AQ QOYUNLŪ – Encyclopaedia Iranica. Zitiert nach John E. Woods (1999): The Aqquyunlu, S. 66–70. Abgerufen am 22. September 2020 (englisch): „Qara ʿOṯmān was the real founder of the Āq Qoyunlū state. Under his rule, the confederation not only acquired more territory but also gained support through additional tribes drawn to him by his successes. There are indications that the mainly Christian sedentary inhabitants were not totally excluded from the economic, political, and social activities of the Āq Qoyunlū state and that Qara ʿOṯmān had at his command at least a rudimentary bureaucratic apparatus of the Iranian-Islamic type. Even so, the Turkman military elite clearly remained dominant.“
