Reign of David IV . In 1110 the
Georgians led by
George Chqondideli, his nephew Theodore,
Abuleti and Ivane
Orbelian, retaliated against the
Seljuk settlement and recaptured the town of
Samshvilde, which was added to the royal domains, without a major battle. Following this capture, the Seljuks left a large part of their captured territories, allowing Georgian troops to capture . Responding to this double defeat, Sultan
Muhammad I Tapar in 1110, sent a large army with the aim of invading
Georgia. Knowing of the approach of Turkish troops, David IV left his home at Nacharmagevi with a personal guard of only 1,500 men and set out to meet the invaders during the night. The two armies, clearly unequal, clashed the next day at the
Battle of Trialeti in a hard fight which ended in a decisive victory for Georgia. The Battle of Trialeti deprived the
Seljuk Empire of the opportunity to conduct a major military campaign against
Georgia. In 1110–1114, David IV did not conduct active military operations either. In 1115,
Roger of Salerno defeated the
Atabag of
Mosul at the
Battle of Sarmin. After that, David became active again and in 1115-1118 he captured
Rustavi,
Lori, and
Agarani and also defeated the Seljuks at the
Battle of Rakhsi. Problems began to crop up for David now. His population, having been at war for the better part of twenty years, needed to be allowed to become productive again. Also, his nobles were still making problems for him, along with the city of
Tbilisi which still could not be liberated from
Seljuk grasp. Again David was forced to solve these problems before he could continue the reclamation of his nation and people. For this purpose, David IV radically reformed his military. He resettled a
Kipchak tribe of 40,000 families from the
Northern Caucasus in Georgia in 1118–1120. Every Georgian and Kipchak family was obliged to provide one soldier with a horse and weapons. Kipchaks were settled in different regions of Georgia. Some were settled in
Inner Kartli province, others were given lands along the border. They were
Christianized and quickly assimilated into
Georgian society. In February 1116 by the order of David IV, the army of
Kartli and
Meskhetians were gathered at
Klarjeti, David IV suddenly attacked and destroyed the Turks in
Tao and captured
Tao-Klarjeti and the numerous riches left by the Turks. In February 1120, David IV defeated the Seljuks at the
Battle of Botora. In the battle the
Georgians captured many opponents and gained a lot of booty. In November 1120, David's army attacked and defeated the Seljuks in
Arsharunik and Sevgelamej, And in 1121 he did the same in Khunan. In June 1121, David with the
Kipchaks raided the camped Seljuks in
Barda. In all these episodes the camp was destroyed meaning that the Georgian army managed to secretly approach it and perform a surprise attack. In 1121,
Sultan Mahmud b. Muhammad (1118–1131) declared a
holy war on Georgia and rallied a large coalition of Muslim states led by the
Artuqid Ilghazi and
Toğrul b. Muhammad. The size of the Muslim army is still a matter of debate with numbers ranging from a fantastic 600,000 men (
Walter the Chancellor's Bella Antiochena,
Matthew of Edessa) to 400,000 (
Smbat Sparapet's Chronicle) to modern Georgian estimates of 250,000–400,000 men. All sources agree that the Muslim powers gathered an army that was much larger than the Georgian force of 56,000 men. However, on 12 August 1121, King David routed the enemy army on the field of
Didgori, achieving what is often considered the greatest military success in Georgian history. The victory at Didgori signaled the emergence of Georgia as a great military power and shifted the regional balance in favor of Georgian cultural and political supremacy. Following his success, David
captured Tbilisi, the last Muslim enclave remaining from the Seljuk occupation, in 1122 and moved the Georgian capital there and inaugurated
Georgia's Golden Age.
Ani's Armenians appealed to King David IV to
capture Ani, taking this opportunity in hand, David IV summoned all his armies and entered
Armenia with 60,000 men to take the city. Without a single fight, the Armenian population of Ani opened the gates to the
Georgians, who captured emir
Abu'l-Aswar Shavur ibn Manuchihr and exiled him and his family to
Abkhazia. The region was then left to the governance of the
Meskhetian nobility, to General
Abuleti and his son Ivane. Northern
Armenia was thus annexed and incorporated into the
Kingdom of Georgia, increasing the power of David IV in the region.
