| Mongol invasions of Georgia | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theMongol invasions and conquests | |||||||
 A miniature depicting an attack of the Georgian kingGeorge IV Lasha on Mongols in 1220.La Flor des estoires de la terre d'Orient byHayton of Corycus. King George is shown in blue garment on a white horse holding awhip. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Mongol Empire |  Kingdom of Georgia | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Subutai Jebe | George IVRusudan | ||||||
TheMongol invasions of Georgia (Georgian:მონღოლთა ლაშქრობები საქართველოში,romanized:mongholta lashkrobebi sakartveloshi), which at that time consisted ofGeorgia proper,Armenia, and much of theCaucasus, involved multiple invasions and large-scale raids throughout the 13th century. TheMongol Empire first appeared in the Caucasus in 1220 as generalsSubutai andJebe pursuedMuhammad II of Khwarezm during thedestruction of the Khwarezmian Empire. After a series of raids in which theydefeated the combined Georgian and Armenian armies,[1] Subutai and Jebe continued north toinvade Kievan Rus'.
A full-scale Mongol conquest of the Caucasus and easternAnatolia began in 1236, in which theKingdom of Georgia, theSultanate of Rum, and theEmpire of Trebizond were subjugated, theArmenian Kingdom of Cilicia and otherCrusader states voluntarily accepted Mongol vassalage, and theAssassins were eliminated. Mongol rule in the Caucasus lasted until the late 1330s.[2] During that period, KingGeorge V the Brilliant restored the kingdom of Georgia for a brief period before itfinally disintegrated due toTimur's invasions of Georgia.
TheMongols made their first appearance in theGeorgian possessions when this latter kingdom was still in its zenith, dominating most of theCaucasus. First contact occurred early in the fall of 1220,[1] when approximately 20,000 Mongols led bySubutai andJebe pursued the oustedShahMuhammad II of theKhwarazmian dynasty to theCaspian Sea. With the consent ofGenghis Khan, the two Mongol generals proceeded west on a reconnaissance mission. They thrust intoArmenia, then under Georgian authority, and defeated some 10,000Georgians andArmenians commanded by KingGeorge IV "Lasha" of Georgia and hisatabeg (tutor) andamirspasalar (commander-in-chief)Ivane Mkhargrdzeli at theBattle of Khunan on the Kotman River. George IV was severely wounded in the chest. The Mongol commanders, however, were unable to advance further into theCaucasus at that time due to the demands of the war against the Khwarezmian Empire, and turned back south toHamadan.
Once Khwarezmian resistance was all but mopped up, the Mongols returned in force in January 1221. Though King George IV was initially reluctant to give battle after his previous defeat,Jebe andSubutai forced him to take action by ravaging the countryside and killing his people. The ensuing battle at Bardav (Pardav; modern-dayBarda,Azerbaijan) was another decisive Mongol victory, obliterating Georgia's field army. Though Georgia lay bare, the Mongols had come as a small reconnaissance and plundering expedition, not an army of conquest.[3] Thus the Mongols marched to the north, plundering northeastern Armenia andShirvan en route. This took them through the Caucasus intoAlania and the SouthRussiansteppes where the Mongols routed theRus'-Kipchak armies at theBattle of the Kalka River (1223).
These surprise attacks left the Georgians in confusion as to the identity of their attackers: the record of one contemporary chronicler indicates that he is unaware of the nature of the attackers and does not mention them by name. In 1223, when the Mongols had seemingly deferred their plans regarding Georgia, King George IV's sister and successor QueenRusudan wrote in a letter toPopeHonorius III, that the Georgians had presumed the Mongols wereChristians because they foughtMuslims, but they had turned out to bepagans. The Mongol invasion also inadvertently altered the fate of theFifth Crusade. Georgia had planned to send its splendid army to open up a second front in the north at the same time as the European crusaders invaded from the west. Because the Mongols annihilated the Georgian army, it could not help, and the European Crusaders spent critical time waiting inactively for their allies who would never come.[6]
During the invasion ofTransoxania in 1219,Genghis Khan used aChinese catapult unit in battle, and they were used again in 1220 in Transoxania. The Chinese may have used the catapults to hurl gunpowder bombs, since they already had them by this time. In the 1239-1240 Mongol invasion of the North Caucasus, Chinese weapons were once again used.[7]
The third and final invasion of theCaucasus by the Mongols took place in 1236. This offensive, which would prove the ruin of Georgia, was preceded by the devastating conflict withJalal al-Din Mangburni, a refugee shah ofKhwarezmia, who had demanded in 1225, that the Georgian government support his war against the Mongols. In the ensuing Khwarezmian attack,Tbilisi was captured in 1226, and much of the former strength and prosperity of theKingdom of Georgia was destroyed, leaving the country largely defenseless in the face of the forthcoming Mongol conquests.
