Qara Qoyunlu
/ˌkɑːrə kɔɪˈuːnluː/noun
A Turkoman tribal confederation and ruling dynasty that controlled parts of Iran, Iraq, eastern Anatolia, Armenia, and the Caucasus during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
Did you know?Qara Qoyunlu was the rival of the Aq Qoyunlu, or “White Sheep,” another Turkoman confederation whose name used the same animal-color symbolism.
Etymological Timeline
Old Turkic
Old Turkic
qara
“Black or dark; a widespread Turkic color term that could also carry associations of strength, severity, or the north in certain contexts.”
Old Turkic
Old Turkic
qoyun
“Sheep.”
Medieval Turkic
Turkic
qoyunlu
“Having sheep or associated with sheep, formed with the adjectival suffix -lu.”
14th Century
Turkic
Qara Qoyunlu
““Black Sheep,” the name used for a Turkmen tribal confederation and its ruling house.”
15th Century
Persian and Turkic
Qara Qoyunlu
“The established dynastic name of the Black Sheep rulers, whose principal centers included Tabriz and Baghdad.”
Modern English
English
Qara Qoyunlu
“The historical Black Sheep Turkoman confederation and dynasty, also known as Kara Koyunlu.”