The Battle of Basiani was fought, in the 13th century, between the armies of the

Kingdom of Georgia The Kingdom of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამეფო, tr), also known as the Georgian Empire, was a medieval Eurasian monarchy that was founded in circa 1008 AD. It reached its Golden Age of political and economic ...

and the

Seljuqid The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...

Sultanate of Rum fa, سلجوقیان روم () , status = , government_type = Hereditary monarchyTriarchy (1249–1254) Diarchy (1257–1262) , year_start = 1077 , year_end = 1308 , p1 = B ...

in the

Basiani Phasiane ( el, Φασιανοί ''Phasianoi''; hy, Բասեն ''Basean;'' ka, ბასიანი ''Basiani'') is a historical region now part of the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, as well as the name given to the region where the Aras R ...

valley, 60 km northeast of the city of

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. The city uses the double-headed eagle as ...

in what is now northeast

Republic of Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. The battle is variously dated between 1202 and 1205, but 1203 or 1204 has lately been given preference. The contemporary Muslim chronicler Ibn Bibi places the battle in 598 AH (October 1, 1201 – September 19, 1202). The modern Turkish historians identify the castle of Micingerd (Mazankert) as the location of the battle.

Background

The battle was one of those several conflicts between the Georgian monarchs and the Seljuqid rulers of

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

that fill the region’s history of the 11th–13th century. It marked yet another attempt by the Seljuqids to stem the Georgian advances southward. The story of this conflict is narrated in the contemporary Georgian, Armenian and Islamic sources. The

sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...

of Rüm, Rukn ad-Din Süleymanshah II ( 1196–1204), fought hard, with considerable success, to reassemble a once vast state fragmentized under his late father

Kilij Arslan II Kilij Arslan II ( 1ca, قِلِج اَرسلان دوم) or ʿIzz ad-Dīn Kilij Arslān ibn Masʿūd ( fa, عز الدین قلج ارسلان بن مسعود) ( Modern Turkish ''Kılıç Arslan'', meaning "Sword Lion") was a Seljuk Sultan of Rû ...

. Initially, his relations with the neighboring kingdom of Georgia were ostensibly peaceful, including the exchange of embassies and precious gifts. However, Süleymanshah’s 1201 takeover of

whose last Saltukid ruler (

malik Malik, Mallik, Melik, Malka, Malek, Maleek, Malick, Mallick, or Melekh ( phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤊; ar, ملك; he, מֶלֶךְ) is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic d ...

) Ala ad-Din Muhammed was, at that time, a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

to the Georgian crown, brought Süleymanshah II into an inevitable confrontation with the Georgians. The sultan further resented a tribute levied by the Georgian rulers upon the neighboring Muslim

beyliks Anatolian beyliks ( tr, Anadolu beylikleri, Ottoman Turkish: ''Tavâif-i mülûk'', ''Beylik'' ) were small principalities (or petty kingdoms) in Anatolia governed by beys, the first of which were founded at the end of the 11th century. A secon ...

and requested its withdrawal in an ultimatum presented to the Georgian

Queen regnant A queen regnant (plural: queens regnant) is a female monarch, equivalent in rank and title to a king, who reigns '' suo jure'' (in her own right) over a realm known as a "kingdom"; as opposed to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigni ...

Tamar. According to the Georgian chronicle, Süleymanshah’s emissary delivered a highly offending letter to Tamar in which the sultan threatened to take her as a concubine upon his conquest of Georgia, and got slapped by Zakaria Mkhargrdzeli. According to medieval scholar who was watching this negotiations, Süleymanshah’s emissary was knocked out and "lying down like dead".

The battle

Süleymanshah, joined by his vassal beys, crossed into the Georgian marchlands and encamped in the

valley. Tamar quickly marshaled an army throughout her possessions and put it under command of her consort, David Soslan. From their base in

Javakheti Javakheti ( ka, ჯავახეთი ) or Javakhk ( hy, Ջավախք, ''Javakhk'') is a historical province in southern Georgia, corresponding to the modern municipalities of Akhalkalaki, Aspindza (partly), Ninotsminda, and partly to the Turk ...

, the Georgian troops under Soslan and

amirspasalar ''Amirspasalar'' or ''amirspasalari'' ( ka, ამირსპასალარი, from fa, امیر سپه سالار, ) was the commander-in-chief of the medieval Georgian army and one of the highest officials of the Kingdom of Georgia, comm ...

Zakaria Mkhargrdzeli made a sudden advance into Basiani and assailed the enemy’s camp. In a pitched battle, the Seljuqid forces managed to roll back several attacks of the Georgians but were eventually overwhelmed and defeated. Loss of the sultan's banner to the Georgians resulted in a panic within the Seljuq ranks. Süleymanshah himself was wounded and withdrew to Erzurum.

Aftermath

The Georgians captured Rukn ad-Din Süleymanshah II's brother, who was later exchanged for one horseshoe. This action demonstrated that Tamar held absolute power in the Caucasus, Anatolia, Armenian Highlands, Shirvan and western parts of the Black Sea. The victory at Basiani allowed Georgia to secure its positions on the southwest and keep the Seljuqid resurgence in check. Soon after the battle, the Kingdom of Georgia invaded Trebizond to create a state. Tamar gave power to

Alexios I of Trebizond Alexios I Megas Komnenos ( el, Αλέξιος Κομνηνός; c. 1182 – 1 February 1222) or Alexius I Megas Comnenus was, with his brother David, the founder of the Empire of Trebizond and its ruler from 1204 until his death in 1222. The two ...

, who was her sister's husband. Therefore the Kingdom of Georgia effectively created a buffer zone between Turkish states and feudal Georgian lands.

References

Sources

* D.

Ivane Javakhishvili Ivane Alexandres dze Javakhishvili ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილი; 23 April 1876 – 18 November 1940) was a Georgian historian and linguist whose voluminous works heavily influenced the modern scholarship of the history ...

, (1983), ქართველი ერის ისტორია (''History of Georgian Nation'')

Tbilisi: Georgia, USSR. * Giorgi Melikishvili, Melikishvili, Giorgi ''et al.'' (1970), საქართველოს ისტორიის ნარკვევები (''Studies in the History of Georgia'')
Vol. 2.
Tbilisi: Sabch’ota Sakartvelo. * Osman Turan, ''Selçuklular Zamaninda Türkiye'', Istanbul, 1971 * V. Dondua ''et al.'' (transl., 1985), Жизнь царицы цариц Тамар (The Life of the Queen of Queens Tamar)

by N. Berdzenishvili. Tbilisi: ''Metsniereba'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Basiani 1202 Battles involving the Sultanate of Rum Battles involving the Kingdom of Georgia Conflicts in 1202 13th century in the Kingdom of Georgia 1202 in Asia