Kara Koyunlu

Kara Koyunlular
Black Sheep Turkomans قره قویونلو
1375–1468
Kara Koyunlu of the Turkomans, lighter blue shows their greatest extent in Iraq and Arabian East Coast for a small period of time
Capital		Tabriz
Languages		Azerbaijani (poetry)[1] Persian (poetry)[1]
Religion		Islam
Government		Monarchy
Ruler
•	1375–1378	Bayram Xoca
•	1467–1468	Hasan 'Ali
Historical era		Middle Ages
•	Established	1375
•	Disestablished	1468
Preceded by Succeeded by Jalayirids Ag Qoyunlu
Today part of		Armenia  Azerbaijan  Georgia  Iran  Iraq  Kuwait  Russia  Saudi Arabia  Turkey
Warning: Value not specified for "common_name"

Part of a series on the
History of Azerbaijan
Antiquity Ancient history and Median Empire Atropatene First Persian Empire and Alexander's conquests Caucasian Albania Parthian dynasty Sasanian dynasty
Middle Ages Islamic period Sajids Sallarids Seljuk dynasty Eldiguzids Ilkhanate Chobanids Qara Qoyunlu Aq Qoyunlu Shirvanshahs
Early modern history Safavid dynasty Khanates Zand dynasty Afsharid Dynasty Qajar dynasty Russian Rule
Modern history Azerbaijan Democratic Republic March Days Azerbaijan SSR Black January Republic of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan portal

Part of a series on the
History of Turkey
Prehistory Prehistory of Anatolia Palaeolithic Anatolia c. 500,000–  10,000 BC Mesolithic Anatolia c. 11,000–  9,000 BC Neolithic Anatolia c. 8,000–  5,500 BC
Bronze Age Troy 3000–700 BC Hattians 2500–2000 BC Akkadian Empire 2400–2150 BC Luwians 2300–1400 BC Assyria 1950–1750 BC Achaeans (Homer) 1700–1300 BC Kizzuwatna 1650–1450 BC Hittites 1680–1220 BC Arzawa 1500–1320 BC Mitanni 1500–1300 BC Hayasa-Azzi 1500–1290 BC Lycia 1450–350 BC Assuwa 1300–1250 BC Diauehi 1200–800 BC Neo-Hittites 1200–800 BC Phrygia 1200–700 BC Caria 1150–547 BC Tuwanuwa 1000–700 BC Ionia 1000–545 BC Urartu 859–595/585 BC
Iron Age Diauehi 1200–800 BC Neo-Hittites 1200–800 BC Phrygia 1200–700 BC Caria 1150–547 BC Doris 1100–560 BC Aeolis 1000–560 BC Tuwanuwa 1000–700 BC Ionia 1000–545 BC Urartu 859–595/585 BC Median Empire 678-549 BC Lydia 685–547 BC
Classical Age Classical Anatolia Classical Thrace Achaemenid Empire 559–331 BC Kingdom of Alexander the Great 334–301 BC Kingdom of Cappadocia 322-130 BC Antigonids 306–168 BC Seleucid Empire 305–64 BC Ptolemaic Kingdom 305–30 BC Kingdom of Pontus 302–64 BC Bithynia 297–74 BC Kingdom of Pergamon 282–129 BC Galatia 281–64 BC Parthian Empire 247 BC–224 AD Armenian Empire 190 BC–428 AD Roman Republic 133–27 BC Kingdom of Commagene 163 BC–72 AD Roman Empire 27 BC–330 AD Sassanian Empire 224–651 AD
Medieval Age Medieval Anatolia Byzantine Empire (330–1453) Rashidun Caliphate (637–656) Great Seljuk State (1037–1194) Danishmends (1071–1178) Anatolian beyliks (1081-1423) Sultanate of Rum (1077–1307) Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (1078–1375) County of Edessa (1098–1150) Artuqids (1101–1409) Empire of Trebizond (1204–1461) Empire of Nicaea (1204–1261) Latin Empire (1204–1261) Ilkhanate (1256–1335) Kara Koyunlu (1375–1468) Ak Koyunlu (1378–1501)
Ottoman Era Periods of Ottoman Empire Rise (1299–1453) Classical Age (1453–1566) Transformation (1566–1703) Old Regime (1703–1789) Decline and modernization (1789–1908) Defeat and dissolution (1908–1922)
Republic of Turkey Periods of Turkey War of Independence (1919–1922) Provisional government (1920–1923) One-party period (1923–1930) (1930–1945) Multi-party period (1945–present)
By topic Ancient Anatolians Migration of Turks into Anatolia Constitutional history Economic history Military history Cultural history Timeline
Turkey portal

