Georgian campaign against the Eldiguzids

The Georgian campaign against the Eldiguzids was a military campaign led by the Amirspasalar (Commander-in-Chief of the army) of the Kingdom of Georgia, Zakare II Zakarian for Queen Tamar of Georgia, from 1209 to 1211.

Georgian campaign against the Eldiguzids
Part of Georgian–Seljuk wars

Georgian campaign against the Eldiguzids in 1209 and 1210–1211
Date1209–1211
Location
Northern Iran
Result Georgian victory
Belligerents
 Kingdom of Georgia Eldiguzids
Commanders and leaders
Zakare II Zakarian Nusrat al-Din Abu Bakr
Muzaffar al-Din Uzbek

The campaign was a response to the 1209 plundering of the Armenian capital of Ani by the ruler of Ardabil, a vassal of the Eldiguzid Atabeg Nusrat al-Din Abu Bakr. Ani had been left unprotected, as the Georgian court was spending Easter at the Palace of Geguti.[1] Ani was thoroughly plundered and a population of 12,000 was allegedly massacred on this Eastern Sunday of 1209.[2][1]

In retaliation, Zakare raided Ardabil on Ramadan.[2][3] In 1210, Zakare launched a vast campaign against Persia, passing Nakhchivan, and going on to plunder the cities of Julfa, Marand, Tabriz, Meyaneh, Zanjan, Qazvin, and as far as Gorgan.[2] Altogether, it was a journey of about 3,000 kilometers, before going back to the Georgian capital of Tbilissi.[2][3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Rayfield 2013, p. 115.
  2. ^ a b c d Baumer 2023, p. 30.
  3. ^ a b Lordkipanidze & Hewitt 1987, p. 154

Sources

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  • Baumer, Christoph (5 October 2023). History of the Caucasus: Volume 2: In the Shadow of Great Powers. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 29–30. ISBN 978-0-7556-3630-3.
  • Lordkipanidze, Mariam Davydovna; Hewitt, George B. (1987). Georgia in the XI–XII Centuries. Tbilisi: Ganatleba Publishers.
  • Rayfield, Donald (15 February 2013). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. Reaktion Books. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-78023-070-2.