Kingdom of Eastern Georgia | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1256–1329 | |||||||||
 Flag of Georgia in the 14th centuries[1] | |||||||||
 Map of fragmentedKingdom of Georgia in 1311, with theWestern Kingdom of Georgia in purple, and the Eastern Kingdom of Georgia in grey | |||||||||
| Capital | Tbilisi | ||||||||
| Common languages | Middle Georgian | ||||||||
| Religion | Eastern Orthodox Christianity (Georgian Patriarchate) | ||||||||
| Government | Feudalmonarchy, Il-Khanid administrative regionsTumans.[2] | ||||||||
• 1247–1270 | David VII | ||||||||
• 1270–1289 | Demetrius II | ||||||||
• 1289–1292 | Vakhtang II | ||||||||
• 1292–1302 | David VIII | ||||||||
• 1302–1308 | Vakhtang III | ||||||||
• 1308–1311 | David VIII | ||||||||
• 1311–1313 | George VI | ||||||||
• 1314–1346 | George V | ||||||||
| Historical era | Late Middle Ages | ||||||||
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TheKingdom of Eastern Georgia[3][4] (Georgian:აღმოსავლეთ საქართველოს სამეფო,romanized:aghmosavlet sakartvelos samepo) was the official prolongation of theKingdom of Georgia from 1256 to 1329. Its rule was limited to the geographical areas of central and eastern Georgia, while the western part of the country temporarily seceded to form theKingdom of Western Georgia under its own line of kings. The secession followed a transitional period when the rule of theKingdom of Georgia was jointly assumed by the cousinsDavid VI andDavid VII from 1246 to 1256. The entity split into two parts when David VI, revolting from theMongol hegemony, seceded in the western half of the kingdom and formed the Kingdom of Western Georgia in 1256. David VII was relegated to the rule of Eastern Georgia. During his reign, Eastern Georgia went into further decline under the Mongol overlordship.
Since the 1220s, theKingdom of Georgia had to contend with the numerousMongol invasions ofGenghis Khan and his successors, theIlkhanids.[5] Following a disastrous campaign, theKingdom of Georgia recognized defeat against the Mongols and had to accept submission through the1239 treaty.
Between 1236 and 1256, before the creation of theIl-Khanate, Caucasia was placed under the military governorship ofChormaqan, and divided into 5vilayets (provinces): Georgia (Gurjistan),Greater Armenia, Shirvan, Arran, and Mughan, with Armenian principalities becoming fragmented and essentially independent. Georgia was partitioned into 8 Mongoltümen, with eachtümen ordered to supply 10,000 soldiers.[6] After 1256, Armenia was directly incorporated into theIl-Khanate founded byHulegu.[7][8]
In 1246, theMongol Empire confirmed the cousinsDavid VII andDavid VI as joint kings ofKing of Georgia by theMongol Empire, effectively laying ground for a division of the Georgian kingdom.
The "two Davids", as incumbents for the throne ofGeorgia,David VI andDavid VII, attended the enthronement ceremony of the Mongol KhanGüyük on 24 August 1246, near the Mongol capital atKarakorum, together with a large number of foreign ambassadors: theFranciscan friar and envoy ofPope Innocent IV,John of Plano Carpini andBenedict of Poland; Grand DukeYaroslav II of Vladimir; the brother of the king ofArmenia and historian,Sempad the Constable; the futureSeljuk Sultan of Rum,Kilij Arslan IV; and ambassadors of theAbbasidCaliphAl-Musta'sim andAla ud din Masud of theDelhi Sultanate.[9] all bearinghomage, tribute, and presents. This event was related by the 13th century historianJuvayni:
FromKhitai there came emirs and officials; and from Transoxiana and Turkestan the emir Masʿud accompanied by grandees of that region. With the emirArghun there came the celebrities and notables of Khorasan, Iraq, Lur, Azerbaijan and Shirvan. FromRum came SultanRukn al-Din and theSultan of Takavor (Trebizond); from Georgia, the twoDavits; from Aleppo, the brother of theLord of Aleppo; from Mosul, the envoy of SultanBadr al-Din Luʾluʾ; and from the city of Peace, Baghdad, the chiefqadi Fakhr al-Din. There also came the Sultan ofErzurum, envoys from the Franks, and fromKerman andFars also; and fromʿAla al-Din of Alamut, his governors inQuhistan, Shihab al-Din andShams al-Din. And all this great assembly came with such baggage as befitted a court; and there came also from other directions so many envoys and messengers that two thousand felt tents had been made ready for them: there came also merchants with the rare and precious things that are produced in the East and the West.
