The Qara Qoyunlu or Kara Koyunlu (, ; ), also known as the Black Sheep Turkomans, were a Turkoman,* "In a state of demographic stagnation or downturn, the regio (in Turkish) 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"), in 1412." "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." "Better known as Turkomans... the interim Ak-Koyunlu and Karakoyunlu dynasties..." culturally Persianate,* Muslim dynasty that ruled over the territory comprising present-day Azerbaijan, Armenia, northwestern Iran, eastern Turkey, and northeastern Iraq from about 1374 to 1468.
History 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."KARÁ-KOYUNLU. Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition. P.583 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." 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.Faruk Sümer (1992). "Başlangıçtan Cihan-Şah'a Kadar". Kara Koyunlular (in Turkish). Vol. 1. Turkish Historical Society. p. 8. ISBN . 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.M. Behramnejad, «Karakoyunlular, Akkoyunlular: İran ve Anadoluda Türkmen Hanedanları» (İn Turkish) p. 14: Karakoyunlu ve Akkoyunlu Türkmenlerinin bölgedeki hakimiyetleri sonucunda birçok Türkmen aşiret bölgeye yerleşmiş, bunların bakiyeleri tarafından İran'da Safevî Devleti teşkil edilmiştir. Bugün Doğu Anadolu'nun bir kısmında başta Iğdır, Kars, İran ve Azerbaycan'da kullanılan Azerice denilen doğu Oğuz veya Türkmen lehçesi bunlardan bize kalan önemli miraslardır. Sultan Qara-Qoyunlu in 1435-1467 Jahan Shah is a recognized representative of Azerbaijani poetry.V. Minorsky. 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).»M. Faruk Sümer, «Kara Koyunlular», s. VIII: "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."Iranica. Azeri Literature in Iran 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».
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.
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 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.
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.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. . 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".Kouymjian. "Armenia", p. 4. 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.Kouymjian. "Armenia", p. 5. 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. 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.Kouymjian. "Armenia", pp. 6–7.
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.Studies in the history of Georgia, Vol. 3, Tbilisi, 1979, p. 732
Baghdad
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.