Aq Qoyunlu

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The Aq Qoyunlu ( Oghusian : Āq Qoyunlu  /آق قويونلوor Ak Koyunlu  /اق قويونلو, German: "(those) with white mutton") were a Turkmen tribal federation that rose in Diyar Bakr after the Mongol rule . They initially ruled parts of eastern Anatolia, later also Azerbaijan and large parts of Iraq and Iran (1389–1507). The ruling house of Ag Qoyunlu belonged to the Oghuz - Clan of Bayındır on. In addition to the Bayındır, the federation consisted of various other Oghusian clans ( Bayat , Döğer , Çepni etc.) who had arrived with the Seljuks from Central Asia and had an inconspicuous existence under the later Mongol rule.

history

origin

The empire in the time of Uzun Hasan

The Aq Qoyunlu were a nomadic Turkmen tribe or later a tribal confederation. They were the rivals of the Qara Qoyunlu (Black Mutton), another Turkmen tribe. The origin of the names is not clear. Either one understands this to mean totem animals or one assumes that the respective color (black / white) predominated in the sheep herds.

The Turkish epic Dede Korkut tells of the early years of the Aq Qoyunlu and Qara Qoyunlu tribes . In Byzantine sources, the Bayundur family (the ruling house of the Aq Qoyunlu) is first mentioned in 1340. Here Bayundur Khan is reported as a descendant of the legendary Oghuz Khan and ruler of the Oghuz tribal federation.

The Aq Qoyunlu have been perfectly understandable around Diyarbakır since the 14th century and were probably formed after the fall of the Rum Seljuk Empire . The name of the ruling clan Bayindir (as well as the ruling clan Baharlu or Barani among the Qara Qoyunlu ) is already documented for the pre-Mongolian period and is associated with the 24 Oghuz tribes by Raschid ad-Din (around 1303) . The dynasty chronicle (around 1470) traces the origin of 51 families back to a legendary Oghus Khan, whereby this chronicle was supposed to contribute to the political legitimation of the Aq Qoyunlu rule and is less to be understood as evidence of the origin of the ruling family.

From 1340 the Aq Qoyunlu undertook raids against Mesopotamia , Syria and especially against Trebizond . Their leader, Tur Ali Beg, became an emir in Ilchan Ghazan's time . In 1348 they appeared before Trebizond and four years later married Emperor Alexios III. his sister with Tur Ali's son Kutlu Beg in the course of a compromise peace. In the period that followed, further marriages were concluded between the Aq Qoyunlu and the Trapezunts.

Rise to great power under Uzun Hasan

The city walls of Diyarbakır

Qara Yoluq Osman Bey (r. 1389–1435) is known as the actual founder of the tribe . He paid his respects to Timur in Karabag in 1399 , when the other Turkmen leaders (especially his rival Qara Yusuf from the Qara Qoyunlu) opposed him. As Timur's ally, he was enfeoffed with Diyarbakır and took part in his campaign against the Ottomans through the Battle of Ankara in 1402 , but lost a lot of support with Timur's death and again had problems with his rival Qara Yusuf. After his death in 1435, in a battle against Iskander of the Qara Qoyunlu, the federation came under pressure from the Qara Qoyunlu and lost many of the dominated areas.

The sons of Osman Bey fell out, their territory shrank back to the original area around Diyarbakır and the Qara Qoyunlu gained supremacy. Nothing changed in this regard even under Osman's grandson Jahangir, who had to compete against his uncles and cousins. In 1453 Jahangir was ousted by his brother Uzun Hasan in a coup.

It was not until Uzun Hasan (r. 1453–1478) that the Aq Qoyunlu rose again and reached its heyday, after defeating the Qara Qoyunlu under Jahan Shah in 1467 and conquering their empire in Iran , Azerbaijan and Iraq . In his time the borders of the empire stretched from the Caspian Sea to Syria and from Azerbaijan to Baghdad . This is why Uzun Hasan saw himself as “the guardian of Turkish unity” and compared himself to Timur, whose ambitious successor Abu Said he defeated and killed in 1469. According to nomadic traditions, Uzun Hasan's rule was indirect. He demanded the annual tributes and taxes from the local princes, but until the relocation of the capital to Tabriz he did not build a permanent residence or set up any sustainable ruling and administrative structures. Nevertheless, he initiated a series of mainly economic reforms, which have been preserved in the so-called qanun nama qänün-i Hasan padishah , which has only been preserved in fragments , and which were intended to protect the population in the empire from excessive taxes and the arbitrariness of local rulers. These orders lasted at least in parts of Persia until the time of the Safavid ruler Tahmasp (r. 1524–1576).

The conquest of the allied and intertwined family Trebizond by the Ottoman Empire in 1461 confronted Uzun Hasan with this new enemy. He eventually made plans to eliminate the Ottoman threat: for this purpose he took part with European countries, i.e. H. established relationships with the Christian world in order to obtain the dreaded firearms. Since 1471 he fought in Eastern Anatolia in alliance with Venice (sent a fleet with 99 galleys under Pietro Mocenigo ) against the Ottomans Mehmed the Conqueror , but was severely defeated by them on August 11, 1473 in the battle of Otlukbeli near Erzincan , because the Ottomans Could use artillery that Uzun Hasan did not have.

In the last few years Uzun Hasan also compiled a collection of laws, which should above all protect the population from the usual arbitrary taxes and duties - a prerequisite for a sensible economic life.

