Kara Koyunlu

The Qara Qoyunlu or Kara Koyunlu () () were a tribal alliance of Oghuz tribes. They ruled Azerbaijan, Armenia, eastern Anatolia, and northern Iraq from 1375 to 1468.  The Qara Qoyunlus settled in the south of Lake Van. They became strong in Erzincan, Sivas and in the north-eastern lands of Eastern Anatolia in the 1370s. The Qara Qoyunlu fought against the Aq Qoyunlu, Jalairis, Al-Bussiyah and Timurid.

The Qara Qoyunlu dynasty was founded by Bayram Khoja.  His successor, Qara Muhammad, became related to Jalairi Sultan Ahmad in order to end problems with the Jalairi. This led to the capture of the western part of Azerbaijan, including Tabriz. The Qara Qoyunlus become a great empire during the rule of Qara Yusif. In a battle against the Timurids and Jalairis, Qara Yusif created a large state from Azerbaijan. This united Eastern Georgia, Arab Iraq and Ajam Iraq. Qara Iskander, the son of Qara Yusif, restored the rule of Kara Koyunlu in 1421. Sultan Shahrukh left Tabriz, he entered the city. When Shah Rukh returned, all the lands he had captured were recaptured by Qara Iskandar.

According to the German Turkologist Gerhard Doerfere, it is very strange that the word "Turkmen" still confuses the Aq Qoyunlu and Qara Qoyunlu with Turkmens. The word Turkmen actually means "nomadic Oghuz". Aq Qoyunlu and Qara Qoyunlu" are Azerbaijanis.Gerhard Doerfer, Turks in Iran, p.  248 Researchers associate the Oghuz dialect of Kara-Qoyunlu with the Azerbaijani language.M. Faruk Sümer, «Kara Koyunlular», s. VIII: Kara-Koyunlular Anadolu'dan Iran'a vuku bulan bu siyasi göç hareketlerinin müsebbibi oldukları gibi, aynı zamanda Iran'da yeniden Türkmen hâkimiyetinin başlamasının ve bununla alâkah olarak da Arerbaycan'ın kat'i bir surette türkleşmesini temin edecek yeni bir iskan hareketinin ilk âmili de olmuşlardır. Bu sözlerden de anlaşlıacağı üzere, onların konuştukları türkçe, tabil bugün Azeri lehçesi denilen doğ Oguz veya Türkmen lehçesi idi. Kara-Koyunlu hükümdarlarından Cihan-Sah'ın Azeri edebiyatının mümessillerinden biri oldugu bugün kat'i olarak anlaşılmıştır.  For example, Faruk Shumer recorded that the Eastern Oghuz dialect of Qara-Qoyunlu is called the Azerbaijani language today, and Muhsin Behramnejad named Azerbaijani language an inherited from Qara-Qoyunlu Turkmen tribes.M. Behramnejad, "Karakoyunlu, Akkoyunlu people: Turkmen Dynasties in Iran and Anatolia", p.  14: As a result of the dominance of the Karakoyunlu and Akkoyunlu Turkmens in the region, many Turkmen tribes settled in the region, and their remnants became the Safavid State in Iran.  Today, the eastern Oghuz or Turkmen dialect called Azerbaijani, which is used in Iğdır and Kars, Iran and Azerbaijan, in some parts of Eastern Anatolia, are important legacies left to us. The Qara-Qoyunlu Sultan Jahan Shah is the generally recognized representative of Azerbaijani poetry.V. Minorsky. Jihān-Shāh Qara-Qoyunlu and His Poetry (Turkmenica, 9). Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. — Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African Studies, 1954. — V.16, p . 272, 283: «It is somewhat astonishing that a sturdy Turkman like Jihan-shah should have been so restricted in his ways of expression. Altogether the language of the poems belongs to the group of the southern Turkman dialects which go by the name of Azarbayjan Turkish.»; «As yet nothing seems to have been published on the Br. Mus. manuscript Or. 9493, which contains the bilingual collection of poems of Haqiqi, i.e. of the Qara-qoyunlu sultan Jihan-shah (A.D. 1438—1467).»

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Category:Former countries in the Middle East
Category:Medieval Azerbaijan
Category:1370s establishments in Asia
Category:15th-century disestablishments in Asia