language for diplomacy, poetry, and as a court language. Diplomatic letters to the Timurids and Ottomans were written in Persian, while the correspondence with the Mamluk sultans were in Arabic. Official internal documents (farmān, suyūrghāl) were also written in Persian. As for the provincial organization, the provinces were governed by şehzade and beys, who had smaller divans in each of the provinces. The governance by military governors (beys) generally passed on from father to son. In the cities there were officials called darugha, that looked after financial and administrative affairs, and also had political powers. The şehzades and beys had their own soldiers which were called nökers, who were trained and salaried. Culture Under Timur, the cultural entity of Iran was renewed by Persian literature, art and culture being patronized throughout the Timurid Empire. Consequently, Qara Qoyunlu art was notably influenced by the Timurids. Jahan Shah wrote his poetry in Azerbaijani and Persian, while the Kitab-i Diyarbakriyya, a history of the Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu, was written by Abu Bakr Tehrani in Persian. Architecture See also List of rulers of Qara Qoyunlu Turkmen incursions into Georgia Mausoleum of Turkmen emirs Qutb Shahis Notes References Works cited {{cite book |first=Kaushik |last=Roy |title=Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750 |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2014 |quote=Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two tribal confederations: Akkoyunlu (White Sheep) (1378–1507) and Qaraoyunlu (Black Sheep). They were Persianate Turkoman Confederations of Anatolia (Asia Minor) and Azerbaijan.}} Further reading Bosworth, Clifford. The New Islamic Dynasties, 1996. Khachikyan, Levon. ԺԵ դարի հայերեն ձեռագրերի հիշատակարաններ, մաս 1 (Fifteenth Century Armenian Colophons, Part 1). Yerevan, 1955. Morby, John. The Oxford Dynasties of the World, 2002. Sanjian, Avedis K. Colophons of Armenian manuscripts, 1301-1480: A Source for Middle Eastern History, Selected, Translated, and Annotated by Avedis K. Sanjian. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1969. Shukurov, Rustam. The Byzantine Turks 1204-1461''. Brill, 2016. Empires and kingdoms of Iran Former countries in Western Asia Former countries in the Middle East Historical Turkic states Medieval history of Iran Medieval Iraq Medieval Azerbaijan Medieval Iranian Azerbaijan 15th century in Armenia Medieval Islamic world 14th century in Asia 15th century in Asia States and territories established in 1375 States and territories disestablished in 1468 1375 establishments in Asia 1468 disestablishments in Asia Former monarchies of Western Asia 1370s in the Middle East