HE T'ÜRKMEN CONFEDERATIONS :HE QARAQOYUNLU AND AQQOYUNLU
 |
| QARAQOYUNLU FLAG |
 |
| AQQOYUNLU FLAG |
Thiswas a mass of closely related, fragmented tribes unevenly scattered in the
region, but especially heavily clustered on the frontiers with Christendom.
Iran and "Rûmeli" were, from the tribal point of view, as Sümer bas phrased
it, "an extension of Anatolia." The Turkish tribes of the old Byzantine
heartland would have an important impact on Europe and a determining
effect on lran.85 Having been subjected to periodic population pressures
from their kinsmen to the east, the considerable turmoil of the Mongol
conquests, rule and then decline, the explosive force of Aqsaq Temür's
depredations and Ottoman expansionist dynamism, these tribes, anxious to
maintain their independence and fearful of their economie well-being, were a
force waiting to be organized.
ln the course of the death agony of the Îlxanid regime, the Jalayirid bouse
(of Jalayir Mongol origin, 1336-1432) became the leading power in Western
Iran and Iraq after a brief rivalry with the Cobanids. Sayx l:lasan-i Buzurg
("l:lasan the Big," d.1356, so called to distinguish him from his Cobanid rival
l:lasan-i Kûcak, "l:lasan the Little") was the founder of Jalayirid fortunes. He
also established a tie with the Safavî ~ûfi order of Ardabîl which would figure
prominently in subsequent history. Although the latter were not StCïte at this
rime, the Jalayirids appear to have had leanings in this direction. l:lasan's son
and successor, Sayx Uwais (d. 1374) established Jalayirid hegemony over
Azarbayjan, but proved unable to bring the troublesome Qara Qoyunlu fully
under control. The Timurid onslaught mortally weakened the Jalayirids who
turned to the Qara Qoyunlu for aid. The latter, after 1412, however, reduced
them to minor princelings in Southern Iraq.The absence of strong central authority in Iran and the further
destabilization brought about by the Timurid invasions paved the way for the
efflorescence of two Türkmen tribal confederations, the Qara Qoyunlu and
Aq Qoyunlu. The very factors that helped to bring them to prominence were
also the source of social and economie weaknesses that rendered them
permanently unstable.87
The names of these two confederations are easily etymologized in Turkic:
"Black Sheep" (qara qoyun) and "White Sheep" (aq qoyun). The names imply
"those with/those who favor (?) black sheep, white sheep." But, the symbolic
significance of these names, if any, is not readily apparent88. Totemic
associations, the import of which would also require further elucidation, have
also been suggested. Equally uncertain is the date of their arrivai in Anatolia.
It seems most probable that they came, along with so many other
Oguz/Türkmen tribes, to Eastern Anatolia during the Mongol era.89 Equally
unilluminated by our sources is the question of why and when these
particular tribes united into the confederations which we find so active in
affairs in the latter half of the 14th century. Woods bas suggested that the Aq
Qoyunlu (and bence Qara Ooyunlu) began as a "band of cossack freebooters"
whose polity was based on a "regularized but essentially predatory
relationship with agriculture and commerce."90 To this tribal base, other
groupings (sorne non-Turkic), often little more than "robber bands" attached
themselves. They hired thernselves out to whichever faction prornised gain or
held the momentary advantage in the swirling poli tics of the region.91 Given
what we know about the nature of nomadic interaction with sedentary
societies in the Near and Middle East and the conditions obtaining there at
thalt time, this is a reasonable hypothesis.
'The ruling clan of the Qara Qoyunlu appears in our sources as the Bârânî
and Bahârlu. The former still awaits a satisfactory explanation. The latter
appears to be connected with the toponym, Bahâr, near Hamadân. It was a
center of the Oguz Yiva tribe and bence it bas been suggested, not
umeasonably, that the Bahârlu were of Yi1va origin. The Aq Qoyunlu ruling
clan was of Baymdur oguz origin.The Baymdur were one of the constituent elements of the Oguz union as recorded by Kâsgarî and later
historians. By the middle of the 14th century, Mamlûk sources indicate that
they, along with other nomadic, oguz tribal elements were to be found in the
Syro-Anatolian borderlands.94 As Cinggisid rule faded into the past and the
danger from the Timurids receded, the Oguz polities of Anatolia and the
Near East, turned to the older Oguz Xan legends and genealogies, now
suffused with Islam, to legitimate their rule. This was true of the Qara
Qoyunlu, Aq Qoyunlu and Qaramanids as weil as of the Ottomans.95
The early Qara Qoyunlu confederation, in addition to the Bahârlu,
consisted of the sacdlu, Alpagut, Duxarlu, Agac-eri, l:lâjrlu, Qaramanlu,
Jâkirlu/Câkirlu/Cekürlü,96 Âyînlu, Doger and Bayramlu Oguz/Türkmen
tribes as weil as Kurdish elements.97 Centered around Lake Van, they were
one of the tribal props of the Jalayirid regime. Under Qara Yûsuf (1389-
1420), they extended their control to Tabrîz which became their capital.98
Although driven from here twice by Temür, Qara Yûsuf, after 1405, defeated
Timurid forces,99 reestablished the Qara Qoyunlu hold in the region
(including Tabriz) and brought parts of Iraq under his rule as weil. These
successes brought Türkmen groupings from Eastern Anatolia to his banners.
