The name Aq Qoyunlu, literally meaning "those with white sheep",[24] is first mentioned in late 14th century sources. They were likely so named because of the white sheep that was painted on their flags.[25][26][27] It has been suggested that this name refers to old totemic symbols, but according toRashid al-Din Hamadani, the Turks were forbidden to eat the flesh of their totem-animals, and so this is unlikely given the importance of mutton in the diet of pastoral nomads. Another hypothesis is that the name refers to the predominant color of their flocks.[3]
According to chronicles from theByzantine Empire, the Aq Qoyunlu are first attested in the district ofBayburt south of thePontic Mountains from at least the 1340s.[28] In these chronicles, Tur Ali Beg was mentioned as lord of the "Turks ofAmid", who had already attained the rank ofamir under theIlkhanGhazan. Under his leadership, they besiegedTrebizond, but failed to take the town.[29] A number of their leaders, including thedynasty's founder,Qara Yuluk Uthman Beg,[30] married Byzantineprincesses.[31]
Original territory of the Aq Qoyunlu in 1435 (), and maximum extent at end of the 15th century ()
By the end of theIlkhanid period in the mid-14th century, theOghuz tribes that comprised the Aq Qoyunlu confederation roamed the summer pastures inArmenia, in particular, the upper reaches of theTigris river and winter pastures between the towns ofDiyarbakır andSivas. Since the end of the 14th century, Aq Qoyunlu waged constant wars with another tribal confederation of the Oghuz tribes, theQara Qoyunlu. The leading Aq Qoyunlu tribe was theBayandur tribe.[24]
Uzun Hasan used to assert the claim that he was an "honorable descendant ofOghuz Khan and his grandson, Bayandur Khan". In a letter dating to the year 1470, which was sent toŞehzade Bayezid, the then-governor ofAmasya, Uzun Hasan wrote that those from the Bayandur andBayat tribes, as well as other tribes that belonged to the "Oghuz il", and formerly inhabitedMangyshlak,Khwarazm andTurkestan, came and served in his court. He also made thetamga (seal) of the Bayandur tribe the symbol of his state. For this reason, the Bayandur tamga is found in Aq Qoyunlu coins, their official documents, inscriptions and flags.[12]
Myth
The Aq Qoyunlu Sultans claimed descent from Bayindir Khan, who was a grandson of Oghuz Khan, the legendary ancestor ofOghuz Turks.[32]
The Ak-koyunlu Sultans claimed descent from Bayindir Khan and it is likely, on the face of it, that theBook of Dede Korkut was composed under their patronage. The snag about this is that in the Ak-koyunlu genealogy Bayindir's father is named as Gok ('Sky') Khan, son of the eponymous Oghuz Khan, whereas in our book he is named as Kam Ghan, a name otherwise unknown. In default of any better explanation, I therefore incline to the belief that the book was composed before Ak-koyunlu rulers had decided who their ancestors were. It was in 1403 that they ceased to be tribal chiefs and became Sultans, so we may assume that their official genealogy was formulated round about that date.
According to theKitab-i Diyarbakriyya, the ancestors ofUzun Hasan back to the prophetAdam in the 68th generation are listed by name and information is given about them. Among them isTur Ali Bey, the grandfather of Uzun Hasan's grandfather, who is also mentioned in other sources. But it is difficult to say whether Pehlivan Bey, Ezdi Bey and Idris Bey, who are listed in earlier periods, really existed. Most of the people who are listed as the ancestors of Uzun Hasan are names related to the Oghuz legend and to Oghuz rulers.[34]
Hunting scene, including likely contemporary portrait ofUzun Hasan hunting on horse, 1460s–1470s. Saint Peterburg, Russian National Library, Dorn 434.[35]
The Aq Qoyunlu Turkomans first acquired land in 1402, whenTimur granted them all ofDiyar Bakr in present-day Turkey. For a long time, the Aq Qoyunlu were unable to expand their territory, as the rivalQara Qoyunlu or "Black Sheep Turkomans" kept them at bay. However, this changed with the rule of Uzun Hasan, who defeated the Black Sheep Turkoman leaderJahān Shāh in 1467 at theBattle of Chapakchur.
Uzun Hasan was also able to takeBaghdad along with territories around thePersian Gulf. However, around this time, theOttoman Empire sought to expand eastwards, a serious threat that forced the Aq Qoyunlu into analliance with theKaramanids of central Anatolia.