The Mongols appointedDavid VII asulu ("senior") ruler, whileDavid VI was appointednarin (junior) ruler.[11] The Mongols required the Georgians to provide 90,000 soldiers (calculated at 1/9th of the population), and the agriculture and economy were taxed.[11] They reigned jointly throughout the country for almost a decade under Mongol control. However, the Mongol overlords began to impose heavy taxes on the inhabitants of theCaucasus, leading to numerous popular revolts, particularly inShirvan.[12]
In 1259, David VI, who was nicknamed Narin (meaning "junior" inMongolian) by the Ilkhanid authorities, rebelled against his Mongol suzerain, although he did not drag his royal colleague into the rebellion.[12] The Ilkhanate soon put an end to this revolt after a few short, bloody battles, while David VI managed to take refuge in western Georgia on a secret journey that took him throughArmenia.[16] Arriving inKutaisi, one of the largest towns in western Georgia, he declared the secession of the domains west of theLikhi mountains, and was proclaimed King of theKingdom of Western Georgia by the local nobility.[12]
Western Georgia then became an independent kingdom, wishing to preserveGeorgian culture outside the sphere of influence of the Mongol world. The Ilkhanate was preoccupied with its military campaign inSyria against certainCrusader states andMamluk Sultanate[17] and was content to increase the tributes imposed on eastern Georgia to rectify the difference in revenue following the loss of a large portion of the taxes from some of the richest Georgian provinces.[18]
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The Kingdom of Eastern Georgia was under the direct authority of the Mongol rulerHulagu Khan (r 1256–1265), founder of theIlkhanate, and was considered as a vassal of the Īlkhānid state.[3][20] The Mongols also took direct control of theSamtskhe region in southwestern Georgia, as an autonomous principality under Il-khanate rule.[2][21]
The successive kings of Eastern Georgia from 1256 to 1329 wereDavid VII,Demetrius II,David VIII,Vakhtang III andGeorge V.
At times, Georgia became a battleground between rival Mongol authorities, and in 1265,Berke Khan, the ruler of theGolden Horde, ravaged Eastern Georgia from the north.[22]
The Mongol maintained control over the Eastern Georgian territory, by maintaining the original kingship within the original Bagratid family, while appointing their own supporters for the offices of theAtabeg (Governor General) and theAmirspasalar (Commander-in-Chief) of the army, as seen with the appointments ofSadun Artsruni (r.1272–1282) or his sonKhutlubuga (r.1270–1293).[23][24] Throughout the 13th century, the high officesAtabeg (Governor General) andAmirspasalar (Commander-in-Chief of the Georgian army) had been held by theZakarids, but following the Mongol takeover of Eastern Georgia, the Mongol victors gave these offices to the "renegade"Sadun of Mankaberd in 1272.[25] WhenAbaqa became the new Mongol ruler, Sadun received from him the title ofAtabegAmirspasalar for the GeorgianBagratid Kingdom.[26] He was said to be close to the Mongols, and had been promoted by them: "Sadun Artsruni was appointed as atabeg of Georgia by Abaqa Khan".[26][27] In his position, he especially controlled the policies of Eastern Georgia, which, while being ruled byDemetre II, remained pro-Mongol throughout.[27][23][28]
The Mongols of theIl-Khanate also had a Military Governor or "Viceroy" of Georgia in place, such asAlinaq Noyan (–1289)[29] and his successorQurumushi (1289–1318).[30]
The Eastern Georgians provided substantial military support to the Mongols: they supported theSiege of Baghdad in 1258, and theMongol campaigns in Syria from 1259 into the 1260s, leading to thousands of casualties.[2]Sadun Artsruni, futureAtabeg for Eastern Georgia, is known to have accompaniedHulegu in his military campaigns inSyria in 1259, in the conquest ofSasun, and in theSiege of Aleppo (1260).[31] But when in 1260Hulegu Khan requested the presence ofGeorgians andArmenians for theMongol invasions of the Levant, remembering the losses of his troops in the 1258Siege of Baghdad, David Ulu rebelled.[32] A large Mongol army led by GeneralArghun Aqa invaded Georgia from the south, inflicted a heavy defeat on David andSargis I Jaqeli in a battle nearAkhaldaba, and then brutally plundered the country. The Mongol campaign continued during the winter, and the following year the king was forced to flee toImereti, which the Mongols failed to conquer.[33] David's family was captured, and his wifeGvantsa was killed.[34] Peace with the Mongols was achieved in 1262, when David Ulu returned toTbilisi to reclaim his crown as a Mongol vassal, pledging allegiance toHulegu, while David Narin only nominally recognized Mongol rule in Imereti. The reason for Hulegu's tolerance towards the rebel lies in the fact that since 1261, the Il-kan was at war with theGolden Horde, which was on a larger scale.[33]
The territory of theCaucasus, and as part of it theKingdom of Georgia itself, became the scene ofwar betweenHulegu and the Khan of theGolden HordeBerke in the following years. David Ulu provided his support for the conflict between the Il-Khanate and theGolden Horde in 1263–1265.[33] In 1263, King David's troops participated in the defense of the Siba fortress against the Golden Horde. In 1265, his troops, as the vanguard of theIlkhanate army, defeated Berke and pushed his troops out ofShirvan. As Hulegu died in the same year, Berke began to prepare a major offensive. The following year, his army penetrated into Georgia, but the offensive was abruptly stopped due to the death of the khan in the vicinity ofTbilisi.
