Tamerlane's invasion of Georgia

The second half of the 14th century was a time of disaster for the Caucasus. Since 1366, a plague raging in Georgia, called the Black Death , was raging in Georgia, after a while a group of feudal lords led by Atabeg Bekoy rebelled against the king ^[1] . In the first half of the 14th century, under Tsar George V the Brilliant (1314–1346), Georgia reunited and restored its former regional and international positions. But this time, the rise of the military-political power of the Georgian kingdom did not last long: just 40 years after the death of the king, the invasions of Tamerlane began ^[2] . Particularism was so openly opposed to centralized tsarist power in Georgia at that time, which, contrary to the strict legislative measures of George V, was facilitated by the formation of semi-independent estates - a senior or satavado (from the word “ tavadi ” - the head of the feudal family, prince). Georgia was unable to overcome these domestic problems due to constant wars ^[3] .

Tamerlan's invasion of Georgia caused massive resistance from the population. The son and successor of King Bagrat V, George VII, led the national liberation struggle against the invaders ^[4] and for most of his reign (1393–1407) fiercely resisted the Timurid army. Emir Tamerlan, in order to subdue the rebellious Georgian monarch, personally led most of these raids. Although he could not establish tight control over Georgia, the country suffered from a blow from which it never recovered ^[5] .

In the fall of 1386, Tamerlane’s troops invaded Transcaucasia, conquered Javakhetia, and on November 21 approached Tbilisi. Several attempts to storm the city were unsuccessful, so the commander began his siege. Realizing the senselessness of Tamerlane’s refusal to capitulate, King Bagrat V agreed to surrender, as a result of which he was captured with Queen Anne and their heir David ^[6] . Tamerlan demanded that Bagrat V and his entourage convert to Islam, hoping for their help in Musliming Georgia. Bagrat V, wanting to deceive the enemy, said he agreed to change his faith. The Georgian king turned to Timur with a request to release him to his homeland, accompanied by a large detachment. He freed the king and allocated 12 thousand soldiers to accompany his retinue ^{[7] [8]} .

Bagrat V carefully thought out a plan to destroy the enemy detachment: he lured the enemy into a narrow gorge, where he was attacked by Georgians under the leadership of his son. The death of thousands of soldiers in a battle with Georgian troops led to the start of a new campaign of Tamerlane in the Caucasus in the spring of 1387. The number of the enemy significantly exceeded the forces of Georgia, hastily assembled by the prince. Timur personally led the campaign. A huge number of the country's inhabitants fled to the mountains, thanks to which great casualties were avoided ^[7] .

In 1393, Tamerlane again made an invasion of Transcaucasia, ruining Samtskhe, Kors, Kola, Akhaltsikh. The population of the territories of Georgia occupied by them showed fierce resistance to the invaders, because of which the latter had to leave the region ^[7] .

In 1394, troops of the Timurid Empire invaded the Caucasus in order to prevent the penetration of the forces of the Golden Horde through the Darial Gorge into Iran. However, the information Timur had was incorrect: the leader of the horde Tokhtamysh attacked Persia through Derbent. The Aragvians showed such resistance to the Timurids that they could not get to Darial or stop Tokhtamysh ^[7] .

In 1395, George VII led the liberation movement against the Timurids. He sent troops to the territory of Azerbaijan, to the fortress of Alinja, which Tamerlane had been trying to take for several years. The fortress was unlocked, and the son of the commander died in battle. Tamerlan struck back in 1399, ravaging Eastern Georgia ^{[7] [9]} .

When Tamerlan again invaded the Caucasus at the end of 1401, Tsar George VII agreed to peace negotiations with him. Due to the fact that during this period Tamerlan was busy fighting the Ottoman Empire, and apparently, wanting to freeze enmity with the Georgian king for a while, he made peace with him, provided that the king of Georgia would allocate troops to him and give Muslims special privileges ^[10] .

In the spring of 1400, Tamerlan again took Tbilisi, placed a garrison in the city and inflicted serious damage on the state. Tsar George VII at that time was forced to hide in the mountains. After a while, he was pardoned by the conqueror in exchange for tribute. Despite this, the Mongols invaded Georgia in 1403, destroying seven hundred settlements ^[11] .

After the Ottoman sultan Bayazid I was defeated in the Battle of Angora on July 20, 1402, Timur returned to Erzurum and decided to punish the king of Georgia for not coming to congratulate him on this victory. George VII sent gifts to Tamerlane, but the emir refused to accept them, demanding that King George personally come to him. Meanwhile, Tamerlane’s army besieged the impregnable fortress of Birtvisi, which was stubbornly defended by a small Georgian garrison. Having seized the fortress in August 1403, Tamerlan sent his army to rob and clean up the border areas of Georgia and went in pursuit of the retreating king George VII to Abkhazia. The historian of Tamerlane reports that during this time up to 700 towns and cities were destroyed, and the inhabitants were exterminated ^{[12] [13]} .

As a result of the invasions of Tamerlane, Georgia lost its southern and southwestern regions. The country was gradually surrounded by nomadic Turkic tribes ^[14] . Of the other consequences of Tamerlane’s campaigns in Georgia, it should be noted, firstly, the settlement of the entire eastern half of Transcaucasia with Tatars and wounded Persians, whom Tamerlane brought out from the Caspian Sea and mainly from the Persian region of Azerbaijan, as well as the wide spread of the Muslim religion among different tribes, inhabiting the Caucasus region ^[15] .

• Suny, Ronald Grigor . Making of Georgian nation. - Indiana University Press, 1994. - ISBN 0-253-20915-3 .
• R. Rakhmanaliev. Tamerlan. Era. Personality. Acts. - Moscow: Gurash, 1992.
• Sicker, Martin. The Islamic World in Ascendancy: From the Arab Conquests to the Siege of Vienna. - Moscow, 2000.
• Rene Grousset. The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia. - Moscow, 1970.