Replacement by the Safavids Ismail I.

Uzun Hasan's son and successor Ya'qub (ruled 1478–1490) held the state together after the initial struggles for the succession by trying to win over the greats of the empire and avoiding wars as much as possible. In 1480 he defeated an Egyptian force that had been sent out to conquer Diyarbakır.

In 1488 he had the bustling Safawiyya leader Sheikh Haidar killed because this had caused an internal quarrel. The contrast to the centralized, Sunni Ottoman empire and the support of Uzun Hasan for the Safawiyya order based on it had helped the sheikhs, as part of their popular Shiite movement (founded in 1301), Turkmen tribes from Ustac , Mosul , Tekke , Bayburt , Karadağ, Dulkadir , Varsak and Afshar , who later came to be known as Qizilbash . Haidar was Yaqub's cousin and brother-in-law. His sons Ali Mirza († 1494) and Ismail (* 1487) continued the Safawiyya order.

When Yaqub suddenly died in 1490 and the successors fought once more for the throne, the Aq Qoyunlu came under increasing pressure from the up-and-coming Safawiyya under Ali and the young Ismail, founder of the Safavid Empire (1501–1736). Ismail snatched Tabriz from the heir Alwand in 1501 and overthrew the last regent of the Aq Qoyunlu in Mardin in 1507. Shah Ismail united Persia under his rule. The surviving Bayindir settled in Tripoli , Aleppo and Sivas .

Ruler

  • Tur Ali Beg (1340 – ca. 1363)
  • Kutlu Beg , son of Tur Ali Beg (1363–1378 / 9)
  • Ahmad Beg, son of Kutlu Beg (–1389)
  • Qara Yoluq Osman Bey , son of Kutlu Beg (1389–1435)
  • Ali Beg, son of Osman († 1438)
  • Hamza Beg, son of Osman († 1444)
  • Jahangir, son of Ali (1444–1453, † 1469)
  • Uzun Hasan , son of Ali (1453–1478)
  • Halil Sultan, son of Uzun Hasan 1478
  • Yaqub , son of Uzun Hasan (1478–1490)
  • Baisonqur († 1493), Rustam († 1497), Alwand (until 1502) and others

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Vladimir Minorsky in Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd Edition), article AK KOYUNLU - [...] The federation consisted of various Oghuz (Turkmen) tribes (Bayat, Döger, Cepni etc.) who had apparently arrived with the Saldjuks but, under the Mongols, led an inconspicuous existence. Among these clans must be particularly distinguished the Bayundur clan, to which belonged the rulers, who, with their immediate followers, must have taken the leadership and organized the federation. [...] URL: http://referenceworks.brillonline.com /entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/ak-koyunlu-SIM_0444?s.num=0&s.rows=20&s.f.s2_parent=sfbook.encyclopaedia-of-islam-2&s.q=Ak+Koyunlu
  2. ↑ Faruk Sümer, Ahmet E. Uysal, Warren S. Walker: The Book of Dede Korkut. A Turkish Epic . University of Texas Press, Austin, London 1972, p. 9 .
  3. ↑ Hans Robert Roemer: Persia on the way to the modern age. Iranian history from 1350-1750 . Ergon Verlag Würzburg, Beirut 2003, ISBN 3-89913-038-3 , p. 181, 184 .
  4. ↑ Roemer: Persia on the way to the modern age . 2003, p. 185-186 .
  5. ↑ Vladimir Minorsky: Thomas of Metsrop 'on the Timurid-Turkmen Wars . In: The Turks, Iran and the Caucasus in the Middle Ages . Variorum Reprints, London 1978, ISBN 0-86078-028-7 , pp. 21 (English translation of the writings of the Armenian cleric on the turmoil in the Caucasus in the early 15th century): “Altough Iskandar had only 3,000 [men] he defeated the enemy and killed [Qara Qoluq] Othman, his son Bayazid and more than 700 men . "
  6. ↑ Vladimir Minorsky: The Aq-Qoyunlu and Land Reforms . In: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies . tape 17 , no. 3 . Cambridge of University Press, London 1955, pp. 30 , JSTOR : 609589 .
  7. ↑ Roemer: Persia on the way to the modern age . 2003, p. 211 .

literature

  • Tayyip Gökbilgin: Türkiyat Mecmuası (Turkological Journal), 1951, pp. 35–46 (a study on the Akkoyunlu refugees in Turkey)
  • Walther Hinz: Iran's Rise to the Nation-State in the Fifteenth Century . Walter de Gruyter & Co, Berlin 1936, pp. 33–71, 101–122.
  • Vladimir Minorsky: The Turks, Iran and the Caucasus in the Middle Ages. Variorum Reprints, London 1978, Chapter XI on Thomas from Metsop.
  • Barbara von Palombini: Allies of western powers for Persia 1453-1600 . F. Steiner-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1968, pp. 8-30 on the Venetian-Turkmen alliance.
  • HR Roemer: Persia on the way to modern times . Iranian history from 1350-1750. Ergon Verlag Würzburg, Beirut 2003, pp. 173-218.
  • Abu Bakr Tihrani Ta'rikh-i Diyarbakriyya , Faruk Sümer et al. (Eds.), Ankara 1962.
  • İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı: Anadolu beylikleri (The Anatolian Beyliks ), 1937, pp. 63–69.

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