Qara Yoluq Osman Bey

Qara Yoluq Osman Bey (قرا یولک عثمان; also Baha-al-Din بھا الدینcalled; * between 1350 and 1355 in Eastern Anatolia; † 1435 in Erzurum ) was the first ruler and founder of the empire of the Aq Qoyunlu in Eastern Anatolia.

Early years

The place and year of his birth are not known, but since he is believed to have been around 80 years old when he died, his year of birth is believed to be between 1350 and 1355. His name is said to be Qara Yoluq black leech . His family moved from Azerbaijan to Anatolia in the second half of the 12th century and settled near Erzincan and Bayburt . His grandfather Tur Ali Bey undertook several raids against the Trapezunt Empire . Osman Bey's parents were Fahreddin Kutlu Bey - leader of the Aq Qoyunlu - and Maria Hatun, sister of the emperor of Trebizond Alexios III. According to other sources, it was Alexios' daughter Despina Hatun.

Kutlu Bey expanded his influence towards Erzincan and interfered in the conflict between the rulers of Erzincan Mutahharten and the Beyliks Eretna . He had also appointed his sons as administrators in various places. Osman Bey gained his first experience in administration and rule in Ergani . When Kutlu Bey died in 1388, his older brother Ahmed Bey took over the leadership of the tribe. Mutahharten wanted to take advantage of this change of power and defeat the Aq Qoyunlu and subdue them, but failed against Ahmed Bey and called the Qara Qoyunlu to help. The Qara Qoyunlu were another Turkmen tribal union that ruled large areas from Mosul to Erzurum and was to become an arch rival of the Aq Qoyunlu. With the help of the Qara Qoyunlu, Mutahharten was able to beat Ahmed Bey, who then sought refuge with his brothers in Sivas with the Eretna. Osman Bey went on raids on his own for some time and also came into conflict with the Qara Qoyunlu. Later he helped the ruler of Sivas Kadi Burhan al-Din on his campaigns and thus strengthened his rule, but later both clashed, which ended with the execution of Kadi Burhan al-Din in 1399. This incident took the rulers of the region by surprise, and so it was that the Ottomans seized the opportunity of Sivas. Osman Bey was looking for new supporters against the Qara Qoyunlu and allied with the Mamluks from Egypt. But a short time later Timur began his campaigns to Iran and Anatolia. Osman Bey paid his respects to Timur in Karabag in 1399 , when the other Turkmen leaders, especially his rival Qara Yusuf , from the Qara Qoyunlu faced him. Osman Bey helped Timur take Sivas in 1400. Later he was also there when Timur defeated the Ottomans at the Battle of Ankara in 1402 and led Sultan Bayezid I into captivity, which shook the balance of power in Anatolia.

Domination

Osman Bey received Diyarbakır as a fiefdom in 1403 because of his services to Timur . With this, Osman Bey laid the basis for the coming state of Aq Qoyunlu. With the Timurids behind him, he began to take control of other areas in the east and south-east. In 1405 he plundered the Mamluk Birecik . When Qara Yusuf regained strength, Osman Bey had to fight back against the Qara Qoyunlu. When neither side got the upper hand, they signed a non-aggression pact. In 1408 Osman Bey moved against Mardin . The Ortoqids in Mardin were able to repel him with the help of the Mamluks and now besieged Osman Bey in his capital Diyarbakır. But Osman Bey was able to assert himself and defeated the besiegers. In the same year he conquered Urfa . When he attacked Mardin again, this time the Ortoqids called for help from Qara Yusuf, who chased Osman Bey away. The Qara Qoyunlu took many areas from Osman Bey, including Erzincan, and in the end Osman Bey had to flee to the Mamluks in 1418. In 1420 Qara Yusuf died and his successor Qara Iskander fought on against Osman Bey, who used the change of throne to take the Dulkadir from Harput and to plunder the areas of Malatya and Mardin. When his actions were directed against the Mamluks, they moved against Urfa in 1429 and besieged it. Osman Bey's son Habil Bey negotiated with the Mamluks because the siege caused great hunger and hardship. He surrendered the city in exchange for the Mamluks' promise not to plunder the city, but the Mamluks broke their word, plundered and murdered and took Habil Bey as a prisoner to Cairo, where he later died in captivity. Osman Bey could not save his son and began to raid the border areas, which in 1433 led to another Mamluk campaign, in which the Mamluk ruler Barsbay personally took part. On May 28, 1433 the Mamluks reached Diyarbakir and began the siege. But Osman Bey was able to withstand the Mamluks for several days, which in the end forced Barsbay to come to an agreement with Osman Bey. Barsbay secured Osman Bey's vassalage and withdrew to Cairo via Urfa and Birecik in July. The tide turned when the Timurid Shah Ruch embarked on a campaign against the Qara Qoyunlu. Shāh Ruch conquered places like Erzincan, Bayburt, Meyyafarikin and Harput and subjugated the local rulers.

death

Qara Iskander was able to regain his strength after a while, attacked the Shirvanshahs in 1434 and devastated their lands. This brought about Shāh Ruch, who had already fought Qara Iskander several times. This now began to harass the Qara Qoyunlu with Osman Bey. In 1434 Osman Bey was able to take Erzurum, Bayburt, İspir and Tercan. Meanwhile, Shāh Ruch advanced on Tabriz , the capital of Qara Iskander, so that he fled towards Erzurum. Before Erzurum, Osman Bey stood in his way, who was injured in the following battle and died shortly afterwards. Qara Iskander himself was not killed until 1438.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ A History of Persian Literature in Modern Times (AD 1500-1924) by Edward G. Browne from 1920 (English)
2. ↑ İslâm Ansiklopedisi : Ak-Koyunlular , Volume I, p. 254 (Turkish)
3. ↑ Uzunçarşılı
4. ↑ Gökhan and Yiğit
5. ↑ İlhan Erdem
6. ↑ Ahmet Toksoy, p 108

swell

• İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı: Anadolu Beylikleri ve Akkoyunlu, Karakoyunlu Devletleri . Türk Tarih Kurumu, Ankara 2011, ISBN 978-975-16-2457-4 , p. 160 (Turkish).
• İlyas Gökhan and Rıdvan Yiğit: Memluk Sultanı El-Melik El-Eşref Barsbay'ın Diyarbakır Seferi (836/1433) , published in 2013 in Cappadocia Journal Of History and Social Sciences , No. 1 (Turkish)
• İlhan Erdem: Ak-Koyunlu Devletinin Kurucusu Kara-Yülük Osman Beyin Hayatı ve Faaliyetleri (? —1435) , published in 1990 in Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakäne’si Dergisi , No. 34, edition: 1.2 (Turkish)
• Ahmet Toksoy: Akkoyunlular ve Erzincan (Uzun Hasan Devrine Kadar) , published in 2014 in Türklük Bilimi Araştırmaları , No. 35 (Turkish)