View source for Qara Qoyunlu

{{Short description|Persianate, Muslim Turkoman confederation (1374–1468)}}
{{For|the district in Turkey|Karakoyunlu}}
{{pp-move}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = {{lang|fa|قره قویونلو}}
| conventional_long_name = Qara Qoyunlu
| common_name            = 
| era                    = Middle Ages
| status                 = [[Confederation|Confederate]] [[sultanate]]
| government_type        = [[Monarchy]]
| area_km2               = 520.000
| year_start             = 1374
| year_end               = 1468
| date_start             = 
| date_end               = 
| p1                     = Jalayirids
| s1                     = Aq Qoyunlu
| image_flag             = 
| flag_type              = 
| flag_border            = 
| image_coat             = 
| image_map              = Timurid and Qara Qoyunlu domains, 1458.png
| image_map_caption      = Maximum extent of Qara Qoyunlu territory (<small>{{Colorsample|rgba(150, 0, 150, 0.35)|0.6}}</small>) in 1458 under [[Jahan Shah]]
| capital                = {{plainlist|
* [[Erciş]] ([[Yaylak|summer pastures]])<ref name=faruk>{{TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi|title=KARAKOYUNLULAR Doğu Anadolu, Azerbaycan, İran ve Irak'ta hüküm süren Türkmen hânedanı (1351-1469).|url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/karakoyunlular|author=Faruk Sümer}}</ref>
* [[Mosul]] ([[Kishlak|winter pastures]])<ref name=faruk />
* [[Tabriz]]}}
| common_languages       = *[[Persian language|Persian]] (official court language,{{sfn|Arjomand|2016|p=11}} poetry{{sfn|Minorsky|1954|p=282}})
*[[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]] (dynastic,<ref>{{cite book|title=Kara Koyunlular|language=tr|volume=1|author=Faruk Sümer|isbn=9789751748478|year=1992|page=8|section=Başlangıçtan Cihan-Şah'a Kadar|publisher=Turkish Historical Society}}</ref> poetry){{efn|"It is somewhat astonishing that a sturdy Turkman like Jihan-shah should have been so restricted in his ways of expression. Altogether the language of the poems belongs to the group of the southern Turkman dialects which go by the name of 'Azarbayjan Turkish'."{{sfn|Minorsky|1954|p=283}}}}{{sfn|Minorsky|1954|p=283}}
*[[Arabic]]{{sfn|Bauden|2019|p=423}}
| religion               = [[Shia Islam]] ([[#Religion|possibly]])
| currency               = [[Tanka (coin)|Tanka]]<ref name= numista>{{Cite web|url=https://en.numista.com/catalogue/qara_qoyunlu-1.html|title=Coins from the tribal federation of Qara Qoyunlu – Numista|website=en.numista.com}}</ref>
| leader1                = [[Bayram Khwaja]] (first)
| leader2                = [[Hasan Ali (Qara Qoyunlu)|Hasan Ali]] (last)
| year_leader1           = 1374–1378
| year_leader2           = 1467–1468
| title_leader           = [[List of rulers of Qara Qoyunlu|Ruler]]
| p2                     = Sutayids
| p3                     = Timurids
}}
The '''Qara Qoyunlu''' or '''Kara Koyunlu''' ({{langx|az|Qaraqoyunlular}}, {{Lang|az-Arab|قاراقویونلولار‎}}; {{langx|fa|قره قویونلو}}), also known as the '''Black Sheep Turkomans''', were a culturally [[Persianate society|Persianate]], [[Muslims|Muslim]] [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkoman]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Philippe |first1=Beaujard |title=The Worlds of the Indian Ocean |date=2019 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |chapter=Western Asia: Revival of the Persian Gulf |isbn=9781108341219 |pages=515–521}} "In a state of demographic stagnation or downturn, the region was an easy prey for nomadic '''Turkmen'''. The '''Turkmen''', however, never managed to build strong states, owing to a lack of sedentary populations (Martinez-Gros 2009: 643). When Tamerlane died in 1405, the Jalāyerid sultan Ahmad, who had fled Iraq, came back to Baghdad. Five years later, he died in Tabriz (1410) in a battle led against the '''Turkmen Kara Koyunlu''' ("[Those of the] Black Sheep"), who took Baghdad in 1412."</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Kara Koyunlu |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kara-Koyunlu |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica}} "Kara Koyunlu, also spelled Qara Qoyunlu, Turkish Karakoyunlular, English Black Sheep, '''Turkmen''' tribal federation that ruled Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Iraq from about 1375 to 1468."</ref><ref name=":6">{{cite book |title=The Book of Dede Korkut |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofdedekorkut0000unse |url-access=registration |date=1972 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=0-292-70787-8 |page=Introduction |edition=F.Sumer, A.Uysal, W.Walker}} "Better known as '''Turkomans'''... the interim Ak-Koyunlu and Karakoyunlu dynasties..."</ref> monarchy that ruled over the territory comprising present-day [[Azerbaijan]], [[Armenia]], northwestern [[Iran]], eastern [[Turkey]], and northeastern [[Iraq]] from about 1374 to 1468.{{sfn|Kouymjian|2004|p=4}}<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kara-Koyunlu|title=Kara Koyunlu &#124; History, Meaning, & Capital &#124; Britannica|website=www.britannica.com}}</ref>

==History==
=== Etymology ===
The name Qara Qoyunlu literally means "[those with] black sheep".{{sfn|Bosworth|1996|p=273}} 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.{{sfn|Quiring-Zoche|1986}}

===Origins===
The ruling family descended from the [[Yiwa (tribe)|Yıwa tribe]] of the [[Oghuz Turks]], specifically the [[Baharlu (ethnic group)|Baharlu]],<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter B. Golden|title=An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples|year=1992|pages=367–368}}</ref> who by the fourteenth century possessed territories north of [[Lake Van]] and [[Mosul]] in [[Upper Mesopotamia]].<ref name=":3">{{cite book | author = Clifford Edmund Bosworth | date = 2004 | title = The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual | publisher = Edinburgh University Press | pages = 273–274| isbn = 978-0-7486-2137-8 | oclc = 1001660530 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mKpz_2CkoWEC&pg=273|quote=Their ruling family seems to have come from the Yïwa or Iwa clan of the [[Oghuz Turks|Oghuz]], and the seats of their power in the fourteenth century lay to the north of [[Lake Van]] and in the [[Mosul]] region of northern Iraq.}}</ref> The tribes that comprised the Qara Qoyunlu besides the Baharlu were the Saadlu in what is now [[Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic]], the Karamanlu in [[Ganja, Azerbaijan|Ganja]] and [[Barda, Azerbaijan|Barda]], the Alpaut and the [[Agacheri]] in [[Kahramanmaraş|Maraş]], the Dukharlu in [[Erzurum]] and [[Bayburt]], the Jagirlu in [[Ardabil]], and the Hajilu.<ref>"KARÁ-KOYUNLU. Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition. [https://archive.org/details/ei2-complete/Encyclopaedia_of_Islam_vol_4_Iran-Kha/page/583/mode/2up] https://archive.org/details/ei2-complete/Encyclopaedia_of_Islam_vol_4_Iran-Kha/page/583/mode/2up"</ref><ref name=":7">Miklukho-Maklay, N. D.  ''Shiism and its social face in Iran at the turn of the XV-XVI centuries'' "These tribes, which later became known as the [[Qizilbash]] tribes... created the states of Kara Koyunlu and Ak Koyunlu, which in the 15th century successively ruled Azerbaijan and most of Iran."</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2021}} 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.<ref name=":4">{{cite encyclopedia|author=Sümer, F.|title=Ḳarā-Ḳoyunlu|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam|edition=2nd |editor=P. Bearman |editor2=Th. Bianquis |editor3=C.E. Bosworth |editor4=E. van Donzel |editor5=W.P. Heinrichs |date=30 May 2021}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Byzantine Turks, 1204-1461|page=289|author=Rustam Shukurov|year=2016}}</ref>

