Uzun Hasan orUzun Hassan[a] (اوزون حسن; February or March 1425 – January 6, 1478) was a ruler of theTurkoman[9]Aq Qoyunlu state and is generally considered to be its strongest ruler.[10] Hasan ruled between 1452 and 1478 and presided over the confederation's territorial apex, when it included parts or all of present-dayIraq,Turkey,Azerbaijan,Iran,Transcaucasia andSyria.
Reign
TheAq Qoyunlu empire by the end of Uzun Hassan's reign in 1478
Timur, the founder and ruler of theTimurid Empire, had appointed Uzun Hasan's grandfather,Kara Yülük Osman, as a governor ofDiyarbakır, with the cities ofErzincan,Mardin,Ruha (orUrfa), andSivas. Later, Persia was divided between twoTimurid rulers,Jahan Shah ofQara Qoyunlu (the Black Sheep Turkoman) and Uzun Hasan. After twenty years of fighting, Uzun Hasan eventually defeated Jahan Shah in abattle near thesanjak ofÇapakçur[11][12] in present-day easternTurkey on October 30[13] (or November 11[14]), 1467. Upon the defeat of the latter, anotherTimurid ruler,Abu Sa'id Mirza, answered Jahan Shah's son's request for aid, taking much of Jahan Shah's former land and going to war with Uzun Hasan despite the latter's offers of peace. Uzun Hasan then ambushed and captured Abu Sa'id at theBattle of Qarabagh, whereupon he was executed byYadgar Muhammad Mirza, a rival.[15]
In 1463, the Venetian Senate, seeking allies in itswar against theOttomans, sentLazzaro Querini as its firstambassador toTabriz,[16] but he was unable to persuade Uzun Hassan to attack the Ottomans.[17] Hassan sent his own envoys toVenice in return.[16]
In 1465, Hassan attacked and captured Harput from theBeylik of Dulkadir.
In 1471, Querini returned toVenice with Hazzan's ambassadorMurad.[16] TheVenetian Senate voted to send another to Persia, choosingCaterino Zeno after two other men declined.[18] Zeno, whose wife was the niece of Uzun Hassan's wife, was able to persuade Hassan to attack the Turks. Hassan was successful at first, but there was no simultaneous attack by any of the western powers.[17]
In 1473,Giosafat Barbaro was selected as another Venetian ambassador toPersia, due to his experience in theCrimean,Muscovy, andTartary.[21] Although Barbaro got on well with Uzun Hassan, he was unable to persuade the ruler to attack the Ottomans again.[17] Shortly afterwards, Hassan's sonUghurlu Muhammad, rose in rebellion, seizing the city ofShiraz.[22]
After yet another Venetian ambassador,Ambrogio Contarini, arrived in Persia,[17] Uzun Hassan decided that Contarini would return to Venice with a report, while Giosafat Barbaro would stay.[23] Barbaro was the last Venetian ambassador to leave Persia after Uzun Hassan died in 1478.[24][25] While Hassan's sons fought each other for the throne, Barbaro hired anArmenian guide and escaped.[26]
According to Contarini, ambassador to Uzun Hasan's court from 1473 to 1476, "The king is of a good size, with a thin visage and agreeable countenance, and seemed to be about seventy years old. His manners were very affable, and he conversed familiarly with everyone around him, but I noticed that his hands trembled when he raised the cup to his lips." His name means "tall" and Contarini reported that he was also "very lean".
Ambrogio Contarini,Viaggio al signor Usun Hassan re di Persia ("Voyage to Sir Usun Hassan King of Persia"), 1487
Contarini also wrote, "The empire of Uzun-Hassan is very extensive and is bounded byTurkey andCaramania, belonging to theSultan, and which latter country extends toAleppo. Uzun-Hassan took the kingdom ofPersia fromCausa, whom he put to death. The city ofEcbatana, orTauris, is the usual residence of Uzun-Hassan;Persepolis orShiras ...,[27] which is twenty-four days journey from thence, being the last city of his empire, bordering on theZagathais, who are the sons ofBuzech, sultan of theTartars, and with whom he is continually at war. On the other side is the country ofMedia, which is under subjection toSivansa, who pays a kind of yearlytribute to Uzun-Hassan. It is said that he has likewise some provinces on the other side of theEuphrates, in the neighbourhood of theTurks. The whole country, all the way toIspahan... is exceedingly arid, having very few trees and little water, yet it is fertile in grain and other provisions.