As early as 1464, Uzun Hasan had requested military aid from one of the Ottoman Empire's strongest enemies,Venice. Despite Venetian promises, and the visit of Venetian ambassadors at the court of Uzun Hasan,[38] this aid never arrived and, as a result, Uzun Hasan was defeated by the Ottomans at theBattle of Otlukbeli in 1473, though this did not destroy the Aq Qoyunlu.[39]
In 1469, Uzun Hasan sent the head of the Timurid Sultan,Sultan Abu Sa'id, with an embassy to the court of the newly ascendedal-Ashraf Qaytbay in Cairo.[40] With these presents came afathnama, in Persian, explaining to the Mamluk sultan the events leading up to the Aq Quyunlu—Timurid conflict approximately five months earlier, emphasizing in particular Sultan-Abu Sa'id's plans of aggression toward the Mamluk and Aq Quyunlu dominions—plans that were thwarted by Qaitbay's loyal peer Uzun Hasan.[41] Despite the negative response from Qaitbay,[40] Uzun Hasan's continued correspondence to the Mamluk Sultanate were in Persian.[40]
Contemporary depiction ofSultan Khalil, in a miniature from the manuscript ofDivan of Hidayat (1478). Chester Beatty Library (MS 401).[42]
In 1470, Uzun selectedAbu Bakr Tihrani to compile a history of the Aq Qoyunlu confederation.[43] TheKitab-i Diyarbakriyya, written in Persian, referred to Uzun Hasan assahib-qiran and was the first historical work to assign this title to a non-Timurid ruler.[43]
Uzun Hasan preserved relationships with the members of the popular dervish order whose main inclinations were towardsShi'ism, while promoting the urban religious establishment with donations and confirmations of tax concessions or endowments, and ordering the pursuit of extremist Shiite andantinomist sects. He married his daughterAlamshah Halime Begum to his nephewHaydar, the new head of theSafavid sect inArdabil.[44]
When Uzun Hasan died early in 1478, he was succeeded by his sonKhalil Mirza for a few months, but the latter was defeated by a confederation under his younger brotherYa'qub at the battle ofKhoy in July.[15]: 128
Khalil appears in an exquisite illustrated manuscript of theDiwān ofHidayat, written in Azarbayjani Turkish.[42] The manuscript contains several depictions of Khalil during various activities, such as holding court in a garden, giving audience from his palace balcony, on a hawking expedition, and relaxing in a vinery. It displays typical Turkman figures with small rounded faces.[42]
Ya'qub, who reigned from 1478 to 1490, sustained the dynasty for a while longer. However, during the first four years of his reign there were seven pretenders to the throne who had to be put down.[15]: 125 Unlike his father, Ya'qub Beg was not interested in popular religious rites and alienated a large part of the people, especially the Turks. Therefore, the vast majority of Turks became involved in the Safawiya order, which became a militant organization with an extreme Shiite ideology led bySheikh Haydar.
Contemporary portrait ofSultan Ya'qub (detail) with his court, painted in 1478-90 inTabriz. Topkapı Sarayı Library (H. 2153).[45]
Ya'qub initially sent Sheikh Haydar and his followers to a holy war against theCircassians, but soon decided to break the alliance because he feared the military power of Sheikh Haydar and his order. During his march toGeorgia, Sheikh Haydar attacked one of Ya'qub's vassals, theShirvanshahs, in revenge for his father,Sheikh Junayd (assassinated in 1460), and Ya'qub sent troops to theShirvanshahs, who defeated and killed Haydar and captured his three sons. This event further strengthened the pro-Safavid feeling among Azerbaijani and Anatolian Turkmen.[3][46]
Following Ya'qub's death, civil war again erupted, the Aq Qoyunlus destroyed themselves from within, and they ceased to be a threat to their neighbors.Theearly Safavids, who were followers of theSafaviyya religious order, began to undermine the allegiance of the Aq Qoyunlu. The Safavids and the Aq Qoyunlu met in battle in the city ofNakhchivan in 1501 and the Safavid leaderIsmail I forced the Aq Qoyunlu to withdraw.[47]
In his retreat from the Safavids, the Aq Qoyunlu leaderAlwand destroyed an autonomous state of the Aq Qoyunlu inMardin. The last Aq Qoyunlu leader,Sultan Murad, brother of Alwand, was also defeated by the same Safavid leader. Though Murād briefly established himself in Baghdad in 1501, he soon withdrew back to Diyar Bakr, signaling the end of the Aq Qoyunlu rule.
Amidst the struggle for power between Uzun Hasan's grandsons Baysungur (son of Yaqub) and Rustam (son of Maqsud), their cousin Ahmed Bey appeared on the stage. Ahmed Bey was the son of Uzun Hasan's eldest sonUghurlu Muhammad, who, in 1475, escaped to the Ottoman Empire, where the sultan,Mehmed the Conqueror, received Uğurlu Muhammad with kindness and gave him his daughter in marriage, of whom Ahmed Bey was born.[48]
Baysungur was dethroned in 1491 and expelled fromTabriz. He made several unsuccessful attempts to return before he was killed in 1493. Desiring to reconcile both his religious establishment and the famous Sufi order, Rustam (1478–1490) immediately allowed Sheikh Haydar Safavi's sons to return to Ardabil in 1492. Two years later, Ayba Sultan ordered their re-arrest, as their rise threatened the Ak Koyunlu again, but their youngest son,Ismail, then seven years old, fled and was hidden by supporters inLahijan.[3][50]
According to Hasan Rumlu'sAhsan al-tavarikh, in 1496–97, Hasan Ali Tarkhani went to the Ottoman Empire to tell SultanBayezid II that Azerbaijan and Persian Iraq were defenceless and suggested that Ahmed Bey, heir to that kingdom, should be sent there with Ottoman troops. Bayezid agreed to this idea, and by May 1497 Ahmad Bey faced Rustam nearAraxes and defeated him.[48]
After Ahmad's death, the Aq Qoyunlu became even more fragmented. The state was ruled by three sultans:Alvand Mirza in the west, Uzun Hasan's nephewQasim in an enclave inDiyarbakir, and Alvand's brother Mohammad in Fars andIraq-Ajam (killed by violence in the summer of 1500 and replaced by Morad Mirza). The collapse of the Aq Qoyunlu state in Iran began in the autumn of 1501 with the defeat at the hands of Ismail Safavi, who had left Lahijan two years earlier and gathered a large audience of Turkmen warriors. He conquered Iraq-Ajami,Fars andKerman in the summer of 1503, Diyarbakir in 1507–1508 andMesopotamia in the autumn of 1508.