===Rise===
[[File:Jalayirids, Timurids and Qara Qoyunlu in 1400.png|thumb|left|Original territory of the Qara Qoyunlus circa 1400 (<small>{{Colorsample|rgba(150, 0, 150, 0.35)|0.6}}</small>)]]
The Qara Qoyunlu Turkomans were initially vassals of the [[Jalayirid Sultanate]] in [[Baghdad]] and [[Tabriz]] 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.<ref name="CEB195"/> The Qara Qoyunlu finally rebelled against the Jalayirids and secured their independence from the Jalayarid dynasty with the conquest of [[Tabriz]] by [[Qara Yusuf]].

In 1400, the [[Timurid Empire]] under [[Timur]] defeated the Qara Qoyunlu, and Qara Yusuf fled to [[Egypt]], seeking refuge with the [[Mamluk Sultanate]]. Qara Yusuf was welcomed by Sheikh Mahmud, the [[Nawab#Naib (Ottoman, Iranian, Arabic title)|nāʾib]] of [[Damascus]]. Not long after, the Jalayirid sultan [[Ahmad Jalayir]] also came to Damascus. Not wanting to worsen relations with Timur, [[An-Nasir Faraj]] agreed to capture Qara Yusuf and Ahmad Jalayir and hand them over to him. Together in prison, the two leaders renewed their friendship, making an agreement that Ahmad Jalayir should keep [[Baghdad]] while Qara Yusuf would have Azerbaijan. Ahmad also adopted Qara Yusuf's son [[Pirbudag]].

[[File:The Monastery, 1407-08 (Topkapı Palace Museum, TSMK H.2153) f.131b (ruler detail).jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Likely contemporary depiction of [[Pirbudag]], son of [[Qara Yusuf]], and first ruler of the Qara Qoyunlus as an independent Sultanate. ''The Monastery'', 1407-08 (Topkapı Palace Museum, TSMK H.2153, f.131b).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=White |first1=James |title=A Sign of the End Time: ‘The Monastery’, Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi H.2153 f.131b |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland |date=January 2017 |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=21, 29 |doi=10.1017/S1356186316000444 |quote=p.29 "I suggest that the child represented in the painting is the Qaraqoyunlu sultan Pir Budaq (d. 816/1413)." p.21 "Pir Budaq’s investiture as sultan provides a logical occasion for ‘The Monastery’, occurring as it did in 810/1407-8, the year commemorated in the chronogram. His age of roughly six at the time would make him a plausible match for the enthroned child depicted in the wallpainting of ‘The Monastery’. Furthermore, the form of kingship articulated in the painting may resonate with an attempt to construct an alternative model of political and religious authority."}}</ref>]]
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.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Muir |first=William |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.54381 |title=Mameluke Or Slave Dynasty Of Egypt |publisher=Nabu Press |year=1986 |isbn=978-1142162863}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=KARAKOYUNLULAR - TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi |url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/karakoyunlular |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi |language=tr}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite web |title=Kara Koyunlu {{!}} History, Meaning, & Capital {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kara-Koyunlu |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shahmoradi |first1=Seyyed |last2=Moradian |first2=Mostafa |last3=Montazerolghaem |first3=Asghar |title=The Religion of the Kara Koyunlu Dynasty: An Analysis |journal=Asian Culture and History |year=2013 |volume=5 |issue=2 |doi=10.5539/ach.v5n2p95|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Qara Yusuf, having returned from exile, forced Timur's governor of [[Van, Turkey|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 dynasty|Timurid]] Abu Bakr at the [[Battle of Nakhchivan (1406)|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, Azerbaijan|Shaki]], which was fruitless.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grousset |first=René |title=The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia |publisher=RUTGERS UNIV PR |year=1970 |isbn=0-8135-1304-9}}</ref> In the west, [[Mardin]], the last stronghold of the [[Artuqids]], was taken over by the Qara Qoyunlu in 1409.<ref name="CEB195">{{cite book |last1=Bosworth |first1=C. E. |title=The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual |publisher=Edinburg University Press |date=1 June 2019 |pages=195–196 |doi=10.1515/9781474464628 |isbn=978-1-4744-6462-8 }}</ref>

===Armenia===
In 1410, [[Armenia]] fell under the control of the Qara Qoyunlu. The principal [[Armenian language|Armenian]] sources available in this period come from the historian [[Thomas of Metsoph|Tovma Metsopetsi]] and several [[Colophon (publishing)|colophons]] to contemporary manuscripts.<ref>Kouymjian, Dickran (1997), "Armenia from the Fall of the Cilician Kingdom (1375) to the Forced Migration under Shah Abbas (1604)" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume II: Foreign Dominion to Statehood: The Fifteenth Century to the Twentieth Century'', ed. [[Richard G. Hovannisian]], New York: St. Martin's Press, p. 4. {{ISBN|1-4039-6422-X}}.</ref> 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".<ref>Kouymjian. "Armenia", p. 4.</ref> 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.<ref name="Kouymjian. Armenia, p. 5">Kouymjian. "Armenia", p. 5.</ref> 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. Jihanshah pursued a policy of persecution against the Armenians in [[Syunik (historic province)|Syunik]] and colophons to Armenian manuscripts record the sacking of the [[Tatev monastery]] by his forces.<ref name="Kouymjian. Armenia, p. 5"/> But he, too, sought a ''rapprochement'' with the Armenians, allotting land to feudal lords, rebuilding churches, and approving the relocation of the seat of the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]]'s [[Catholicos]] to [[Etchmiadzin Cathedral]] in 1441. For all this, Jihanshah continued to attack Armenian towns and take Armenian captives as the country saw further devastation in the final years of Jihanshah's failed struggles with the Aq Qoyunlu.<ref>Kouymjian. "Armenia", pp. 6–7.</ref>

===Baghdad===
[[File:Iskandar ibn Qara Yusuf (contemporary portrait, painted circa 1430).jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|left|Contemporary portrait of [[Iskandar (Qara Qoyunlu)|Qara Iskander]], circa 1430]]
In 1410, the Qara Qoyunlu captured Baghdad. The installation of a subsidiary Qara Qoyunlu line there hastened the downfall of the Jalairids they had once served. Despite internal fighting among Qara Yusuf's descendants after his death in 1420, The Qara Qoyunlu state collapsed after Qara Yusif. After the death of Qara Yusuf in December 1420, [[Shah Rukh]] tried to take Azerbaijan from Qara Yusuf's son [[Iskandar (Qara Qoyunlu)|Iskander]], using the fact that none of his sons was accompanying his father. Despite defeating [[Iskandar (Qara Qoyunlu)|Qara Iskander]], twice in 1420–21 and 1429, only in the third expedition of Shahrukh Mirza in 1434–35 did the Timurids succeed, when he entrusted the government to Iskander's own brother, [[Jahan Shah]] (1436-1467) as his vassal.