"His eldest son, namedOgurlu Mohamed, was much spoken of when I was inPersia, as he had rebelled against his father. He had other three sons;Khalil Mirza, the elder of these was about thirty-five years old, and had the government ofShiras. Yaqub Beg, another son of Uzun-Hassan, was about fifteen, and I have forgotten the name of a third son. By one of his wives, he had a son named Masubech, orMaksud beg, whom he kept in prison because he was detected corresponding with his rebellious brother Ogurlu, and whom he afterward put to death. According to the best accounts which I received from different persons, the forces of Uzun-Hassan may amount to about 50,000 cavalries, a considerable part of whom are not of much value. It has been reported by some who were present, that at one time he led an army of 40,000 Persians to battle against the Turks, for the purpose of restoringPirameth to the sovereignty ofKaramania, whence he had been expelled by the infidels.
Legacy
South iwan of the courtyard of theJameh Mosque of Isfahan, with central Uzun Hasan inscription. The iwan was renovated by Uzun Hasan,[28] who also had the entire surface decorated with enamel colored tiles.[29][30]
Uzun Hasan was the first Aq Qoyunlu ruler who openly disembarked on a campaign to transform the Aq Qoyunlu tribal confederation into a Perso-Islamic sultanate.[31] This transformation campaign commenced after his conquests of northwestern and central Iran, where he, as a byproduct, displaced the waning authority of theTimurids.[31] As his realm grew to preside over ever more Iranian land, he employedIranian bureaucrats with experience in working for previous local polities to administer the newly obtained Aq Qoyunlu provinces.[31] Although these Aq Qoyunlu-era Iranian bureaucrats did not have the same level of political authority asNizam al-Mulk (died 1092) did under theSeljuks, they did share the same role of conducting the assimilation of Turkic tribesmen into a political tradition characterized by Perso-Islamic facets.[31] Uzun Hasan also provided for the Islamic aspect of his rudimentary Perso-Islamic state, for he took great care in nourishing Islamic organizations andSufi orders, including the ever more powerfulSafavid order.[31] In the process, he married off his sister toShaykh Junayd, the then leader of the Safavid order, and one of his daughters to Junayd's son and successor,Shaykh Haydar.[31]
Uzun Hasan also ordered theQuran to be translated intoTurkic.[32]
He initiated some financial and administrative reforms to weaken the separatism of the military and tribal nobility and to strengthen his vast state.[citation needed]
The sources do not provide detailed information about Uzun Hasan's reformist activities. Although the texts of his laws have not reached us, it is possible to judge the reforms on the basis of little information about the laws that the chroniclers called "King Hasan's Laws" or "Dasturi-Hasan Bey". Some documents related to the western territories of the Aq Qoyunlu state, which became part of the Ottoman Empire (Diyarbakir, Mardin, Urfa, etc.) are kept in the Turkish archives. These sources are important in terms of studying feudal relations in the provinces of the Aq Qoyunlu. The general nature of Uzun Hasan's reform is stated in "Tarikh al-Qiyasi":[37]
"Uzun Hasan was fair and kind. He wanted to abolish taxes throughout the country. But the emirs did not agree with him. The Sultan then reduced the taxes by half to twenty-onedirhams ... He clarified the amount of taxes collected in the whole country. Uzun Hasan demanded that lawbreakers be severely punished. The Sultan "sent the law to every province of the State to put into effect."[citation needed][according to whom?]
