Jahan Shah

Jahan Shah was the son of Qara Yusuf. He had several brothers, some of whom ruled the Qara Qoyunlu before him: Pirbudag (r.1411–1414), Ispend bin Yusuf, Iskander (r.1421–1429, 1431-1436), Abu Said (r.1430). Jahan Shah was sent to retake Soltaniyeh and Qazvin just before his father's death.{{Cite journal|last=Minorsky|first=V.|date=1955|title=The Qara-Qoyunlu and the Qutb-Shahs|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/qaraqoyunlu-and-the-qutbshahs/0AFF2AB53B588A0415C042A8D4859D7F|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies|language=en|volume=17|issue=1|pages=50–73|doi=10.1017/S0041977X00106342|s2cid=162273460 |issn=1474-0699|url-access=subscription}}

File:Iskandar ibn Qara Yusuf (contemporary portrait, painted circa 1430).jpg, brother of Jahan Shah, circa 1430]]

Around 1420 Jahan Shah married the daughter of Alexios IV of Trebizond and Theodora Kantakouzene,{{Cite journal|last=Kuršanskis|first=Michel|date=1979|title=La descendance d'Alexis IV, empereur de Trébizonde. Contribution à la prosopographie des Grands Comnènes|url=http://www.persee.fr/doc/rebyz_0766-5598_1979_num_37_1_2098|journal=Revue des études byzantines|language=fr-FR|volume=37|issue=1|pages=239–247|doi=10.3406/rebyz.1979.2098|issn=0766-5598}} part of the agreement being that Alexius would continue paying to the Qara Qoyunlu the tribute that Trebizond had formerly paid to Timur. During the reign of his brother Qara Iskander (1420–36), as a potential rival to the throne, Jahan Shah’s life was not safe and he took refuge with his other brother Ispend who was ruling Baghdad. In 1436 he obtained the help of the Timurid ruler Shah Rukh to defeat Qara Iskander and seize the throne for himself. Having been helped to power by Shah Rukh he ruled at first as a vassal of the Timurids. He was also adopted by Goharshad Begum and crowned on 19 April 1438, along taking epithet "Muzaffar al-Din".

In 1440, King Alexander I of Georgia refused to pay tribute to Jahan Shah. In March Jahan Shah responded by invading Georgia with 20,000 troops, destroyed the city of Samshvilde and sacked Tbilisi before returning to Tabriz. He was accompanied by Shaykh Ibrahim, father of future Shaykh Junayd.{{Cite book|url=http://www.attalus.org/armenian/tm5.htm|title=Tʼovma Metsobetsʼi's History of Tamerlane and his successors|last=Metsopʻetsʻi|first=Tʻovma|date=1987|publisher=Sources of the Armenian Tradition|translator-last=Bedrosian|translator-first=Robert|oclc=17261212|author-link=Thomas of Metsoph}} He also mounted a second military expedition against Georgia in 1444. His forces met those of Alexander’s successor, King Vakhtang IV at Akhaltsikhe, but the fighting was inconclusive and Jahan Shah returned to Tabriz once more.

Jahan Shah’s brother Ispend, who had ruled over Baghdad and its environs for twelve years, died in 1445 and he bequeathed the government of the state to his nephew Alvand Mirza since his son Fulad Mirza was too young at the time. However most of the emirs preferred Fulad. He decided to organise a military expedition against Baghdad with the backing of some of the emirs, who had sought refuge with him. After a siege of seven months, Baghdad was captured on 9 June 1446.{{sfn|Minorsky|1954|p=275}} He also appointed his nephews Alvand Mirza, Rustam, Tarkhan and Mahmud to jointly govern Mosul. He appointed his son Mirza Muhammad to govern Baghdad in his name.

File:Timurid and Qara Qoyunlu domains, 1458.png

Upon the death of the Timurid ruler Shah Rukh in 1447, Jahan Shah became an independent ruler of the Qara Qoyunlu, and started to use the titles of sultan and khan. At the same time, the Timurid Empire took advantage of the struggles among the Turkoman princes and captured the cities of Sultaniya and Qazvin. Peace was made when Sultan Muhammad bin Baysonqor was married to a daughter of Jahan Shah. However, he retook lands he lost from Mirza Babur.

