The Aq Qoyunlu or the White Sheep Turkomans (, ; ) was a culturally Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "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."

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

Michael M. Gunter, ''Historical dictionary of the Kurds'' (2010), p. 29 Turkoman tribal

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

. Founded in the Diyarbakir region by Qara Yuluk Uthman Beg, they ruled parts of present-day eastern

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

from 1378 to 1508, and in their last decades also ruled

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, much of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, and

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

where the ruler of Hormuz recognised Aq Qoyunlu suzerainty. The Aq Qoyunlu empire reached its zenith under Uzun Hasan.

History

Etymology

The name Aq Qoyunlu, literally meaning "those with white sheep", is first mentioned in late 14th century sources. 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

According to chronicles from the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

, the Aq Qoyunlu are first attested in the district of

Bayburt Bayburt () is a city in northeast Turkey lying on the Çoruh River. It is the seat of Bayburt Province and Bayburt District.Pontic Mountains from at least the 1340s. In these chronicles, Tur Ali Beg was mentioned as lord of the "Turks of Amid", who had already attained the rank of amir under the Ilkhan Ghazan. Under his leadership, they besieged Trebizond, but failed to take the town. A number of their leaders, including the

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

's founder, Qara Yuluk Uthman Beg, married Byzantine

princess Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for ...

es. By the end of the

Ilkhanid The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...

period in the mid-14th century, the Oghuz tribes that comprised the Aq Qoyunlu confederation roamed the summer pastures in

, in particular, the upper reaches of the

Tigris The Tigris ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian Desert, Syrian and Arabia ...

river and winter pastures between the towns of

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is ...

and Sivas. Since the end of the 14th century, Aq Qoyunlu waged constant wars with another tribal confederation of the Oghuz tribes, the Qara Qoyunlu. The leading Aq Qoyunlu tribe was the Bayandur tribe. Uzun Hasan used to assert the claim that he was an "honorable descendant of Oghuz Khan and his grandson, Bayandur Khan". In a letter dating to the year 1470, which was sent to Şehzade Bayezid, the then-governor of Amasya, Uzun Hasan wrote that those from the Bayandur and Bayat tribes, as well as other tribes that belonged to the "Oghuz il", and formerly inhabited Mangyshlak,

Khwarazm Khwarazm (; ; , ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the east by the Kyzylkum Desert, on the south by th ...

and Turkestan, came and served in his court. He also made the tamga (seal) of the Bayandur tribe the symbol of his state. For this reason, the Bayandur tamga is found in Aq Qoyunlu coins, their official documents, inscriptions and flags. ;Myth The Aq Qoyunlu Sultans claimed descent from Bayindir Khan, who was a grandson of Oghuz Khan, the legendary ancestor of Oghuz Turks. According to Professor G. L. Lewis: According to the '' Kitab-i Diyarbakriyya'', the ancestors of Uzun Hasan back to the prophet

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

in the 68th generation are listed by name and information is given about them. Among them is Tur Ali Bey, the grandfather of Uzun Hasan's grandfather, who is also mentioned in other sources. But it is difficult to say whether Pehlivan Bey, Ezdi Bey and Idris Bey, who are listed in earlier periods, really existed. Most of the people who are listed as the ancestors of Uzun Hasan are names related to the Oghuz legend and to Oghuz rulers.

Uzun Hasan

The Aq Qoyunlu Turkomans first acquired land in 1402, when Timur granted them all of Diyar Bakr in present-day Turkey. For a long time, the Aq Qoyunlu were unable to expand their territory, as the rival Qara Qoyunlu or "Black Sheep Turkomans" kept them at bay. However, this changed with the rule of Uzun Hasan, who defeated the Black Sheep Turkoman leader Jahān Shāh in 1467 at the Battle of Chapakchur. After the death of Jahan Shah, his son Hasan Ali, with the help of the Timurid ruler Abu Sa'id Mirza, marched on

to meet Uzun Hasan. Deciding to spend the winter in Karabakh, Abu Sa'id was defeated by the Aq Qoyunlu at the Battle of Qarabagh in 1469. Uzun Hasan supported a new Timurid ruler in Yadgar Muhammad Mirza, and gave him military assistance in occupying Khorasan, and temporarily capture Herat in July 1470 from

