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 David Soslan ( ), (died 1207) was a prince from Alania and second husband of Queen regnant Tamar, whom he married in 1189. He is chiefly known for his military exploits during Georgia's wars against its Muslim neighbors. Name David's second ...

, over the army of the Eldiguzid ruler of

Nusrat al-Din Abu Bakr Nusrat al-Din Abu Bakr (), was the ruler (''atabeg'') of the Eldiguzids The Ildegizids, EldiguzidsC.E. Bosworth, "Ildenizids or Eldiguzids", Encyclopaedia of Islam, Edited by P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. ...

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

Atabegs 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 wi ...

of Azerbaijan", also known as the

Eldiguzids The Ildegizids, EldiguzidsC.E. Bosworth, "Ildenizids or Eldiguzids", Encyclopaedia of Islam, Edited by P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs et al., Encyclopædia of Islam, 2nd Edition., 12 vols. with ind ...

after its ruling dynasty, and

Kingdom of Georgia The Kingdom of Georgia (), also known as the Georgian Empire, was a Middle Ages, medieval Eurasian monarchy that was founded in Anno Domini, AD. It reached Georgian Golden Age, its Golden Age of political and economic strength during the reign ...

. 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 ; ; Tat: ''Şirvan'') is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, as known in both pre-Islamic Sasanian and Islamic times. Today, the region is an industrially and agriculturally developed part of the Republic of Azerbaijan ...

and Arran.

Background

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

Abu Bakr Abd Allah ibn Abi Quhafa (23 August 634), better known by his ''Kunya (Arabic), kunya'' Abu Bakr, was a senior Sahaba, companion, the closest friend, and father-in-law of Muhammad. He served as the first caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruli ...

''"Jahan-pahlavan"'' (1195-1210) had his elder brother Qutluq Inandj assassinated and forced the younger brother, Amir Mihran, to take refuge at the court of the latter's brother-in-law,

Shirvanshah The Shirvanshahs (Arabic/) were the rulers of Shirvan (in present-day Azerbaijan) from 861 to 1538. The first ruling line were the Yazidids, an originally Arab and later Persianized dynasty, who became known as the Kasranids (also referred t ...

Akhsitan I Akhsitan I (also spelled Akhsatan; ) was the 20th Shirvanshah after 1160, and thought to have reigned until the years 1197–1203/04. He was the son and successor of Manuchihr III (). His mother was Tamar, a Georgian princess from the Bagratio ...

(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 ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, the capital of

, and appealed for help to Queen

Tamar of Georgia Tamar the Great ( ka, თამარ მეფე, tr , ; 1160 – 18 January 1213) queen regnant, reigned as the List of monarchs of Georgia#Kings of unified Georgia (1008–1490), Queen of Kingdom of Georgia, Georgia from 1184 to 1213, ...

, an official protector of

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

marched to Shirvan.

Battle

Abu-Bakr, reinforced by his client

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

emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

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

Atabeg Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic language, 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 ti ...

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 cannabis flower, specifically marijuana or hashish. Its usage in English dates to before 1689. Etymology ''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi (, IPA: �aːɲd͡ʒa� ...

which in its turn fell to the victors.

Aftermath

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

Caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

's standard, which Queen Tamar donated to the Khakhuli Monastery. After taking over the Shamkor fortress, David Soslan headed towards

. When he approached the city, the noblemen, merchants, the

qadi A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History The term '' was in use from ...

(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 suzerain ...

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 Eldiguzids Shamkor 1195 in Asia 1195 in Europe 12th century in the Kingdom of Georgia Battles of the Georgian–Seljuk wars

Background

Battle

Aftermath

See also

References

External links