In 1410, Qara Yûsuf defeated and killed the Jalayirid Al;!mad (to whom he
bad earlier sworn friendship when both were in a Mamlûk Syrian prison) and
largely supplanted his onetime overlords as master of Eastern Anatolia and
Iraq-Mesopotamia. The threat he posed to Iran brought about a Timurid
reaction. Qara Yûsuf, however, died on the eve of battle with Sâh Rux's
forces. His successors, continuing the anti-Timurid traditions of Qara Yûsuf,
faced Sâh Rux in combat three times (1420, 1429,1434-35).100
The Qara Qoyunlu enjoyed their greatest political power under Jahân Sâh
(1438-67), whose rise to the throne was, paradoxically aided by Sâh Rux who
sought, thereby, to further internai discord. After Sâh Rux's passing from thesoene (1447), Jahân Sâh took advantage of Timurid domestic strife. He
assumed the imperial titles of sultân and xâqân, laying daim to both the
Islamic and nomadic politicallegacies. Y et another wave of Anatolian
tribesmen migrated to his expanding realm which now included much of Iran
as weil. His eastward expansionism, aimed at Xurâsân and requiring good
relations with the Ottomans, was ultimately blocked by the Timurids. An
even greater threat, however, was posed by his rivais, the Aq Qoyunlu, who
killed him in battle. His successor, I:Iasan CAJî, proved unequal to the task of
rallying the now crumbling union. By 1468, the Qara Qoyunlu bad been
supplanted by Uzun I:Iasan and his Aq Qoyunlu.101 After Uzun l:lasan's
victory, the Bahârlu ruling clan fied to Xurâsân. Eventually, elements of
them went to India where, in 1512, the Bahârlu, Sultân Quh, founded the
Qutb-Sâhî dynasty of Golconda (1512-1687).102
Much bas been made of the alleged fanatical devotion of the Qara
Qoyunlu (especially Jahân Sâh) to Sîcism. This seems to be an exaggeration.
Like the Cobanids and Jalayirids, whose political forms they emulated, the
Qara Qoyunlu exhibited stcite tendencies. It must be recalled, however, that
much of rural, Turkic Anatolia, the tribal base of the confederation, was
heavily influenced by SiCïsm and related heterodoxies. In addition to the very
real SîCïte sentiments that rulers like Jahân Sâh may weil have shared with
thdr tribal supporters, public adherence to such views were, in alllikelihood,
an important political lever to secure the continued support of the
tribesmen.
The Aq Qoyunlu confederation104 that, to sorne degree, bad absorbed
thdr erstwhile Türkmen rivais, was ruled by a clan that claimed descent from
the Baymdur tribe of the Oguz. The right wing consisted of the Pürnii.k
(Prnâk in the Arabie-script sources) and the left-wing of the Mowsillu ( <
Maw~il/Mosul in Northern Iraq). The listings of their constituent tribes
presents an interesting tableau of old Oguz names (e.g. Avsar, Bayat, Cepni),
more recent formations ( e.g. Agac-eri, cArabgîrlü~ Bayramlu, I:Iaidarlu,
~~madlu, Qaramanlu) and Kurdish allies (e.g. CamBgezekî, Pâzûkî,
Ciganî).J05 The Turkic tribal names are notable in that they reflect the
breakdown of older patterns. In addition to names of toponymie origin,
infrequent in the Pre-Cinggisid era, there are many more of direct Islamic,
anthroponymie derivation (e.g. Al].madlu).