Sultan Husayn Bayqara Sultan Husayn Bayqara Mirza ( ''Husayn Bāyqarā''; June/July 1438 – 4 May 1506) was the Timurid dynasty, Timurid ruler of Herat from 1469 until May 4, 1506, with a brief interruption in 1470. A skilled statesman, Sultan Husayn Bayqara was ...

. Uzun Hasan was also able to take

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

along with territories around the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

. However, around this time, the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

sought to expand eastwards, a serious threat that forced the Aq Qoyunlu into an

alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

with the

Karamanids The Karamanids ( or ), also known as the Emirate of Karaman and Beylik of Karaman (), was a Turkish people, Turkish Anatolian beyliks, Anatolian beylik (principality) of Salur tribe origin, descended from Oghuz Turks, centered in South-Centra ...

of central Anatolia. As early as 1464, Uzun Hasan had requested military aid from one of the Ottoman Empire's strongest enemies,

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. Despite Venetian promises, and the visit of Venetian ambassadors at the court of Uzun Hasan, this aid never arrived and, as a result, Uzun Hasan was defeated by the Ottomans at the Battle of Otlukbeli in 1473, though this did not destroy the Aq Qoyunlu. In 1470, Uzun selected Abu Bakr Tihrani to compile a history of the Aq Qoyunlu confederation. The '' Kitab-i Diyarbakriyya'', written in Persian, referred to Uzun Hasan as ''sahib-qiran'' and was the first historical work to assign this title to a non-Timurid ruler. Uzun Hasan preserved relationships with the members of the popular dervish order whose main inclinations were towards Shi'ism, while promoting the urban religious establishment with donations and confirmations of tax concessions or endowments, and ordering the pursuit of extremist Shiite and antinomist sects. He married his daughter Alamshah Halime Begum to his nephew Haydar, the new head of the Safavid sect in Ardabil.

Sultan Ya'qub

When Uzun Hasan died early in 1478, he was succeeded by his son Khalil Mirza for a few months, 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. Unlike his father, Ya'qub Beg was not interested in popular religious rites and alienated a large part of the people, especially the Turks. Therefore, the vast majority of Turks became involved in the Safawiya order, which became a militant organization with an extreme Shiite ideology led by Sheikh Haydar. Ya'qub initially sent Sheikh Haydar and his followers to a holy war against the

Circassians The Circassians or Circassian people, also called Cherkess or Adyghe (Adyghe language, Adyghe and ), are a Northwest Caucasian languages, Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation who originated in Circassia, a region and former country in t ...

, but soon decided to break the alliance because he feared the military power of Sheikh Haydar and his order. During his march to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, Sheikh Haydar attacked one of Ya'qub's vassals, the Shirvanshahs, in revenge for his father, Sheikh Junayd (assassinated in 1460), and Ya'qub sent troops to the Shirvanshahs, who defeated and killed Haydar and captured his three sons. This event further strengthened the pro-Safavid feeling among Azerbaijani and Anatolian Turkmen. 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 early Safavids, who were followers of the Safaviyya religious order, began to undermine the allegiance of the Aq Qoyunlu. The Safavids and the Aq Qoyunlu met in battle in the city of 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 state of the Aq Qoyunlu in Mardin. The last Aq Qoyunlu leader, Sultan Murad, brother of Alwand, was also defeated by the same Safavid leader. Though Murād briefly established himself in Baghdad in 1501, he soon withdrew back to Diyar Bakr, signaling the end of the Aq Qoyunlu rule.

