âÂÂAl-i Qara Qoyunluâ and âÂÂQara YusifiyyÃÂnâ The ruling family of the Qara Qoyunlu descended from the Yñwa tribe of the Oghuz Turks, specifically, the Baharlu tribe. They ruled over present-day Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and eastern Turkey.
The Qara Qoyunlu dynasty usually introduced itself in official and written sources as "Baharlu tribe", "Qara Qoyunlu people" or "Turcoman". They were from the Baharlu tribe, which belonged to the Yiva tribe of the Oghuz, and they emphasized this affiliation.
The Qara Qoyunlu rulers often referred to themselves with titles such as "sahibqñran", "sultan", "emir" or "hökmdar-ñ Türkmen" (King of Turcoman) and especially tried to emphasize their Turcoman identity. For example, the ruler Qara Yusif and his son Sultan Jahan shah openly expressed their attachment to Turkism in their poems and documents.
Additionally, in 15th-century sources they were also referred to as "Turcoman beys", "rulers of the Turcoman people". These expressions reflect both their ethnic affiliation and the state structure based on tribal confederation.