After the conquest of eastern Anatolia in 1517–18, and of Iraq in 1537, the Ottomans preserved the laws of Uzun Hasan (Qānūn-nāma-ye Ḥasan Pādšāh).[38][39] It was after 1540, that the Ottoman regulations replaced the Aq Qoyunlu code.[38] Large parts of his tax and trade laws are recorded in Ottoman sources.[39]
Appearance
Contarini described him as "tall and thin" and "had a slightlyTartar expression of countenance, with a constant colour on his face".[40]
Contemporary portrait ofYa'qub Beg, son of Uzun Hasan, painted in 1478–90 in Tabriz.[43]
Uzun Hasan had at least seven sons:
Ughurlu Muhammad (before 1441–1477) – with Jan Khatun. After failing to seize the throne, he fled toConstantinople, where he was taken in by the Ottoman SultanMehmed II, who gave him his daughterGevherhan Hatun in marriage. Their son,Ahmad Beg, in turn married an Ottoman princess,Aynışah Sultan, daughter ofBayezid II, and managed to seize the throne for himself, but died soon after in an attempt to keep it.
A daughter - with Despina Khatun. In 1473, with his mother, he met the Venetian ambassadorCaterino Zeno inDamascus. She married Abd al-Baqi bin Muhammad Baqir Miranshahi;[46][45][47]
A daughter - with Despina Khatun. In 1473, with his mother, he met the Venetian ambassador Caterino Zeno in Damascus. She married Bayram Beg Qaramanlu.[46][45][47]
Notes
^Full Arabic-style name:Uzun Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Qara Yoluk ʿUthmān.[7] He was also known by thekunyaAbū l-Naṣr 'Father of Victory'.[8] His name is anglicized asHasan the Tall.
References
^H.R. Roemer, "The Safavid Period", inCambridge History of Iran, Vol. VI, Cambridge University Press 1986, p. 339: "Further evidence of a desire to follow in the line of Turkmen rulers is Ismail's assumption of the title 'Padishah-i-Iran', previously held by Uzun Hasan."
^Robinson, Basil William (1993).Studies in Persian Art. Pindar Press. p. 20.ISBN978-0-907132-43-1.No other prince of the time can be credibly associated with this work, and the galloping bearded prince in the center of the composition, we may be permitted to recognize a contemporary portrait of the founder of the White Sheep Turkman power. Uzun Hasan.
^Ehsan Yar-Shater (1982).Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. 2. Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 165.Uzun Ḥasan successfully resumed the war with the Qara Qoyunlū and in the autumn of 856/1452 seized Āmed in a bloodless coup while Jahāngīr was away on a military expedition in Kurdistan.
^Leube, Georg (2023).Relational Iconography: Representational Culture at the Qaraquyunlu and Aqquyunlu courts (853/1449 CE to 907/1501 CE). Studies in Persian Cultural History. Leiden: Brill. p. 128.ISBN978-90-04-54151-1.
^V. Minorsky. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 17, No. 3 (1955), pp. 449–462: "There still remain many interesting and important problems connected with the emergence in the 14th century of theTurkman federations of the Qara-qoyunlu (780–874/1378–1469)and Aq-qoyunlu (780–908/1378–1502). The roots of the Persian Risorgimento under the Safavids (1502–1722) go deep into this preparatory period."
^V. Minorsky,"The Aq-qoyunlu and Land Reforms (Turkmenica, 11)",Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies,17 (1955), pp. 449–462: "There still remain many interesting and important problems connected with the emergence in the 14th century of the Turkman federations of the Qara-qoyunlu (780–874/1378–1469) and Aq-qoyunlu (780–908/1378–1502). The roots of the Persian Risorgimento under the Safavids (1502–1722) go deep into this preparatory period."
^Stevens, John.The history of Persia. Contains, the lives and memorable actions of its kings from the first erecting of that monarchy to this time; an exact Description of all its Dominions; a curious Account of India, China, Tartary,Kerman,Arabia, Nixabur, and the Islands ofCeylon andTimor; as also of all Cities occasionally mentioned, as Schiras,Samarkand,Bukhara, &c. Manners and Customs of those People, Persian Worshippers of Fire; Plants, Beasts, Product, and Trade. With many instructive and pleasant digressions, being remarkable Stories or Passages, occasionally occurring, as Strange Burials; Burning of the Dead; Liquors of several Countries; Hunting; Fishing; Practice of Physick; famous Physicians in the East; Actions of Tamerlan, &c. To which is added, an abridgment of the lives of the kings of Hormuz, or Ormuz. The Persian history was written in Arabic, by Mirkond, a famous Eastern Author of Ormuz, by Torunxa, King of that Island, both of them translated into Spanish, by Antony Teixeira, who lived several Years in Persia and India; and now rendered into English.
