Aq Koyunlu
| Aq Qoyunlu | ||||||||||
| آق قویونلو | ||||||||||
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 The Aq Qoyunlu confederation at its greatest extent
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| Capital |
Diyarbakır: 1453 – 1471 Tabriz:1468 – January 6, 1478 |
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| Languages | Oghuz Turkic, Arabic, Persian, Kurdish | |||||||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | |||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | |||||||||
| Ruler | ||||||||||
| • | 1378–1435 | Kara Yuluk Osman | ||||||||
| • | 1501–1501 | Murad ibn Ya'qub | ||||||||
| Historical era | Medieval | |||||||||
| • | Established | 1378 | ||||||||
| • | Disestablished | 1501 | ||||||||
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| Today part of |
 Azerbaijan Iran Turkey Iraq Syria Armenia Pakistan Georgia Russia
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The Aq Qoyunlu or Ak Koyunlu, also called the White Sheep Turkomans (Persian: آق قویونلو Āq Quyūnlū; Turkish: Ak Koyunlu), was a PersianateSunniOghuz Turkic tribal federation that ruled present-day Azerbaijan, Armenia, Eastern Turkey, part of Iran, and northern Iraq from 1378 to 1501.
According to chronicles from the Byzantine Empire, the Aq Qoyunlu are first attested in the district of Bayburt south of the Pontic mountains from at least the 1340s, and most of their leaders, including the dynasty's founder, Qara Osman, married Byzantine princesses.
The Aq Qoyunlu Turkomans first acquired land in 1402, when Timur granted them all of Diyar Bakr in present-day Turkey. For a long time, the Aq Qoyunlu were unable to expand their territory, as the rival Kara Koyunlu or "Black Sheep Turkomans" kept them at bay. However, this changed with the rule of Uzun Hassan, who defeated the Black Sheep Turkoman leader Jahān Shāh in 1467.
After the defeat of a Timurid leader, Abu Sa'id, Uzun Hassan 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 Aq Qoyunlu into an alliance with the Karamanids of central Anatolia.
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Wikipedia