The last Aq Qoyunlu sultan,Sultan Murad, who hoped to regain the throne with the help of Ottoman troops, was defeated and killed by Ismail'sQizilbash warriors in the last fortress of Rohada, ending the political rule of the Aq Qoyunlu dynasty.[37][3]
The leaders of Aq Qoyunlu were from the Begundur or Bayandur clan of theOghuz Turks[51] and were considered descendants of the semi-mythical founding father of the Oghuz,Oghuz Khagan.[52] The Bayandurs behaved like statesmen rather than warlords and gained the support of the merchant and feudal classes ofTranscaucasia (present-dayArmenia,Azerbaijan, andGeorgia).[52] The Aq Qoyunlu, along with the Qara Qoyunlu, were the last Iranian regimes that used their Chinggisid background to establish their legitimacy. Under Ya'qub Beg, the Chinggisidyasa (traditional nomadic laws of the medievalTurco-Mongols of the Eurasian steppe lands) was dissolved.[53]
Uzun Hasan's conquest of most of mainland Iran shifted the seat of power to the east, where the Aq Qoyunlu adopted Iranian customs for administration and culture. In the Iranian areas, Uzun Hasan preserved the previous bureaucratic structure along with its secretaries, who belonged to families that had in a number of instances served under different dynasties for several generations.[3] The four top civil posts of the Aq Qoyunlu were all occupied by Iranians, which under Uzun Hasan included; the vizier, who led the great council (divan); themostawfi al-mamalek, high-ranking financial accountants; themohrdar, who affixed the state seal; and themarakur "stable master", who supervised the royal court.[3]
Edict of the Aq-Quyunlu ruler Ya'qub
Culture flourished under the Aq Qoyunlu, who, although of coming from a Turkic background, sponsored Iranian culture. Uzun Hasan himself adopted it and ruled in the style of an Iranian king. Despite his Turkoman background, he was proud of being an Iranian.[54] At his new capital, Tabriz, he managed a refined Persian court. There he utilized the trappings of pre-Islamic Persian royalty and bureaucrats taken from several earlier Iranian regimes. Through the use of his increasing revenue, Uzun Hasan was able to buy the approval of theulama (clergy) and the mainly Iranian urban elite, while also taking care of the impoverished rural inhabitants.[53]
In letters from the Ottoman Sultans, when addressing the kings of Aq Qoyunlu, such titles asArabic:ملك الملوك الأيرانية "King of Iranian Kings",Arabic:سلطان السلاطين الإيرانية "Sultan of Iranian Sultans",Persian:شاهنشاه ایران خدیو عجمShāhanshāh-e Irān Khadiv-e Ajam "Shahanshah of Iran and Ruler of Persia",Jamshid shawkat va Fereydun rāyat va Dārā derāyat "Powerful likeJamshid, flag ofFereydun and wise likeDarius" have been used.[55] Uzun Hassan also held the titlePadishah-i Irān "Padishah of Iran", which was re-adopted by hisdistaff grandson Ismail I, founder of the Safavid Empire.[56]
The Aq Qoyunlu realm was notable for being inhabited by many prominent figures, such as the poetsAli Qushji (died 1474),Baba Fighani Shirazi (died 1519),Ahli Shirazi (died 1535), the poet, scholar andSufiJami (died 1492) and the philosopher and theologian,Jalal al-Din Davani (died 1503).[54]
South iwan of the courtyard of theJameh Mosque of Isfahan, with central Uzun Hasan inscription:"...The most lawful and most exalted sulṭān Abū l-Naṣr Ḥasan bahādur, may god make his kingship and rule eternal...". The iwan was renovated by Uzun Hasan,[57] who also had the entire surface decorated with enamel colored tiles.[58][59]
Uzun Hassan funded the renovation of mosques in various major centers and smaller towns, and had commemorative inscriptions made to express his support of Islam.[60] He renovated and decorated theSouth iwan of the courtyard of theJameh Mosque of Isfahan, where he left a central dedicatory inscription in his name.[57] Uzun Hassn decorated the entire surface of the South iwan with enamel tiles colored in cobalt blue.[61][59]
Uzun Hassan also created theUzun Hasan Mosque in his capital ofTabriz, a large and splendid mosque with two minarets,[62] where Uzun Hasan and his son Yaqub were buried.[63]
Contributions to religious architecture continued under the descendants of Uzun Hasan, as for theKushk Gate in Isfahan, commissioned underRustam Beg, son of Uzun Hasan (r.1493-1496).[64]
It is thought that the blue-and-white tiles which can be found in the architectural decorations ofMamluk Syria and Egypt, or in theOttoman capitals ofBursa andEdirne, were created by itinerant artists coming from the Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu capital ofTabriz.[65] The tilework of theDome of the Rock in theOld City of Jerusalem was signed by "Abdallah of Tabriz" under a commission of the OttomanSultan Süleyman in 1545-1552.[65] The influence of this Tabrizi school was also felt in Istanbul up to the mid-16th century.[65]