In 1452-1453, Jahan Shah seized the opportunity of the death of Sultan Muhammad bin Baysonqor, Timurid Governor of Fars, to further expand East and South, taking Savah, Qumm, Isfahan, Shiraz and Yazd. He was seconded by his son Pīr Būdāq, who became governor of Shiraz.{{cite book |last1=Brend |first1=Dr Barbara |title=Perspectives on Persian Painting: Illustrations to Amir Khusrau's Khamsah |date=5 November 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-85418-7 |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4dj5AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 |language=en}}

In the summer of 1458, Jahan Shah advanced as far as Herat, leading to the occupation of Herat for six months, but finally had to turn back because of a revolt by his son Hasan Ali and also because Abu Said's march on Tabriz.{{Cite book |last=Baumer |first=Christoph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhiWDwAAQBAJ&dq=Capture+of+Herat+1458&pg=RA2-PA297 |title=History of Central Asia, The: 4-volume set |date=2018-04-18 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-83860-868-2 |language=en}}

Hasan Ali was kept in Maku prison for a while for his rebellious nature. He was defeated in winter 1458. But this time, his son Pirbudag rebelled, who was soon joined by Hasan Ali in Fars. However, he was spared at the request of his mother and replaced by Mirza Yusuf, another son of Jahan Shah. Pirbudag was sent to govern Baghdad, his other sons Qasim beg was assigned to Kerman with Hasan Ali being imprisoned again. However, Pirbudag again rebelled, now controlling Baghdad. He was defeated in 1464 and was executed by Mirza Muhammad.

File:Battle of Chapakchur (1467). Folio 402v. Rawzat al-Safa, 1599, Turkey (British Library, Or. 5736).jpg (1467). After a raid on the Qara Qoyunlu camp, a severed head, claimed to be Jahan Shah's, is being shown to Uzun Hasan. Folio 402v. Rawzat al-Safa, 1599, Turkey (British Library, Or. 5736)]]

From around 1447 Jahan Shah was involved in a struggle against the Ak Koyunlu who had always been sworn enemies of the Qara Qoyunlu. First of these battles happened when Alvand Mirza rebelled and fled to Jahangir, chief of Ak Koyunlu. Jahan Shah demanded his rebellious nephew, but Jahangir refused to hand him over. Jahan Shah invaded Erzincan and sent his commander – Rustem beg to subdue Jahangir. Hopeless Jahangir sent his mother Sara Khatun to Mamluk Egypt while Jahan Shah started to support his half-brother Sheikh Hasan.{{Cite journal|last=ÇAKMAK|first=Mehmet Ali|date=2014-11-21|title=Fights Between Akkoyunlu and Karakoyunlu|url=http://www.gefad.gazi.edu.tr/issue/6755/90827|journal=Gazi Üniversitesi Gazi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi|language=tr|volume=25|issue=3}} While Sheikh Hasan was killed by Uzun Hasan, brother of Jahangir; Jahan Shah hasted to offer peace to Ak Koyunlu, in return to accept their submission. Jahangir accepted and also wed his daughter to Mirza Muhammad.

Uzun Hasan did not acknowledge his elder brother's submission and rebelled against him, capturing Amid in 1457. Jahangir fled to Jahan Shah. Uzun Hasan was also supported by Safavids, their leader Shaykh Junayd being brother-in-law to Uzun Hasan.{{Cite book|title=Safavid Iran : rebirth of a Persian empire|last=Newman |first=Andrew J.|date=2009|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=9781441616050|edition= Paperback|location=London|pages=129|oclc=430224867}} He was replaced by Shaykh Jafar – his uncle.

Jahan Shah set out from Tabriz with a great army on 16 May 1466, and came to the basin of Lake Van. While there, he was furious to learn that Uzun Hasan was raiding his lands with 12,000 cavalry. Meanwhile, Uzun Hasan, suspecting that Jahan Shah was planning to attack him, had carefully guarded the mountain passes. Envoys went 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 to postpone his attack because of the onset of winter. As his troops began to complain, he decided to withdraw to a winter residence. Uzun Hasan caught his army by surprise and totally defeated them in a sudden attack. Mirza Yusuf and Mirza Muhammad was captured on 30 October or 11 November 1467 at the Battle of Chapakchur. Jahan Shah was killed in battle while fleeing. and with his death the great era of Qara Qoyunlu history came to an end. He was succeeded by his son Hasan Ali. Jahan Shah had been buried in southern part of Blue Mosque, Tabriz.

