The Bayandurids[1] or the Tur-'Alids[2] ruled over the Aq Qoyunlu confederation, that was founded by Tur Ali bin Pehlwan (1340-1360 C.E.), and was followed by his son Qutlugh bin Tur Ali (1360-1378/79 C.E.) and his grandson Uthman Beg respectively, the founder of Aq Qoyunlu state. The dynasty originated around Diyarbakır and ruled the territory now part of present-day Turkey, Iraq and Iran. Their capital was the city of Tabriz after 1471-1472. They gained international significance under Uzun Hasan who became their greatest leader. He conquered the Qara Qoyunlu and defeated the Timurid Empire, thus adding significant portions of Iran to his kingdom. He eventually lost to the Ottoman Empire, weakening his kingdom. The kingdom was eventually absorbed into Safavid Iran.
In letters from the Ottoman Sultans, when addressing the kings of Aq Qoyunlu, such titles as Arabic: ملك الملوك الأيرانية "Iranian King of Kings", Arabic: سلطان السلاطين الإيرانية "Iranian Sultan of Sultans", Persian: شاهنشاه ایران خدیو عجمShåhanshåh Irån Khadiv Ajam "Shahanshah of Iran and Ruler of Persia", Jamshid shawkat va Fereydun råyat va Dårå deråyat "Powerful like Jamshid, flag of Fereydun and wise like Darius" have been used.[4] Uzun Hassan also held the title Padishah-i Iran "Padishah of Iran",[5] which was re-adopted again in the Safavid times through his grandson Ismail I, the founder of the Safavid dynasty.
^William Marsden; Stephen Album (1977). Marsden's Numismata Orientalia Illustrata: A Guide to Islamic and Oriental Coins with Values. p. 145. The dynasty is also known as the Bayandurids because the ruling family derived from the Bayandur clan of the "White Sheep" Turkomans.
^Woods, John E. (1999). The Aqquyunlu: Clan, Confederation, Empire. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. p. 34. ISBN0-87480-565-1.
^Daniel T. Potts (2014). Nomadism in Iran: From Antiquity to the Modern Era. p. 7. Indeed, the Bayundur clan to which the Aq-qoyunlu rulers belonged, bore the same name and tamgha (symbol) as that of an Oghuz clan.
^Muʾayyid S̲ābitī, ʻAlī (1967). Asnad va Namahha-yi Tarikhi (Historical documents and letters from early Islamic period towards the end of Shah Ismaʻil Safavi's reign.). Iranian culture & literature. Kitābkhānah-ʾi Ṭahūrī., pp. 193, 274, 315, 330, 332, 422 and 430. See also: Abdul Hussein Navai, Asnaad o Mokatebaat Tarikhi Iran (Historical sources and letters of Iran), Tehran, Bongaah Tarjomeh and Nashr-e-Ketab, 2536, pages 578,657, 701-702 and 707
^H.R. Roemer, "The Safavid Period", in Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. VI, Cambridge University Press 1986, p. 339: "Further evidence of a desire to follow in the line of Turkmen rulers is Ismail's assumption of the title 'Padishah-i-Iran', previously held by Uzun Hasan."
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