[[File:Iskandar ibn Qara Yusuf (left) in battle against Ibrahim Sultan (right). 1430 Shahnama, Bodleian Library, ms. Add 176, folios 6r-7v.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Contemporary depiction of Qara Qoyunlu ruler [[Iskandar (Qara Qoyunlu)|Qara Iskander]] (left) in battle against the Timurid [[Ibrahim Sultan (Timurid)|Ibrahim Sultan]] (right) in April 1429. ''Shahnama'' (1430), Bodleian Library, ms. Add 176, folios 6r-7v.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Soucek |first1=Priscilla |title=The Theory and Practice of Portraiture in the Persian Tradition |journal=Muqarnas |date=2000 |volume=17 |page=105 |doi=10.2307/1523292 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1523292 |issn=0732-2992 |quote=The double-page battle scene in which Ibrahim Sultan, on the right, is shown confidently leading his troops toward a Turkman force, on the left, headed by Iskandar b. Kara Yusuf, who turns back biting his finger in consternation (figs. 3-4). This image is the frontispiece for a copy of Firdawsi's Shāhnāma and is thus not accompanied by any explanatory text, but it does correspond to descriptions of a battle that occurred on April 1429 which are contained in Timurid historical sources. Although neither of these key figures is labeled, each of them would have been recognized by a contemporary viewer because of this event's notoriety.|url-access=subscription }}</ref>]]
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''.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Upon the death of the Timurid ruler [[Shah Rukh]] in 1447, Jahan Shah became an independent ruler of the Qara Qoyunlu, and started to use the titles of [[sultan]] and [[Khan (title)|khan]]. At the same time, the Timurid Empire took advantage of the struggles among the [[Oghuz Turks|Turkoman]] princes and captured the cities of [[Sultaniya]] and [[Qazvin]]. Peace was made when [[Sultan Muhammad bin Baysonqor]] was married to a daughter of Jahan Shah. However, he retook lands he lost from [[Abul-Qasim Babur Mirza|Mirza Babur]].

After the death of Shahrukh in 1447, the Qara Qoyunlu Turkomans annexed portions of Iraq and the eastern coast of the [[Arabian Peninsula]] as well as Timurid-controlled western Iran. As the Timurid Empire was embroiled in uncertainty and succession struggles, [[Jahan Shah]] managed to capture the cities of [[Soltaniyeh|Sultaniya]], [[Hamadan]] and [[Qazvin]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roxburgh |first1=David J. |title=Envisioning Islamic Art and Architecture ("Many a Wish Has Turned to Dust": Pir Budaq and the Formation of Turkmen Arts of the Book) |publisher=Brill |date=1 January 2014 |pages=181–182 |doi=10.1163/9789004280281_010 |quote=The balance of power between the Qaraqoyunlu and Timurid houses ended with Shahrukh’s death in 1447. Jahanshah lost no time in marching on and capturing Sultaniyya, Hamadan, and Qazvin, steadily taking in Timurid territories.}}</ref>

===Southern and Eastern expansion===
{{see also|Capture of Herat (1458)}}
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 [[Pir Budaq|Pīr Būdāq]], who became governor of the region of Shiraz.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Brend |first1=Dr Barbara |title=Perspectives on Persian Painting: Illustrations to Amir Khusrau's Khamsah |date=5 November 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-85418-7 |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4dj5AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 |language=en}}</ref>

In the summer of 1458, Jahan Shah advanced as far as [[Herat]] and [[Capture of Herat (1458)|occupied the city for a few months]], but ultimately had to turn back because of a revolt by his son [[Hasan Ali (Qara Qoyunlu)|Hasan Ali]], and also because of [[Abu Sa'id Mirza|Abu Said]]'s march on Tabriz.<ref>{{cite book|title=History of Central Asia|volume=4|author=Christoph Baum|page=297|year=2018}}</ref>

Hasan Ali was kept in [[Maku, Iran|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 province|Fars]]. However, he was spared at the request of his mother and replaced by [[Mirza Yusuf]], another son of Jahan Shah.<ref name=":1" /> Pirbudag was sent to govern Baghdad, his other sons Qasim beg was assigned to [[Kerman]] with Hasan Ali being imprisoned again. However, Pirbudag again rebelled, now controlling Baghdad. He was defeated in 1464 and was executed by Mirza Muhammad.

===Decline===
Though much territory was gained during his rule, Jahān Shāh's reign was troubled by his rebellious sons and the almost autonomous rulers of Baghdad, whom he expelled in 1464. In 1466, Jahan Shah attempted to take [[Diyarbakır]] from the [[Aq Qoyunlu]] ("White Sheep Turkomans"), however, this was a catastrophic failure resulting in Jahān Shāh's death and the collapse of the Qara Qoyunlu Turkomans' control in the Middle East. Jahanshah died in the [[Battle of Chapakchur]] in 1467. The Qara Qoyunlu was almost destroyed. This time Hasanali Mirza came to power, but was killed by [[Uzun Hasan]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |author=Orly R. Rahimiyan |entry=Anjuman-i Markazī-yi Tashkīlat-i Ṣiyyonīt-i Irān |editor=Norman A. Stillman |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World |publisher=Brill |doi=10.1163/1878-9781_ejiw_sim_000228}}</ref>

By 1468, at their height under [[Uzun Hasan]] (1452–1478), Aq Qoyunlu defeated the Qara Qoyunlu and conquered [[Iraq]], [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Azerbaijan]], and western Iran.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of World History|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaworl00stea|url-access=limited|last=Stearns|first=Peter N.|author2=Leonard, William|year=2001|publisher=Houghton Muffin Books|isbn=0-395-65237-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaworl00stea/page/n2448 122]}}</ref>

==Religion==
[[File:Blue_Mosque_(Tabriz)_General_view.jpg|thumb|The [[Blue Mosque, Tabriz]] was started in {{AH|870|link=yes}} through a foundation established by the wife of [[Jahan Shah]], and was completed in October 1465.<ref name="s1"/>]]
{{Blockquote|The argument that there was a clear-cut contrast between the Sunnism of the Āq Qoyunlū and the Shiʿism of the Qara Qoyunlū and the Ṣafawīya rests mainly on later Safavid sources and must be considered doubtful.{{sfn|Quiring-Zoche|2009}}|author=R. Quiring-Zoche|source=''Encyclopædia Iranica''}}

