“This Hurmuz, which they also call Jarún, is a port on the open sea ‘which has no equal on the face of the earth.’

'Abdu'r-Razzáq's description of Hurmuz Thither betake themselves merchants from the seven climes; from Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, Ádharbáyján, Arabian and Persian 'Iráq, the provinces of Fárs, Khurásán, Transoxiana, Turkistán, the Qipcháq Plain, the territories of the Calmucks and all the realm of China and [its capital] Pekin (Khán-báligh). Thither coast-dwellers from the confines of China, Java, Bengal, Ceylon and the cities of Zírbád, Tanáṣurí, Shahr-i-Naw, the Islands of Díwa-Maḥall, as far as Malabar, Abyssinia, and Zanzibar, the ports of Bíjanagar, Gulbarga, Gujarát, and Kanbá'it (Cambay), the coasts of the Arabian peninsula as far as Aden, Jeddah and Yanbú' bring rare and precious things to which the sun and moon and fertilizing virtue of the clouds have given lustre and beauty, and which can be brought by sea to that country. To that land come travellers from all parts of the world, and whatever they bring they find in that city, without over-much search, the equivalent value thereof in whatever form they desire, whether by sale or exchange. The officials levy a ten per cent. ad valorem duty on everything except gold and silver. In that city are many adherents of all manner of diverse religions, including heathens; yet do they not deal otherwise than fairly with any creature, for which reason men call the city Dáru'l-Amán (‘the Abode of Security’). The people of that country combine the winning manner of the people of 'Iráq with the profound cunning of the Indians.”

Allusion has already been made to the correspondence between Sháh-rukh and his successors and the Ottoman Relations between the Tímúrids and the Ottoman Sultans Sultans Muhammad I (1402-1421), Murád II (1421-1451), Muḥammad II (1451-1481) and Báyazíd II (1481-1512); but that this correspondence was not confined to princes and politics is shown by letters preserved by Firídún Bey * exchanged between Báyazíd II on the one hand and the poet Jámí, the philosopher Jalálu'd-Dín Dawání and the theologian Aḥmed Taftázání on the other. To the first of these the Ottoman Sultan sent a gift of a thousand and to the second five hundred florins, accompanied by all manner of gracious and courtly compliments. * It was at Constantinople, moreover, that Sulṭán Ḥusayn's son, Badí'u'z-Zamán, fleeing from the murderous Uzbeks, found a final refuge and a last resting-place.

Having described the waning of the House of Tímúr, we must, before tracing the growth of the Ṣafawí power,

The Turkmáns of the “Black” and “White Sheep” consider briefly the intermediate Turkmán dynasties of the “Black” and “White Sheep,” who were so much akin in race and character that Josafa Barbaro is probably justified in comparing them to the rival Italian factions of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, or the “Bianchi” and “Neri”. The “Black Sheep” (Qará-qoyúnlú, or “Caracoilu” as Barbaro calls them) came first. In the time of Tímúr they were established in the Persian province of Ádharbáyján, and a Bayrám Khwája certain chief amongst them, Bayrám Khwája of the Bahárlú tribe, attached himself to the service of Sulṭán Uways the Jalá'irí, after whose death he possessed himself of Mawṣil (Mosul), Sinjár and Arjísh. In 782/1380-1 he died and was succeeded by his son Qára Qára Muḥammad Muḥammad, who similarly attached himself to the service of Sulṭán Aḥmad, the son of the above-mentioned Sulṭán Uways, and ultimately fell in battle in Syria in 792/1390. He was succeeded by Qára Yúsuf his son Qára Yúsuf, who was the first of the family to attain the position of an independent sovereign with his capital at Tabríz. After repeated conflicts with Tímúr, he took refuge with the Ottoman Sulṭán Báyazíd “the Thunderbolt,” and succeeded in capturing Baghdád, whence, however, he was shortly expelled by Tímúr's grandson Abú Bakr, and fled to Egypt with a thousand of his followers. The Sulṭán of Egypt, fearing Tímúr's wrath, imprisoned him; but on Tímúr's death he was released, and, having been rejoined by his scattered followers, took Diyár Bakr, and soon afterwards, in 809/1406-7, defeated Abú Bakr at Nakhjuwán, reoccupied Tabríz, and took possession of the province of Ádharbáyján. Four years later he defeated and put to death near Tabríz his old master and fellow-captive in Egypt, Sulṭán Aḥmad Jalá'irí. In 822/1419 he captured the three important Persian cities of Sáwa, Qazwín and Sulṭániyya, and died in the following year at the age of 65, after a reign of 14 years, leaving five sons, of whom two, Iskandar and Jahánsháh, succeeded him on the throne.

