Qara Qoyunlu

The Qara Qoyunlu were a Turkoman confederation whose ruling Baharlu family held lands north of Lake Van and around Mosul. About 1375 they became vassals of the Jalayirids, before Qara Yusuf secured their independence.

Driven into exile by Timur in 1400, Qara Yusuf returned after his death and defeated the Timurids at Nakhchivan in 1406 and Sardrud in 1408. The dynasty ruled Azerbaijan and much of western Iran until its rival, the Aq Qoyunlu, overthrew it in 1468.