{{Blockquote|As to the religious affiliations of the Qara Qoyunlu, although some of the later members of the family had Shi'i-type names and there were occasional Shi'i coin legends, there seems no strong evidence for definite Shi'i sympathies among many [[Turkmens|Turkmen]] elements of the time.{{sfn|Bosworth|1996|p=274}}|author=C. E. Bosworth|source=''The New Islamic Dynasties''}}

{{Blockquote|
During the Qara period, Shi'ism became widespread. Successful activities of Shaykh Junayd-i Safavi in Azerbaijan and Anatolia, and the Musha'sha'iyyah in Khuzestan are the most important pieces of evidence that Shi'ism was spread by the sword. It can be said, like Yar Ali (brother of Qara Yusuf) in the Qara Qoyunlu dynasty, there is a conscious love for Ali (caliph). However, the names of four caliphs are seen on the coins of Qara Yusuf, Isqandar and Jahan Shah. In addition to that, there is no record in the contemporary Aq Qoyunlu, Mamluk and Timurid sources that the Qara Qoyunlu rulers were inclined to Shi'ism.<ref name=faruk />|author=Faruk Sümer|source=''İslâm Ansiklopedisi''}}

== Governance ==
[[File:Pir Budaq miniature.jpg|thumb|upright|Contemporary depiction of [[Pir Budaq]], son of [[Jahan Shah]], as Governor of Shiraz. Shiraz miniature, {{circa|1455–1460}}]]
The Qara Qoyunlu state organization was based mainly on of its predecessors, [[Jalayirids]], and the [[Ilkhanids]]. Qara Qoyunlu rulers used the title [[sultan]] since the enthronement of [[Pirbudag]] by Qara Yusuf. Sometimes the title [[baghatur|bahadur]] appeared on the coinage. They also used the titles [[Khan (title)|khan]], [[khagan]] and [[padishah]].<ref name=faruk />

Keeping with a Persianate culture,{{sfn|Roy|2014|p=38}} the Qara Qoyunlu used the Persian language for diplomacy, poetry,{{sfn|Minorsky|1954|p=279}} and as a court language.{{sfn|Arjomand|2016|p=11}} Diplomatic letters to the Timurids and Ottomans were written in Persian, while the correspondence with the Mamluk sultans were in Arabic.{{sfn|Bauden|2019|p=423}} Official internal documents (farmān, suyūrghāl) were also written in Persian.{{sfn|Bauden|2019|p=423}} [[Jahan Shah]] was titled ''[[Padishah|Padishah-i Iran]]''<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Fragner|first1=Bert G.|author-link1=Bert Fragner|title=Shah Isamil's Fermans and Sanads: Tradition and Reform in Persophone Administration and Chancellery Affairs|journal=Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences|date=1998|volume= 1| issue = 1|publisher=Khazar University Press|issn=1027-3875|quote=Subsequently, lahanshah (sic) Qara-Qoyunlu presented himself as padishah-i Iran immeuiately after the takeover of Tabriz (...)}}</ref> and ''[[King of Kings|King of Kings of Iran]]'' during his reign.

As for the provincial organization, the provinces were governed by [[şehzade]] and [[bey]]s, who had smaller [[divan]]s in each of the provinces. The governance by military governors (beys) generally passed on from father to son. In the cities there were officials called [[Darughachi|darugha]], that looked after financial and administrative affairs, and also had political powers. The şehzades and beys had their own soldiers which were called [[Nöker (military)|nöker]]s, who were trained and salaried.<ref name=faruk />

In the south, [[Pir Budaq]], son of [[Jahan Shah]] became Governor of the region of [[Shiraz]], becoming to some extent a ruler in his own right, rebelling against his father by seeking independence. This move aroused his father's anger. Pir Budaq was later transferred to the governorship of Baghdad, thought to be easier to control than Shiraz, but he was ultimately killed upon the orders of his father.<ref>Browne, E.G., ''A Literary History of Persia'', Vol. 3, Cambridge University Press, 1969, p. 402</ref>

==Culture==
Under Timur, the cultural entity of Iran was renewed by Persian literature, art and culture being patronized throughout the Timurid Empire.{{sfn|Price|2005|p=54}} Consequently, Qara Qoyunlu art was notably influenced by the Timurids.{{sfn|Kadoi|2019|p=83}} Jahan Shah wrote his poetry in [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]] and [[Persian language|Persian]], while the ''[[Kitab-i Diyarbakriyya]]'', a history of the Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu, was written by Abu Bakr Tehrani in Persian.{{sfn|Lugal|Sümer|2002}}

===Architecture===
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=350|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| header=
| image1   = Darb-e Imam northern gate (Qara Qoyunlu period).jpg
| caption1 = Northern iwan of [[Darb-e Imam]], Isfahan, 1453. The small greenish dome is a [[Safavid]] addition
| image2   = Great Mosque of Yazd (Jame mosque of Yazd),Yazd, Iran (مسجد جامع یزد) - panoramio (1).jpg
| caption2 = Eastern iwan of the [[Jameh Mosque of Yazd]], renovated by Jahan Shah in 1457
}}
Jahan Shah is known for several architectural contributions through western Iran. The [[:Commons:Category:Northern iwan of Darb-e Imam|Northern Iwan]] of [[Darb-e Imam]] in [[Isfahan]] is attributed to him. He commissioned and dedicated the monument in 1453, two years after conquering the city.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Durand-Guedy |first1=David |title=Isfahan during the Turko Mongol period (11th-15th centuries) |date=1 January 2018 |publisher=Brill |page=2999 |url=https://www.academia.edu/47904668/Isfahan_during_the_Turko_Mongol_period_11th_15th_centuries_| quote=The entrance of Darb-i Imām, commissioned by Jahān-Šāh Qara-qoyunlu in 857/1453}}</ref> The gate is considered as "a masterpiece of tile decoration",<ref>{{cite book |last1=Durand-Guedy |first1=David |title=Isfahan during the Turko Mongol period (11th-15th centuries) |date=1 January 2018 |publisher=Brill |page=2999 |url=https://www.academia.edu/47904668/Isfahan_during_the_Turko_Mongol_period_11th_15th_centuries_| quote=The entrance of Darb-i Imām, commissioned by Jahān-Šāh Qara-qoyunlu in 857/1453{{nbsp}}... In Isfahan, the Darb-i Imām, commissioned by Jahān-Šāh Qara-qoyunlu in 857/1453 to contain the tombs of Ibrāhim Baṭḥā and Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn, is a masterpiece of tile decoration}}</ref> and "among the finest specimens of such work in Persia".<ref name="DARB -E EMĀM">{{cite web |title=DARB -E EMĀM |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/darb-e-emam/#prettyPhoto |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica}}</ref> It has [[:File:Darb-e Imam northern gate, and dedicatory inscription in the name of Jahan Shah, ruler of the Qara Qoyunlu. 1453.jpg|a monumental inscription in Persian]] recording the rule of Jahanshah and the local governorship of his son Moḥammad: "When the ruler of the greatest domain, lord of the mightiest realm, and sovereign protector of the world Abu’l-Moẓaffar Mīrzāda Jahānšāh, may God perpetuate his stewardship, entrusted the government of this province to the care and direction of the prince, the support of the pillars of the religion of Moḥammad Abu’l-Fatḥ Moḥammadī...".<ref name="DARB -E EMĀM"/><ref>[[:File:Darb-e Imam northern gate, and dedicatory inscription in the name of Jahan Shah, ruler of the Qara Qoyunlu. 1453.jpg|Photograph and content of the inscription]]</ref>