Uzun Hasan did not leave many marks in the area of literature. Miniatures became more "provincial" in taste, using bright colors and standardized figures, known as the "Turkman style".[72] His sonYaqub however displayed much more sophisticated tastes, which appeared in both calligraphy and paintings. He sponsored an important workshop inTabriz at his palaceHasht Behesht ("Eight paradises"), where numerous artists, poets, calligraphers and painters, produced some of the best manuscripts of the period.[72] Their style combined Chinese patterns with Persian repertoire.[72]
The Aq Qoyunlu patronized Persianbelles-lettres which included poets likeAhli Shirazi, Kamāl al-Dīn Banāʾī Haravī, Bābā Fighānī, Shahīdī Qumī.[73] By the reign of Yaʿqūb, the Aq Qoyunlu court held a fondness for Persian poetry.[74] 16th-centuryAzerbaijani poetFuzuli was also born and raised under Aq Qoyunlu rule, writing his first known poem forShah Alvand Mirza.[75]
Ya'qub's court included several distinguished poets, such asBaba Fighani Shirazi,Ahli Shirazi, Kamal al-Din Bana'i Haravi, and Shahidi Qumi. Another distinguished poet,Hatefi, who was a nephew of the poetJami, spent five years at Ya'qub's court.[76] Khatai Tabrizi, an Azerbaijani poet of the 15th century, dedicated amathnawi entitledYusof wa Zoleykha to Sultan Ya'qub,[77] and Ya'qub even wrote poetry in theAzerbaijani language.[77] Baba Fighani Shirazi dedicated a ceremonial ode (qasida) to Ya'qub, and also aeulogy after the latter's death.[78]
Nur al-Din 'Abd al-Rahman Jami dedicated his poem,Salāmān va Absāl, which was written in Persian, to Yaʿqūb.[79][80] Yaʿqūb rewarded Jami with a generous gift.[79] Jami also wrote a eulogy,Silsilat al-zahab, which indirectly criticised Yaʿqūb immoral behavior.[73] Yaʿqūb had Persian poems dedicated to him, including Ahli Shirazi's allegorical masnavi on love,Sham' va parvana and Bana'i's 5,000 verse narrative poem,Bahram va Bihruz.[73]
Yaʿqūb's maternal nephew, 'Abd Allah Hatifi, wrote poetry for the five years he spent at the Aq Qoyunlu court.[81]
Uzun Hasan and his son, Khalil,[82] patronized, along with other prominent Sufis, members of the Kobrāvi and Neʿmatallāhi tariqats.[83] According to theTarikh-e lam-r-ye amini by Fazlallh b. Ruzbehn Khonji Esfahni, the court-commissioned history of Yaqub's reign, Uzun Hasan built close to 400 structures in the Aq Qoyunlu region for the purpose of Sufi communal retreat.[83]
Nobles beneath a Blossoming Branch,Shaykhi, Aq QoyunluTabriz, c. 1470–90.[84]
The Aq Qoyunlu commissioned numerous manuscripts with lavish miniatures, such as theKhamsa of Nizami (Tabriz, 1481) ofYaqub Beg, theYa'qub Beg Album or the more popularKhavaran-nama.[85][86] Yaqub Beg employed two main master miniaturists,Shaykhi and Darvish Muhammad, for the illustrations of his manuscripts.[87][88] TheKhamsa of Nizami (Tabriz, 1481) is considered as "the supreme and ultimate fruit of his artistic patronage".[89] The pictorial style has been qualified as having "ecstatic intensity".[90] One of the most famous miniatures added by Yaqub Beg is theBahram Gur in the Green Pavilion, painted by the Herat artist Shaykhi. Compared to the balanced Timurid Herat style ofBihzad for example, this miniature style uses a much more intense color palette, with acid greens and vivid blues, and abundant vegetation that seems to engulf the protagonists.[87]
Shaykhi, one of the main painters at the court of Yaqub, is also well-known for making Chinese-style paintings, to which he sometimes afixed his own signature, such asTwo Young Women in Chinese Style Costume Seated on a Sofa orNobles beneath a Blossoming Branch.[84][91] Turkmen artists were generally prompt to experiment with new ideas, including Chinese ones or the works ofMuhammad Siyah Qalam, in contrast with the more timid style of the Timurid court.[91] Another characteristic of Turkmen miniatures, and particularly those of Shaykhi, compared to Timurid ones, is the rise of single-sheet illustrations, meaning that many paintings were no longer devoted to simply illustrating a given text, but were stand-alone artistic endeavours, creating images "of epic size and ambition".[91]
Besides these miniatures in fine court style, there was also a quantity of more prosaic contemporary illustrated manuscripts, using a simpler and more stereotypical artistic idiom, belonging to theTurkoman Commercial style, and often centered around the city ofShiraz.[87]
Uzun Hassan was more of a military man and was not very involved in literary creations. Still, he is said to have translated Prophetic Traditions and made a version of the Qor'an in Turkish.[93]
The Aq Qoyunlu administration encompassed two sections; the military caste, which mostly consisted ofTurkomans, but also had Iranian tribesmen in it. The other section was the civil staff, which consisted of officials from established Persian families.[98]
The military of the Aq Qoyunlu initially reflected their rather loose political structure. Decisions were taken by a council (kengač) of amirs and tribal chiefs (boy ḵānları), whose decision the sultan had to follow.[99] A small army largely composed of tribal levies was in charge of securing pastoral lands, and essentially supported themselves through their own lands and booty. The sultan also possessed a force of personal guards (ḵawāṣṣ) provided by various nomadic groups.[99]