^abc Mehmed the Conqueror & His Time, Franz Babinger, Trans. Ralph Manheim, Princeton University Press; 1992, p. 305[1]ISBN0-691-01078-1
^abcdThe Cambridge history of Iran, William Bayne Fisher, Peter Jackson, Laurence Lockhart, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986, p. 377[2]ISBN0-521-20094-6
^Mehmed the Conqueror & His Time, Franz Babinger, Trans. Ralph Manheim, Princeton University Press; 1992, p. 306[3]ISBN0-691-01078-1
^Grabar, Oleg (1990).The Great Mosque of Isfahan. New York University Press. p. 30.ISBN978-0-8147-3027-0.It contains an inscription dated 1475-76, the time of Uzun Hassan, the great ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu dynasty, mentioning the sorry shape of this magnificent mosque ( al-jamic al-muni') and the restoration of the ceiling of the iwan.
^Bloom, Jonathan Max; Blair, Sheila (2009).The Grove encyclopedia of Islamic art and architecture. Oxford: Oxford university press.ISBN9780195309911.The court façade (see fig. 2) was clad with tile revetment; the stunning tile mosaic on theqiblaiwan, for example, was ordered by the Aqqoyunlu ruler Uzun Hasan in 1475–6.
^abcdefDale, Stephen Frederic (2020). "Turks, Turks and türk Turks: Anatolia, Iran and India in Comparative Perspective". InPeacock, A.C.S.; McClary, Richard Piran (eds.).Turkish History and Culture in India: Identity, Art and Transregional Connections. Brill. p. 73.
^Melville, Charles (1981).Historical Monuments and Earthquakes in Tabriz. p. 170.The Hasht Bihisht (...) a government palace (daulat-khana) of this name, built in 891/1486 in the Bagh-i Sahibabad by the White Sheep Turkomans, though probably on the site of a building founded by Jahanshah.
^Golombek, Lisa; Wilber, Donald Newton (1988).The Timurid Architecture of Iran and Turan, vol.1. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Pr. pp. 178–179.ISBN978-0691035871.At Tabriz, a major garden created by the Aq Qoyunlu ruler, Uzun Hasan, was visited by a Venetian merchant, who gave his impressions in some detail. His visit probably took place between 1460 and 1470. The garden was called the Hasht Behisht, "Eight Paradises," after its central palace.(...)
^V. Minorsky, "A Civil and Military Review in Fārs in 881/1476," BSOAS 10, 1939, pp. 141–178
^abHalil İnalcık (1973).The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300–1600. p. 71.
^Edward G. Browne (2013).A History of Persian Literature Under Tartar Dominion (AD 1265-1502). p. 406.
^John E. Woods,The Aqquyunlu: Clan, Confederation, Empire (1999), p. 62
^Caterino Zeno, Iosafat Barbaro, Antonio Contarini, and a "Merchant in Persia,"Travels to Tana and Persia, (London: Hakluyt Society, 1883), p. 74 n. 1
^Woods, John E. (January 1, 1999).The Aqquyunlu: Clan, Confederation, Empire. Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press. p. 133, Plate V.ISBN0-87480-565-1.Yaqub and His Court, Shaykhi, Album, 1478-90/883-96, Tabriz, Topkapı Sarayı Library, Istanbul, H. 2153, fols. 90b - 91a
Aube, Sandra (2016). "The Uzun Hasan Mosque in Tabriz: New Perspectives on a Tabrizi Ceramic Tile Workshop".Muqarnas Online.33 (1):33–62.doi:10.1163/22118993_03301P004.
Lambton, Ann Katherine Swynford; Lewis, Bernard; Holt, P.M., eds. (1985).The Cambridge History of Islam. Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press.
Quiring-Zoche, R. (1986)."Aq Qoyunlū".Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 2. pp. 163–168.
Further reading
Melvin-Koushki, Matthew (2011). "The Delicate Art of Aggression: Uzun Hasan'sFathnama to Qaytbay of 1469".Iranian Studies.44 (2):193–214.doi:10.1080/00210862.2011.541688.S2CID162248528.
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