Jahanshah is also known for renovation work on the [[:Commons:Category:Eastern entrance iwan of Jameh Mosque of Yazd|Eastern entrance iwan]] of the [[Jameh Mosque of Yazd]] in 1457. The portal has [[:File:Dedication of Qara Qoyunlu ruler Jahan Shah on the gate of the eastern entrance iwan of Jameh Mosque of Yazd, in 1457.jpg|a central dedication]] in the name of Jahanshah: "the structure of this lofty arch (taf) was restored during the reign of . . . Abu’l-Muzaffar Sultan Jahanshah, Nizam al Dawlah wa’l-Din al-Hajj Qanbar, in Dhu’l-Hijjah 861." It is thought that the contribution was specifically related to the ''[[muqarnas]]'' of the portal.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Golombek |first1=Lisa |last2=Wilber |first2=Donald Newton |title=The Timurid Architecture of Iran and Turan, Vol. 1 |date=1988 |publisher=Princeton Univ. Pr |location=Princeton, NJ |isbn=978-0691035871 |page=416 |quote=9. Dhu’l-Hijjah 861 /October 1457 (p. 126, 3/4). Mosaic faience surrounding the rectangular frame of the doorway of the portal: “. . . the structure of this lofty arch (taf) was restored during the reign of . . . Abu’l-Muzaffar Sultan Jahanshah, Nizam al Dawlah wa’l-Din al-Hajj Qanbar, in Dhu’l-Hijjah 861. Written by Muhammad al-Hakim.” The vault in question is probably the muqarnas of the portal.}}</ref><ref>[[:File:Dedication of Qara Qoyunlu ruler Jahan Shah on the gate of the eastern entrance iwan of Jameh Mosque of Yazd, in 1457.jpg|Photograph and content of the dedication]]</ref>

[[File:Blue Mosque of Tabriz, Iran.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Interior of the Blue Mosque of Tabriz]]
The [[Blue Mosque, Tabriz|Blue Mosque]] in [[Tabriz]] was started through a foundation established by the wife of Jahanshah, and was completed in 1465.<ref name="s1"/> The construction of the mausoleum itself, forming an outgrowth to the south of the mosque, continued during the reign of the [[Aq Qoyunlu|Āq Qoyunlu]] into the 1480s.<ref name="s1">{{cite book |author=Aube, Sandra |chapter=TABRIZ x. MONUMENTS x(1). The Blue Mosque |title=Encyclopædia Iranica Online |publisher=Brill |year=2020 |url=https://doi.org/10.1163/2330-4804_EIRO_COM_10934 |page= |doi=10.1163/2330-4804_EIRO_COM_10934 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Burch, Heike |author2=Burch, Gerd |url=https://www.leben-pur.ch/en/iran-tabriz-and-the-blue-mosque/ |title=Iran - Tabriz and the Blue Mosque |work=Leben pur! On the way |publisher=MOLIRI |location=Münchenwiler, Switzerland |date=15 February 2024 |access-date=18 March 2025 |format=includes extensive images of the mosque |archive-date=27 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250427124216/https://www.leben-pur.ch/en/iran-tabriz-and-the-blue-mosque/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The entrance gate also has [[:File:Dedicatory inscription in the name of Qara Qoyunlu ruler Jahanshah. Blue Mosque (Tabriz), 1465.jpg|a monumental inscription]] in the name of Jahan Shah.<ref>[[:File:Dedicatory inscription in the name of Qara Qoyunlu ruler Jahanshah. Blue Mosque (Tabriz), 1465.jpg|Jahan Shah inscription at the Blue Mosque]]</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Golombek |first1=Lisa |last2=Wilber |first2=Donald Newton |title=The Timurid Architecture of Iran and Turan (Vol.1) |date=1988 |publisher=Princeton Univ. Pr |location=Princeton, NJ |isbn=978-0691035871 |page=408 |quote=Inscriptions-. 1. (Portal, over door in mosaic faience; Tabataba’i 1968:42, fig. 46) “[titles] Abu’l-Muzaffar Jahanshah b. Shah Yusuf nuyan, may God perpetuate his rule [epithets].}}</ref>

====Tilework====
{{see also|Mo'araq|Tabrizi tradition}}
The celebrated tilework of the Blue Mosque consists in "unrivalled" underglaze painted tile and mosaics, using shades of cobalt blue and incized gold and white patterns, which covered both the interior and the exterior of the mosque, as well as its dome.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tokatlian |first1=Armen |title=Persian treasures in Erevan: a selection of manuscripts from the Matenadaran collection |date=2013 |publisher=Éditions Snoeck |location=Gand |isbn=978-9461611284 |pages=24–25 |url=https://archive.org/details/PersianTreasuresInErevan/page/n23/mode/2up?q=Hasht+Behesht&view=theater |quote=Jahanshah's constant struggle for leadership with rival Aq Qoyunlu Turkmen confederation shackled his artistic projects with the exception of the Muzaffariya in Tabriz, also called the Blue Mosque. Built in 1465, the compound included a tomb, a cistern, a library and an adjoined dervish convent, khangah. The Blue Mosque is celebrated for its unrivalled underglaze painted tile and mosaics that decorate both the interior and exterior of the building, Patterns are rendered in subtle colors with extensive use of cobalt blue as a ground for elegant inscriptions and arabesque designs in gold and white. The dome itself was a deep blue, stenciled with gold patterns. The monumental calligraphies of the Blue Mosque are attributed to Nematollah b. Muhammad al-Bawab, a pupil of Khalvati. These subtle, jewel-like decors of the Blue Mosque epitomize the manuscript frontispieces made in Herat.}}</ref> Qara Qoyunlu architecture is often richly decorated, but the designs of the Blue Mosque are particularly innovative, and may have been influenced by architects from the Timurid capital of Herat having moved to Tabriz following the [[Capture of Herat (1458)|1458 capture of Herat]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Golombek |first1=Lisa |last2=Wilber |first2=Donald Newton |title=The Timurid architecture of Iran and Turan (Vol 1) |date=1988 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, N.J |isbn=978-0691035871 |page=xiii |quote=The Turkman monuments of central Iran, from the second half of the fifteenth century, are often richly decorated, but show none of the innovative design that appears in the mosque of Jahanshah's daughter (popularly called the Blue Mosque) at Tabriz, capital of the Qara Qoyunlu. Jahanshah probably had attracted architects of the late Shah Rukh from Herat to his own imperial city.}}</ref>

