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 The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

Aq Qoyunlu The Aq Qoyunlu ( az, Ağqoyunlular , ) was a culturally Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two tribal confederations: Akkoyunlu (W ...

in what is now eastern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Name

He was born Baha-ud-Din Osman and was later given the nickname Qara Iluk or Qara Yuluk meaning ''The Black Leech''. However, John E. Woods argues that this interpretation is doubtful since "leech" in modern Turkish is ''sülük'', not ''yülük'', which means cleanshaven or smooth.

Early life

Uthman Beg was the son of Fakhr-ud-Din Qutlugh, likely by his Greek wife, Maria, sister of

Alexios III of Trebizond Alexios III Megas Komnenos ( el, Αλέξιος Μέγας Κομνηνός, 5 October 1338 – 20 March 1390), or Alexius III, was Emperor of Trebizond from December 1349 until his death. He is perhaps the best-documented ruler of that country, ...

. He is estimated to have been born 1356. According to

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and Aq Qoyunlu sources, he later married his maternal cousin, a daughter of Alexios III and his consort

Theodora Kantakouzene Theodora Komnene Kantakouzene (c. 1340 – after 1390) was the Empress consort of Alexios III of Trebizond. Family Theodora is considered a daughter of Nikephoros Kantakouzenos, '' sebastokratōr''. According to the history of their kinsman Joh ...

. He was afraid of the intentions of his brothers, Ahmed and Pir Ali when they joined Kadi Burhan al-Din of

Sivas Sivas (Latin and Greek: ''Sebastia'', ''Sebastea'', Σεβάστεια, Σεβαστή, ) is a city in central Turkey and the seat of Sivas Province. The city, which lies at an elevation of in the broad valley of the Kızılırmak river, is ...

. He eventually killed his opponents and took over their territories in 1398 but retreated from Erzinjan on the arrival of the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

under

Süleyman Çelebi Süleyman Çelebi (also Emir Süleyman; d. 17 February 1411) was an Ottoman prince () and a co-ruler of the Ottoman Empire for several years during the Ottoman Interregnum. There is a tradition of western origin, according to which Suleiman th ...

Reign

When

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kü ...

invaded the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historica ...

and eastern

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, the

sided with him in support and fought alongside the Timurids against the

. For his services, Uthman Beg was given

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortres ...

in 1402. After this expedition, he tried to consolidate his dominance in Southeastern and Eastern Anatolia. In 1407, further increased his reputation by defeating

Mamluks Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

emirs. However, he failed against Qara Yusuf, who conquered

by defeating Timur's grandson Abu Bakr. In 1412, he was defeated by Qara Yusuf near

Ergani Ergani ( ota, عثمانيه, translit=Osmaniye, ku, Erxenî), formerly known as Arghni or Arghana, is a district of Diyarbakır Province of Turkey. The district's area is 1489 km. Ergani District is located in the administrative as the Sou ...

. When he was defeated by Qara Yusuf again in 1417, he made a peace agreement with Qara Yusuf, which lasted one year. In 1418, he besieged and pillaged

Mardin Mardin ( ku, Mêrdîn; ar, ماردين; syr, ܡܪܕܝܢ, Merdīn; hy, Մարդին) is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for the Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location ...

causing Qara Yusuf to march on him again. He was defeated and fled to

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

. Two years later, he besieged

Erzincan Erzincan (; ku, Erzîngan), historically Yerznka ( hy, Երզնկա), is the capital of Erzincan Province in Eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The ...

and defeated Yakub, son of Qara Yusuf. In 1421, he tried to take Mardin again but was defeated by

Qara Iskandar Qara may refer to: Places *Al Qara, a governorate in Al Bahah Region, Saudi Arabia *Qara, Syria, a Syrian city *Qara Oasis, Egypt Persons * Qara Iskander, ruled the Kara Koyunlu or Black Sheep Turcoman tribe from 1420 to 1436 *Qara Mahammad Törem ...

. He further expanded his territory by talking

Urfa Urfa, officially known as Şanlıurfa () and in ancient times as Edessa, is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. Urfa is situated on a plain about 80 km east of the Euphrates River. Its climate features ex ...

and Erzincan. He divided his land by giving Bayburt to his nephew Qutlu Beg, Tercan to his other nephew and

Şebinkarahisar Şebinkarahisar is a town in and the administrative seat for Şebinkarahisar District, Giresun Province in the Black Sea region of northeastern Turkey. Name The 6th century Byzantine historian Procopius writes that the Roman general Pompey cap ...

to his son Yaqub. He also took Harput from the

Dulkadirids The Anatolian beylik of Dulkadir (Modern Turkish: ''Dulkadiroğulları Beyliği''), was one of the frontier principalities established by the Turkoman clans Bayat, Afshar and Begdili after the decline of Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm. Capitals T ...

, which he gave to his son Ali Beg. In 1429,

plundered Urfa and its surrounding, and even captured one of Uthman's sons, Hâbil Beg, who died in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

in 1430. The same year Mamluk Sultan

Barsbay Al-Ashraf Sayf ad-Dīn Bārsbay ( Circassian: Барасбий ал-Ашрэф Сэфудин) ( ar, الأشرف سيف الدين برسباي) was the ninth Burji Mamluk sultan of Egypt from AD 1422 to 1438. He was Circassian by birth and a ...

marched on Amid, however Mamluks did not achieve a significant success. In 1432, he conquered Mardin. In 1434, upon Qara Iskandar's plunder of

Shirvan Shirvan (from fa, شروان, translit=Shirvān; az, Şirvan; Tat: ''Şirvan''), also spelled as Sharvān, Shirwan, Shervan, Sherwan and Šervān, is a historical Iranian region in the eastern Caucasus, known by this name in both pre-Islam ...

, Khalilullah I asked help from Uthman Beg. He besieged and took

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. The city uses the double-headed eagle as ...

from the

Qara Qoyunlu 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 ...

and gave the city to his son Sheikh Hasan. In August 1435, he was defeated by Qara Iskandar in the vicinity of Erzurum, and died soon after.

References

Sources

* Aq Qoyunlu rulers 1356 births 1435 deaths 15th-century monarchs in the Middle East 14th-century monarchs in the Middle East {{Aq Qoyunlu leaders