Mention has been already made in a previous chapter of the important collection of State Papers connected with Contemporary State Papers the diplomacy of the Ottoman Empire which are contained in the Munshá'ât of Firídún Bey. * A good many of these refer to the period we are now considering. Thus we have a letter to Sulṭán Báyazíd “the Thunderbolt” from Sulṭán Aḥmad Jalá'irí, written in 798/1396, describing his flight before Tímúr's advancing hordes, and the answer to it; numerous letters which passed between Sulṭán Muḥammad I (805-824/1402-1421) and Sháh-rukh, Qára Yúsuf, Iskandar and Sulṭán Khalíl of Shírwán; letters between Sulṭán Murád II (824-855/1421-1451) and Sháh-rukh; letters between Sulṭán Muḥammad II “Fátiḥ” (855-886/1451-1481) and Jahán-sháh, Ulugh Beg, Báysunqur, Bahman Sháh of India, Úzún Ḥasan, and Ḥusayn b. Manṣúr b. Bayqará; and later a voluminous correspondence with the Ṣafawí kings Sháh Isma'íl and Sháh Ṭahmásp. These letters are interesting not only for the light they throw on the historical events to which they refer, but as indicating the relations which prevailed between these rulers respectively. Thus, for example, in a letter from Sháh-rukh to the Ottoman Sulṭán Muḥammad I in 818/1416 the arrogance of tone is very noticeable, both in respect to the comparative poverty of titles accorded and the reproaches addressed to the Sulṭán for having put to death his rebellious brothers Sulaymán, Músá and 'Ísá, which, though “conformable to Ottoman practice,” is branded as “improper according to the Íl-khání custom”; and in the peremptory demand that Qára Yúsuf shall not be allowed to take refuge in Ottoman territory, should he seek to do so. Sulṭán Muḥammad's reply, on the other hand, in not only conciliatory in tone, but even humble. He accords to Sháh-rukh a whole string of high-sounding titles; apologizes for killing his brothers by quoting Sa'dí's well-known dictum that “ten dervishes can sleep in one blanket, but two kings cannot be contained in a continent”; * and expresses his fear that if he exasperates Qára Yúsuf by refusing him entry into his dominions, he may endeavour to stir up trouble amongst the neighbouring rulers of the Qaramání, Ḥamídí, Isfandiyárí, Ṭúrghúdí and Dhu'l-Qadarí dynasties, and even with the Sulṭán of Egypt. In the case of the Ottoman Sulṭán and the “Black Sheep” Turkmán rulers, Qára Yúsuf and Qára Iskandar, on the other hand, the contrary holds good, the Sulṭán writing as to inferiors and the Turkmán princes as to a superior. The numerous letters and dispatches contained in this interesting volume would well repay a fuller examination than can here be accorded to them, but reference will be made to them from time to time, as occasion arises.*

Amír Iskandar Qára-qoyúnlú inaugurated his reign by an attack on Sháh-rukh, in which he was defeated, but soon Iskandar afterwards he re-occupied Ádharbáyján. In 828/1425 Shamsu'd-Dín, the ruler of Akhláṭ, and in 830/1427 Sultán Aḥmad the ruler of Kurdistán and 'Izzu'd-Dín Shír fell victims to his warlike prowess, and the towns of Shírwán and Sulṭániyya passed into his hands. In 832/1429 he and his brother Jahánsháh, in spite of the valour which they showed, were again defeated by Sháh-rukh. Six years later, in 838/1434-5, Sháh-rukh again advanced against Iskandar as far as Ray, where he was joined by Iskandar's brother Jahánsháh and his nephew Sháh 'Alí. Iskandar fled, and Sháh-rukh bestowed his territories on his brother Jahánsháh as a reward for his submission. Iskandar took refuge in a fortress, but while preparing to resist a siege he was murdered by his son Qubád, at the instigation of his concubine Laylá.