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| image1 = Darb-e Imam northern gate (Qara Qoyunlu period).jpg

| caption1 = Northern iwan of Darb-e Imam, Isfahan, 1453

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| caption2 = Eastern iwan of the Jameh Mosque of Yazd, 1457

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In the year 1462, Abd al-Razzaq described Jahan-shah's rule in the following terms: "Owing to the benevolent administration (husn-i 'inayat va lutf-i atifat) of Mirza Jahan-shah, Azarbaijan was a highly thriving state. That well-meaning sovereign was anxious to practice justice, to secure prosperity of the country, and to treat his subjects honourably. The capital, Tabriz, by its numerous population and the prevalence of tranquility, emulated Egypt (misr-i jami). The rumours of the good behaviour of that felicitous king spread throughout the world. The inhabitants of his God-protected kingdom, indifferent to the arrows of events, enjoyed peace".{{sfn|Minorsky|1954|p=277}}

Jahan Shah, along with being a poet, promoted culture, learning and architecture.{{sfn|Sumer|1997|p=588}} Using the pseudonym "Haqiqi",{{sfn|Sumer|1997|p=588}} Jahan Shah wrote poetry in Azerbaijani Turkic{{sfn|Minorsky|1954|p=283}} and Persian.{{sfn|Sumer|1997|p=588}} In 1447 he married his daughter to a descendant of the famous mystic Shah Nimatullah Vali whom the Shia revered as a saint and a worker of miracles.

Jahan Shah is known for several architectural contributions through western Iran. The Northern Iwan of Darb-e Imam is attributed to him. He commissioned and dedicated the monument in 1453, two years after conquering the city.{{cite book |last1=Durand-Guedy |first1=David |title=Isfahan during the Turko Mongol period (11th-15th centuries) |work=Cities of Medieval Iran, special issue of Eurasian Studies 16 (1-2), 253-312, reprint as a separate volume by Brill: Leiden, 2020. |date=1 January 2018 |publisher=Brill |page=2999 |url=https://www.academia.edu/47904668| quote=The entrance of Darb-i Imām, commissioned by Jahān-Šāh Qara-qoyunlu in 857/1453}} The gate is considered as "a masterpiece of tile decoration",{{cite book |last1=Durand-Guedy |first1=David |title=Isfahan during the Turko Mongol period (11th-15th centuries) |work=Cities of Medieval Iran, special issue of Eurasian Studies 16 (1-2), 253-312, reprint as a separate volume by Brill: Leiden, 2020. |date=1 January 2018 |publisher=Brill |page=2999 |url=https://www.academia.edu/47904668| quote=The entrance of Darb-i Imām, commissioned by Jahān-Šāh Qara-qoyunlu in 857/1453{{nbsp}}... In Isfahan, the Darb-i Imām, commissioned by Jahān-Šāh Qara-qoyunlu in 857/1453 to contain the tombs of Ibrāhim Baṭḥā and Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn, is a masterpiece of tile decoration}} and "among the finest specimens of such work in Persia".{{cite web |title=DARB -E EMĀM |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/darb-e-emam/#prettyPhoto |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica}} It has a monumental inscription in Persian recording the rule of Jahanshah and the local governorship of his son Moḥammad: “When the ruler of the greatest domain, lord of the mightiest realm, and sovereign protector of the world Abu’l-Moẓaffar Mīrzāda Jahānšāh, may God perpetuate his stewardship, entrusted the government of this province to the care and direction of the prince, the support of the pillars of the religion of Moḥammad Abu’l-Fatḥ Moḥammadī...”.{{cite web |title=DARB -E EMĀM |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/darb-e-emam/#prettyPhoto |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica}}

Jahanshah is also known for renovation work on the Eastern entrance iwan of the Jameh Mosque of Yazd in 1457. The portal has a central dedication in the name of Jahanshah: "the structure of this lofty arch (taf) was restored during the reign of . . . Abu’l-Muzaffar Sultan Jahanshah, Nizam al Dawlah wa’l-Din al-Hajj Qanbar, in Dhu’l-Hijjah 861." It is thought that the contribution was specifically related to the muqarnas of the portal.{{cite book |last1=Golombek |first1=Lisa |last2=Wilber |first2=Donald Newton |title=The Timurid Architecture of Iran and Turan, Vol. 1 |date=1988 |publisher=Princeton Univ. Pr |location=Princeton, NJ |isbn=978-0691035871 |page=416 |quote=9. Dhu’l-Hijjah 861 /October 1457 (p. 126, 3/4). Mosaic faience surrounding the rectangular frame of the doorway of the portal: “. . . the structure of this lofty arch (taf) was restored during the reign of . . . Abu’l-Muzaffar Sultan Jahanshah, Nizam al Dawlah wa’l-Din al-Hajj Qanbar, in Dhu’l-Hijjah 861. Written by Muhammad al-Hakim.” The vault in question is probably the muqarnas of the portal.}}

