymology The name Qara Qoyunlu literally means "[those with] black sheep". They were likely so named because of the black sheep that was painted on their flags. It has been suggested that this name refers to old totemic symbols, but according to
Rashid al-Din Hamadani, the Turks were forbidden to eat the flesh of their totem-animals, and so this is unlikely given the importance of mutton in the diet of pastoral nomads. Another hypothesis is that the name refers to the predominant color of their flocks.
Origins The ruling family descended from the
Yıwa tribe of the
Oghuz Turks, specifically the
Baharlu, who by the fourteenth century possessed territories north of
Lake Van and
Mosul in
Upper Mesopotamia. The tribes that comprised the Qara Qoyunlu besides the Baharlu were the Saadlu in what is now
Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, the Karamanlu in
Ganja and
Barda, the Alpaut and the
Agacheri in
Maraş, the Dukharlu in
Erzurum and
Bayburt, the Jagirlu in
Ardabil, and the Hajilu. According to Faruk Sümer, the Qara Qoyunlu were undoubtedly a sub-tribe (
oba "camp, tribe") of the Oghuz, and
Vladimir Minorsky's claim that this subtribe belonged to the Yiwa is probably true. By a number of researchers, the
Oghuz dialect of Qara-Qoyunlu is connected with the
Azerbaijani language. So, for example, Faruk Sumer noted that the East Oghuz dialect, which was spoken by Qara-Qoyunlu, is today called the Azerbaijani dialect. Serdar Gündoğdu and Ali İçeri (Serdar Gundogdu and Ali Icher) call the Azerbaijani language a legacy that came from the
Turkoman tribes of Qara-Qoyunlu. Sultan Qara-Qoyunlu in 1435-1467
Jahan Shah is a recognized representative of Azerbaijani poetry. Duharlu Turkmens, a branch of the Qara Qoyunlu, first appeared in the
Chronicle of
Michael Panaretos of the
rump state of the
Empire of Trebizond. It is probable that the Duharlu came to Anatolia from
Central Asia during the
Mongol conquest of Anatolia, as testified by the legendary traditions of the Qara Qoyunlu.
Rise During the 14th century, the Qara Qoyunlu had several encounters with the powerful
Jalayirid Sultanate, which was based in
Baghdad and
Tabriz. In 1366,
Shaykh Uways Jalayir marched against the Qara Qoyunlu, defeating their leader Birdi Khwaja in
Mosul and his brother
Bayram Khwaja, at the battle of Mush. The Qara Qoyunlu Turkomans then became vassals of the Jalayirid Sultanate from about 1375, and the leader of their leading tribe ruled from
Mosul. The Qara Qoyunlu ruler
Qara Mahammad invaded
Mardin in 1384 and received the submission of its
Artuqid ruler
Majd al-Din Isa Al-Zahir (1376-1407), who became a vassal. When Timur died in 1405, an-Nasir Faraj released them both. However, according to Faruk Sümer, they were released on the orders of rebellious wali of Damascus, Sheykh Mahmud. Qara Yusuf, having returned from exile, forced Timur's governor of
Van, Izzaddin Shir, to submit, while capturing Altamış, another viceroy set up by Timur, and sending him to
Barquq. He later moved on to the territories of Azerbaijan. He defeated the
Timurid Abu Bakr at the
Battle of Nakhchivan on 14 October 1406 and reoccupied Tabriz. Abu Bakr and his father
Miran Shah tried to recapture Azerbaijan, but on 20 April 1408, Qara Yusuf inflicted a decisive defeat on them at the Battle of Sardrud in which
Miran Shah was killed. In the fall of 1409, Qara Yusuf entered Tabriz and sent a raiding party to
Shirvan, especially
Shaki, which was fruitless. In the west,
Mardin, the last stronghold of the
Artuqids, was taken over by the Qara Qoyunlu in 1409. The Qara Qoyunlu finally secured their independence from the Jalayarid dynasty with the conquest of
Tabriz by
Qara Yusuf and the execution of
Shaykh Uways Jalayir in 1410.
