The Aq Qoyunlu or Ak Koyunlu (Persian: آق قویونلو) (Azerbaijani: Ağqoyunlular) were a tribal confederation of Oghuz Turkoman tribes. They ruled Eastern Anatolia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and parts of Iraq from 1378 to 1501. The Aq Qoyunlu first settled around Diyarbakir. They became strong in eastern Anatolia in the late 14th century. The Aq Qoyunlu fought against the Qara Qoyunlu, the Timurid Empire, and later the Ottoman Empire.
The Aq Qoyunlu dynasty was founded by Qara Yuluk Osman Beg. His descendant Uzun Hasan made the Aq Qoyunlu into a great power. In 1467, Uzun Hasan defeated the Qara Qoyunlu and took Tabriz, which became the capital. Uzun Hasan tried to make alliances with Venice and other European states against the Ottomans, but he was defeated by Mehmed II at the Battle of Otlukbeli in 1473.
After Uzun Hasan, his son Sultan Yaqub ruled from 1478 to 1490. He worked on land and tax reforms, but civil wars weakened the dynasty. The Aq Qoyunlu used Persian as the main court language, but they also spoke Turkic dialects that later became part of the Azerbaijani language. They supported poets and artists, and their manuscripts, such as copies of Nizami’s Khamsa, are important works of Persian culture.
The Aq Qoyunlu were connected to the Bayandor clan, which claimed descent from Oghuz Khan. They mixed nomadic Turkoman traditions with Persian government systems. This helped shape the Safavid dynasty that came after them. In 1501, Shah Isma'il I of the Safavids defeated the Aq Qoyunlu and took their lands. The Aq Qoyunlu are remembered as one of the strong Turkoman dynasties of the Middle East before the Safavids.