Uzun Hasan

Timeline

1. c. 1423–1453Diyarbakir (City of Darkness) · Southeastern AnatoliaHasan was born into the core family of the Aq Qoyunlu (White Sheep) Turkmen confederation, whose sphere of power was concentrated in eastern Anatolia and the Diyarbakir region. His formative years coincided with the long rivalry between the Aq Qoyunlu and the Qara Qoyunlu (Kara Koyunlu), and he received an upbringing in nomadic politics and warfare in his father's and brothers' courts.
2. c. 1453–1460Diyarbakir (City of Darkness) · Southeastern AnatoliaAround 1453 Hasan succeeded as supreme ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu after the death of his brother Jahangir. Early in his reign he quickly consolidated his base in Diyarbakir and launched a series of diplomatic and military moves: contracting a marriage with Theodora, daughter of Trebizond Emperor John IV, to strengthen the alliance with Christian states, while actively countering the Qara Qoyunlu's Jahan Shah. By the late 1450s his fame had spread to Venice and the papal court, where he was seen as a potential strategic partner to check Ottoman expansion.
3. 1461–1478Tabriz · Azerbaijan ProvinceIn 1467 Uzun Hasan utterly defeated the Qara Qoyunlu at the Battle of Murtuk, then moved the capital to Tabriz, establishing a vast empire spanning Persia, Iraq, and eastern Anatolia. He maintained the anti-Ottoman alliance with Venice and clashed with Ottoman forces at the Battle of Otlukbeli in 1473; though defeated, the empire's territory endured beyond his lifetime. He died of illness in Tabriz in January 1478, and the empire immediately fell into a succession crisis.