After the death ofJalal al-Din Mangburni in 1231, Mongols' hands were finally free and the prominent Mongol commanderChormaqan led, in 1236, a large army against Georgia and its vassal Armenian princedoms. Most of the Georgian and Armenian nobles, who held military posts along the frontier regions, submitted without any serious opposition or confined their resistance to their castles while others preferred to flee to safer areas. Their submission required performing military service for the Mongols.[8] QueenRusudan had to evacuateTbilisi forKutaisi and some people went into the mountainous part of Georgia, leavingeastern Georgia (non-mountain part) in the hands ofAtabegAvag Mkhargrdzeli and Egarslan Bakurtsikheli, who made peace with the Mongols and agreed to pay them tribute.[8] The only Georgian great noble to have resisted wasIvane I Jaqeli, prince ofSamtskhe. His extensive possessions were fearfully devastated, and finally Ivane had to, with the consent of Queen Rusudan, submit to the invaders in 1238. In 1239, Chormaqan conqueredAni andKars inGreater Armenia.[8] The Mongol armies chose not to cross theLikhi Range in pursuit of the Georgian queen, leaving western Georgia relatively spared of the rampages. Rusudan attempted to gain support from PopeGregory IX, but without any success. Atabeg Avag arranged her submission in 1243, and Georgia officially acknowledged theGreat Khan as its overlord. The country was forced to pay an annual tribute of 50,000 gold pieces and support the Mongols with an army.
The Mongols created theVilayet of Gurjistan, which included Georgia and the wholeSouth Caucasus, where they ruled indirectly, through the Georgian monarch, the latter to be confirmed by theGreat Khan upon his accession. With the death ofRusudan in 1245, an interregnum began during which the Mongols divided the Caucasus into eighttumens. Exploiting the complicated issue of succession, the Mongols had the Georgian nobles divided into two rival parties, each of which advocated their own candidate to the crown. These wereDavid VII "Ulu", an illegitimate son ofGeorge IV, and his cousinDavid VI "Narin", son ofRusudan. After afailed plot against the Mongol rule in Georgia (1245),Güyük Khan made, in 1247, both pretenders co-kings, in eastern and western parts of the kingdom respectively. The system of tumens was abolished, but the Mongols closely watched the Georgian administration in order to secure a steady flow of taxes and tributes from the subject peoples, who were also pressed into the Mongol armies.Georgians attended all major campaigns of theIlkhanate and aristocrats' sons served in theKheshig.[9]
Large Georgian contingents fought under the Mongol banners atAlamut (1256),Baghdad (1258),Ain Jalut (1260) and elsewhere, losing tens of thousands of soldiers while Georgia, and the Caucasus in general, was left without native defenders against the Mongol forces dispatched to suppress spontaneous revolts erupting in protest to heavy taxation and the onerous burden of military service.[10] Ironically, in theBattle of Köse Dag (1243), where the Mongols crushed theSeljuks ofRum, at least 3,000 Georgian auxiliaries fought in the Mongol ranks, while the Georgian princePharadavla Akhaltsikheli was a commander in the Seljuk army.[11] According toBenedict of Poland, some Georgians living under the Mongols were quite respected because they were considered a strong and warlike people.[12]
In 1256, Georgia was placed under the Mongol empire of theIlkhanate, centered onPersia (Iran). In 1259–1260, Georgian nobles, led byDavid Narin,rose against the Mongols, and succeeded in separatingImereti (western Georgia) from the Mongol-controlled eastern Georgia.David Ulu decided to join his cousin in rebellion, but was defeated nearGori and was once again forced to submit to Mongol rule. Beginning in 1261, theCaucasus became a theater of the series of conflicts fought between theIlKhanids and another Mongol empire ofGolden Horde centered in the lowerVolga with its capital atSarai.
