Khalilullah I (), also known as Sultan-Khalil (), was the

Shirvanshah The Shirvanshahs (Arabic/) were the rulers of Shirvan (in present-day Azerbaijan) from 861 to 1538. The first ruling line were the Yazidids, an originally Arab and later Persianized dynasty, who became known as the Kasranids (also referred t ...

(king of

Shirvan Shirvan (from ; ; Tat: ''Şirvan'') is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, as known in both pre-Islamic Sasanian and Islamic times. Today, the region is an industrially and agriculturally developed part of the Republic of Azerbaijan ...

) from 1418 to 1465. He was the son and successor of Ibrahim I (). He was succeeded by his son Farrukh Yasar.

Reign

After the death 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 ...

ruler Qara Yusuf in 1420, many of his conquered subjects, who had formerly been vassals of the

Timurid Empire The Timurid Empire was a late medieval, culturally Persianate, Turco-Mongol empire that dominated Greater Iran in the early 15th century, comprising modern-day Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, much of Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and parts of co ...

, swore their fealty to

Timur Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...

's son

Shah Rukh Shah Rukh or Shahrukh Mirza (, ''Šāhrokh''; 20 August 1377 – 13 March 1447) was the ruler of the Timurid Empire between 1405 and 1447. He was the son of the Central Asian conqueror Timur (Tamerlane), who founded the Timurid dynasty in 1370 ...

(). This included Khalilullah, who also married a daughter (Qara Yusuf's widow) of the Timurid prince Abu Bakr ibn Miran Shah. In 1425, Sultan-Khalil faced a revolt led by his brothers Kay-Qubad, Ishaq and Hashim. With the help of Shah Rukh, however, he quelled the revolt. In 1432, Yar Ali, the son of the Qara Qoyunlu ruler Iskandar, fled to Shirvan, where he was given sanctuary by Khalilullah. This seemingly provoked the later Shirvan invasion of Iskandar in 1433/4, who reached as far as the city of Darband, later returning 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 ...

with loot and captives. Khalilullah appealed to the

Aq Qoyunlu The Aq Qoyunlu or the White Sheep Turkomans (, ; ) was a culturally Persianate society, Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two trib ...

ruler Uthman Beg (), who in response invaded Qara Qoyunlu-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 ...

, capturing the city of

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...

in the spring of 1434. Between 1456 and 1459, the

Safavid 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 ...

leader

Shaykh Junayd Shaykh Junayd (died 4 March 1460; ) was the hereditary leader of the Safavid order, a Sufi order based in Ardabil in northwestern Iran. He was the son of Shaykh Ibrahim, grandson of Shaykh Ali Safavi, father of Shaykh Haydar and grandfather o ...

made an alliance with the Aq Qoyunlu ruler

Uzun Hasan Uzun Hasan or Uzun Hassan (; February or March 1425 – January 6, 1478) was a ruler of the Turkoman (ethnonym), Turkoman Aq Qoyunlu state and is generally considered to be its strongest ruler. Hasan ruled between 1452 and 1478 and presided ove ...

() by marrying his sister Khadija Begum. With the support of Uzun Hasan, Junayd made several incursions into northern

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

( Trebizond) and

Circassia Circassia ( ), also known as Zichia, was a country and a historical region in . It spanned the western coastal portions of the North Caucasus, along the northeastern shore of the Black Sea. Circassia was conquered by the Russian Empire during ...

, but was killed in March 1460 by the forces of the Khalilullah during a battle near Tabarsaran. Khalilullah died in 1465, and was buried in the city of

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

. He was succeeded by his son Farrukh Yasar. In 1500, following the Safavid conquest of Shirvan, the commander Khadem Beg Talish had the body of Khalilullah dug up, burned and publicly scattered.

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{Shirvanshahs 1465 deaths 15th-century Iranian people