Qara Yusuf
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Abu Nasr Qara Yusuf Nuyan ibn Muhammad was the ruler of the Kara Koyunlu or Black Sheep Turkomans from c.1388 to 1420, although his reign was interrupted by the Timurid invasion (1400-05).
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[edit] The Jalayirid vassalage broken
At the beginning of Qara Yusuf’s reign, although the Kara Koyunlu were supposedly vassals of the Jalayirid dynasty in Baghdad and Tabriz, in fact both the Jalayirids and the Kara Koyunlu were threatened by the Timurids to the east. In 1396 Timur appointed his son Miran Shah as Timurid viceroy of Azerbaijan. By collaborating on equal terms with the Jalayirid Sultan Ahmad against the Timurids, Qara Yusuf effectively secured the independence of the Kara Koyunlu.
[edit] The Timurid Invasion
The Timurids began another campaign in 1400 and defeated both the Kara Koyunlu and the Jalayirids. Qara Yusuf and Sultan Ahmad both fled and took refuge with the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I. In 1402 they returned together with an army. However, once they had retaken control of Baghdad they quarrelled, and Qara Yusuf expelled Ahmad from the city. Ahmad took refuge with the Mamelukes, but they imprisoned him out of fear of Timur. In 1403 the Timurids drove Qara Yusuf out of Baghdad again. He too sought asylum with the Mamelukes, and was imprisoned by them along with Ahmad. Together in prison, the two leaders renewed their friendship, making an agreement that Ahmad should keep Baghdad while Qara Yusuf would have Azerbaijan. When Timur died in 1405 the Mamelukes released them both. By 1407 Ahmad had re-established his rule in Baghdad, while Qara Yusuf had recaptured Tabriz and taken up residence there. He continued to be a thorn in the side of Timur’s successor Shah Rukh for the rest of his reign.
[edit] The conquest of Baghdad
The agreement between Ahmad and Qara Yusuf did not last. Wanting to regain Azerbaijan, Ahmad attacked the Kara Koyunlu, and briefly occupied Tabriz. However in August 1410 Qara Yusuf defeated him, and captured and executed him and his son Ala al-Daula. Ahmad’s nephew Sultan Valad briefly succeeded him but in 1412 Qara Yusuf captured Baghdad, and installed a Kara Koyunlu line of rulers there, effectively ending the rule of the Jalayirid dynasty.
Qara Yusuf died in 1420 and was succeeded by his son Qara Iskander.
| Preceded by Qara Muhammad |
Tribal chief c.1388-1420 |
Succeeded by Qara Iskander |
