Battle of Shamkor was fought on June 1, 1195 near the city of Shamkor, Arran. The battle was a major victory won by the Georgian army, commanded by David Soslan, over the army of the Eldiguzid ruler of

Nusrat al-Din Abu Bakr Nusrat al-Din Abu Bakr ( fa, نصرت الدین ابوبکر), was the ruler (''atabeg Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic origin, indicating a governor of a nation or province who was subordinate to a monarc ...

. The battle was fought as part of several conflicts between the "

Atabeg Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic origin, indicating a governor of a nation or province who was subordinate to a monarch and charged with raising the crown prince. The first instance of the title's use was wit ...

States of Azerbaijan", also known as the Eldiguzids after its ruling dynasty, and

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 ...

. The consolidation of Eldiguzid power, in the 1130s, coincided with a resurgence of military expansionism by the Georgian kings, whose territories intersected with Muslim

Shirvan Shirvan (from fa, شروان, translit=Shirvān; az, Şirvan; Tat: ''Şirvan''), also spelled as Sharvān, Shirwan, Shervan, Sherwan and Šervān, is a historical Iranian region in the eastern Caucasus, known by this name in both pre-Islam ...

and Arran.

Background

The battle was preceded by a dynastic war (1191–1195) in the Eldiguzid possessions. Victorious in power struggle,

Abu Bakr Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honor ...

''"Jahan-pahlavan"'' (1195-1210) had his elder brother Qutluq Inandj assassinated and forced the younger brother,

Amir Mihran Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ceremo ...

, to take refuge at the court of the latter's brother-in-law,

Shirvanshah ''Shirvanshah'' ( fa, شروانشاه), also spelled as ''Shīrwān Shāh'' or ''Sharwān Shāh'', was the title of the rulers of Shirvan from the mid-9th century to the early 16th century. The title remained in a single family, the Yazidids, ...

Akhsitan I b. Manuchehr (1160-1196). The Shirvanshah together with Amir Mihran headed for

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

, the capital of

, and appealed for help to Queen

Tamar of Georgia Tamar the Great ( ka, თამარ მეფე, tr, lit. "King Tamar") ( 1160 – 18 January 1213) reigned as the Queen of Georgia from 1184 to 1213, presiding over the apex of the Georgian Golden Age. A member of the Bagrationi dyna ...

, an official protector of

. Received with great honors at the Georgian court, they were given desired support, and the Georgian army led by Consort David Soslan marched to Shirvan.

The battle

Abu-Bakr, reinforced by his client

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

s, met the enemy at the well-fortified city of Shamkor on June 1, 1195. David Soslan sent a relatively small force to break through the gates of the city, while he led the main Georgian troops to raid deep in the enemy's rear. However, poor roads and difficult landscape were setback for the Georgians, and the

defended the city for a while. Nevertheless, David Soslan's maneuver proved to be decisive and Abu Bakr's army was severely defeated. Shamkor was eventually captured by the Georgians who then chased the enemy's soldiers up to the city of

Ganja Ganja (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for marijuana. Its usage in English dates to before 1689. Etymology ''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi/Urdu ( hi, गांजा, links=no, ur, , links=no, IPA: �aːɲd͡ ...

which in its turn fell to the victors.

Aftermath

The Georgians seized numerous prisoners and huge amount of booty, including the

Khalif A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

's standard, which Queen Tamar donated to the

Khakhuli Monastery Khakhuli Monastery ( ka, ხახულის მონასტერი, tr, Haho/Bağbaşi) was a Georgian Orthodox monastery in historical Medieval Georgian Kingdom of Tao (modern-day Turkey), in one of the gorges of the Tortum river. The ma ...

. After taking over the Shamkor fortress, David Soslan headed towards Ganja. When he approached the city, the noblemen, merchants, the

qadi A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...

(Muslim judge) and the scientists met him. They opened the gate, spread the gold-brocaded carpets up to the door of Sultan's palace. David entered the palace, set on the sultan's throne, summoned the assembly, arranged the feast “proper for the time and day”. Shamkor and the surroundings were turned over to the Shirvanshah Amir Mihran on terms of

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerai ...

age. Abu Bakr was able to return to his capital, from where he had his brother Amir Mihran poisoned.RAYFIELD, D. (2012). Edge of empires: a history of Georgia. London, Reaktion Books.

References

* Basil the Treasurer, Life of Queen Tamar, King of Kings. In: ''Georgian Chronicles'', vol. 2. Tbilisi, 1959 (In Georgian) *Allen, WED. ''A History of the Georgian people: From the Beginning Down to the Russian Conquest in the Nineteenth Century''. New York, 1971, p. 104

External links

Shamkir, Azerbaijan
{{Tamar the Great Shamkor 1195 Medieval Azerbaijan Shamkor 1195 in Asia 1195 in Europe 12th century in the Kingdom of Georgia

Background

The battle

Aftermath

See also

References

External links