Following their surprise victory over theQara Qoyunlu confederation, many tribes previously under Qara Qoyunlu control joined the Aq Qoyunlu. The conquering armies ofUzun Hasan grew tremendously in size, probably exceeding 100,000 men.[99] EvenSultan Khalil, as Aq Qoyunlu Governor of Fars, is reported to have had a force of 25,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry, plus auxiliaries.[99] The core power of this large military resided in the strength of its cavalry, while the absence of firearms was its principal weakness.[99]
Besides the traditional clans integrated in the Aq Qoyunlu confederate system, some other clans participated sporadically in Aq Qoyunlu military operations, such as the TurkmenDöğer, the KurdishBulduqani, and the ArabBanu Rabi'ah.[100]
The organization of the Aq Qoyunlu army was based on the fusion of military traditions from both nomadic and settled cultures. The ethnic background of Aq-Qoyunlu troops were quite heterogeneous as it consisted of 'sarvars' of Azerbaijan, people of Persia and Iraq, Iranzamin askers, dilavers of Kurdistan, Turkmen mekhtars and others.[101][102]
Despite their rivalry, theSafavids formed in a certain sense the posterity of the Aq Qoyunlu, as shown by the extent of their marital connections:Junaid, hereditary leader of theSafavid order and grandfather of the future founder of theSafavid EmpireShah Ismail, married an Aq Qoyunlu princess (Uzun Hassan's sister,Khadija Khatun). Their sonHaydar Safavi also married a daughter of Uzun Hasan,Alamshah Halime Begum, a union out of which was born Shah Ismail.[105]Shah Ismail's main wife wasTajlu Khanum, an Aq Qoyunlu princess of theMawsillu tribe, giving birth to his successorTahmasp I.[106][107]Tahmasp I' main wife wasSultanum Begum, also an Aq Qoyunlu princess of theMawsillu tribe, giving birth toIsmail II andMohammad Khodabanda.[108] Finally, the Safavids too were heirs to "a tribally constituted military elite" and encountered similar difficulties in forming a stable government.[105]
^...Persian was primarily the language of poetry in the Aq Qoyunlu court.[5]
^ • Also referred to as theAq Qoyunlu confederacy, theAq Qoyunlu sultanate, theAq Qoyunlu empire,[3] theWhite Sheep confederacy. • Other spellings includesAg Qoyunlu,Agh Qoyunlu,Ak Koyunlu orAq Quyunlu. • Also mentioned asBayanduriyye (Bayandurids) in Iranian[13][12] and Ottoman sources.[14] • Also known asTur-'Alids in Mamluk sources.[15]: 34
^Charles Melville (2021).Safavid Persia in the Age of Empires: The Idea of Iran. Vol. 10. p. 33.Only after five more years did Esma'il and the Qezelbash finally defeat the rump Aq Qoyunlu regimes. In Diyarbakr, the Mowsillu overthrew Zeynal b. Ahmad and then later gave their allegiance to the Safavids when the Safavids invaded in 913/1507. The following year the Safavids conquered Iraq and drove out Soltan-Morad, who fled to Anatolia and was never again able to assert his claim to Aq Qoyunlu rule. It was therefore only in 1508 that the last regions of Aq Qoyunlu power finally fell to Esma'il.
^Daniel T. Potts (2014).Nomadism in Iran: From Antiquity to the Modern Era. p. 7.Indeed, the Bayundur clan to which the Aq-qoyunlu rulers belonged, bore the same name and tamgha (symbol) as that of an Oghuz clan.
^Arjomand, Saïd Amir (2016). "Unity of the Persianate World under Turko-Mongolian Domination and Divergent Development of Imperial Autocracies in the Sixteenth Century".Journal of Persianate Studies.9 (1): 11.doi:10.1163/18747167-12341292.The disintegration of Timur's empire into a growing number of Timurid principalities ruled by his sons and grandsons allowed the remarkable rebound of the Ottomans and their westward conquest of Byzantium as well as the rise of rival Turko-Mongolian nomadic empires of the Aq Qoyunlu and Qara Qoyunlu in western Iran, Iraq, and eastern Anatolia. In all of these nomadic empires, however, Persian remained the official court language and the Persianate ideal of kingship prevailed.
^Stein, Heidi (2014). "Ajem-Turkic". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.).Encyclopaedia of Islam (3rd ed.). Brill Online.ISSN1873-9830.
^Lazzarini, Isabella (2015).Communication and Conflict: Italian Diplomacy in the Early Renaissance, 1350–1520. Oxford University Press. p. 244.ISBN978-0-19-872741-5.
^"Aq Qoyunlu" atEncyclopædia Iranica; "Christian sedentary inhabitants were not totally excluded from the economic, political, and social activities of the Āq Qoyunlū state and that Qara ʿOṯmān had at his command at least a rudimentary bureaucratic apparatus of the Iranian-Islamic type. [...] With the conquest of Iran, not only did the Āq Qoyunlū center of power shift eastward, but Iranian influences were soon brought to bear on their method of government and their culture."
^Kaushik Roy,Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750, (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two tribal confederations: Akkoyunlu (White Sheep) (1378–1507) and Qaraoyunlu (Black Sheep). They were Persianate Turkoman Confederations of Anatolia (Asia Minor) and Azerbaijan."