Georgian conquest of Shirvan The
recapture of Tbilisi in 1122 by
David IV thus established the
Kingdom of Georgia as the supreme protector of
Christianity in the
Caucasus, and the Georgians now attempted to assert their domination by trying to reduce the Muslim presence in the region, which was considered an ally of the
Seljuk Empire. This was the case in
Shirvan, whose sovereign, who had already been defeated several times by Georgian troops, remained too independent of Georgian power and was forcibly replaced by David IV's sons-in-law,
Manuchihr III, in 1120. The Seljuks, alarmed by the situation in Caucasus, decided to respond militarily. Sultan
Mahmud II soon resumed the war against Georgia, despite his defeat at the
Battle of Didgori a year earlier. In November 1122, he began his invasion of Shirvan and captured
Tabriz, before reaching the local capital,
Shamakhi, the following spring. Mahmud then captured the Shirvanshah Manuchihr III and sent a letter to David IV saying: "You are the king of the forests, and you never go down to the plains. Now I have captured the Shirvanshah and I demand
Kharaj [tribute] from him. If you wish, send me suitable gifts; if not, come and see me in all haste". Following this provocation, David IV called in all his troops and assembled an army of 50,000 men, most of them
Kipchaks. The Seljuk sultan locked himself in Shamakhi after learning of the arrival of the Georgian troops, prompting David IV to halt his advance, deeming it disrespectful to pursue a retreating army. Mahmud II then offered David IV the opportunity to regain control of his vassal province if he let him leave in peace, but the Georgian king categorically refused and resumed his march towards the Shirvan capital after defeating an army of 4,000 Turks led by the
atabeg of
Arran,
Aqsunqur Ahmadili, which was on its way to help Mahmud II. Once he had laid siege to Shamakhi, the Seljuk left the city in a hurry via the commune's excrement drainage system. In June 1123, a month after the Seljuk defeat, David IV invaded Shirvan, starting by capturing the town of
Gulistan. Another military campaign was organized in September 1124 in
Shirvan, under obscure circumstances. David IV managed to recover
Shamakhi and took the citadel of Bigrit, before strengthening his power in
Hereti and
Kakheti by leaving strong garrisons of soldiers there. David IV completely freed Shirvan from the Seljuks and annexed the western Shirvan, handing its government over to
Mtsignobartukhutsesi Simon. David IV left the eastern Shirvan to his son-in-law, Manuchihr III as a Georgian protectorate. David IV's battles were of great importance both for Georgia and, especially, for Shirvan. The joint struggle of the
Georgians and the people of Shirvan ensured the independence of Shirvan from the Seljuk conquerors. From now on, Georgia and Shirvan became closer to each other.
Reign of Demetrius I by
Michael Maglakeli, from
Matskhvarishi, 1140. The kingdom continued to flourish under
Demetrius I, the son of David. Although his reign saw a disruptive family conflict related to royal succession, Georgia remained a centralized power with a strong military. As soon as he ascended to the throne, the neighbouring Muslim rulers began attacking Georgia from all sides. The Seljuqid sultans fought to restore the rule of the
Shirvanshahs. Shirvan's large Muslim population rose against Georgia. This probably happened in 1129 or 1130, when Demetrius restored the Shirvanshahs to power in
Shirvan, installing on the throne
Manuchihr II, the husband of his daughter
Rusudan. Shirvanshahs had to provide the Georgian king with troops whenever the latter demanded it. In 1139, Demetrius raided the city of
Ganja in
Arran. He brought the
iron gate of the defeated city to Georgia and donated it to
Gelati Monastery at
Kutaisi. Despite this brilliant victory, Demetrius could hold Ganja only for a few years. In reply to this, the sultan of Eldiguzids attacked Ganja several times, and in 1143 the town again fell to the sultan. According to
Mkhitar Gosh, Demetrius ultimately gained possession of Ganja, but, when he gave his daughter in marriage to the sultan, he presented the latter with the town as dowry, and the sultain appointed his own emir to rule it. Fadl's successor,
Fakr al-Din Shaddad, a
Shaddadid emir of Ani asked for
Saltuk's daughter's hand, however Saltuk refused him. This caused a deep hatred in Shaddad towards Saltuk. In 1154 he planned a plot and formed a secret alliance with the Demetrius I. While a Georgian army waited in ambush, he offered tribute to
Saltukids, ruler of
Erzerum and asked the latter to accept him as a vassal. In 1153–1154 Emir
Saltuk II marched on Ani, but Shaddad informed his suzerain, the King of Georgia, of this. Demetrius marched to Ani, defeated and captured the emir. At the request of neighbouring Muslim rulers and released him for a ransom of 100,000
dinars, paid by Saltuk's sons in law and Saltuk swore not to fight against the Georgians he returned home.