Ahmad Beg

Amidst the struggle for power between Uzun Hasan's grandsons Baysungur (son of Yaqub) and Rustam (son of Maqsud), their cousin Ahmed Bey appeared on the stage. Ahmed Bey was the son of Uzun Hasan's eldest son Ughurlu Muhammad, who, in 1475, escaped to the Ottoman Empire, where the sultan, Mehmed the Conqueror, received Uğurlu Muhammad with kindness and gave him his daughter in marriage, of whom Ahmed Bey was born.Vladimir Minorsky. "The Aq-qoyunlu and Land Reforms (Turkmenica, 11)", ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London'', 17/3 (1955): 458. Baysungur was dethroned in 1491 and expelled from Tabriz. He made several unsuccessful attempts to return before he was killed in 1493. Desiring to reconcile both his religious establishment and the famous Sufi order, Rustam (1478–1490) immediately allowed Sheikh Haydar Safavi's sons to return to Ardabil in 1492. Two years later, Ayba Sultan ordered their re-arrest, as their rise threatened the Ak Koyunlu again, but their youngest son, Ismail, then seven years old, fled and was hidden by supporters in Lahijan. According to Hasan Rumlu's ''Ahsan al-tavarikh'', in 1496–97, Hasan Ali Tarkhani went to the Ottoman Empire to tell Sultan Bayezid II that Azerbaijan and Persian Iraq were defenceless and suggested that Ahmed Bey, heir to that kingdom, should be sent there with Ottoman troops. Bayezid agreed to this idea, and by May 1497 Ahmad Bey faced Rustam near Araxes and defeated him. After Ahmad's death, the Aq Qoyunlu became even more fragmented. The state was ruled by three sultans: Alvand Mirza in the west, Uzun Hasan's nephew Qasim in an enclave in Diyarbakir, and Alvand's brother Mohammad in Fars and Iraq-Ajam (killed by violence in the summer of 1500 and replaced by Morad Mirza). The collapse of the Aq Qoyunlu state in Iran began in the autumn of 1501 with the defeat at the hands of Ismail Safavi, who had left Lahijan two years earlier and gathered a large audience of Turkmen warriors. He conquered Iraq-Ajami, Fars and Kerman in the summer of 1503, Diyarbakir in 1507–1508 and

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

in the autumn of 1508. The last Aq Qoyunlu sultan, Sultan Murad, who hoped to regain the throne with the help of Ottoman troops, was defeated and killed by Ismail's Qizilbash warriors in the last fortress of Rohada, ending the political rule of the Aq Qoyunlu dynasty.

Governance

The leaders of Aq Qoyunlu were from the Begundur or Bayandur clan of the Oghuz Turks and were considered descendants of the semi-mythical founding father of the Oghuz, '' Oghuz Khagan''.Charles van der Leeuw. ''Azerbaijan: A Quest of Identity, a Short History'', Palgrave Macmillan, , p. 81 The Bayandurs behaved like statesmen rather than warlords and gained the support of the merchant and feudal classes of Transcaucasia (present-day

, and

). The Aq Qoyunlu, along with the Qara Qoyunlu, were the last Iranian regimes that used their Chinggisid background to establish their legitimacy. Under Ya'qub Beg, the Chinggisid '' yasa'' (traditional nomadic laws of the medieval Turco-Mongols of the Eurasian steppe lands) was dissolved. Uzun Hasan's conquest of most of mainland Iran shifted the seat of power to the east, where the Aq Qoyunlu adopted Iranian customs for administration and culture. In the Iranian areas, Uzun Hasan preserved the previous bureaucratic structure along with its secretaries, who belonged to families that had in a number of instances served under different dynasties for several generations. The four top civil posts of the Aq Qoyunlu were all occupied by Iranians, which under Uzun Hasan included; the vizier, who led the great council (''

divan A divan or diwan (, ''dīvān''; from Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet) was a high government ministry in various Islamic states, or its chief official (see ''dewan''). Etymology The word, recorded in English since 1586, meaning "Oriental cou ...

