Ispend, Aspand or Isfahan was the son of

Qara Yusuf ''Abu Nasr'' Qara Yusuf ibn Mohammad Barani ( az, Qara Yusif ; c. 1356 – 1420) was the ruler of the Qara Qoyunlu dynasty (or "Black Sheep Turkomans") from c.1388 to 1420, although his reign was interrupted by Tamerlane's invasion (1400–1405 ...

and ruled over

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

and its environs for twelve years.

During reign of Qara Yusuf

His first mention was in 1410, when he commanded left flank of Kara Koyunlu army against Ahmad Jalayir. He was ruling Adilcevaz when his father died.

During reign of Qara Iskander

He retreated to Chukhur Saad province (later

Erivan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

) where the Saadlu tribe, one of the main sub-tribes of the

Kara Koyunlu The Qara Qoyunlu or Kara Koyunlu ( az, Qaraqoyunlular , fa, قره قویونلو), also known as the Black Sheep Turkomans, were a culturally Persianate, Muslim Turkoman "Kara Koyunlu, also spelled Qara Qoyunlu, Turkish Karakoyunlular, En ...

swore fealty to him and presented him state treasure. He later submitted to

Qara Iskander Qara Iskandar ( az, قارا اسکندر, italic=no; ) ruled the Qara Qoyunlu or Black Sheep Turcoman tribe from 1420 to 1436. His struggles with the Timurid ruler Shah Rukh show that he was a brave leader, but he was not able to continue deve ...

in 1421. Soon Shahrukh crossed the

Aras River , az, Araz, fa, ارس, tr, Aras The Aras (also known as the Araks, Arax, Araxes, or Araz) is a river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan excl ...

and battling the forces of Iskander and Ispend at Yakhsi (28 July 1421 - 1 August 1421). Timurid forces were almost defeated when Amir Shahmalik cut heads of two slain soldiers and tricked both into thinking his brother was killed. Iskander's forces retreated to Kirkuk. Ispend used this opportunity to seize

Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...

. However soon retreated to Avnik upon arrival of Qara Iskander.

Reign in Baghdad

In October 1431 he was invited to

Hillah Hillah ( ar, ٱلْحِلَّة ''al-Ḥillah''), also spelled Hilla, is a city in central Iraq on the Hilla branch of the Euphrates River, south of Baghdad. The population is estimated at 364,700 in 1998. It is the capital of Babylon Province a ...

by Jalayirid amirs, a city ruled by Husain II (grandson of Ahmad Jalayir). Hussain was hunted down and killed on 9 November 1431, thus ending latest remnant of

Jalayirid Sultanate The Jalayirid Sultanate was a culturally Persianate, Mongol Jalayir dynasty which ruled over Iraq and western Persia after the breakup of the Mongol khanate of Persia in the 1330s.Bayne Fisher, William. ''The Cambridge History of Iran'', p.3: ...

. He soon captured Baghdad, forcing his half-brother Shah Muhammad to flee. Upon establishing himself in Baghdad, he ordered to struck coins in his own name. When Qara Iskander killed in 1435, he accepted many refugees including his nephews and nieces - Alvand Mirza, Malik Qasim, Asad, Rustam, Tarkhan, Malik Muhammad, Arayish begum and Shahsaray begum. He decided to invade Anatolia in 1437, but was defeated by Aq Qoyunlu chief Hamza beg (

Qara Osman Uthman Beg or Osman Beg ( az, Qara Yuluq Osman Bəy; tr, Kara Yülük Osman Bey; 1356 – 1435) was a late 14th and early 15th-century leader of the Turkoman tribal federation of Aq Qoyunlu in what is now eastern Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan and Ira ...

's son).

Death and succession

He died on 8 March 1445, bequeathing his kingdom on his nephew, Alvand Mirza since his son Fulad Mirza was too young at the time. However, most of the emirs preferred Fulad.

References

Sources

* Sümer, Faruk (1984). Kara Koyunlular (in Turkish). Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu * Hasan beg Rumlu - Aḥsan at-tawārīḫ (in Azerbaijani) Kastamonu: Uzanlar, 2017 1445 deaths 15th-century monarchs in Asia Year of birth unknown Qara Qoyunlu rulers {{Iraq-bio-stub