The Turkmen style of tilework appears to have been an influential precursor throughout the Middle-East.<ref name="GN"/> It is thought that the blue-and-white tiles which can be found in the architectural decorations of [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk Syria and Egypt]], or in the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] capitals of [[Bursa]] and [[Edirne]], were created by itinerant artists coming from the Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu capital of [[Tabriz]].<ref name="GN"/> The tilework of the [[Dome of the Rock]] in the [[Old City of Jerusalem]] was signed by "Abdallah of Tabriz" under a commission of the Ottoman [[Sultan Süleyman]] in 1545-1552.<ref name="GN"/> The influence of this Tabrizi school was also felt in Istanbul up to the mid-16th century.<ref name="GN">{{cite journal |last1=Necipoglu  |first1=Gulru |title=From International Timurid to Ottoman: A Change of Taste in Sixteenth-Century Ceramic Tiles |journal=Muqarnas |publisher= E.J. Brill |volume=7 |date= 1990|page=137 |url=https://www.archnet.org/publications/3340 |quote=Reflecting local variants of an international Timurid taste, blue-and-white tiles of mostly hexagonal shapes found in Mamluk Syria and Egypt, as well as in the Ottoman capitals of Bursa and Edirne, appear to have been created by artists from Tabriz, the capital of the Qaraqoyunlu and Aqqoyunlu Turcoman dynasties. Compared to the tiles of the Tawrizi (i.e., Tabrizi) complex in Damascus (ca. 1430), the technical perfection of the Muradiye tiles in Edirne suggests that different groups of itinerant potters were at work. Unfortunately, the wholesale destruction of contemporary buildings in Tabriz - the only one to survive is the Blue Mosque (1465), where square blue-and-white under-glaze tiles are used in conjunction with a variety of glazed tiles and mosaic-faience makes the study of this Tabrizi tradition impossible. Its impact was still strong in the Dome of the Rock tiles, signed by Abdallah of Tabriz and produced on the order of Sultan Süleyman between 952 (1545-46) and 959 (1551-52), which combined in the same scheme tile mosaic, cuerda seca, polychrome underglaze, as well as blue-and-white un- derglaze tiles." As we shall see, the influence of this Tabrizi school was also felt in Istanbul up to the middle of the sixteenth century.}}</ref>

===Literature===
{{main|Turkmen style}}
[[File:Pir Budaq and his court. Frontispiece from a copy of Kalila wa Dimna of Abu’l-Ma‘ali Nasr Allah. Baghdad (possibly), c. 1465. Tehran, Gulistan Palace Library, no. 827 (vertical detail).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Pir Budaq]] and his court. Frontispiece from a ''[[Kalila wa Dimna]]'', Baghdad (likely), c. 1465.]]
Jahan Shah's constant military struggles limited his involvement in artistic pursuits, apart from monumental architectural contributions such as the [[Blue Mosque, Tabriz|Blue Mosque]] in Tabriz. The beautiful tilework displayed in the decorations of the Blue Mosque can be considered as a precussor of the manuscript frontispieces later made in Herat.<ref name="AT24">{{cite book |last1=Tokatlian |first1=Armen |title=Persian treasures in Erevan: a selection of manuscripts from the Matenadaran collection |date=2013 |publisher=Éditions Snoeck |location=Gand |isbn=978-9461611284 |pages=24–25 |url=https://archive.org/details/PersianTreasuresInErevan/page/n23/mode/2up?q=Hasht+Behesht&view=theater |quote=Jahanshah's constant struggle for leadership with rival Aq Qoyunlu Turkmen confederation shackled his artistic projects with the exception of the Muzaffariya in Tabriz, also called the Blue Mosque. (...) These subtle, jewel-like decors of the Blue Mosque epitomize the manuscript frontispieces made in Herat. A different situation occurs with Pir Budaq (d.1467) the eldest son of Jahanshah and consecutive governor of Fars and Bagdad, who was a dynamic patron of the arts. His first Shiraz kitabkhana was under the supervision of Shaykh Mahmud al-Heravi. Afterwards in Bagdad, Pir Budaq worked with several artists such as calligraphers Fakhr al-Din Ahmad Katebi and 'Abd al-Rahman Khawarazmi who created an innovative approach to nasta'liq writing. The finely illustrated manuscripts, produced between 1456 and 1466, reflect Pir Budaq's own taste through Khorasan pictorial conventions".}}</ref> Many of the miniatures produced during the period tended to be somewhat "provincial" in taste, using bright colors and standardized figures, known as the "[[Turkmen style]]".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tokatlian |first1=Armen |title=Persian treasures in Erevan: a selection of manuscripts from the Matenadaran collection |date=2013 |publisher=Éditions Snoeck |location=Gand |isbn=978-9461611284 |pages=24–25 |url=https://archive.org/details/PersianTreasuresInErevan/page/n23/mode/2up?q=Hasht+Behesht&view=theater}}</ref>

On the contrary, Jahan Shah's son [[Pir Budaq]], who became Governor of Fars and Baghdad, was extremely active in the production of refined manuscripts.<ref name="AT24"/> The fact that Pir Budaq had accompanied his father Jahan Shah during the several-months [[Capture of Herat (1458)|occupation of Timurid Herat]] in 1458, may have given him the opportunity to get acquainted to the Timurid "art of the book" and to Timurid court artists.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Balafrej |first1=Lamia |title=The making of the artist in late Timurid painting |date=2019 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |location=Edinburgh |isbn=978-1474437431 |page=48 |quote=Jahanshah Qara Qoyunlu, the Turkmen ruler of Western Iran, however, briefly occupied Herat in 1458. His son Pir Budaq participated in the attack. He may have become acquainted with Timurid manuscripts during this episode.}}</ref> Under Pir Budaq, several innovations were made in the calligrapgy of ''[[nasta'liq]]'' writing, and manuscripts were finely illustrated along Khorasan pictorial conventions.<ref name="AT24"/>

<gallery>
File:Mihr playing polo. Mihr u Mushtari, by Assar. Tabriz 1420.jpg|[[:Commons:Category:Mihr and Mushtari, 1419|''Mihr u Mushtari'']] by Assar. Tabriz, 1420: earliest appearance of the "Turkmen style" under the Qara Qoyunlu.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Robinson |first1=B. W. |title=Fifteenth-Century Persian Painting: Problems and Issues |date=March 1993 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-7446-5 |pages=22–23 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9WbwqfEfoFUC&pg=PA22 |language=en}}</ref>
File:Two folios from a Persian manuscript, Persia, Qaraqoyunlu Turkmen, 1460-1480.jpg|Two folios from a Persian manuscript, Persia, Qaraqoyunlu Turkmen, 1460-1480.
File:Qara Qoyunlu hunting scene. Upper binding cover, 1455, Baghdad, Dīwān-i Qāsim-i Anwar (TSMK, R. 991).jpg|Qara Qoyunlu hunting scene. Upper binding cover, 1455, Baghdad, ''Dīwān-i Qāsim-i Anwar'' (TSMK, R. 991).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=ATBAS |first1=ZEYNEP |title=Artistic Aspects of Sultan Bayezid II’s Book Treasury Collection: Extant Volumes Preserved at the Topkapı Palace Museum Library |journal=Treasures of Knowledge: An Inventory of the Ottoman Palace Library (1502/3-1503/4) (2 vols) |date=2019 |page=198 |doi=10.1163/9789004402508_005 |url=https://www.academia.edu/63981652/Artistic_Aspects_of_Sultan_Bayezid_II_s_Book_Treasury_Collection_Extant_Volumes_Preserved_at_the_Topkap%C4%B1_Palace_Museum_Library}}</ref>
File:The battle of the crows and the owls. Kalila wa Dimnah, for Pir Budak Kara-Koyunlu. Tabriz c. 1460 (Gulistan Library, MS 827).jpg|The battle of the crows and the owls. ''[[Kalila wa Dimna]]'', for Pir Budak c. 1460    
</gallery>