In 1270,David Ulu led Georgian and Armenian troops in support of the MongolAbaqa againstTekuder, who had found refuge in Western Georgia.[35]
Demetrius II participated to all Mongol campaigns from 1275 to 1281.[34] In 1277, 3000 Georgians founght with the Mongols against theMamluk Sultanate of Egypt in the battle of Abulistan.[36] Georgian troops were present in great number at theSecond Battle of Homs (1281).[34][36]
In 1284, Georgian and Armenian troops had to participate in the dynastic conflict between theIl-Khanate rulerTekuder andArghun, with troops under the Vicery of GeorgiaAlinaq Noyan and under Tekuder himself.
The relationship was tumultuous: in 1289, King Demetrius II was executed by the Mongols, at the instigation ofKhutlubuga.[2] His son, the futureDavid VIII, had to participate in theMongol invasion of Anatolia in 1291–1292.[33]
The Mongol EmirNawrūz, son ofArghun Aqa, started to implement anti-Christian policies, in relation with the adoption of Islam by his rulerGhazan.[37] Suddenly, Christians and Jew were segregated against, and had to wear distinctive types of dresses.[37] Churches were being destroyed throughout the Middle-East, but also in Georgia, at Siwnik‘, Somkhit and Kartli.[37] These events provoked popular rebellions and threat of military uprisings against the Mongols.[37] Because of this, Nawrūz was replaced byQutlughshāh on the orders of Ghazan.[37] Nawrūz then plotted against Ghazan, but was denounced with the help of the Armenian PrincesEachi Pŕoshian and Liparit Orbelian, and was finally executed.[37]
A unified Georgia was reestablished byGeorge V of Georgia in 1329, as he reasserted royal control over the western part of Georgia through the astute usage of Mongol forces, and ultimately managed to expel the Mongols from Georgian lands.[22][2] This coincided with a weakening of the Ilkhanate, which was engulfed in civil war in 1335–1344.[2] Georgia would again suffer invasion at the hands ofTimurlane from 1386 onward.[2]
Khutlubuga was a patron for the murals at the Church of the Holy Sign, in theHaghpat Monastery, probably during his time asAmirspasalar in the 1280s. He appears in person, with the inscription of his name. He wear a wrap-aroundcaftan with decorative inserts, and has a low triangular headgear.[38] This is a very useful marker for the clothing styles and for the dating of works of art of the period.[38] They are contemporary with the murals atKobayr by the family of theZakarids, nominal vassals of the Georgian crown.[38]
![Shahnshah and his family as donators at the Kobayr Monastery, 1270s.[39]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aShahnshah%2527s_Queen%2c_Shahnshah_and_kindred_in_military_uniform_as_donators%2c_Kobayr_Monastery_Chapel-Aisle.jpg)
Armenia, Azerbaijan and thekingdom of eastern Georgia were under the direct authority of Hulagu Khan (r 1256–1265), the founder of the Ilkhanate dynasty.
As Bryer has demonstrated, in the 1270s Michael VIII Palaiologos was in alliance with the Īlkhānid state, the Western Georgian kingdom and, from time to time, with the Papacy against Charles of Anjou and his allies (the Mamluk Sultanate, the Empire of Trebizond, and theKingdom of Eastern Georgia).
