Principality of Donboli

The principality under Emir Ibrahim Donboli (d. 1320) had good relations with Ghazan of the Ilkhanate and supposedly saved the Ilkhanate from destruction. Nonetheless, the successor of Ibrahim Donboli, Cemşid Dunbulî (d. 1341), died fighting the Mongolians. The successor Emir Behlül Dunbulî (d. 1359) ended the wars with the Mongolians. He subsequently died in Hakkâri.[3]

The leader of the Donboli tribe before the conquest of the region by the Aq Qoyunlu was Isa Beg. Under the administration of Aq Qoyunlu, Shaikh Ahmad Beg, a descendant of Isa Beg conquered territory around Hakkâri. When the Safavids captured the area, Haji Beg, the grandson of Shaikh Ahmad Beg was chosen as governor of Sokmanabad which now included Khoy. Haji Beg was also entrusted with the defence of the Safavid frontier in Van before he was assassinated in 1548 by the Governor of Van. This event worsened the relations between the principality and Shah Tahmasp I who sent a force to subdue the Kurds and a large number of the leaders were massacred. A nephew of Haji Beg fled to Qotur (then part of the Ottoman Empire) where he gathered the remnants of the tribe.[4][5]

By the beginning of the 17th century, the principality changed their allegiance again and joined the Safavids and one Donboli, Jamshid Soltan was appointed mayor of Marand after the Safavid Capture of Tabriz in 1603. Other Donboli appointments were Salman Soltan who was given the governorship of Salmas and Churs and Maqsud Soltan was given Barkosat.[4]

• Başçı, Veysel (2019), "Dunbulî Beyliği Tarihi ve Tarihi Kronikleri [XIII-XVIII. YY.]" (PDF), Kadim Akademi SBD (in Turkish), 3 (2): 63–114, retrieved 28 May 2020
• Oberling, Pierre; Dawud, Ali Al-e Dawud (1995), "Donboli", Iranica Online, retrieved 28 May 2020

• Matthee, Rudi (10 January 2020). "Relations between the Center and the Periphery in Safavid Iran: The Western Borderlands v. the Eastern Frontier Zone". The Historian. 77 (3): 431–463. doi:10.1111/hisn.12068.