Reign of George III , as depicted on a
medieval fresco from the cave monastery of
Vardzia. In 1156 the Ani's Christian population rose against the emir
Fakr al-Din Shaddad, and turned the town over to his brother
Fadl ibn Mahmud. But Fadl, too, apparently could not satisfy the people of Ani, and this time the town was offered to the George III, who took advantage of this offer and subjugated Ani, he took much loot from Ani and carried off into captivity the whole family of
Shaddadids, including Fadl. Appointing his general
Ivane Orbeli as its ruler in 1161. In July, 1161 troops of a Muslim coalition consisting, namely those of the Shah-Armens of
Ahlat,
Saltukids of Erzerum, and the lord of
Kars and Surmari was formed. Allies selected the route through the
river Araxes, and the
Artuqid lord Najm al-din set out to join them. In August, 1161 they arrived before Ani and besieged it. When the king George III of Georgia has arrived to meet them, the emir
Saltuk II remembering his oath to the
king Demetrius, lifted the siege and left the battlefield. Muslims were defeated and put to the sword and many of them perished. King George liberated the people of Ani who had been taken captive and gave the devastated town assistance. He then marched against the Saltuk II, and in the same year, 1161, defeated and made him prisoner, who was redeemed by his sister, Shahbanu Hatun, wife of the ruler of Ahlat. Georgians then entered in Shah-Armen possessions and looted
Van. Some 9000 Muslims, including the nobles and members
Sökmen II family were taken as prisoner. The news of the defeat reached the lord Najm ad-din when he had arrived in
Malazgirt, the latter went back to
Mayyafariqin without having joined Shah-Armens or taken part in the battle. The capture of
Ani and the defeat of the
Saltukid forces enabled the
Georgian king to march on
Dvin. The following year in August/September 1162, Dvin was temporarily captured and sacked, the non-Christian population was pillaged and the Georgian troops returned home loaded with booty. The king appointed Ananiya, a member of the local feudal nobility to govern the town. Shams al-Din Eldiguz, ruler of
Azerbaijan embarked upon a campaign against Kingdom of Georgia in early 1163. The
Seljukid Sultan, Arslan marching from
Hamadan met Eldiguz in
Nakhchavan. He was joined by the
Sökmen II the ruler of
Ahlat,
Saltuk II the ruler of
Erzurum, As-Sunkur the ruler of Maragha, and many others. With an army of 50,000 troops they marched on Georgia. In 1163 Eldiguz attacked Mren (north of Dvin) where he burnt the fortress, with 4000
Christians in it. On 9 July 1163
Seljuks inflicted a heavy defeat on
Georgians. They penetrated into the fortress al-Krkri (Gyargyar) where a battle took place, where Georgians sustained a most ignominious defeat.
George III was put to flight. Then Seljuks took the
fortress of Gagi, laid waste as far as the region of Gagi and
Gegharkunik, seized prisoners and booty, and then moved to Ani. In April, 1164 Georgians evacuated the town. Eldiguz arrived and gave Ani to the emir
Shahanshah ibn Mahmud. The
Muslim rulers were jubilant, and they prepared for a new campaign. However, this time they were forestalled by
George III, who marched into
Arran at the beginning of 1166, occupied a region extending to
Gan ja, devastated the land and turn back with prisoners and booty. The struggle for Ani continued. For four long years
Ani was attacked ceaselessly. The population was reduced to misery, the land was not tilled and the economy was dislocated. There seemed to be no end to the war between George III and
atabeg Eldiguz. But the belligerents were exhausted to such an extent that Eldiguz proposed an armistice. George had no alternative but to make concessions. Eldiguz restored Ani to its former rulers, the
Shaddadids, who became his vassals. The
Shaddadids, ruled
Ani for about 10 years, but in 1174 King
George captured the
Shahanshah ibn Mahmud as a prisoner and
captured Ani once again. Ivane Orbeli, was appointed governor of Ani.