^Mikaberidze, Alexander (2011).Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia, vol. 1. Santa-Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio. p. 431.ISBN978-159884-336-1. "His Qizilbash army overcame the massed forces of the dominant Ak Koyunlu (White Sheep)Turkomans at Sharur in 1501...".
^The Book of Dede Korkut (F.Sumer, A.Uysal, W.Walker ed.). University of Texas Press. 1972. p. Introduction.ISBN0-292-70787-8. "Better known asTurkomans... the interim Ak-Koyunlu and Karakoyunlu dynasties..."
^Pines, Yuri, Michal Biran, and Jörg Rüpke, eds.the limits of universal rule: Eurasian empires compared. Cambridge University Press, 2021. "the Aq Qoyunlu, like the Ottomans, began life as a collection of loosely organized band of pastoral nomadic Oghuz raiders in the Diyarbakir region of eastern Anatolia" "the dynasty controlled territory in their eastern Anatolian homelands"
^abBosworth, C. E. (1 June 2019).New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 275–276.ISBN978-1-4744-6462-8.
^Sinclair, T.A. (1989).Eastern Turkey: An Architectural & Archaeological Survey, Volume I. Pindar Press. p. 111.ISBN978-0907132325.
^Jackson, Peter; Lockhart, Lawrence, eds. (1986).The Cambridge History of Iran. Volume 6, The Timurid and Safavid Periods. Cambridge University Press. p. 154.
^Minorsky, Vladimir (1955). "The Aq-qoyunlu and Land Reforms (Turkmenica, 11)".Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.17 (3): 449.doi:10.1017/S0041977X00112376.S2CID154166838.
^Robert MacHenry.The New Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, 1993,ISBN0-85229-571-5, p. 184.
^Cornell H. Fleischer (1986).Bureaucrat and intellectual in the Ottoman Empire. p. 287.
^H. B. Paksoy (1989).Alpamysh: Central Asian Identity Under Russian Rule. p. 84.
^İsmail Aka (2005).Makaleler (in Turkish). Vol. 2. Berikan Kitabevi. p. 291.
^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.
^abcdRobinson, Basil William (1993).Studies in Persian Art, Volume 1. Pindar Press. p. 20.ISBN978-0-907132-43-1.... An exquisite little volume in the Chester Beatty Library (MS 401) containing a rare text in Azarbayjani Turkish of the Diwān of Hidayat. This contains four miniatures each depicting Khalil in some characteristic situation holding court in a garden, giving audience from his palace balcony, on a hawking expedition, and relaxing in a vinery. They are of superb execution, with typical Turkman figures, small, round-faced, and rather child-like, with turbans set high on their heads.
^abVladimir Minorsky. "The Aq-qoyunlu and Land Reforms (Turkmenica, 11)",Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 17/3 (1955): 458.
^Sarı, Arif (2019). "İran Türk Devletleri Karakoyunlular Akkoyunlular Safeviler".İnsanlığın Serüveni. İstek Yayınları.
^C.E. Bosworth and R. Bulliet,The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual, Columbia University Press, 1996,ISBN0-231-10714-5, p. 275.
^abCharles van der Leeuw.Azerbaijan: A Quest of Identity, a Short History, Palgrave Macmillan,ISBN0-312-21903-2, p. 81
^Muʾayyid S̲ābitī, ʻAlī (1967).Asnad va Namahha-yi Tarikhi (Historical documents and letters from early Islamic period towards the end of Shah Ismaʻil Safavi's reign.). Iranian culture & literature. Kitābkhānah-ʾi Ṭahūrī., pp. 193, 274, 315, 330, 332, 422 and 430. See also: Abdul Hussein Navai,Asnaad o Mokatebaat Tarikhi Iran (Historical sources and letters of Iran), Tehran, Bongaah Tarjomeh and Nashr-e-Ketab, 2536, pp. 578, 657, 701–702 and 707
^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."
^abGrabar, 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.
^abBloom, 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.
^Woods 1999, p. 106 "Mosques in major centers such as Arnid and Isfahan, as well as in smaller towns were repaired with funds from Uzun Hasan's personal, legitimately acquired fortune (mal-i halal), and commemorative inscriptions were executed to afford him yet another medium in which to express his support of the Sacred Law and to assert his daims on Muslim loyalties."
^Melville, Charles (1981)."Historical Monuments and Earthquakes in Tabriz".Iran.19: 171.doi:10.2307/4299714.ISSN0578-6967.JSTOR4299714.Both the madrasa and mosque of Uzūn Hasan (Abu 'l-Nasr) were part of a complex of buildings that seem to have been known interchangeably as theNaşriyya and theHasan Pādshāh. The Naşriyya was founded in his father's name by Sultan Yaqub in 882/1478 and finished seven years later (Karbalā'ī, I, 91). Yaʻqūb was himself buried there. (...)The latter, founded by Uzūn Hasan, was a superb creation with two minarets (later misused for brutal ends by Tahmāsp, see Iskandar Beg, pp. 111, 160). Though its splendour had faded considerably within a century, it was apparently spared the Ottoman sack of 1635, being described at that time as of beautiful marble work and larger than theMasjid-i Jahānshah (Hajji Khalifa, Jihān-numā, p. 381).
^Encyclopedia of Islam (Vol X)(PDF). Brill. 2000. p. 45.Uzun Hasan died in 852/1477 and was buried in the Nasriyya Madrasa which he had built and which was later to be used for the burial of his son Ya'kub.
