Ak Koyunlu
Encyclopedia
The Aq Qoyunlu or Ak Koyunlu, also called the White Sheep Turkomans (Persian
/Azeri: آق قویونلو), was an Sunni Oghuz Turkic
tribal federation
that ruled parts of present-day Eastern Turkey
, Armenia
, Azerbaijan
, northern Iraq
, and Iran
from 1378 to 1508.
, the Aq Qoyunlu were present in eastern Anatolia from at least 1340, and most of their leaders, including the dynasty
's founder, Uzun Hassan
, married Byzantine princess
es.
The Aq Qoyunlu Turkomans first acquired land in 1402, when Timur
granted them all of Diyarbakır
in present-day Turkey. For a long time, the Aq Qoyunlu were unable to expand their territory, as the rival Kara Koyunlu
or "Black Sheep Turkomans" kept them at bay. However, this changed with the rule of Uzun Hassan, who defeated the Black Sheep Turkoman leader Jahān Shāh
in 1467.
After the defeat of a Ilkhanate
leader, Abu Sa'id, Uzun Hassan was able to take Baghdad
along with territories around the Persian Gulf
. He expanded into Iran
as far east as Khorasan
. However, around this time, the Ottoman Empire
sought to expand eastwards, a serious threat that forced the Aq Qoyunlu into an alliance with the Karamanids of central Anatolia.
As early as 1464, Uzun Hassan had requested military aid from one of the Ottoman Empire's strongest enemies, Venice
, however, despite Venetian promises, this aid never arrived, and as a result, Uzun Hassan was defeated by the Ottomans at the Battle of Otlukbeli
in 1473, though this did not destroy the Aq Qoyunlu.
When Uzun Hassan died early in 1478, he was succeeded by his son Khalil Mirza (Sultan Khalil), but the latter was defeated by a confederation under his younger brother Ya'qub at the Battle of Khoy in July.
Ya'qub, who reigned from 1478 to 1490, sustained the dynasty for a while longer. However, during the first four years of his reign there were seven pretenders to the throne who had to be put down. Following Ya'qub's death, civil war again erupted, the Aq Qoyunlus destroyed themselves from within, and they ceased to be a threat to their neighbors.
The Safavids
, who were Shi'i Muslims, began to undermine the allegiance of many Aq Qoyunlu. The Safavids and the Aq Qoyunlu met in battle at Nakhchivan in 1501, and the Safavid leader Ismail I
forced the Aq Qoyunlu to withdraw.
In his retreat from the Safavids, the Aq Qoyunlu leader Alwand destroyed an autonomous
splinter Aq Qoyunlu state in Mardin
. The last Aq Qoyunlu leader, Murad
, brother of Alwand, was also defeated by the same Safavid leader. Though Murād briefly established himself in Baghdad in 1508, he soon withdrew back to Diyarbakır, signaling the end of the Aq Qoyunlu rule.
clan and were considered descendants of the semi-mythical founding father of the Oghuz, Oghuz Khan. The Bayandurs behaved like statesmen rather than warlords and gained the support of the merchant and feudal classes of South Caucasus
(present day Azerbaijan
).
With the conquest of Iran, not only did the Aq Qoyunlu center of power shift eastward, but Iranian influences were soon brought to bear on their method of government and their culture. In the Iranian provinces Uzun Hassan maintained the preexisting administrative system along with its officials, whose families had in some cases served under different dynasties for several generations. There were only four top civil posts, all held by Iranians, in Uzun Hassan's time: those of the vizier, who headed the great council (divan); the mostawfi al-mamalek, who was in charge of the financial administration; the mohrdar, who affixed the state seal; and the marakur "stable master", who looked after the royal court.
In letters from the Ottoman Sultans, when addressing the kings of Aq Qoyunlu, such titles as "Iranian King of Kings", "Iranian Sultan of Sultans", Shåhanshåh Irån Khadiv Ajam "Shahanshah of Iran and Ruler of Persia", Jamshid shawkat va Fereydun råyat va Dårå deråyat "Powerful like Jamshid
, flag of Fereydun
and wise like Darius" have been used. Uzun Hassan also held the title Padishah
-i Iran "Padishah of Iran", which was re-adopted again in the Safavid times through his grandson Ismail I, the founder of the Safavid dynasty.
According to Hasan Rumlu's Ahsan al-tavarikh, in 1496-7 a certain Hasan Ali Tarkhani went to Ottoman Turkey to tell Sultan Beyazid II that Azerbaijan and Persian Iraq were defenceless and suggested that Ahmad-beg, heir to that kingdom, should be sent there with Ottoman troops. Beyazid agreed to this idea, and by May 1497 Ahmad-beg faced Rustam near Araxes and defeated him.