Tamar the Great The successes of his predecessors were built upon by
Queen Tamar, daughter of
George III, who became the first female ruler of Georgia in her own right and under whose leadership the Georgian state reached the zenith of power and prestige in the
Middle Ages. Tamar was successful in neutralizing this opposition and embarked on an energetic foreign policy aided by the decline of the hostile
Seljuq Turks. Relying on a powerful military
élite, Tamar was able to build an empire which dominated the
Caucasus until its collapse under the
Mongol attacks within two decades after Tamar's death. Once Tamar succeeded in consolidating her power and found a reliable support in
David Soslan, the
Mkhargrdzeli,
Toreli, and other noble families, she revived the expansionist foreign policy of her predecessors. Repeated occasions of dynastic strife in Georgia combined with the efforts of regional successors of the
Great Seljuq Empire, such as the
Eldiguzids,
Shirvanshahs, and the
Ahlatshahs, had slowed down the dynamic of the Georgians achieved during the reigns of Tamar's great-grandfather,
David IV, and her father, George III. However, the Georgians became again active under Tamar, more prominently in the second decade of her rule. Early in the 1190s, the Georgian government began to interfere in the affairs of the Eldiguzids and of the Shirvanshahs, aiding rivaling local princes and reducing
Shirvan to a tributary state. The Eldiguzid atabeg
Abu Bakr attempted to stem the Georgian advance, but suffered a defeat at the hands of David Soslan at the
Battle of Shamkor and lost his capital to a Georgian protégé in 1195. Although Abu Bakr was able to resume his reign a year later, the Eldiguzids were only barely able to contain further Georgian forays. The question of liberation of Armenia remained of prime importance in Georgia's foreign policy. Tamar's armies led by two
Armenian generals,
Zakare and
Ivane Zakarian overran fortresses and cities towards the
Ararat Plain, reclaiming one after another fortresses and districts from local Muslim rulers. in 1190 Alarmed by the Georgian successes,
Süleymanshah II, the resurgent Seljuqid
sultan of Rûm, rallied his vassal
emirs and marched against Georgia, but his camp was attacked and destroyed by David Soslan at the
Battle of Basian in 1203 or 1204. The chronicler of Tamar describes how the army was assembled at the rock-hewn town of
Vardzia before marching on to Basian and how the queen addressed the troops from the balcony of the church. Exploiting her success in this battle, between 1203 and 1205 Georgians seized the town of
Dvin and entered
Akhlatshah possessions twice and subdued the emir of
Kars (vassal of the
Saltukids in Erzurum),
Akhlatshahs, the emirs of
Erzurum and
Erzincan. and
Ivane Zakarian on the east facade at
Harichavank, Armenia, 1201. In 1204–1205, the
Georgians raided the northern areas of
Lake Van, the
Archesh and
Manzikert. After the death of the last Sokhmenid ruler of
Shah-Armen without an heir, a struggle began between the
Ayyubids to seize power in the Sultanate. Disturbances at home and external pressure turned out to be the reason for the weakening of Shah-Armens and they were no longer able to deal with the threat from the Georgians. The
Muslim rulers of the region, could not adapt to the strengthening of
Christian Georgia, and that is why the Sultan of
Ahlat called for help from the
Emir Toghrulshah of
Erzurum. They marched with a common army towards the borders of Georgia. When the Georgians found out about the enemy's intentions, they were overconfident, ignored the danger coming from them and faced the enemy defenseless.
Georgians marched on
Ahlat in 1205–1206. However, this attempt also ended in failure, because the purpose of this campaign was not the complete conquest of the
Shah-Armens, but its plundering. The two crushing defeats experienced against Shah-Armens had a negative impact on Georgia's international status. The situation needed to be corrected immediately. Simultaneously with the murder of Balaban, the last ruler of the
Shah-Armens, in 1206 the
Kingdom of Georgia under the command of
Davit Soslan besieged
Kars (vassal of the Shah-Armens) and other fortresses along the
Aras river. The Emir of Kars appealed to the Sultan of the Shah-Armens for help, but he was powerless to find help. In such a situation, the
emir of Kars asked the Georgians for a truce and in return gave up the fortress.
Ivane Akhaltsikheli was appointed as the
Amirtamira of Kars. in 1208 and 1210-1211 years. In 1210–1211, the
Zakarids–Mkhargrdzeli brothers Zakare and Ivane waste to
Ardabil – according to the Georgian and Armenian annals – as a revenge for the local Muslim ruler's attack on Ani and his massacre of the city's Christian population. In a great final burst, the brothers led an army marshaled throughout Tamar's possessions and vassal territories in a march, through
Nakhchivan and
Julfa, to
Marand,
Tabriz, and
Qazvin in northwest
Iran, pillaging several settlements on their way. == Consequences ==