Kara Koyunlu (redirected from Karakoyunlu State)

Kara Koyunlu

 or Qara Qoyunlu
(Turkish; “Black Sheep”)

Turkmen tribal federation that ruled Azerbaijan and Iraq (c. 1375–1468). Their second leader, Kara Yusuf (r. 1390–1400, 1406–20), secured their independence by seizing Tabriz, the capital of the Jalayrid dynasty. He was beaten back by the armies of Timur but regained Tabriz in 1406. He captured Baghdad in 1410. His successor, Jihan Shah, died in battle against a rival Turkmen federation, the Ak Koyunlu, in 1466, and the empire fell in 1468.