Part of a series on the
History of Iran
Mythological history Pishdadian dynasty Kayanian dynasty
Ancient period BC Prehistory of Iran Ancient Times–4000 Kura–Araxes culture 3400–2000 Proto-Elamite 3200–2700 Elam 2700–539 Akkadian Empire 2400–2150 Kassites c. 1500 – c. 1155 Neo-Assyrian Empire 911–609 Urartu 860–590 Mannaeans 850–616
Imperial period Median Empire 678–550 BC (Scythian Kingdom) 652–625 BC Neo-Babylonian Empire 626 BC–539 BC Achaemenid Empire 550–330 BC Kingdom of Armenia 331 BC – 428 AD Atropatene 320s BC – 3rd century AD Seleucid Empire 312–63 BC Frataraka dynasty 3rd-century BC – c. 222 AD Parthian Empire 247 BC – 224 AD Suren Kingdom 119 BC – 240 AD Sasanian Empire 224–651 Zarmihrids 6th century – 785 Qarinvandids 550s – 11th century
Medieval period Rashidun Caliphate 632-661 Umayyad Caliphate 661–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258 Dabuyids 642–760 Bavandids 651–1349 Masmughans of Damavand 651–760 Paduspanids 665–1598 Justanids 791 – 11th century Alid dynasties 864 – 14th century Tahirid dynasty 821–873 Samanid Empire 819–999 Saffarid dynasty 861–1003 Ghurid dynasty pre-879 – 1141 Sajid dynasty 889–929 Sallarid dynasty 919–1062 Ziyarid dynasty 930–1090 Ilyasids 932–968 Buyid dynasty 934–1062 Ghaznavid dynasty 977–1186 Kakuyids 1008–1141 Nasrid dynasty 1029–1236 Shabankara 1030–1355 Seljuk Empire 1037–1194 Khwarazmian dynasty 1077–1231 Eldiguzids 1135–1225 Atabegs of Yazd 1141–1319 Salghurids 1148–1282 Hazaraspids 1155–1424 Mihrabanids 1236–1537 Kurt dynasty 1244–1396 Ilkhanate Empire 1256–1335 Chobanid dynasty 1335–1357 Muzaffarid dynasty 1335–1393 Jalairid dynasty 1337–1376 Sarbadars 1337–1376 Injuids 1335–1357 Afrasiyab dynasty 1349–1504 Marashis 1359–1596 Timurid Empire 1370–1507 Karkiya dynasty 1370s–1592 Kara Koyunlu 1406–1468 Aq Qoyunlu 1468–1508
Early modern period Safavid dynasty 1501–1736 (Hotak dynasty) 1722–1729 Afsharid dynasty 1736–1796 Talysh Khanate 1747–1826 Zand dynasty 1751–1794 Qajar dynasty 1789–1925
Modern period Pahlavi dynasty 1925–1979 Interim Government of Iran 1979–1980 History of the Islamic Republic of Iran 1980–present
Related articles Name Monarchs Economic history Military history Wars
Timeline Iran portal

The Kara Koyunlu or Qara Qoyunlu, also called the Black Sheep Turkomans (Persian: قره قویونلو‎‎), were a Muslim Oghuz Turkic tribal federation that ruled over the territory comprising present-day Azerbaijan, Armenia (1406), northwestern Iran, eastern Turkey, and northeastern Iraq from about 1375 to 1468.^[2][3]

The Kara Koyunlu Turkomans

The Kara Koyunlu Turkomans at one point established their capital in Herat in eastern Iran.^[4] They were vassals of the Jalairid Sultanate in Baghdad and Tabriz from about 1375, when the leader of their leading tribe ruled over Mosul. However, they rebelled against the Jalairids, and secured their independence from the dynasty with the conquest of Tabriz by Qara Yusuf. In 1400, Timur defeated the Kara Koyunlu, and Qara Yusuf fled to Egypt, seeking refuge with the Mamluk Sultanate. He gathered an army and by 1406 had taken back Tabriz.

In 1410, the Kara Koyunlu captured Baghdad. The installation of a subsidiary Black Sheep line there hastened the downfall of the Jalairids they had once served. Despite internal fighting among Qara Yusuf's descendants after his death in 1420, and the increasing threat of the Timurid dynasty, the Kara Koyunlu maintained a strong grip over the areas they controlled.

