Bayram Khwaja Yiwa was the founder of the

Qara Qoyunlu The Qara Qoyunlu or Kara Koyunlu (, ; ), also known as the Black Sheep Turkomans, were a culturally Persianate, Muslim Turkoman "Kara Koyunlu, also spelled Qara Qoyunlu, Turkish Karakoyunlular, English Black Sheep, Turkmen tribal federation tha ...

, a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Turkoman tribal confederation, that in a short space of time came to rule the territory comprising present-day

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, northwestern

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 ...

, 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 ...

, and northeastern

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 ...

from about 1374 to 1468.

Family

Bayram Khwaja was the son of Qara Mansur. He had a brother named Qara Dursun, whose son,

Qara Mahammad Qara Mahammad Yiwa was a bey of the Qara Qoyunlu and father of Qara Yusuf. Life Mahammad was a nephew of Bayram Khwaja and one of his main supporters. He served Jalayirid sultan Uways and suppressed Khwaja Marjan's rebellion (governor of ...

, succeeded Bayram. He had two other brothers: Murad, was governor of Baghdad ; and Berdi Khwaja. He belonged to the Baharlu clan of the Yiva Tribe.

Biography

Under the

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

rule, Qara Qoyunlu's were subject to the

Oirats Oirats (; ) or Oirds ( ; ), formerly known as Eluts and Eleuths ( or ; zh, 厄魯特, ''Èlǔtè'') are the westernmost group of Mongols, whose ancestral home is in the Altai Mountains, Altai region of Siberia, Xinjiang and western Mongolia. ...

, and their

kishlak Kishlak or qishlaq (, , , , ), or qıştaq () qıstaw () is a rural settlement of semi-nomadic Turkic peoples of Central Asia and Azerbaijan. The meaning of the term is "wintering place" in Turkic languages (derives from Turkic ''qış'' - win ...

s (winter quarters) were near

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

, while

yaylak Yaylak ( or ; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a summer highland pasture associated with transhumance pastoralism in several Central and West Asian Turkic communities. There are different variants of yaylak pastoralism forms of alpine transhumance, some of whi ...

s were located in the

Van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or ...

region, specifically

Erciş Erciş (; ; , historically , ''Arčeš'') is a municipality and district of Van Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,133 km2, and its population is 171,000 (2022). It is located at the northern end of Lake Van. History of Artchesh During Cl ...

. In 1337, Qara Qoyunlu were vassalized by the Sutayids, who gained control of the region. Their head, Pīr Muḥammad was killed by one of his

emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

s, Husein Beg, in 1350, who was murdered the next year by Bayram Khwaja, usurping control of the territory. Although Bayram Khwaja was initially unsuccessful in taking

from Ordu Bugha, Ḥusayn Beg’s nephew, he eventually captured the city and made his brother, Berdi Khwaja, its governor. Bayram is first recorded in service to Huseyin beg, a Turkmen warlord who killed Pir Muhammed of

Sinjar Sinjar (; , ) is a town in the Sinjar District of the Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. It is located about five kilometers south of the Sinjar Mountains. Its population in 2013 was estimated at 88,023, and is predominantly Yazidi. History ...

and usurped his city. Huseyin beg and his company were attacked by the

Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egyp ...

lord of

Hasankeyf Hasankeyf is a town located along the Tigris, in the Hasankeyf District, Batman Province, Turkey. It was declared a natural conservation area by Turkey in 1981. Despite local and international objections, the city and its archaeological sites ...

, Al-Adil, in 1350; however, they defeated him. Bayram in turn usurped Huseyin Beg's position and declared his independence in 1351.Encyclopedia of Islam, vol 7 -
Karakoyunlular
Bayram besieged

Mardin Mardin (; ; romanized: ''Mārdīn''; ; ) is a city and seat of the Artuklu District of Mardin Province in Turkey. It is known for the Artuqids, Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on a rocky hill near the Tigris ...

, which at the time was ruled by the

Artuqid The Artuqid dynasty (alternatively Artukid, Ortoqid, or Ortokid; Old Anatolian Turkish: , , pl. ; ; ) was established in 1102 as a Turkish Anatolian Beylik (Principality) of the Seljuk Empire. It formed a Turkoman dynasty rooted in the Oghuz ...

Mansur Ahmed (), in 1366. Mansur called for

Shaikh Awais Jalayir Shaykh Uways Jalayir () was the Jalayirid Sultanate, Jalayirid ruler of Iraq (1356–1374) and Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan (1360–1374). He was the son of Hasan Buzurg and the Chobanids, Chobanid princess Dilshad Khatun. Rise to throne Shortl ...

's help. Awais responded and defeated and subjugated Bayram Khwaja in a battle near

Muş Muş (; ; ) is a city in eastern Turkey. It is the seat of Muş Province and Muş District.İl Beled ...

. He then besieged

in 1371, but retreated on hearing news of the approach of a

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

force. Bayram acted more independently after Awais' withdrawal. He subsequently invaded Mosul, Sinjar, ,

Khoy Khoy (, ) is a city in the Central District (Khoy County), Central District of Khoy County, West Azerbaijan province, West Azerbaijan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Occupied since Medes, Median times, ...

and Nakhchivan in 1374. The new Jalairid sultan,

Hussain Hussein, Hossein, Hussain, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein, Hussin, Hoessein, Houcine, Hocine or Husain (; ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-N (), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", "handsome" or ...

, moved against

and attacked

, his new base. Despite Bayram's help, the Kara Koyunlus suffered heavy casualties and were subjugated in 1374, becoming

vassals A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerai ...

of the Jalairid Sultanate, which was centered in

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 ...

and

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

Succession

Bayram died in 1380 and was succeeded by his brother Berdi Khwaja, about whose reign nothing is known. He was followed by

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * {{cite book , last1=Uzunçarşılı , first1=İsmail Hakkı , title=Anadolu Beylikleri Ve Akkoyunlu, Karakoyunlu Devletleri , trans-title=Anatolian Beyliks and Aq Qoyunlu, Qara Qoyunlu States , date=1969 , publisher=Turkish Historical Society Press , url=https://archive.org/details/IsmailHakkUzuncarsl.AnadoluBeylikleriVeAkkoyunluKarakoyunluDevletleri1969/page/n65/mode/2up , access-date=8 January 2024 , language=tr 1380 deaths Founding monarchs in Asia 14th-century Qara Qoyunlu rulers