Ak Koyunlu
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Categories: 1378 establishments | 1508 disestablishments | History of the Turkic people | Historical Turkic states | Oghuz Turks | Muslim dynasties | Muslim history | History of the Middle East | History of Iran | Former countries in Asia | Turkic dynasties
The Ak Koyunlu or Aq Qoyunlu, also called the White Sheep Turkomans (Turkmen: Akgoýunly, Azeri: Ağqoyunlu, Turkish: Akkoyunlu, Ottoman Turkish/Persian: آق قوینلو) were a Oghuz Turkic tribal federation that ruled parts of present-day Eastern Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, northern Iraq and western Iran from 1378 to 1508.
HistoryAccording to Byzantine chronicles, the Ak Koyunlu were present in eastern Anatolia since at least 1340, and most Ak Koyunlu leaders, including the dynasty's founder, Uzun Hassan[1], married Byzantine princesses [2]. The White Sheep Turkomans first acquired land in 1402, when Tamerlane granted them all of Diyarbakır, in present-day Turkey. For a long time, the White Sheep Turkomans were unable to expand their territory, as the rival Black Sheep Turkomans kept them at bay. However, this changed with the rule of Uzun Hasan who defeated the Black Sheep Turkoman leader, Jahān Shāh, in 1467. After the defeat of a Timurid leader, Abu Sai'd, Uzun Hasan was able to take Baghdad, along with territories around the Persian Gulf. He expanded into Iran as far east as Khorasan. However, around this time, the Ottoman Empire sought to expand eastwards, a serious threat that forced the White Sheep Turkomans into an alliance with the Qaramanids of central Anatolia. As early as 1464, Uzun Hassan had requested military aid from one of the Ottoman Empire's strongest enemies, Venice, however, despite Venetian promises, this aid never arrived, and as a result, Uzun Hasan was defeated by the Ottomans at Tercan in 1473, though this did not destroy the White Sheep Turkomans. Yaqub, who reigned from 1478 to 1490, sustained the dynasty for a while longer, but following his death the White Sheep Turkomans began to destroy themselves from within, and thanks to years of infighting, they ceased to be a threat to their neighbours. The Safavids, who were Shi'ites, began to undermine the allegiance of many White Sheep Turkomans, particularly Sunnis. The Safavids and the White Sheep Turkomans met in battle at Nakhichevan in 1501, and the Safavid leader Ismail I forced the White Sheep Turkomans to withdraw. In his retreat from the Safavids, the White Sheep Turkoman leader Alwand destroyed an autonomous White Sheep Turkoman state in Mardin. The last White Sheep Turkoman leader, Murād, brother of Alwand, was also defeated by the same Safavid leader. Though Murād briefly established himself in Baghdad in 1508, he soon withdrew back to Diyar Bakr, signalling the end of the White Sheep Turkomans. GovernanceThe leaders of Ak Koyunlu were from the Begundur or Bayandur Oghuz clan[3] and were considered descendants of the semi-mythical founding father of the Oghuz, Oghuz Khan[4]. The Bayandurs behaved like statesmen rather than warlords and gained the support of the merchant and feudal classes of South Caucasus (present day Republic of Azerbaijan)[4]. With the conquest of Iran, not only did the Ak Koyunlu center of power shift eastward, but Iranian influences were soon brought to bear on their method of government and their culture [5]. In the Iranian provinces, Uzun Hassan maintained the preexisting administrative system along with its officials, whose families had in some cases served under different dynasties for several generations[6]. There were only four top civil posts, all held by Iranians, in Uzun Hassan's time: those of the vizier, who headed the great council (divan); the mostawfi al-mamalek, who was in charge of the financial administration; the mohrdar, who affixed the state seal, and the marakoor (stablemaster), who looked after the royal court[5]. In letters from the Ottomon Sultans, when addressing the the kings of Ak koyunlu, such titles as Malak al-Molook al-Iraniyyah (King of Kings of Iran), Sultan Salatin Iraniyyah(Sultan of Sultans of Iran), Shahanshah Iran Khadiv ajam (King of Kings of Iran and the Ruler of Persia), Jamshid Shawkat wa Fereydoon Raayat wa daaraa deraayat (Powerful like Jamshid, Flag of Fereydoon and Wise like Darius) have been used[7]. Ahmad-beg Ak KoyunluAmidst the struggle for power between Uzun Hassan's grandsons Baysungur (son of Yaqub) and Rustam (son of Maqsud), their cousin Ahmad-beg appeared on the stage. Ahmad-beg was the son of Uzun Hassan's eldest son Oghurlu Muhammad, who, in 1475, escaped to Ottoman Turkey. Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II received Oghurlu Muhammad with kindness and gave him his daughter, of whom Ahmad-beg was born[8]. According Hasan Rumlu's Ahsan al-tavarikh, in 1496-7 certain Hasan Ali Tarkhani went to Ottoman Turkey to tell Sultan Beyazid II that Azerbaijan and Persian Iraq were defenceless and suggested that Ahmad-beg, heir to that kingdom, should be sent there with Ottoman troops. Beyazid II agreed to this idea, and by May 1497 Ahmad-beg faced Rustam near Araxes and defeated him [8].
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