Religion

According to R. Quiring-Zoche in the, Encyclopedia Iranica;

• "The argument that there was a clear-cut contrast between the Sunnism of the Āq Qoyunlū and the Shiʿism of the Qara Qoyunlū and the Ṣafawīya rests mainly on later Safavid sources and must be considered doubtful."^[5]
  

C.E. Bosworth in, The New Islamic Dynasties, states;

• "As to the religious affiliations of the Qara Qoyunlu, although some of the later member of the family had Shi'i-type names and there were occasional Shi'i coin legends, there seems no strong evidence for definite Shi'i sympathies among many Turkmen elements of the time."^[6]

Jahān Shāh

Jahan Shah made peace with the Timurid Shahrukh Mirza; however, this soon fell apart. When Shahrukh Mirza died in 1447, the Black Sheep Turkomans annexed portions of Iraq and the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula as well as Timurid-controlled western Iran. Though much territory was gained during his rule, Jahān Shāh's reign was troubled by his rebellious sons and the almost autonomous rulers of Baghdad, whom he expelled in 1464. In 1466, Jahan Shah attempted to take Diyarbakır from the Ağ Qoyunlu ("White Sheep Turkomans"), however, this was a catastrophic failure resulting in Jahān Shāh's death and the collapse of the Black Sheep Turkomans' control in the Middle East. By 1468, at their height under Uzun Hassan (1452–1478), Aq Qoyunlu defeated the Qara Qoyunlu and conquered Iraq, Azerbaijan, and western Iran.^[7]

Kara Koyunlu rule

Armenia

Armenia fell under the control of the Kara Koyunlu in 1410. The principal Armenian sources available in this period come from the historian Tovma Metsopetsi and several colophons to contemporary manuscripts.^[8] According to Tovma, although the Kara Koyunlu levied heavy taxes against the Armenians, the early years of their rule were relatively peaceful and some reconstruction of towns took place. This peaceful period was, however, shattered with the rise of Qara Iskander, who reportedly made Armenia a "desert" and subjected it to "devastation and plunder, to slaughter, and captivity."^[9] Iskander's wars with and eventual defeat by the Timurids invited further destruction in Armenia, as many Armenians were taken captive and sold into slavery and the land was subjected to outright pillaging, forcing many of them to leave the region.^[10] Iskander did attempt to reconcile with the Armenians by appointing an Armenian from a noble family, Rustum, as one of his advisers.

When the Timurids launched their final incursion into the region, they convinced Jihanshah, Iskander's brother, to turn on his brother. Jihanshah pursued a policy of persecution against the Armenians in Syunik and colophons to Armenian manuscripts record the sacking of the Tatev monastery by his forces.^[10] But he, too, sought a rapprochement with the Armenians, allotting land to feudal lords, rebuilding churches, and approving the relocation of the seat of the Armenian Apostolic Church's Catholicos to Etchmiadzin Cathedral in 1441. For all this, Jihanshah continued to attack Armenian towns and take Armenian captives as the country saw further devastation in the final years of Jihanshah's failed struggles with the Aq Qoyunlu.^[11]

Mausoleum of Turkmen emirs

One of the most prominent monuments built by Black Sheep dynasty remains today in the vicinity of the Armenian capital, the Mausoleum of Kara Koyunlu emirs. Turkmenistan and Armenia both contribute to the restoration and preservation of this medieval piece of architecture.

Gallery

• 
  «Erivan tower». 1838
• 
  Graveyard in Argavand, fragment in Arabic.
• 
  Graveyard in Argavand, fragment in Arabic.

See also

• List of rulers of Kara Koyunlu
• Turkmen invasions of Georgia
• List of Shia Muslim dynasties

Notes

Works cited

• Bosworth, Clifford E. (1996). The New Islamic Dynasties. Columbia University Press. 
• Kouymjian, Dickran (2004). "Armenia from the fall of the Cilician Kingdom (1375) to the forced emigration under Shah Abbas". In Hovannisian, Richard G. The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-6421-2. 
• Minorsky, V. (1954). "Jihān-Shāh Qara-Qoyunlu and His Poetry (Turkmenica, 9)". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 16 (2): 271–97. 
• Quiring-Zoche, R. (2009-10-29). AQ QOYUNLŪ. Encyclopedia Iranica. 

Further reading

• Bosworth, Clifford. The New Islamic Dynasties, 1996.
• (in Armenian) Khachikyan, Levon. ԺԵ դարի հայերեն ձեռագրերի հիշատակարաններ, մաս 1 (Fifteenth Century Armenian Colophons, Part 1). Yerevan, 1955.
• Morby, John. The Oxford Dynasties of the World, 2002.
• Sanjian, Avedis K. Colophons of Armenian manuscripts, 1301-1480: A Source for Middle Eastern History, Selected, Translated, and Annotated by Avedis K. Sanjian. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1969.