Hasan Ali
ruler of the Kara Koyunlu Turkmen tribal federation
1420 CE to 1468 CE
Hasan 'Ali (died 1468) ibn Jahan Shah is the last ruler of the Kara Koyunlu Turkmen tribal federation, ruling for just one year from 1467–68, before the Kara Koyunlu are overrun by their enemies the Ak Koyunlu.
Hasan Ali is unable to win the loyalty of his troops, which quickly leads to the defeat and downfall of the dynasty.
World
The Great Crossroads
View →Related Events
Showing 3 events out of 3 total
Uzun Hasan of Aq Qoyunlu, having recently gained ascendancy after defeating his rival claimants to the throne in eastern Anatolia at Diyarbakir, faces threats from the Ottoman Sultanate and the Kara Koyunlu and in wide-ranging campaigns against them has gained a reputation as a fierce fighter.
He had avoided all out war with the Ottoman Empire by allowing them to conquer his ally Empire of Trebizond, while he has consolidated his power and prepared for the defense of his territory.
It is during this time that Jahan Shah of the Kara Koyunlu wants to defeat the Aq Qoyunlu ruler and make him his vassal, so with that in mind he secures his eastern borders by a peace treaty with Abu Sa'id Mirza, the Timurid leader of Samarkand, then invades Aq Qoyunlu territory to his west.
Jahan Shah, setting out from Tabriz with a great army on May 16, 1467, had came to the basin of Lake Van.
While there, he was furious to learn that Uzun Hasan was raiding his lands with twelve thousand cavalry.
Meanwhile, Uzun Hasan, worried that Jahan Shah was planning to attack him, had carefully guarded the mountain passes.
Envoys had gone back and forth between them, but because of Jahan Shah’s heavy demands, an agreement could not be reached.
Having advanced as far as Muş, Jahan Shah had had to postpone his attack because of the onset of winter.
As his troops began to mutiny, he decided to withdraw to a winter residence.
Uzun Hassan catches his army by surprise near the sanjak of Çapakçur in present day eastern Turkey and totally defeats Jahan Shah’s forces in a sudden attack on October 30 (or November 11[2]), 1467.
Jahan Shah is killed while trying to flee, and with his death the great era of Kara Koyunlu ascendancy comes to an end.
Uzun Hasan keeps up his momentum and defeats Jahan Shah's son Hasan Ali at Marand.
Hasan Ali escapes to Khurasan and asks for aid from Abu Sa'id Mirza, who is stationed at Merv at this time.
Uzun Hasan, worried by this development, writes a letter reminding the Timurid ruler of the constant loyalty of his house to the Timurids and the disloyalty of Kara Koyunlu Abu Sa'id Mirza has his own reservations, however, about Uzun Hasan's intentions.
He also wishes to expand his territory to the extent and glory of his great-grand father, Timur Beg Gurkani.
He uses the premise of restoring Hasan Ali to his throne as a reason to invade Iran.
The expedition that follows will often be alluded to by Babur (grandson of Abu Sa'id Mirza) as the Disaster of Iraq-i-Ajam.
The Ak Koyunlu Turkmen tribal federation, at their height under Uzun Hasan, had defeated the Kara Koyunlu in 1467, killing its leader, Shah Jahan, and conquering Iraq, Azerbaijan, and western Iran by 1468.
The Ak Koyunlu leader Uzun Hasan also kills Shah Jahan’s son Hasan Ali in 1468.
Jahan Shah’s other son Abu Yusuf, who had had his eyes burnt out by Uzun Hasan, flees to the east and tries to establish his rule in Fars, but is pursued and killed by the Ak Koyunlu prince Ughurlu Muhammad, one of Uzun Hasan’s seven sons.