^Golombek, Lisa; Wilber, Donald Newton (1988).The Timurid architecture of Iran and Turan (Vol 1). Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. p. 389.ISBN978-0691035871.A rather lofty portal now spanning a busy street west of the Chahar Bagh once bore a revetment of mosaic faience that was recently remounted in the garden of the Chehil Sutun Museum in Isfahan. According to the inscription, the portal led into a zaviyah, which probably included a prayer hall and mausoleum. The horizontal inscription band names the founder Zayn al-Dawlah va'l-Sa'adah va'l-Din 'Ali Beg Borna, who established the zaviyah at the tomb of his father, which was crowned by a dome, in the year 902/1496-97. It also names the Aq Qoyunlu Rustam, son of Uzun Hasan, as the ruling sovereign (1493-1496). At the end of the inscription following the date in numerals is the signature of the scribe. Mu'in (al-munshi); Godard read "Mu'i/z al-munshi." The semidome is filled with muqarnas. Panels of mosaic faience are displayed on the side walls of the bay. The wings of the facade have geometric patterns executed in glazed and unglazed terra cotta
^abcNecipoglu, Gulru (1990)."From International Timurid to Ottoman: A Change of Taste in Sixteenth-Century Ceramic Tiles".Muqarnas.7. E.J. Brill: 137.Reflecting local variants of an international Timurid taste, blue-and-white tiles of mostly hexagonal shapes found in Mamluk Syria and Egypt, as well as in the Ottoman capitals of Bursa and Edirne, appear to have been created by artists from Tabriz, the capital of the Qaraqoyunlu and Aqqoyunlu Turcoman dynasties. Compared to the tiles of the Tawrizi (i.e., Tabrizi) complex in Damascus (ca. 1430), the technical perfection of the Muradiye tiles in Edirne suggests that different groups of itinerant potters were at work. Unfortunately, the wholesale destruction of contemporary buildings in Tabriz - the only one to survive is the Blue Mosque (1465), where square blue-and-white under-glaze tiles are used in conjunction with a variety of glazed tiles and mosaic-faience makes the study of this Tabrizi tradition impossible. Its impact was still strong in the Dome of the Rock tiles, signed by Abdallah of Tabriz and produced on the order of Sultan Süleyman between 952 (1545-46) and 959 (1551-52), which combined in the same scheme tile mosaic, cuerda seca, polychrome underglaze, as well as blue-and-white un- derglaze tiles." As we shall see, the influence of this Tabrizi school was also felt in Istanbul up to the middle of the sixteenth century.
^abMelville, 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.
^abGolombek, 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.(...)
^abcTokatlian, Armen (2013).Persian treasures in Erevan: a selection of manuscripts from the Matenadaran collection. Gand: Éditions Snoeck. pp. 24–25.ISBN978-9461611284.(...) Uzun Hasan (d.1478), who was the first Turkmen to declare himself Sultan. During his reign, patronage of the arts was feeble and subsequently, a provincial taste prevails in Turkmen painting. The use of a bright palette, less individualized figures and monotonous scenes is to be seen to such an extent that these works are designated as the 'commercial Turkmen" brand. Only Aq Qoyunlu Ya'qub b. Hasan Beg (d.1490) shows some greater expertise in the arts of calligraphy and painting during his relatively calm twelve-year tenure. His palace in Tabriz, called Hasht Behesht or Eight paradises, sheltered a promising book workshop, where renowned poets Baba Feghani Shirazi and Bannai, calligraphers Soltan AJi Qa'eni 95 (d.ca.1508),'Abd al-Rahim "Anisi" and Fakhr al-Din Ahmad, along with painters Fazlollah Divana and Shaykh Naqqash deployed their talents. The paintings and drawings produced by artists Shaykh "Ya'qubi" Naqqash and Dervish Muhammad between 1478 and 1490 show Chinese patterns combined with elements of Persian repertoire. Probably the most extraordinary work is the copy of Makhzan al-Asrar of Haydar Tilbe dedicated to Ya'qub Beg, done on Chinese colored paper with gold drawings and paintings attributed to Fazlollah Divana.
^Mazıoğlu, Hasibe (1992).Fuzûlî ve Türkçe Divanı'ndan Seçmeler [Fuzûlî and Selections from His Turkish Divan] (in Turkish). Kültür Bakanlığı Yayımlar Dairesi Başkanlığı. p. 4.ISBN978-975-17-1108-3.
^Lingwood, Chad (2013). Politics, Poetry, and Sufism in Medieval Iran: New Perspectives on Jāmī's Salāmān va Absāl. Brill. P.112 ISBN 978-9004254046.
^abcTurks: a journey of a thousand years, 600-1600. London : New York: Royal Academy of Arts ; Distributed in the U.S. and Canada by Harry N. Abrams. 2005. p. 200.ISBN978-1903973578.
^Woods 1999, p. 106 "During these sessions, he discussed Prophetic Traditions with the assembled religious scholars and translated some of them into Turkish. He is also said to have produced a Turkish version of the Qur'an."
