Kara Koyunlu
| Kara Koyunlular | ||||||||||
| Black Sheep Turkomans قره قویونلو |
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 Kara Koyunlu of the Turkomans, lighter blue shows their greatest extent in Iraq and Arabian East Coast for a small period of time
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| Capital | Tabriz | |||||||||
| Languages |
Azerbaijani (poetry) Persian (poetry) |
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| Religion | Islam | |||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | |||||||||
| Ruler | ||||||||||
| • | 1375–1378 | Bayram Xoca | ||||||||
| • | 1467–1468 | Hasan 'Ali | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | |||||||||
| • | Established | 1375 | ||||||||
| • | Disestablished | 1468 | ||||||||
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| Today part of |
 Armenia Azerbaijan Georgia Iran Iraq Russia Turkey
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The Kara Koyunlu or Qara Qoyunlu, also called the Black Sheep Turkomans (Persian: قره قویونلو), were a Shi'aOghuz Turkic tribal federation that ruled over the territory comprising present-day Azerbaijan, Armenia (1406), northwestern Iran, eastern Turkey, and northeastern Iraq from about 1375 to 1468.
The Kara Koyunlu Turkomans at one point established their capital in Herat in eastern Iran, and were vassals of the Jalairid Sultanate in Baghdad and Tabriz from about 1375, when the leader of their leading tribe, ruled over Mosul. However, they rebelled against the Jalayirids, and secured their independence from the dynasty with the conquest of Tabriz by Qara Yusuf. In 1400, the armies of Timur defeated the Kara Koyunlu, and Qara Yusuf fled to Egypt seeking refuge with the Mamluk Sultanate. He gathered an army and by 1406 had taken back Tabriz.
In 1410, the Kara Koyunlu captured Baghdad. The installation of a subsidiary Black Sheep line there hastened the downfall of the Jalayirids they had once served. Despite internal fighting amongst Kara Yusuf's descendants after his death in 1420, and the increasing threat of the Timurid dynasty, the Qar Qoyunlu maintained a strong grip over the areas they controlled.
Jahan Shah made peace with the Timurid Shahrukh Mirza; however, this soon fell apart. When Shahrukh Mirza died in 1447, the Black Sheep Turkomans annexed portions of Iraq and the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula as well as Timurid-controlled western Iran. Though much territory was gained during his rule, Jahān Shāh's reign was troubled by his rebellious sons and the almost autonomous rulers of Baghdad, whom he expelled in 1464. In 1466, Jahan Shah attempted to take Diyarbakır from the Ağ Qoyunlu ("White Sheep Turkomans"), however, this was a catastrophic failure resulting in Jahān Shāh's death and the collapse of the Black Sheep Turkomans' control in the Middle East. By 1468, at their height under Uzun Hassan (1452–1478), Aq Qoyunlu defeated the Qara Qoyunlu and conquered Iraq, Azerbaijan, and western Iran.
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Wikipedia