In the period that preceded the creation of the Ilkhanate, i.e., 1236–1256, Subcaucasia was put under the control of a military governor, the first of which was Chormaqan. The Mongols organized Caucasia into five vilayets (provinces): Georgia (Gurjistan), Greater Armenia, Shirvan, Arran, and Mughan. Georgia was divided into eight tümen. Greater Armenia was composed of "quasi-independent" Armenian principalities, and included the territories of Sasun and Vaspurakan, with Karin/Erzurum at the center.
In 1256 a fifth Mongol ulus was created, with the ilkhan Hulagu, the Great Khan's brother, as its governor. His task was to develop the Mongol Empire in the Near East. The historical territories of Armenia became part of the Ilkhanate of Persia.
In the winter of 1305/6 another Byzantine embassy was sent to Georgia in order to negotiate a symmachia (συμμαχία), i.e. a military alliance. These negotiations (which Byzantium most probably conducted with the Eastern Georgian kingdom, the vassal of the Īlkhānid state) ended in failure, but at this time Andronikos II decided to oer Öljeitü a matrimonial alliance (κῆδος). The emperor even ordered the despoina Maria, Abaqa's widow, to move to Nicaea with all her court, as her assistance might be useful when he was concluding the new Byzantine–Īlkhānid treaty.
At that time, Demetre II reigned in Eastern Georgia, whose policy was governed by Sadun of Mankaberd, who was close to the Mongols, until his death. Since the latter was promoted by the Ilkhan Khans, it should not be in his interest to go against them. Moreover, during this period, Eastern Georgia's opposition against the Mongols is not visible neither in the Georgian original sources nor anywhere else.
Alinaq Noyan, the commander of Georgia
It will also be recalled that al-'Umari says that Chupan counted on King Giorgi as 'a remover of any unpleasantness'. As an example of this we may cite Giorgi's active role in the suppression of the revolt of the Amir Qurmishi, who was military governor in Georgia. In 1319 this personage tried to take advantage of Chupan's many commitments in order to secede from the Il-Khanian empire. King Giorgi, however, refused to countenance this and helped to crush Qurmishi. The situation was soon brought under control.
The only non-Toluid army in Iran was at this time under the command of the Chaghadaid prince Tegüder, who had accompanied Hülegü to Iran and received an appanage in Georgia. After Hülegü's death, Tegüder joined the Chaghadaid cause. Trying to join Baraq via Derbend, Tegüder asked to return to his Georgian appanage. King David V refused and Tegüder remained stuck there. David Narin sheltered him in Imereti, but his behavior in Georgia – pillaging villages and caravans and insulting the clergy – provoked the rage of the local population, who urged Abaqa to summon him back. When Tegüder refused (or because he had found out about his plans) Abaqa attacked him, defeating him in 1270, with the help of the Georgian and Armenian troops headed by King David V.
In 1277, 3,000 Georgians participated in the battle of Abulistan, where the Mamluk army defeated the Mongols.
The frescoes of the Kobayr monastery (...) The frescoes of Kobayr refer to the second, i . e . to the Zakarian period. There has been a period when most of the structures of the monastery were covered with paintings. Now if we don't count the traces of painting on the other structures, only two monuments have preserved part of their decoration; and those are the Big Church and the Aisle adjoining it from the north. Thanks to the inscription referring to the construction of the building, we are informed of the date, which is the year 1282, and also the name of the donor, the monk George who was the son of Shahnshah, of the Zakarian family. Though we don't have documental informations concerning the paintings of the Aisle , the portraits of the donators whom we consider to be Shahnshah and his wife allow us to look upon the painting as one close to the date of the Big Church; the likeness in the artistic style confirms this suggestion. - From all the wall paintings of the Big Church only that of the altar has been preserved. As for the Aisle , here we can see not only the altar painting, but also remains of frescoes on the northern and western walls. The iconography of the altar paintings of the Big Church and the Aisle, on the whole, can be traced back to the Byzantine system of decoration. Having been already formed in the XI c., it has also some local peculiarities, the sources of which go back to the Armenian monumental art of earlier ages, beginning from the VII c. The set-up of both altar paintings are similar: the Church Fathers are in the lower rank, the Eucharist is in the middle. The difference lies in the upper circle, in the concha...
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