| Timurid invasions of Georgia | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theTimurid Wars,Tokhtamysh-Timur war | |||||||
 A miniature depictingTimur's army attacking the survivors of a town in Georgia, in the spring of 1396, by the Persian artistKamāl ud-Dīn Behzād. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Timurid Empire |  Kingdom of Georgia | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| TimurMiran Shah | Bagrat V (POW)George VII Ivane II Jaqeli (until 1400) | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 200,000 | 50,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Most of Georgia destroyed and civilians massacred At least 60,000 enslaved[1] | ||||||
TheTimurid invasions of Georgia (Georgian:თემურლენგის ლაშქრობები საქართველოში,romanized:temurlengis lashkrobebi sakartveloshi) were eight invasions between 1386 and 1403 of theKingdom of Georgia in theCaucasus by theTimurid Empire. Led byTimur, the Timurids ultimately conquered theChristianmonarchy and made it atributary state that kept its independence and religion.
Timur'svast empire stretched, at its greatest extent, fromCentral Asia intoAnatolia and these conflicts were intimately linked withthe wars between Timur (Tamerlane) andTokhtamysh, the lastkhan of theGolden Horde and Timur's major rival for control over the Islamic world. Although he invaded parts of Georgia, he could not make the country Muslim and recognized it as a Christian state.
In the first of eight invasions, Timur sacked Georgia's capital,Tbilisi, and captured the kingBagrat V in 1386. Georgian resistance prompted a renewed attack by the Turco-Mongol armies. Bagrat's son and successor,George VII, put up a stiff resistance and had to spend much of his reign (1395–1405) fighting the Timurid invasions. Timur personally led most of these raids to subdue the recalcitrant Georgian monarch. He did not establish firm control over Georgia. By the time George VII was forced to accept Timur'sterms of peace and agree to pay tribute, he was a master of little more than "gutted towns, ravaged countryside and a shattered monarchy".[2]
Timur's first appearance in theCaucasus was a response to KhanTokhtamysh's marauding inroad intoNorthern Iran through the Caucasian lands in 1385. This marked an outbreak of outright hostility between the two Islamic monarchs. Timur responded by launching a full-scale invasion of the small frontier countries, which lay between the western border of his emerging empire and Tokhtamysh's khanate. After having overrunAzerbaijan andKars, Timur marched into Georgia. The official history of his reign,Zafarnama, represents this campaign in Georgia as ajihad. Timur set out from Kars and assailedSamtskhe, the southernmost principality within theKingdom of Georgia later in 1386.Tbilisifell on 22 November 1386, its inhabitants were massacred and Bagrat fell into captivity.Timur's army spent the winter inKarabakh.[1]
To regain his freedom, Bagrat pretended to convert toIslam andTimur sent him back under surveillance of a 12,000-strong army which was to enforceGeorgian Kingdom's conversion to Islam. Bagrat secretly informed his son George, who raised an army and destroyed the Timurid troops, freeing Bagrat.[3][1]
The death of thousands of soldiers in battle with Georgian troops led to the start ofTimur’s new invasion ofGeorgia in the spring of 1387. The enemy's numbers significantly outnumbered the Georgian forces hastily assembled by the prince. Timur personally led the participants in the invasion. A huge number of the country's inhabitants fled to the mountains, thanks to which large casualties were avoided.[4]
In 1392-1393Timur raided and sacked the cities ofCentral Iran, thenBaghdad,Syria, etc. In the spring of 1394, he came to southern Georgia and sent four commanders with an army of 40,000 to raidSamtskhe-Saatabago. Timur invaded and ravagedSamtskhe, Kors, Kola, andAkhaltsikhe. The population of the Georgian territories he occupied showed fierce resistance to the invaders, which is why the latter had to leave the region after the capture.[4]
On September 13, 1394,Timur invaded with a large army from the Koli valley to theAragvi valley viaTrialeti andKvemo Kartli. On the way, he destroyed everything, robbed and killed the inhabitants. Big battles took place in Aragvi valley. Timur's goal seems to have been to capture theDarial Pass in order to ultimately prevent the withdrawal ofGeorgian alliedNorth Caucasian raiders and a possibleTokhtamysh invasion. Every time Timur appeared in Georgia, Tokhtamysh tried to invade EasternCaucasus. It happened this time as well. Timur was unable to capture Darial due to the great resistance of the mountaineers. He was forced to come down from the mountain and go toShaki throughTbilisi. At that time, Timur learned that Tokhtamysh would invadeShirvan throughDerbent and ravage the place. Timur quickly moved in this direction, but avoided the battle and turned back again. His army encamped on the banks of theMtkvari, near Mahmud Abad, and began preparations for a great campaign against Tokhtamish. It became clear to Timur that he could not subdue Caucasus, including Georgia, if he did not defeat Tokhtamysh.[5]