^Minorsky, V. (1958).A catalogue of the Turkish manuscripts and miniatures. Hodge Figgis, Dublin. pp. xxxi,1–2.p.xxxi: "The divan of Hidayat (N o. 401), as pointed out in its description, is one of the rare literary works written under the Turcoman dynasty of Aq-qoyunlu: only one other copy of Hidayat's poems is known." pp.1-2: "The Turkish of Amir Hidayat is undoubtedly a 'southern Turkish' dialect, as used by Turcoman tribes. Dialectically it belongs to the same class as the divans of Jahan-shah Qara-qoyunlu, Khata'i ( = Shah Isma'il), Fudull, &c. The current designation of this dialect is 'Azarbayjan Turkish', but it is spoken by the Turkish tribes of Transcaucasia, Persia, as well as those of Eastern Turkey and Mesopotamia." (...) "The divan has considerable poetical merits. Although the author imitates the Persian style, and although there are many Persian elements in his vocabulary, he wields his own tongue with elegance, using peculiar grammatical forms and idiomatic expressions. (...) PROVENANCE. Inscription in rosettes on ff. \b and 2a runs: 'For the library of the Great Sultan, the Ruler of the Nations, the Arm of the State, of the World and of the Faith, Abul-Fath Sultan Khalil Bahadur Khan, may God prolong his reign.' The title corresponds to that of the Aq-qoyunlu ruler Khalil, son of Uzun-Hasan."
^Clauson, Gerard (April 1959). "The Chester Beatty Library. A Catalogue op the Turkish Manuscripts and Miniatures. By V. Minorsky, with an Introduction by the late J. V. S. Wilkinson. pp. xxxvi + 145, 43 plates (3 coloured). Dublin, Hodges Figgis and Co., Ltd., 1958".Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.91 (1–2):54–55.doi:10.1017/S0035869X00117733.one, the Divan of Hidayat (one of only two known copies) is in an interesting fifteenth century Turkmen (Ak-koyunlu) dialect.
^abMelville, Charles (1998)."History: From the Saljuqs to the Aq Qoyunlu (ca. 1000-1500 C.E.)".Iranian Studies.31 (3/4):476–477.ISSN0021-0862.JSTOR4311182.A long article on the AQ QOYUNLU by R. Quiring-Zoche underlines the essential Turk versus Tajik clash (esp. p. 166) that has been taken to characterize the whole period, particularly in the pioneering studies of Minorsky. Nevertheless, closer analysis might yield a more sophisticated picture than a simple dichotomy between 'men of the sword' and 'men of the pen'. Although the author refers to the marriage between Uzun Hasan's daughter andSultan Haidar Safavi, the previous connection withJunaid is passed over. There is perhaps an insufficient emphasis on the extent to which the Safavids were themselves the posterity of the Aq Qoyunlu, not only in a genealogical sense, but also as heirs to a tribally constituted military elite posing the same problems for stable government.
^"ESMĀʿIL II".Encyclopaedia Iranica.Esmāʿil Mirzā (later Esmāʿil II) was the second son of Ṭahmāsp I (930-84/1524-76). His mother, Ḵadam-ʿAli Solṭān Ḵānom, also known as Solṭānom Begum (d. 1002/1594), came from the Mawṣellu, the paramount clan of the left wing of the Aq Qoyunlu tribal confederation.
Bosworth, Clifford (1996)The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual (2nd ed.) Columbia University Press, New York,ISBN0-231-10714-5
Javadi, H.; Burrill, K. (May 24, 2012)."Azerbaijan x. Azeri Turkish Literature".Encyclopaedia Iranica.Among the Azeri poets of the 15th century mention should be made of Ḵaṭāʾi Tabrizi. He wrote a maṯnawi entitled Yusof wa Zoleyḵā, and dedicated it to the Aqqoyunlu Sultan Yaʿqub (r. 1478–90), who himself wrote poetry in Azeri Turkish.
Daʿadli, Tawfiq (2019).Esoteric Images: Decoding the Late Herat School of Painting. Brill.
Eagles, Jonathan (2014).Stephen the Great and Balkan Nationalism: Moldova and Eastern European History. I.B. Tauris.ISBN978-1780763538.
Erkinov, Aftandil (2015). "From Herat to Shiraz: the Unique Manuscript (876/1471) of 'Alī Shīr Nawā'ī's Poetry from Aq Qoyunlu Circle".Cahiers d'Asie centrale.24. Translated by Bean, Scott:47–79.
Lane, George (2016). "Turkoman confederations, the (Aqqoyunlu and Qaraqoyunlu)". In Dalziel, N.; MacKenzie, J.M. (eds.).The Encyclopedia of Empire. pp. 1–5.doi:10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe193.ISBN978-1118455074.
Lingwood, C. G. (2011). "The qebla of Jāmi is None Other than Tabriz": ʿAbd al-Rahmān Jāmi and Naqshbandi Sufism at the Aq Qoyunlu Royal Court".Journal of Persianate Studies.4 (2):233–245.doi:10.1163/187471611X600404.
Lingwood, Chad G. (2014).Politics, Poetry, and Sufism in Medieval Iran. Brill.
Markiewicz, Christopher (2019).The Crisis of Kingship in Late Medieval Islam: Persian Emigres and the Making of Ottoman Sovereignty. Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-1108492140.
Morby, John (2002)Dynasties of the World: A Chronological and Genealogical Handbook (2nd ed.) Oxford University Press, Oxford, England,ISBN0-19-860473-4
Thomas, David; Chesworth, John A., eds. (2015).Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History:Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. Vol. 7. Brill.ISBN978-9004298484.
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