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
/Azeri: آق قویونلو), was an Sunni Oghuz Turkic
Oghuz Turks
The Turkomen also known as Oghuz Turks were a historical Turkic tribal confederation in Central Asia during the early medieval Turkic expansion....
tribal federation
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
that ruled parts of present-day Eastern Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, northern Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
from 1378 to 1508.
History
According to chronicles from the Byzantine EmpireByzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, the Aq Qoyunlu were present in eastern Anatolia from at least 1340, and most of their leaders, including the dynasty
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
's founder, Uzun Hassan
Uzun Hassan
Uzun Hasan or Hassan , Sultan of the Aq Qoyunlu dynasty, or White Sheep Turkmen. Hassan ruled in parts of present-day western Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia between 1453 and 1478....
, married Byzantine princess
Princess
Princess is the feminine form of prince . Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or his daughters....
es.
The Aq Qoyunlu Turkomans first acquired land in 1402, when Timur
Timur
Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...
granted them all of Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır is one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey...
in present-day Turkey. For a long time, the Aq Qoyunlu were unable to expand their territory, as the rival Kara Koyunlu
Kara Koyunlu
The Kara Koyunlu or Qara Qoyunlu, also called the Black Sheep Turkomans , were a Shi'ite Oghuz Turkic tribal federation that ruled over the territory comprising the present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan, north-western Iran, eastern Turkey and Iraq from about 1375 to 1468.The Kara Koyunlu Turkomans at one...
or "Black Sheep Turkomans" kept them at bay. However, this changed with the rule of Uzun Hassan, who defeated the Black Sheep Turkoman leader Jahān Shāh
Jahan Shah
Muzaffar al-Din Jahan Shah ibn Yusuf was the leader of the Kara Koyunlu Turkmen tribal federation in Azerbaijan and Arran who reigned c.1438-1467. During his reign he managed to expand the Kara Koyunlu’s territory to its largest extent, including Western Anatolia, most of present day Iraq,...
in 1467.
After the defeat of a Ilkhanate
Ilkhanate
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate , was a Mongol khanate established in Azerbaijan and Persia in the 13th century, considered a part of the Mongol Empire...
leader, Abu Sa'id, Uzun Hassan was able to take Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
along with territories around the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
. He expanded into Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
as far east as Khorasan
Greater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...
. However, around this time, the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
sought to expand eastwards, a serious threat that forced the Aq Qoyunlu into an alliance with the Karamanids of central Anatolia.
As early as 1464, Uzun Hassan had requested military aid from one of the Ottoman Empire's strongest enemies, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, however, despite Venetian promises, this aid never arrived, and as a result, Uzun Hassan was defeated by the Ottomans at the Battle of Otlukbeli
Battle of Otlukbeli
The Battle of Otlukbeli or Otluk Beli was a battle between Ak Koyunlu and the Ottoman Empire that was fought on August 11, 1473.- Reasons for the conflict :...
in 1473, though this did not destroy the Aq Qoyunlu.
When Uzun Hassan died early in 1478, he was succeeded by his son Khalil Mirza (Sultan Khalil), but the latter was defeated by a confederation under his younger brother Ya'qub at the Battle of Khoy in July.
Ya'qub, who reigned from 1478 to 1490, sustained the dynasty for a while longer. However, during the first four years of his reign there were seven pretenders to the throne who had to be put down. Following Ya'qub's death, civil war again erupted, the Aq Qoyunlus destroyed themselves from within, and they ceased to be a threat to their neighbors.
The Safavids
Safavid dynasty
The Safavid dynasty was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran. They ruled one of the greatest Persian empires since the Muslim conquest of Persia and established the Twelver school of Shi'a Islam as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning...
, who were Shi'i Muslims, began to undermine the allegiance of many Aq Qoyunlu. The Safavids and the Aq Qoyunlu met in battle at Nakhchivan in 1501, and the Safavid leader Ismail I
Ismail I
Ismail I , known in Persian as Shāh Ismāʿil , was a Shah of Iran and the founder of the Safavid dynasty which survived until 1736. Isma'il started his campaign in Azerbaijan in 1500 as the leader of the Safaviyya, an extremist heterodox Twelver Shi'i militant religious order and unified all of Iran...
forced the Aq Qoyunlu to withdraw.
In his retreat from the Safavids, the Aq Qoyunlu leader Alwand destroyed an autonomous
Autonomous area
An autonomous area or autonomous entity is an area of a country that has a degree of autonomy, or freedom from an external authority. Typically it is either geographically distinct from the rest of the country or populated by a national minority. Countries that include autonomous areas are often...
splinter Aq Qoyunlu state in Mardin
Mardin
Mardin is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for its Arabic-like architecture, and for its strategic location on a rocky mountain overlooking the plains of northern Syria.-History:...