Armenia and Georgia (1410) In 1410,
Armenia fell under the control of the Qara Qoyunlu. The principal
Armenian sources available in this period come from the historian
Tovma Metsopetsi and several
colophons to contemporary manuscripts. According to Tovma, although the Qara Qoyunlu levied heavy taxes against the
Armenians, the early years of their rule were relatively peaceful and some reconstruction of towns took place. This peaceful period was, however, shattered with the rise of
Qara Iskander, who reportedly made Armenia a "desert" and subjected it to "devastation and plunder, to slaughter, and captivity". Iskander's wars with and eventual defeat by the Timurids invited further destruction in Armenia, as many Armenians were taken captive and sold into slavery and the land was subjected to outright pillaging, forcing many of them to leave the region. Iskander did attempt to reconcile with the Armenians by appointing an Armenian from a noble family, Rustum, as one of his advisers. When the Timurids launched their final incursion into the region, they convinced Jihanshah, Iskander's brother, to turn on his brother. Jahanshah pursued a policy of persecution against the Armenians in
Syunik and colophons to Armenian manuscripts record the sacking of the
Tatev monastery by his forces. During the reign of the Georgian king
Alexander I of Georgia (r. 1412–1442), the Qara Qoyunlu multiplied raids against the
Kingdom of Georgia, such as the raids led by
Qara Yusuf in
Akhaltsikhe in 1416. They started the
Turkoman invasions of Georgia (1407–1502), ultimately participating to the
collapse of the Georgian realm.
Baghdad , circa 1430 In 1410, the Qara Qoyunlu captured Baghdad. The installation of a subsidiary Qara Qoyunlu line hastened the downfall of the Jalairids they had once served. The Qara Qoyunlu finally took down the
Jalayirid Sultanate, which fled in a diminished form to southern Iran. The illustrated manuscript
Basatin al-uns (TSMK Ms. R. 1032) seems to have been created at the juncture of these events, and may be one of the last manuscripts created by the Jalayirids in Baghdad. Qara Yusif died in 1420, leading to internal fighting among Qara Yusuf's descendants. After the death of Qara Yusuf in December 1420,
Shah Rukh tried to take Azerbaijan from Qara Yusuf's son
Iskander, using the fact that none of his sons was accompanying his father. Shah Rukh defeated
Qara Iskander in 1420–21. The Timurids briefly occupied the Qara Qoyunlu capital of
Tabriz in 1421, and
Baysunghur, the son of Shah Rukh, brought back to
Herat a group of Tabrizi artists and calligraphers, formerly working for
Ahmad Jalayir, who he installed in Herat to add to his existing artists from
Shiraz. They became the most important school of artists in Iran, merging the two styles. Shah Rukh again defeated Qara Iskander in 1429, only in the third expedition of Shahrukh Mirza in 1434–35 did the Timurids succeed, upon which Shah Rukh entrusted the government to Iskander's own brother,
Jahan Shah (1436-1467) as his vassal. (left) in battle against the Timurid
Ibrahim Sultan (right) in April 1429.
Shahnama (1430), Bodleian Library, ms. Add 176, folios 6r-7v. In 1436 Jahan Shah made peace with the Timurid
Shahrukh Mirza, and obtained the help of Shah Rukh to defeat Iskander and seize the throne for himself. He was also adopted by
Gawhar Shad and crowned on 19 April 1438, taking the epithet
Muzaffar al-Din.
Southern and Eastern expansion In 1452-1453,
Jahan Shah seized the opportunity of the death of
Sultan Muhammad bin Baysonqor, Timurid Governor of Fars, to further expand East and South, taking
Saveh,
Qum,
Isfahan,
Shiraz and
Yazd. He was seconded by his son
Pīr Būdāq, who became governor of the region of Shiraz. In the summer of 1458, Jahan Shah advanced as far as
Herat and
occupied the city for a few months, but ultimately had to turn back because of a revolt by his son
Hasan Ali, and also because of
Abu Said's march on Tabriz. Hasan Ali was kept in
Maku prison for a while for his rebellious nature. He was defeated in winter 1458. But this time, his son Pirbudag rebelled, who was soon joined by Hasan Ali in
Fars. However, he was spared at the request of his mother and replaced by
Mirza Yusuf, another son of Jahan Shah. By 1468, at their height under
Uzun Hasan (1452–1478), the Aq Qoyunlu defeated the Qara Qoyunlu and conquered
Iraq,
Azerbaijan, and western Iran. ==Religion==