JALAYIRID

Mongol tribe that supported the Il-Khan Hleg's rise to power and eventually provided the successors to the Il-Khan dynasty as rulers of Iraq and Azerbaijan. A Jalayirid dynasty made its capital at Baghdad (13361432). Hasan Buzurg, founder of the dynasty, had served as governor of Anatolia (Rum) under the Il-Khan Abu Sa'id (reigned 131735). Following the death of Abu Sa'id, Hasan Buzurg competed for real control of the empire with his rival, the Chupanid amir Hasan Kck (the Small, so designated to distinguish him from Hasan Buzurg, the Great); they set up rival khanates. Soon afterward the empire broke down into local dynasties in Anatolia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. Hasan Buzurg had, meanwhile, established his line in Baghdad, from which he conducted his agitation against the Chupanids. His son Uways I (reigned 135674) enlarged Jalayirid domains by seizing Azerbaijan (1360) and placing the Mozaffarid principality of Fars under his suzerainty (136164). The dynasty, however, was beset by the westward migrations and invasions of various Turkic and Mongol tribes. The khans of the Golden Horde, successors of Batu, unsuccessfully attempted the conquest of Azerbaijan in 135659, while the Timurids routed Ahmad (reigned 1382), forcing him to leave Baghdad and seek the protection of the Mamluks of Egypt until Timur's death in 1405. The Kara Koyunlu (q.v.) Turkmens, initially in Jalayirid service, eventually overwhelmed Azerbaijan and western Iran, executed Ahmad (1410), and captured Baghdad. A subsidiary line of Jalayirids maintained itself as vassals of the Timurids in lower Iraq until it was conquered by the Kara Koyunlu in 1432.