== Language ==
[[File:The Azerbaijani poetry of the Qara Qoyunlu ruler Muzaffar al-Din Jahan Shah ibn Yusuf Azerbaijani manuscript.jpg|thumb|Azerbaijani poetry of the Qara Qoyunlu ruler Muzaffar al-Din Jahan Shah ibn Yusuf Azerbaijani manuscript]]
By a number of researchers, the [[Oghuz languages|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.<ref>Faruk Sümer (1992). "Başlangıçtan Cihan-Şah'a Kadar". Kara Koyunlular (in Turkish). Vol. 1. Turkish Historical Society. p. 8. ISBN {{ISBN|978-975-17-4847-8}}.</ref> Serdar Gündoğdu and Ali İçeri (Serdar Gundogdu and Ali Icher) call the Azerbaijani language a legacy that came from the [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkoman tribes]] of Qara-Qoyunlu.<ref>M. Behramnejad, «Karakoyunlular, Akkoyunlular: Iran ve Anadoluda Türkmen Hanedanları», (Turkish) s. 14</ref> Sultan Qara-Qoyunlu in 1435-1467 [[Jahan Shah|Jahanshah]] is a recognized representative of Azerbaijani poetry.<ref>V. Minorsky. [[doi:10.1017/s0041977x00105981|Jihān-Shāh Qara-Qoyunlu and His Poetry (Turkmenica, 9)]]. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. — Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African Studies, 1954. — V.16, p . 272, 283: «It is somewhat astonishing that a sturdy Turkman like Jihan-shah should have been so restricted in his ways of expression. Altogether the language of the poems belongs to the group of the southern Turkman dialects which go by the name of Azarbayjan Turkish.»; «As yet nothing seems to have been published on the Br. Mus. manuscript Or. 9493, which contains the bilingual collection of poems of Haqiqi, i.e. of the Qara-qoyunlu sultan Jihan-shah (A.D. 1438—1467).»</ref><ref name=":12">M. Faruk Sümer, «Kara Koyunlular», s. VIII:{{over-quotation|tr|Kara-Koyunlular Anadolu'dan Iran'a vuku bulan bu siyasi göç hareketlerinin müsebbibi oldukları gibi, aynı zamanda Iran'da yeniden Türkmen hâkimiyetinin başlamasının ve bununla alâkah olarak da Arerbaycan'ın kat'i bir surette türkleşmesini temin edecek yeni bir iskan hareketinin ilk âmili de olmuşlardır. Bu sözlerden de anlaşlıacağı üzere, onların konuştukları türkçe, tabil bugün Azeri lehçesi denilen doğ Oguz veya Türkmen lehçesi idi. Kara-Koyunlu hükümdarlarından Cihan-Sah'ın Azeri edebiyatının mümessillerinden biri oldugu bugün kat'i olarak anlaşılmıştır.|date=December 2025}}</ref><ref name="iranica">[http://www.iranica.com/articles/azerbaijan-x Iranica. Azeri Literature in Iran] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117004026/http://www.iranica.com/articles/azerbaijan-x}}<blockquote>The 15th century saw the beginning of a more important period in the history of the Azeri Turkish literature. The position of the literary language was reinforced under the Qarāqoyunlu (r. 1400-68), who had their capital in Tabriz. Jahānšāh (r. 1438-68) himself wrote lyrical poems in Turkish using the pen name of «Ḥaqiqi».</blockquote></ref><ref>{{Encyclopædia Iranica Online|volume=3|fascicle=3|article=Azerbaijan|year=2012|first1=Hasan|last1=Javadi|first2=Kathleen|last2=Burrill|pages=251–255|quote=The 15th century saw the beginning of a more important period in the history of the Azeri Turkish literature. The position of the literary language was reinforced under the Qarāqoyunlu (r. 1400–68), who had their capital in Tabriz. Jahānšāh (r. 1438–68) himself wrote lyrical poems in Turkish using the pen name of 'Ḥaqiqi.'|article-url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/azerbaijan-x|section=x. Azeri Turkish Literature}}</ref>

==Qara Qoyunlus in India==
[[File:Qara Iskander genealogy.png|thumb|Genealogy of the Qara Qoyunlu, and descendants of [[Qara Iskander]], forming the Indian branch of the [[Qutb Shahi dynasty|Qutbshahis]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Soudavar |first1=Abolala |title=Art of the Persian courts : selections from the Art and History Trust Collection |date=1992 |publisher=New York : Rizzoli |isbn=978-0-8478-1660-6 |page=127 |url=https://archive.org/details/artofpersiancour0000soud/page/127/mode/1up}}</ref><ref name="jstor1"/>]]
[[Sultan Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk|Sultan Quli Khawas Khan Hamdani]] (r.1518-1543), the founder of the [[Qutb Shahi dynasty]] of the [[Sultanate of Golconda]] in southern [[India]], belonged to the Qara Qoyunlu and was a fourth-generation direct descendant of [[Qara Iskander]] (r.1421-1436).<ref name="jstor1">{{cite journal|title=The Qara-qoyunlu and the Qutb-shāhs (Turkmenica, 10)|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/609229|volume=17|year=1955|pages=50–73|publisher=Cambridge University Press|jstor = 609229|access-date=20 November 2020|last1 = Minorsky|first1 = V.|journal = Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London|issue = 1|doi = 10.1017/S0041977X00106342|s2cid=162273460 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="Masud">{{cite book|title=Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v4UKJFLZVcEC|year=1996|page=2|first=Masud Husain|last=Khan|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=9788126002337|access-date=20 November 2020}}</ref> In the 16th century, he migrated from Iran to [[Delhi]] with his uncle, Allah-Quli, some of his relatives and friends. Later he migrated south, to the [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]] and served the [[Bahmani Sultanate|Bahmani sultan]], [[Mahmood Shah Bahmani II]], who was of [[Deccanis|Deccani Muslim]] ethnicity.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=p159EAAAQBAJ&dq=Alauddin+Ahmad+II++Chand+Minar&pg=PT26 |title= Water and Historic Settlements:The Making of a Cultural Landscape |author= Yaaminey Mubayi |date= 2022 |publisher= Taylor & Francis |isbn= 9781000641639 }}</ref><ref name="Michell">George Michell, Mark Zebrowski, ''Architecture and Art of the Deccan Sultanates'', (Cambridge University Press, 1999), 17.</ref> He established and declared the independence of the Sultanate of Golconda after the disintegration of the [[Bahmani Sultanate]] into the five [[Deccan sultanates]].<ref name="Michell"/>