The Blue Mosque in Tabriz was started in {{AH|870|link=yes}} through a foundation established by the wife of Jahanshah, and was completed during the reign of the Āq Qoyunlu in the 1480s.{{cite book |author=Aube, Sandra |chapter=TABRIZ x. MONUMENTS x(1). The Blue Mosque |title=Encyclopædia Iranica Online |publisher=Brill |year=2020 |url=https://doi.org/10.1163/2330-4804_EIRO_COM_10934 |page= |doi=10.1163/2330-4804_EIRO_COM_10934 }}{{cite web |author1=Burch, Heike |author2=Burch, Gerd |url=https://www.leben-pur.ch/en/iran-tabriz-and-the-blue-mosque/ |title=Iran - Tabriz and the Blue Mosque |work=Leben pur! On the way |publisher=MOLIRI |location=Münchenwiler, Switzerland |date=15 February 2024 |access-date=18 March 2025 |format=includes extensive images of the mosque }}

File:Louvre MAO 599.jpg, dated 1780 or 1795.]]

An imaginary portrait of Jahan Shah, attributed to the Persian painter Abu'l-Hasan Mostawfi Ghaffari and dated 1780 or 1795, is located in the Louvre Museum (Louvre MAO 599) and labelled by the museum "Portrait de Mirza Jahanshah Qara Qoyunlu (r. 1501-1524)".{{cite web |title=Portrait de Mirza Jahanshah Qara Qoyunlu (r. 1501-1524) |url=https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010321252}}

The artist Abu'l-Hasan Mostawfi Ghaffari (died 1797/98) was active at the court the Zand dynasty and is known for several watercolors of historical subjects.{{cite book |last1=Diba |first1=Layla |title=Royal Persian Paintings : The Qajar Epoch 1785 - 1925 |date=1 January 1998 |pages=147–148 |url=https://www.academia.edu/44815433 |quote=The chronicler Muhammad Asaf (...) records the names of (...) Mirza Hasan (...) as court painter. (...) Mirza Hasan may be indentified with the painter Abu'l Hasan Mustawfi Ghaffari Kashani (active 1780s-1790s), known from a number of extant watercolors of historical subjects.}}

The identification of Jahan Shah is based on an inscription in Arabic in the Thuluth calligraphical style, appearing in a row of blue tiles behind the subject: "The Great Sultan, the Most Honorable Khagan Abu al-Muzaffar, Amir Jahanshah Turkman, may God perpetuate his kingdom and his authority." (السلطان الاعظم الخاقان الاكرم ابو المظفر امير جهانشاه تركمان خلد الله ملكه و سلطانه, al-sulṭān al-aʿẓam al-ẖāqān al-akram abū al-muẓaffar amīr ǧahānšāh Turkmān ẖalada Allāh mulkahu wa sulṭānahu).{{cite web |title=Portrait de Mirza Jahanshah Qara Qoyunlu (r. 1501-1524) |url=https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010321252}} In several of his works, Abu'l Hasan uses epigraphic panels in Thuluth script, incorporated into arched bays (designed after the Khodakhaneh in Shiraz).{{cite book |last1=Diba |first1=Layla |title=Royal Persian Paintings : The Qajar Epoch 1785 - 1925 |date=1 January 1998 |url=https://www.academia.edu/44815433 |pages=148, page 167 note 5}}

The subject in the painting wears a costume with flower patterns, as well of the dagger and the sabers decorated with precious stones, which are designs of the 18th century."The gold brocade costume, decorated with numerous florets, appeared to be from the 18th century, not the 15th, as did the weapons, the dagger and the sabre, whose sleeves are decorated with precious stones." ("Le costume de brocart d'or, orné de nombreuses fleurettes, semblait être du XVIIIe siècle, non du XVe, de même que les armes, le poignard et le sabre, donc les manches sont ornés de pierres précieuses.") in Iran : pièces du musée de Téhéran, du musée du Louvre et de collections particulières, cat. exp. (Paris, Musée Cernuschi), Paris, Musée Cernuschi, 1948, p. 74-75, n° 152