''); the ''mostawfi al-mamalek'', high-ranking financial accountants; the ''mohrdar'', who affixed the state seal; and the ''marakur'' "stable master", who supervised the royal court. Culture flourished under the Aq Qoyunlu, who, although of coming from a Turkic background, sponsored Iranian culture. Uzun Hasan himself adopted it and ruled in the style of an Iranian king. Despite his Turkoman background, he was proud of being an Iranian. At his new capital, Tabriz, he managed a refined Persian court. There he utilized the trappings of pre-Islamic Persian royalty and bureaucrats taken from several earlier Iranian regimes. Through the use of his increasing revenue, Uzun Hasan was able to buy the approval of the ''

ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

'' (clergy) and the mainly Iranian urban elite, while also taking care of the impoverished rural inhabitants. In letters from the Ottoman Sultans, when addressing the kings of Aq Qoyunlu, such titles as "King of Iranian Kings", "Sultan of Iranian Sultans", ''Shāhanshāh-e Irān Khadiv-e Ajam'' "

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

anshah of Iran and Ruler of Persia", ''Jamshid shawkat va Fereydun rāyat va Dārā derāyat'' "Powerful like Jamshid, flag of Fereydun and wise like Darius" have been used., pp. 193, 274, 315, 330, 332, 422 and 430. See also: Abdul Hussein Navai, ''Asnaad o Mokatebaat Tarikhi Iran'' (Historical sources and letters of Iran), Tehran, Bongaah Tarjomeh and Nashr-e-Ketab, 2536, pp. 578, 657, 701–702 and 707 Uzun Hassan also held the title ''

Padishah Padishah (; ) is a superlative sovereign title of Persian origin. A form of the word is known already from Middle Persian (or Pahlavi) as ''pātaxšā(h)'' or ''pādixšā(y)''. Middle Persian ''pād'' may stem from Avestan ''paiti'', and is ...

-i Irān'' "Padishah of Iran", which was re-adopted by his distaff grandson Ismail I, founder of the Safavid Empire. The Aq Qoyunlu realm was notable for being inhabited by many prominent figures, such as the poets Ali Qushji (died 1474), Baba Fighani Shirazi (died 1519), Ahli Shirazi (died 1535), the poet, scholar and

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

Jami (died 1492) and the philosopher and theologian, Jalal al-Din Davani (died 1503).

Culture

Architecture

Uzun Hasan inscription on the South iwan of the courtyard of the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan

Uzun Hassan funded the renovation of mosques in various major centers and smaller towns, and had commemorative inscriptions made to express his support of Islam. He renovated and decorated the South iwan of the courtyard of the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan, where he left a central dedicatory inscription in his name. Uzun Hassn decorated the entire surface of the South iwan with enamel tiles colored in cobalt blue. Uzun Hassan also created the Uzun Hasan Mosque in his capital of Tabriz, a large and splendid mosque with two minarets, where Uzun Hasan and his son Yaqub were buried. Jameh Mosque of Isfahan 2015 4

Contributions to religious architecture continued under the descendants of Uzun Hasan, as for the Kushk Gate in Isfahan, commissioned under Rustam Beg, son of Uzun Hasan (r.1493-1496).

Tilework

It is thought that the blue-and-white tiles which can be found in the architectural decorations of Mamluk Syria and Egypt, or in the Ottoman capitals of Bursa and

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

, were created by itinerant artists coming from the Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu capital of Tabriz. 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. The influence of this Tabrizi school was also felt in Istanbul up to the mid-16th century. The celebrated ''Hasht Behesht'' ("Eight Paradises") Palace in Tabriz was also created by Uzun Hasan and completed by his son Yaqub Beg. It was represented in various manuscripts of the period, such as '' Khamsa of Nizami'' of 1481 commissioned by Yaqub Beg, and was influential in the development of the '' Hasht Behesht'' architectural style in Iran, including the Hasht Behesht in

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

Literature

Uzun Hasan did not leave many marks in the area of literature. Miniatures became more "provincial" in taste, using bright colors and standardized figures, known as the " Turkman style". His son Yaqub however displayed much more sophisticated tastes, which appeared in both calligraphy and paintings. He sponsored an important worshop in Tabriz at his palace ''Hasht Behesht'' ("Eight paradises"), where numerous artists, poets, calligraphers and painters, produced some of the best manuscripts of the period. Their style combined Chinese patterns with Persian repertoire.