Georgia's unity was shattered; the nobles were encouraged to rise against the crown that naturally facilitated the Mongol control of the country. In 1266, PrinceSargis Jakeli ofSamtskhe (withAkhaltsikhe as the capital) was granted special protection and patronage byAbaqa Khan, thus winning virtual independence from the Georgian crown. The next (eastern) Georgian kingDemetrius II, "the Devoted" (1259–1289), through maneuvering in the intrigues that divided theIlkhanids, attempted to revive his country, but suspected in an abortive coup againstArghun Khan, he had, to save Georgia from invasion, agreed to surrender and be executed. Then the kingdom fell into near anarchy. While western Georgia maintained a perilous independence from the Ilkhanids, eastern Georgia suffered from both heavy tribute and unstable political situation. In religious matters theMongols were generally tolerant even though many churches and monasteries were taxed. An uprising byDavid VIII (1292–1310), though long-lasting, did not lead to the liberation of Georgia, but prompted a series of devastating punitive expeditions. The Mongols attempted to retain the control over the country by raising and bringing down the rival monarchs and by inciting the civil strife, but their influence over Georgia gradually weakened with the disintegration of the Ilkhanid power in Persia.
There was a brief period of reunion and revival underGeorge V the Brilliant (1299–1302, 1314–1346). With the support ofChupan, ulus-beg of theIlkhanate, George V eliminated his domestic opponents who remained independent of the Georgian crown. George V conqueredImereti, uniting all of the Georgian Kingdom before the death of the last effective IlkhanAbu Sa'id Bahadur. In 1319 George V and the Mongols suppressed the rebellion of the Ilkhanid governor of Georgia,Qurumushi.[13][14] Presumably due to the internal strife between the Mongol khanates and Ilkhanid generals, almost all Mongol troops in Georgia withdrew in 1320s.[15][2] The IlkhanAbu Sa'id Bahadur (d.1335) exemptedAni and the neighbouring districts of Georgia from any kind of taxes.[16] In a 1321 letter,Bishop of Avignon mentions schismatic people (Georgians) who are a part of the Tatar Empire (Ilkhanate).[17]
In the year 1327, in Persia, the most dramatic event of the reign of the IlKhanAbu Sa'id Bahadur occurred, namely the disgrace and execution of the once all-powerful ministerChupan. This was a heavy blow for George V, who lost his patron at the Mongol court. Chupan's son Mahmud, who commanded the Mongol garrison in Georgia, was arrested by his own troops and executed. Subsequently, Iqbalshah, son ofKutlushah, was appointed to be the Mongol governor of Georgia (Gurjistan). In 1330-31, George V the Brilliant annexedImereti, uniting all of Georgia in the process. Therefore, four years prior the last effective Ilkhan Abu Sa'id Bahadur's demise, two kingdoms of Georgia united again. In 1334, the post of the Ilkhanid governor in Georgia was given to Shaykh Hasan of theJalayir by Abu Sai'd Bahadur.[18]
Before theTimurids, much of Kingdom of Georgia's former vassals were still under the MongolJalayirids andChobanids.[19] The eight onslaughts of theTurco-Mongol conquerorTimur between 1386 and 1403 dealt a great blow to the Georgian kingdom. Its unity was finally shattered and, by 1491, Georgia was shattered into a number of petty kingdoms and principalities, which throughout theEarly modern period struggled to maintain their independence againstSafavid andOttoman domination until Georgia was finally annexed by theRussian Empire in 1801.
Chinggis Khan organized a unit of Chinese catapult specialists in 1214, and these men formed part of the first Mongol army to invade Transoania in 1219. This was not too early for true firearms, and it was nearly two centuries after catapult-thrown gunpowder bombs had been added to the Chinese arsenal. Chinese siege equipment saw action in Transoxania in 1220 and in the north Caucasus in 1239-40.
In 1236 the Mongols decided to go up towards the Caucasus, and for the Georgian kingdom, it was the end. Queen Rasudan, the successor of Tamar (r. 1223–1245), was forced to abandon Tbilisi and take refuge in Kutaisi, in the plain overlooking the Black Sea. The Georgian aristocracy was placed under Mongol protection and forced to perform military service in exchange for their lives.