The original signature of the portrait was imperfectly erased in modern times, and replaced by the signature "Khalil Musawir, year 841" (خليل مصوير سنه ۸۴۱) in an apparent attempt to claim that the painting was much more ancient, corresponding to the period of Jahan Shah (1437), and a production of the famous painter of Shahrukh named Khalil Musawir, in the year 841 (1437 CE).{{cite web |title=Portrait de Mirza Jahanshah Qara Qoyunlu (r. 1501-1524) |url=https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010321252}}According to Musée Cernuschi, the original signature by Abu al-Hasan Ghaffari Mustawfi al-Kashani was erased, and a new inscription was then fabricated to claim a more ancient production of the painting by the famous painter of Shahrukh named Khalil Musawir, in the year 841 (1437 CE): "Encore qu'on l'ait affublé récemment du nom d'un peintre célèbre de la cours de Shah Rukh, Kalil Mosawwar, et d'une date, 841 (1437), qui est celle de l'avènement de Shah Jahan. (...) Nous nous aperçûmes aussi que le portrait de Djahan Shah avait bien été signé par son véritable auteur, comme celui de Shah Safi, mais que la signature avait été lavée, pour qu'elle ne contredise pas l'attribution de cette oeuvre à Kalil Mosawwar." in Iran : pièces du musée de Téhéran, du musée du Louvre et de collections particulières, cat. exp. (Paris, Musée Cernuschi), Paris, Musée Cernuschi, 1948, p. 74-75, n° 152

He was married several times. Known marriages include: a daughter of Alexios IV of Trebizond{{cite book|last=Nicol|first=Donald M.|authorlink=Donald Nicol|title=The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261-1453|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y2d6OHLqwEsC|year=1993|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-43991-6|page=404}} and Jan Begüm (daughter Tajuddin Rajab bin Afridun):

File:Pir Budaq miniature.jpg, son of Jahan Shah, as Governor of Shiraz. Shiraz miniature, {{circa|1455–1460}}]]

• Pirbudag – governor of Isfahan and Fars, then Baghdad. Killed by Mirza Muhammad.
• Hasan Ali succeeded his father.
• Mirza Muhammad – son-in-law to Jahangir Beg, captured on 11 November 1467 at the Battle of Chapakchur and executed.
• Mirza Yusuf – captured on 11 November 1467 at the Battle of Chapakchur and blinded. Executed by Ughurlu Muhammad on 22 October 1469.
• Qasim Beg

• Saliha Khatun
• Habiba Khatun
• Tutuq 'Ismat, married to Sultan Muhammad, Timurid ruler{{cite book|last=Savory|first=Roger|authorlink=Roger Savory|title=Studies on the History of Ṣafawid Iran|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kV1uAAAAMAAJ|year=1987|publisher=Variorum Reprints|location=London|isbn=978-0-86078-204-9|page=42}}
• A daughter married to descendant of Nimatullah Vali

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite journal |last=Minorsky |first=V. |date=1954 |title=Jihān-Shāh Qara-Qoyunlu and His Poetry (Turkmenica, 9) |jstor=609169 |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=271–97 |doi=10.1017/s0041977x00105981|s2cid=154352923 }}
• {{cite encyclopedia |last=Sumer |first=F. |editor-first1=E. |editor-last1=van Donzel |editor-first2=B. |editor-last2=Lewis |editor-first3=C. |editor-last3=Pellat|editor-first4=C.E. |editor-last4=Bosworth |encyclopedia=The Encyclopaedia of Islam |title=Kara Koyunlu |year=1997 |publisher=Brill |volume=IV |pages=584–588 }}

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{{succession box | before=Qara Iskander | title=Sultan of Qara Qoyunlu | years=1436–67 | after=Hasan Ali}}

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{{Azerbaijani Turkic literature}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Jahan}}

Category:Azerbaijani-language poets

Category:1467 deaths

Category:People from Tabriz

Category:People from Khoy

Category:15th-century Qara Qoyunlu rulers

Category:Year of birth uncertain