Ahmad Jalayir

Conflicts with Timur

In the spring of 1384, Timur and the Chagatai army (whom he was allied with) attacked the Jalayirids. Although Sultan Ahmad was not captured, his subordinates in Soltaniyeh failed to defend the town and Timur took it with little resistance. Timur gave the town to Adil Aqa, who had defected to him, before retiring from the campaign. Ahmad then sent an army to retake Soltaniyeh, but Adil Aqa successfully defended it.

In the midst of Timur's absence, Ahmad had to deal with an invasion by Tokhtamysh, Khan of the Golden Horde. Tokhtamysh's troops swept down into Azerbaijan, devastating the land, and Tabriz was sacked in 1385. Ahmad himself had escaped to Baghdad through the aid of his ally, Izz al-din Shir of Hakkari.

Loss of Tabriz (1386–1405) Contemporary depiction of Sultan Ahmad Jalayir on horse, with his soldiers in the Khamsah by Khvaju Kirmani (BL Add MS 18113) created in Baghdad in 1396. The Golden Horde raid of Tabriz had significantly weakened Ahmad's position and so he could not combat Timur when he returned from his Indian campaigns with his Chagatai army in 1386. Tabriz was taken by Timur that year.

In the summer, its citizens had to pay a heavy tribute. Adil Aqa collected the tribute but was executed by Timur, who suspected him of corruption. Azerbaijan from this point on remained in the control of the Timurids, as Ahmad could not recover the province.

After 1386, Ahmad Jalayir was essentially based in Baghdad. The Kara Koyunlu ruler Kara Yusuf retreated to Mosul to avoid a sudden raid, was able to take shelter in the Ottoman Empire in 1400 with Ahmad Jalayir. The region from Azerbaijian to Darband was entrusted to Timur's son Miran Shah in 1392, with Tabriz as the capital. In 1395, Miran Shah became insane, committing unwarranted excecutions and destructions.

Ruler of Baghdad In 1393, Timur renewed the war with Ahmad. Near the end of August, he arrived in Baghdad, where Ahmad was residing. Deciding that defending the city was impossible, Ahmad fled and traveled to Mamluk-held Syria, and was granted asylum by Sultan Berkuk. Ahmad traveled to Dmascus and then Cairo. Meanwhile, Baghdad was forced to pay ransom and many captives (including Ahmad's son Ala al-Daula) were taken with Timur when he left the city, most of the citizens were left unharmed. A member of the Sarbadar, Khwaja Mas'ud Sabzavari, was given control of the city.

In 1394, Ahmad returned to Baghdad and Khwaja Mas'ud withdrew his forces instead of fighting. When Timur returned from campaigns in the east in 1400, Ahmad feared that he would be attacked and left Baghdad. He returned for a short while but then left again, taking refuge with the Ottomans. Bayezid I welcomed him together with Qara Yusuf, defiantly opposing Timur in the process, and assigned each of them a fief (Kütahya for Ahmad Jalayir and Aksaray for Qara Yusuf).

The capital city of Tabriz, controlled by the Jalayirids since 1358, developed a strong and highly sophisticated miniature tradition during the time of the Jalayirid Sultanate. Historically, the Tabriz school of miniatures was founded in the 14th century (before the Shiraz and Herat schools), and was based on the Mongol Ilkhanid and Uighur pictorial traditions. Tabriz was the center of origin of the kitabkhana system of ateliers, which then spread through the Orient at a scale comparable to the European Renaissance.

Already in the 14th century, Tabriz was a cultural hub functioning as the center of many Turkic states in the region, and already incorporated elements of Turkic art and culture. The expressive quality of these creations in a sense surpasses anything that came before of after. The creations of Tabriz during the reign of Ahmad Jalayir can be seen in exquisite works such as Kalila and Dimna (MS Topkaki H.362) created in Tabriz in 1375-1385, more copies of Kalila and Dimna (BNF, MS persan 376) and Kalila and Dimna (BNF, MS persan 376) illustrated in Jalayirid Baghdad in 1385-95, a splendid Khamsah by Khvaju Kirmani (BL Add MS 18113) created in Baghdad in 1396.

Head of a Horse attributed to Sultan Ahmad Jalayir himself, with inscription: "My world-seizing horse has conquered the universe. Work of Sultan Ahmad, the ready, the enflamed". Tabriz or Baghdad, late 14th century. Ya'qub Beg Album, TSMK, H. 2153.

At the time of his conquest of Tabriz in 1386 (which he would hold until 1405), the Turco-Mongol invader Timur relocated many of the Tabriz artists to Samarkand, influencing the styles in the Timurid realm, in Samarkand, Herat, and Shiraz. The Jalayirids finally recovered Tabriz in 1405, and a remarkable illustrated manuscript was still created there in the last years of Sultan Ahmad Jalayir's reign in 1405-1410, the Khosrow and Shirin (Freer Galery of Art).

Ahmad Jalayir is known for actively participating to artistic creation. A drawing of a horse's head was drawn and dedicated by him. Ahmad learned the black-pen technique from his main painter Khvaja ʿAbd al-Hayy.

Final years in Tabriz (1405–1410) When Timur died in 1405, Nasir-ad-Din Faraj, the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, released Ahmad. Ahmad returned to Baghdad, and taking advantage of a local insurrection, managed to take back the city, eliminating the administration of Mirza Ömer, son of Miran Shah, who had been in charge of ruling the city for the Timurids.

A queen of Sultan Ahmad Jalayir, Baghdad, 1396. Khamsah by Khvaju Kirmani. Meanwhile, Qara Yusuf took up residence in Tabriz. In spite of their agreement, however, this situation did not last. Ahmed wanted to regain Azerbaijan and, as a result he attacked the Qara Qoyunlu. He managed to occupy Tabriz for a few years, but was defeated in August 1410 where he was captured by Qara Yusuf and executed. Ahmad's son Ala-ud-Daula, who had been released by the Timurids, was also killed. Ahmad's nephew Shah Walad Jalayir briefly succeeded him in Baghdad but the Qara Qoyunlu took the city a year later. The illustrated manuscript Basatin al-uns (TSMK Ms. R. 1032) seems to have been created at the juncture of these events, and may be one of the last manuscripts created by the Jalayirids in Baghdad, since the dedication to Ahmad Jalayir seems to have been damaged by the invaders and the illustrations remained unfinished.

The Jalayirids were eventually pushed south into lower Iraq, ruling over the towns of Hillah, Wasit and Basra until defeated by the Qara Qoyunlu in 1432, bringing an end to the dynasty.

Issue

Ahmad Jalayir had at least 2 children: Ala-ud-Daula A daughter engaged to Mustafa Çelebi