Battle of Basian

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The Battle of Basian was fought in the 13th century between the armies of the Kingdom of Georgia and the Sultanate of the Rum Seljuks in the Basian Valley, 60 km northeast of the city of Erzurum in what is now northeastern Turkey . The battle is dated between 1202 and 1205 depending on the source, but 1203 and 1204 have been preferred lately. The contemporary Muslim chronicler Ibn Bibi dates the battle between October 1, 1201 and September 19, 1202. Modern Turkish historians identify the castle of Micingerd (Mazankert) as the site of the battle.

background

The battle was part of the conflicts between the Georgian monarchs and the Seljuk rulers of Anatolia that determined the history of the region from the 11th to 13th centuries. It was another attempt by the Seljuks to halt Georgian advances south. The story of this conflict is told in contemporary Georgian, Armenian and Islamic sources.

The Sultan of Rüm , Rukn ad-Din Suleiman Shah (approx. 1196–1204), fought successfully to rebuild a once huge state that had been fragmented under his late father Kilij Arslan II . Initially, his relations with the neighboring Kingdom of Georgia were seemingly peaceful, including the exchange of messages and precious gifts. The takeover of Erzurum by Suleiman Shah in 1201 brought him into an inevitable confrontation with the Georgians. The Sultan was also angry about a tribute imposed by the Georgian rulers on neighboring Muslim beylics and called for his withdrawal in an ultimatum presented to Georgian Queen Tamar . According to the Georgian Chronicle, Suleiman Shah's envoy Tamar delivered a highly insulting letter in which the Sultan threatened to take her as a concubine in his conquest of Georgia and was beaten by Zakaria Mchargrdseli. According to a medieval scholar who observed these negotiations, Suleiman Shah's envoy was struck down and "laid down as if dead."

The battle

Suleiman Shah and his vassals invaded Georgia and camped in the Basian valley. Tamar quickly raised an army and placed it under the command of her husband David Soslan . From their base in Javakheti , the Georgian troops under Soslan and Amirspasalar Zakaria Mchargrdseli suddenly advanced into Basian and attacked the enemy camp. In a fierce battle, the Seljuk forces managed to repel several attacks by the Georgians, but were eventually overwhelmed and defeated. The loss of the sultan's banner to the Georgians caused panic in the ranks of the Seljuks. Suleiman Shah himself was wounded and withdrew to Erzurum.

consequences

The Georgians captured Suleiman Shah's brother. It was later returned in exchange for a horseshoe. This action showed that Tamar had absolute power in the Caucasus, Anatolia, the Armenian highlands, Shirvan and the Black Sea. The victory at Basian allowed Georgia to secure its positions in the southwest and keep the Seljuq resurgence in check. Shortly after the Kingdom of Georgia invaded Trebizond and a state was created, Tamar gave power to Alexios I of Trebizond , her sister's husband. The Kingdom of Georgia thus created a buffer zone between Turkish states and their own countries.

swell

  • D. Ivane Javakhishvili , (1983), ქართველი ერის ისტორია ( History of the Georgian Nation ), [1] Tbilisi: Georgia, USSR. (Georgian)
  • Melikishvili, Giorgi, et al. (1970), საქართველოს ისტორიის ნარკვევები ( Studies of the History of Georgia ), Vol. 2. Tbilisi: Sabch'ota Sakartvelo. (Georgian)
  • Osman Turan, Selçuklular Zamaninda Türkiye , Istanbul, 1971. (Turkish)
  • V. Dondua et al. (transl., 1985), Жизнь царицы цариц Тамар (The life of the queen of queens), comments by N. Berdzenishvili. Tbilisi: Metsniereba. (Russian)