Persian language literature

The Aq Qoyunlu patronized Persian ''belles-lettres'' which included poets like Ahli Shirazi, Kamāl al-Dīn Banāʾī Haravī, Bābā Fighānī, Shahīdī Qumī. By the reign of Yaʿqūb, the Aq Qoyunlu court held a fondness for Persian poetry. 16th-century Azerbaijani poet Fuzuli was also born and raised under Aq Qoyunlu rule, writing his first known poem for Shah Alvand Mirza. Nur al-Din 'Abd al-Rahman Jami dedicated his poem, ''Salāmān va Absāl'', which was written in Persian, to Yaʿqūb. Yaʿqūb rewarded Jami with a generous gift. Jami also wrote a eulogy, ''Silsilat al-zahab'', which indirectly criticised Yaʿqūb immoral behavior. Yaʿqūb had Persian poems dedicated to him, including Ahli Shirazi's allegorical masnavi on love, ''Sham' va parvana'' and Bana'i's 5,000 verse narrative poem, ''Bahram va Bihruz''. Yaʿqūb's maternal nephew, 'Abd Allah Hatifi, wrote poetry for the five years he spent at the Aq Qoyunlu court. Uzun Hasan and his son, Khalil, patronized, along with other prominent Sufis, members of the Kobrāvi and Neʿmatallāhi tariqats. According to the ''Tarikh-e lam-r-ye amini'' by Fazlallh b. Ruzbehn Khonji Esfahni, the court-commissioned history of Yaqub's reign, Uzun Hasan built close to 400 structures in the Aq Qoyunlu region for the purpose of Sufi communal retreat. In 1469, Uzun Hasan sent the head of the Timurid Sultan, Shāhrukh II bin Abu Sa'id, with an embassy to the court of the newly ascended al-Ashraf Qaytbay in Cairo. With these presents came a ''fathnama'', in Persian, explaining to the Mamluk sultan the events leading up to the Aq Quyunlu—Timurid conflict approximately five months earlier, emphasizing in particular Sultan-Abu Sa'id's plans of aggression toward the Mamluk and Aq Quyunlu dominions—plans that were thwarted by Qaitbay's loyal peer Uzun Hasan. Despite the negative response from Qaitbay, Uzun Hasan's continued correspondence to the Mamluk Sultanate were in Persian. File:Figure of a ruler. Aq Qoyunlu, circa 1480. Divan (Collected Works) of Jami MET DP246513.jpg, Figure of a ruler. Aq Qoyunlu, circa 1480. ''Divan'' (Collected Works) of Jami File:Chinese style scene, Aqqoyunlu Turkmen, signed by Shaykhi, ca. 1480. Tabriz. Topkapı Palace Library, H.2153, fol. 146v.jpg, Chinese style scene, Aqqoyunlu Turkmen, signed by Shaykhi, ca. 1480. Tabriz File:Mounted Falconer. c.1470-90, Tabriz (?), Iran. Aq-Qoyunlu (White Sheep) Turkmen from Manuscript Hazine 2153 (Fatih Album), of the Saray Albums, Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul Turkey. Siyah Qalem (black pen) school.jpg, Mounted Falconer. c.1470-90, Aq-Qoyunlu, Tabriz (?). File:Outdoor court scene with musicians. Frontispiece. Khamsa of Nizami. 1501, Shiraz (Bodleian Library, MS. Elliott 192).jpg, Outdoor court scene with musicians. Frontispiece. ''Khamsa'' of Nizami. 1501, Shiraz