In the 16th century, other Qara Qoyunlus played a prominent role in the service of the [[Mughals]] in India, such as [[Bairam Khan]] (Bahārlū clan of the Qara Qoyunlū, Commander-in-chief of the Mughal army), his son [[Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan]], or his nephew [[Khan Jahan I]].<ref>Schimmel, A. (22 Feb. 2022). Islam in the Indian Subcontinent. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. [https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004492998 p.77] "Humayun had been forced to leave Hindustan after his second defeat; he first sought shelter in Sind, where the Turkish dynasty of the Arghuns had replaced the indigenous Samma in 1520. His father's faithful friend Bairam Khan, a Baharlu Turcoman, joined him there, and his son Akbar was born in Umarkot (Sind) in 1542."</ref><ref>N. H. Ansari, 1989, [https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bayram-or-bayram-khan-mohammad-kan-e-kanan-an-illustrious-and-powerful-iranian-noble-at-the-court-of-the-mugh "Bayram Khan", Encyclopedia Iranica]: "Bayram Khan belonged to the Bahārlū clan of the Qara Qoyunlū Turkmen (Nehāvandī, I, p. 11), whose descendants still live in the [[Darab|Dārābjerd region]] of Fārs province (Ṣafā, IV, p. 13). The Qara Qoyunlūs established their independent rule under [[Qara Yusuf|Qarā Yūsof]] (d. 823/1420) in Azerbaijan and the adjoining areas, expanding in later years into Kermān and Fārs, but they were overthrown by the [[:en:Aq Qoyunlu|Āq Qoyunlūs]] led by Uzun Ḥasan in 973/1468 (Nehāvandī, I, pp. 16ff.; Ṣafā, Adabīyāt IV, pp. 13ff.). Bayram Khan was descended from ʿAlī Šokr Bīg [Ali Sher Beg], the ruler of Hamadān and Kurdistan (Nehāvandī, I, p. 46) through his father Sayf-ʿAlī Bīg, son of Bayram Bīg, son of [[:en:Sultan Mahmud Mirza|Sultan Maḥmūd Mīrzā]], a Timurid prince and governor of Badaḵšān (Nehāvandī, I, p. 61), who married the daughter of ʿAlī Šokr Bīg,[Ali Sher Beg] himself married to the daughter of [[Qara Iskander|Qarā Sekandar]] (r. 823-39/1420-35)."</ref>

==See also==
{{History of Armenia||BC=1}}
{{History of Azerbaijan}}
{{Anatolian History timeline infobox}}
{{History of Iran}}
*[[List of rulers of Qara Qoyunlu]]
* [[Turkmen incursions into Georgia]]
* [[Mausoleum of Turkmen emirs]]
* [[Qutb Shahis]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

===Works cited===
*{{cite journal |last1=Arjomand |first1=Saïd Amir |title=Unity of the Persianate World under Turko-Mongolian Domination and Divergent Development of Imperial Autocracies in the Sixteenth Century |journal=Journal of Persianate Studies |year=2016 |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=11 |doi=10.1163/18747167-12341292 |quote=The disintegration of Timur's empire into a growing number of Timurid principalities ruled by his sons and grandsons allowed the remarkable rebound of the Ottomans and their westward conquest of Byzantium as well as the rise of rival Turko-Mongolian nomadic empires of the Aq Qoyunlu and Qara Qoyunlu in western Iran, Iraq, and eastern Anatolia. In all of these nomadic empires, however, Persian remained the official court language and the Persianate ideal of kingship prevailed.}}
* {{cite book |chapter=Diplomatic Entanglements between Tabriz, Cairo, and Herat: a Reconstructed Qara Qoyunlu Letter Datable to 818/1415 |first=Frédéric |last=Bauden  |title=Mamluk Cairo, a Crossroads for Embassies:Studies on Diplomacy and Diplomatics |editor-first1=Frédéric |editor-last1=Bauden |editor-first2=Malika |editor-last2=Dekkiche |publisher=Brill |year=2019 }}
*{{cite book |first=Clifford E. |last=Bosworth |title=The New Islamic Dynasties |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1996 }}
*{{cite book |title=Persian Art: Image-making in Eurasia |first=Yuka |last=Kadoi |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2019 }}
*{{cite book|last1=Kouymjian|first1=Dickran|chapter=Armenia from the fall of the Cilician Kingdom (1375) to the forced emigration under Shah Abbas|editor1-last=Hovannisian|editor1-first=Richard G.|editor1-link=Richard G. Hovannisian|title=The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EeBKxex7QyUC|year=2004|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1-4039-6421-2}}
*{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kitab-i-diyarbekriyye |encyclopedia=İslâm Ansıklopedısı |title=KİTÂB-ı DİYARBEKRİYYE |first1=Necati |last1=Lugal |first2=Faruk |last2=Sümer |year=2002}}
*{{cite journal |last=Minorsky |first=V. |date=1954 |title=Jihān-Shāh Qara-Qoyunlu and His Poetry (Turkmenica, 9) |jstor=609169 |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=271–97 |doi=10.1017/s0041977x00105981|s2cid=154352923 }}
*{{cite book |title=Iran's Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook |first=Massoume |last=Price |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2005 }}
*{{cite encyclopedia |last=Quiring-Zoche |first=R. |title=AQ QOYUNLŪ |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Iranica |date=2009-10-29 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | title = Āq Qoyunlū | last = Quiring-Zoche | first = R. | url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/aq-qoyunlu-confederation | encyclopedia  = Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, Vol. II, Fasc. 2 | pages = 163–168| location = New York | year = 1986 }}
*{{Cambridge History of Iran|volume=6|last=Roemer|first=H. R.|chapter=The Turkmen dynasties}}
*{{cite book |first=Kaushik |last=Roy |title=Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750 |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2014 |quote=''Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two tribal confederations: Akkoyunlu (White Sheep) (1378–1507) and Qaraoyunlu (Black Sheep). They were Persianate Turkoman Confederations of Anatolia (Asia Minor) and Azerbaijan.''}}
*{{cite journal |last=Savory|first=R. M. |year=2009|title=The Struggle for Supremacy in Persia after the death of Tīmūr |journal=Der Islam |volume=40 |publisher=De Gruyter|pages=35–65|doi=10.1515/islm.1964.40.1.35|s2cid=162340735 }}

==Further reading==
* Bosworth, Clifford. ''The New Islamic Dynasties'', 1996.
* {{in lang|hy}} Khachikyan, Levon. ''ԺԵ դարի հայերեն ձեռագրերի հիշատակարաններ, մաս 1'' (''Fifteenth Century Armenian Colophons, Part 1''). Yerevan, 1955.
* Morby, John. ''The Oxford Dynasties of the World'', 2002.
* Sanjian, Avedis K. ''Colophons of Armenian manuscripts, 1301-1480: A Source for Middle Eastern History, Selected, Translated, and Annotated by Avedis K. Sanjian''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1969.
* Shukurov, Rustam. ''The Byzantine Turks 1204-1461''. Brill, 2016.

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