Tbeir official genealogy places the progenitor of the rulint: bouse,
"Pahlavan Beg," in the region of Naxcevan in the early years of the Cinggisid
conquest of the Middle East. The Baymdur may weil have been east of that
in the era preceding the Mongol invasions. Pahlavan Beg was pushed
westward, weil into Anatolia, by the Mongols, We find his son, Tûr CAJî Bey
(Toup<XÀÎTt€T]Ç in the Greek sources106), however, in Eastern Anatolia, near
the Komnenian Trebizond/Trabzon state. He is credited with forging marital
ties with the Komnenoi and with having served the ilxan Gazan. It is under
his son Qutlu, husband of Maria Komnena, that the name Aq Qoyunlu
begins ta appear in the sources.107 The issue of this Byzantine union, Qara
Yülük Osman (1378-1435), who also married a Komnenian princess, is
reckoned the founder of Aq Qoyunlu fortunes. Having contested and won the
throne from his aider brother, Al).mad, he destroyed QâQî Burhân ed-Dîn, his
brother's overlord, in 1398. Prevented by the Ottomans from enjoying the
fruits of his victory, he shrewdly sided with Temür and was rewarded, in the
aftermath of the 1402 campaign, with the Diyarbekir region. As the Qara
Qoyunlu remained hostile to the Timurids, Qara Yülük Osman maintained
his allegiance ta Sâh Rux and aided the latter in wars with his Türkmen
rivais. He feil in battle against the latter and his territorial gains were
squandered by domestic discord. Nonetheless, his achievements were not
inconsiderable. While maintaining his nomadic lifestyle, which according to
the 15th century Ottoman author, Yaz1j10glu [Yazicioglu], he viewed as the
source of his political power (beglik) and admonishing his sons not ta
sedentarize,108in keeping with nomadic needs and tradition, he took control
over the important east-west trade routes. His growing political and
economie power attracted nomadic tribesmen ta his union. Like other
nomadic; Turkic dynasties, however, they were never able to resolve the
question of succession, which ultimately led to their downfaii.109 There is no
need here to recount the destructive dramas of Aq Qoyunlu domestic
political strife that followed and their interplay with neighboring polities.
Full recovery from this grueling civil war occurred under Uzun I:Iasan
(1453-1478),110 a brilliant politician and able general. In keeping with the
family's tradition, he married a Komnenian princess. At the same time, he
established a marriage tie with Sayx Junayd, leader of the Safavid arder, who
married his sister.lll In 1467, he killed, as we have seen, Jahân Sâh, the QaraQoyunlu ruler and thereby became heir to many of their holdings in Iran.
This was confirmed by his victory (1469) over the Timurid Abu Sa'1:d. The Aq
Qoyunlu shifted their political center to Tabriz, the traditional capital of
nomadic rulers of Iran and the surrounding lands, and became one of the
dominant regional powers alongside the Ottomans and Mamlûks.
Appropriate changes appeared in Aq Qoyunlu ideological symbols which
now took on a strongly Islamic tenor with hints at universal political and
pe~rhaps even messianic roles. Having achieved this status, new waves of
Türkmen, whose overlord Uzun J:Iasan considered hirnself,ll2 came to Iran
from Anatolia. Europe, particularly in the form of Venice, was interested
(from at !east 1463) in the participation of the Aq Qoyunlu in an antiOttoman
alliance.
Uzun J:Iasan's dreams of dominium (which came to include the Holy
Cities) were not to be realized. As his empire grew, so did his government.
The nomadic chieftains were particularly wary of expanding central
authority. They resisted him and his attempts at military reform. This
domestic sour note did not prevent Uzun J:Iasan from presenting hirnself as
the: champion of the independence and rights of the Anatolian beys and
nomads now being swallowed up by the Ottomans. In 1472-73, he began
campaigns aimed at Ottoman-held Qaraman and the Mamlûk vassal state of
Dulgadtr. Neither ofthese ended successfully. In the Ot-toman counterattack,
as we have noted, his outnumbered army was completely routed at B~kent
(1473), demonstrating, as the Ottomans would against the Mamlûks and
Safavids as well, that firearms bad brought the age of the ascendancy of the
steppe horseman to an end. A prematurely aged and ailing Uzun I:Iasan
ma,naged to retain his empire because of Ottoman inactivity. But, with his
death, fratricidal strife again briefly flared, accompanied by threats from
without.113
Yacqûb (1478-90), the teenager who was brought t0 rulership, proved to
be largely a figurehead for court factions. Despite the glitter of Tabriz, the
far-flung borders of the sultanate, the ideological pre tensions to dominion
over the Islamic114 and Oguz Turkic world, the wealth and aura of power, the
dynamism that bad marked earlier Aq Qoyunlu history was gone. The throne
stroggle that erupted upon his death and the subsequent partitions of the
state helped to set the stage for the conquest of the Aq Qoyunlu realm by the
Safavids, their troublesome kinsmen and in many respects successors.
__________________________
Peter B.Golden "THE QARA QOYUNLU AND AQ QOYUNLU"