In the winter of 1399,[6]Timur breached the borders ofKingdom of Georgia with 100,000 specially chosen soldiers, under Timur, andIbrahim I of Shirvan. They then crossedKura river on a pontoon bridge, and hacked the path with machetes to avoid Georgian sentries. They caughtKakheti, andHereti by surprise before they could flee, and hide their property. A Georgian general Khimisha delayed theTimurids by tactical evasion, and those who were forewarned escaped to the caves and forests. Timur's forces looted and burnedchurches andmonasteries. They slaughtered civilians in their hiding places.[7] Tens of thousands were pressed into slavery or were massacred.[6]
In the spring of 1400,Timur moved back to destroy theKingdom of Georgia once and for all. He demanded thatGeorge VII should hand over theJalayirid Tahir but George VII refused and met Timur at the Sagim River inKvemo Kartli, but suffered a defeat.[8] After the war, of those who survived the fighting and reprisals, many thousands died of hunger and disease, and 60,000 survivors were enslaved and carried away by Timur's troops.[5]
After the departure ofTimur fromGeorgia, KingGeorge moved toEastern Georgia and began to organize domestic affairs. King George and Virshel,Duke ofKsani raided and punished theDvals, who took advantage of Timur's invasion and raided and looted theKsani valley.
In 1401, Timur came to the borders of Georgia from the east and camped inShamkor.
In late 1401, Timur invaded the Georgia once again.[9] George VII had to sue for peace, and sent his brother with the contributions. Timurmade peace with George VII on condition that the King of Georgia supplied him troops duringhis campaign against Ottoman Empire and granted theMuslims special privileges.[10] In the spring, Timur's army left for the Ottomans. On the way, he came to theTortumi fortress, in which about 200Georgian soldiers were fortified, capture it and destroyed it after a five-day battle, and cut off the soldiers.[1]
Once the Ottomans weredefeated, Timur, back inErzurum in 1402, decided to punish the king of Georgia for not having come to present his congratulations on his victory. George VII's brother,Constantine, who was then on bad terms with his brother, arrived with gifts, as did the king's defiant vassal Iwane Jaqeli, prince of Samtskhe. SheikhIbrahim I of Shirvan went to estimate the revenues and expenses of Georgia. George sent new presents but Timur refused them and summoned George to appear in person. In the meantime, he himself laid siege to the previously impregnable fortress ofBirtvisi, defended by a tiny Georgian garrison. Having captured the fortress in August 1403, Timur sent his army to plunder and clear the frontier regions of Georgia and set out in pursuit of the retreating king George VII as far asAbkhazia. Timur's historian reports that 700 towns were destroyed and their inhabitants massacred.[1][11]
Timur only stopped his army when theulema and themufti decided it was possible to grant the king of Georgia clemency (aman). George VII had to pay a huge tribute, including 1,000tankas of gold struck in the name of Timur, 1,000 horses, and a ruby weighing 18mithkals, and in exchange Timur would recognize Georgia as a Christian kingdom and the kingdom could retain its independence. Timur then passed through Tbilisi, destroying all monasteries and churches on his way, and went toBeylagan early in 1404. All the territories from Beylagan toTrebizond were officially given by Timur as an appanage to his grandsonKhalil Mirza.[1] Timur then finally left the Caucasus and headed forCentral Asia, where he died on February 19, 1405, while preparing for a massive invasion of China.[12]
Georgia becametributary to the Timurids, Georgia was allowed to retain its independence and remain as a Christian kingdom.[2][1]
Allegedly, Timur's forces devastated the country to the point where new words, like abandoned city (ნაქალაქარი) abandoned village (ნასოფლარი) abandonedvineyard (ნავენახარი) and other similar phrases were introduced to theGeorgian language.
Timur then finally left the Caucasus and headed forCentral Asia, where he died on February 19, 1405, while preparing for a massive invasion of China.[12] And the subsequent power struggles among his heirs, Timur's empire became fragmented asMiran Shah and his sons struggled over control ofPersia. In the midst of this chaos, George VII, who had returned fromImereti, engaged in battles to regain lost territories. He conqueredNakhchivan andGanja while also causing destruction in places likeAni,Erzurum, andTabriz. Despite commanding an army of merely 5,000 men, George succeeded in expanding Georgia's borders temporarily to their former extent.[13]
In 1406, the ruler ofIran gathered an army and camped in Alatagh,Caucasus. George suddenly attacked and drove the enemy towardsTabriz.[14]