Turkic language literature

Uzun Hassan was more of a military man and was not very involved in literary creations. Still, he is said to have translated Prophetic Traditions and made a version of the Qor'an in Turkish. Sultan Khalil, is known to have commissioned a rare but refined illustrated manuscript in "Azarbayjani Turkish", the ''Diwān of Hidayat'' ( Chester Beatty Library, MS 401). An adaption in Oghuz Turk of the ''Dīwān'' of ‘Alī Shīr Nawā’ī (1441-1501), the greatest representative of Chagatai literature who was active in the Timurid court in Herat, is also known to have likely been commissioned by Sultan Khalil. It is sometimes called '' The Dīwān of the Aq Qoyunlu admirers''. Some of the works commissioned by Yaqub Sultan were in Chagatai (Eastern Turkic), such as a ''Divan'' of Ali-Shir Nava'i (1480), or a ''Makhzan al-asrar'' (1478) made in Tabriz, "painted with Chinese landscapes, flowering trees, and birds in gold".

Administration

The Aq Qoyunlu administration encompassed of two sections; the military caste, which mostly consisted of Turkomans, but also had Iranian tribesmen in it. The other section was the civil staff, which consisted of officials from established Persian families.V. Minorsky, "A Civil and Military Review in Fars"
881/1476, p. 172

Legacy

Despite their rivalry, the Safavids formed in a certain sense the posterity of the Aq Qoyunlu, as shown by the extent of their marital connections: Junaid, hereditary leader of the Safavid order and grandfather of the future founder of the

Safavid Empire The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

Shah Ismail, married an Aq Qoyunlu princess (Uzun Hassan's sister, Khadija Khatun). Their son Haydar Safavi also married a daughter of Uzun Hasan, Alamshah Halime Begum, a union out of which was born Shah Ismail. Finally, the Safavids too were heirs to "a tribally constituted military elite" and encountered similar difficulties in forming a stable government.

Military structure

The organization of the Aq Qoyunlu army was based on the fusion of military traditions from both nomadic and settled cultures. The ethnic background of Aq-Qoyunlu troops were quite heterogeneous as it consisted of 'sarvars' of Azerbaijan, people of Persia and Iraq, Iranzamin askers, dilavers of Kurdistan, Turkmen mekhtars and others.

Coinage

File:Coin of the Aq Qoyunlu leader Jahangir.jpg, Jahangir's coin, after 1444 AD. File:Coin of Uzun Hasan, minted in Amed (Amid, Diyarbakır). Obverse.jpg, Uzun Hasan's coin minted in Amid (Diyarbakir), 1453–1478 AD. File:Coin of Yaqub bin Uzun Hasan, obverse.jpg, Sultan Yaqub's coin, 1479–1490 AD. File:Gold coin of the Aq Qoyunlu ruler Baysunghur, Tabriz mint.jpg, Baysunghur's coin minted in Tabriz, 1490–1493 AD. File:Coin of Sultan Rustam (Aq Qoyunlu).png, Sultan Rustam's coin, 1495 AD. File:Coin of Sultan Ahmad (Aq Qoyunlu).jpg, Sultan Ahmad's coin minted in Tabriz, 1497 AD. File:Coin of Sultan Muhammed (Aq Qoyunlu).png, Coin of Sultan Muhammad. File:Coin of Sultan Alvand (Aq Qoyunlu).jpg, Sultan Alwand's coin. File:Coin of Sultan Murad (Aq Qoyunlu).jpg, Sultan Murad's coin.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Bosworth, Clifford (1996) ''The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual'' (2nd ed.) Columbia University Press, New York, * * * * * * * * * * * Morby, John (2002) ''Dynasties of the World: A Chronological and Genealogical Handbook'' (2nd ed.) Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, * * Woods, John E. (1999)
The Aqquyunlu: Clan, Confederation, Empire
' (2nd ed.) University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, {{Coord missing, Asia Medieval history of Azerbaijan 15th century in Armenia Medieval history of Georgia (country) Medieval Azerbaijan (Iran) States and territories established in 1378 1508 disestablishments in Asia 1378 establishments in Asia Medieval history of Iraq 1370s in the Middle East States and territories disestablished in 1508