The Qara Tatars were recorded as a Mongol tribe of 30–40,000 nomad families dwelling near
Amasya and
Kayseri in
Anatolia at the time of
Timur's
conquests. Upon a suggestion by the
Ottoman Sultan
Bayezid I and to refill the depopulated extremities of his empire, Timur deported these tribes back to
Central Asia, specifically
Khwarazm and an island in
Issyk-Kul that later ceased to exist. Many of the tribesmen tried to escape from the forced migration, and although many were captured, some tribesmen remained in
Anatolia. A portion of the tribe that was previously deported managed to escape to the
Golden Horde, and some additionally returned to Anatolia following Timur's demise. In 1419, groups from the tribe were deported by the Ottomans to the
Balkans, settling near
Pazardzhik in modern-day
Bulgaria. At the start of the
Qajar dynasty, Qarai Turks were also scattered beyond southern Khorasan through the desert zone of
Sistan. Malcolm (1829) thought the Qarai of Persia arrived from "Tartary" as a result of
Timur's campaigns. Under Afsharid
Nader Shah (r. 1736–1747), they were settled in
Khorasan. Before that time, the Karai seem also to have been found in
Azerbaijan.
Adam Olearius, who traveled in Azerbaijan in 1638, mentions
Karai as one of the tribes of
Mogan. They became influential there in the 18th century, after their leader, Amir Khan, was made governor of
Mashhad under
Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1749. Their political power peaked in the early 19th century under the leadership of
Eshaq Khan Qaraei-Torbati. Eshaq Khan had submitted to
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar in 1795, but under
Fath-Ali Shah Qajar he achieved de facto autonomy from the central Qajar government, seizing control of Mashad in 1813. But soon later, in 1816, Eshaq Khan's tribal alliance fell apart and he was killed in Mashad. Esḥaq Khan was succeeded by his son
Mohammad Khan Qaraei-Torbati, who managed to retain "a sort of semi-independent existence" But in the second half of the 19th century, the Karai chiefs lost most of their wealth and influence. George N. Curzon, who visited the area in 1889, described the region as "terribly decimated both by Turkmen ravages and by the great famine". ==Demographics==