The Aqqoyunlu or ‘White Sheep’ Turkmans (AD 1378-1508) dominated Central and Western Iran and Eastern Anatolia from the 1430s. The Qaraqoyunlu or ‘Black Sheep’ Turkmans (1380-1468) were their main rivals. The Turkmans had their court in Tabriz, where one of the few remaining Turkman buildings, the Blue Mosque, survives. In 1501 Tabriz was taken by Isma’il, the leader of the Safavids and Turkman lands came under Safavid control.

The main contribution of the Turkmans to art and architecture was their bold use of colour and designs which can be seen in the tilework on the dome of the Blue Mosque. Many illustrated manuscripts such as Shahnamehs (a king’s book of kings) were produced in provincial centres under Turkman control. Those made in Shiraz in southern Iran were sold in India and Turkey as well as in Iran. At the Turkman court at Tabriz, artists favoured intense colours and fine brushwork whereas artists at local courts used a simpler painting style. Although the Turkman court was very cosmopolitan, the style of painting practiced under the Turkmans depended on the more sophisticated model of Timurid painting from eastern Iran.