. The last Aq Qoyunlu leader, Murad
Murad
Murad is a masculine Arabic given name, it may refer to:-Given name:* Murad , Indian character actor* Mourad the Great, the nickname of Hampartsoum Boyadjian, an Armenian fedayee and political activist...
, brother of Alwand, was also defeated by the same Safavid leader. Though Murād briefly established himself in Baghdad in 1508, he soon withdrew back to Diyarbakır, signaling the end of the Aq Qoyunlu rule.
Governance
The leaders of Aq Qoyunlu were from the Begundur or Bayandur OghuzOghuz Turks
The Turkomen also known as Oghuz Turks were a historical Turkic tribal confederation in Central Asia during the early medieval Turkic expansion....
clan and were considered descendants of the semi-mythical founding father of the Oghuz, Oghuz Khan. The Bayandurs behaved like statesmen rather than warlords and gained the support of the merchant and feudal classes of South Caucasus
South Caucasus
The South Caucasus is a geopolitical region located on the border of Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia also referred to as Transcaucasia, or The Trans-Caucasus...
(present day Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
).
With the conquest of Iran, not only did the Aq Qoyunlu center of power shift eastward, but Iranian influences were soon brought to bear on their method of government and their culture. In the Iranian provinces Uzun Hassan maintained the preexisting administrative system along with its officials, whose families had in some cases served under different dynasties for several generations. There were only four top civil posts, all held by Iranians, in Uzun Hassan's time: those of the vizier, who headed the great council (divan); the mostawfi al-mamalek, who was in charge of the financial administration; the mohrdar, who affixed the state seal; and the marakur "stable master", who looked after the royal court.
In letters from the Ottoman Sultans, when addressing the kings of Aq Qoyunlu, such titles as "Iranian King of Kings", "Iranian Sultan of Sultans", Shåhanshåh Irån Khadiv Ajam "Shahanshah of Iran and Ruler of Persia", Jamshid shawkat va Fereydun råyat va Dårå deråyat "Powerful like Jamshid
Jamshid
Jamshid is a mythological figure of Greater Iranian culture and tradition.In tradition and folklore, Jamshid is described as having been the fourth and greatest king of the epigraphically unattested Pishdadian dynasty . This role is already alluded to in Zoroastrian scripture Jamshid (Middle-...
, flag of Fereydun
Fereydun
Fereydūn also pronounced Farīdūn or Afrīdūn , also called Apam Napat, "Son of the Waters", is the name of an Iranian mythical king and hero who is an emblem of victory, justice and generosity in the Persian literature.-Etymology:All of the forms of...
and wise like Darius" have been used. Uzun Hassan also held the title Padishah
Padishah
Padishah, Padshah, Padeshah, Badishah or Badshah is a superlative royal title, composed of the Persian pād "master" and the widespread shāh "king", which was adopted by several monarchs claiming the highest rank, roughly equivalent to the ancient Persian notion of "The Great" or "Great King", and...
-i Iran "Padishah of Iran", which was re-adopted again in the Safavid times through his grandson Ismail I, the founder of the Safavid dynasty.
Ahmad-beg Aq Qoyunlu
Amidst the struggle for power between Uzun Hassan's grandsons Baysungur (son of Yaqub) and Rustam (son of Maqsud), their cousin Ahmad-beg appeared on the stage. Ahmad-beg was the son of Uzun Hassan's eldest son Oghurlu Muhammad, who, in 1475, escaped to Ottoman Turkey. Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II received Oghurlu Muhammad with kindness and gave him his daughter, of whom Ahmad-beg was born.According to Hasan Rumlu's Ahsan al-tavarikh, in 1496-7 a certain Hasan Ali Tarkhani went to Ottoman Turkey to tell Sultan Beyazid II that Azerbaijan and Persian Iraq were defenceless and suggested that Ahmad-beg, heir to that kingdom, should be sent there with Ottoman troops. Beyazid agreed to this idea, and by May 1497 Ahmad-beg faced Rustam near Araxes and defeated him.
Sources
- Bosworth, Clifford (1996) The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual (2nd ed.) Columbia University Press, New York, ISBN 0-231-10714-5
- Morby, John (2002) Dynasties of the World: A Chronological and Genealogical Handbook (2nd ed.) Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, ISBN 0-19-860473-4
- Woods, John E. (1999) The Aqquyunlu: Clan, Confederation, Empire (2nd ed.) University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, ISBN 0-87480-565-1