Abstract:

Shirwan, a city located on the north of Kur and the western shores of the Caspian Sea, constituted some part of Arran at the beginning of the Middle Ages. In I395, by taking the advantage of the raid that Timur set off to make against Toktamısh, the sovereign of the Golden Horde State, Sharwanshah Ibrahim went to Timur and presented respectjully his devotion to him. In this way, the relationships of the Shirwanshahs with the Timurids started and continued for along time. Af ter the death of Timur, the Qara-Qoyunlu becoming stronger made many raids on Shirwan with the aim of making the Shirwanshahs devoted to themselves. Yet, because of that raids, the Shirwanshahs demanded aid from the ruler of the Timurids, Shah Rukh. That demand was accepted by him, so that the Qara-Qoyunlu thread was eliminated. Nevertheless, the devotion of the Shirwanshahs to the Timurids cam e to an end when Uzun Hasan Beg struggled against Abu-Said, the Timurid ruler. At that baule occuring among the Timurids and the Aq-Qoyunlu, the Shirwanshahs were left no choice but to side with the Aq-Qoyunlu. Therefore, they depended on the Aq-Qoyunlu after Abu-Said was defeated by the Turkomans. Those relationships among the Shirwanshahs and the Aq-Qoyunlu were made stronger by means of the matrimonies among those dynasties during the reign of Sultan Yaqub.

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