Battle of Ganja | |||||||
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Part of the Byzantine–Seljuq wars | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Byzantine Empire Duchy of Kldekari | Seljuk Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Liparit | Tughril Beg Qutalmish Ibrahim Yinal |
The Battle of Ganja occurred in 1046 when a Byzantine army sent to the Caucasus by the Emperor Constantine IX under the command of Liparit fought against the Seljuk army commanded by Qutalmish. [1] [2]
The Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX sent an army to the Caucasus commanded by the Georgian Duke of Kldekari Liparit IV aiming to protect his borders and stop the Seljuk raids that had been destabilising the region. [1] [2] In response Tughril Bey dispatched an army that was led by Qutalmish. [1] [2]
The Byzantine army advanced towards Divin under the command of Liparit. [2] [5] [3] The two armies met in front of the Ganja city walls in 1046 where the Byzantines were then severely defeated by the Seljuks. [1] [2] [3]
Alp Arslan born Muhammad Alp Arslan bin Dawud Chaghri, was the second sultan of the Seljuk Empire and great-grandson of Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty. He greatly expanded the Seljuk territory and consolidated his power, defeating rivals to the south, east and northwest, and his victory over the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert, in 1071, ushered in the Turkmen settlement of Anatolia.
Year 1048$ (MXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.
David IV, also known as David IV the Builder (1073–1125), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the 5th king (mepe) of the Kingdom of Georgia from 1089 until his death in 1125.
The Byzantine-Georgian wars were a series of conflicts fought during the 11th-13th centuries over several strategic districts in the Byzantine-Georgian marchlands.
George II, of the Bagrationi dynasty, was a king (mepe) of Georgia from 1072 to 1089. He was a son and successor of Bagrat IV and his wife Borena of Alania. Unable to deal effectively with the constant Seljuk Turkish attacks and overwhelmed by internal problems in his kingdom, George was forced to abdicate in favor of his energetic son David IV, to whom he remained a nominal co-ruler until his death in 1112. He also held the high Byzantine titles of curopalates and caesar.
Bagrat IV, of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the king (mepe) of the Kingdom of Georgia from 1027 to 1072. During his long and eventful reign, Bagrat sought to repress the great nobility and to secure Georgia's sovereignty from the Byzantine and Seljuk Empires. In a series of intermingled conflicts, Bagrat succeeded in defeating his most powerful vassals and rivals of the Liparitid family, bringing several feudal enclaves under his control and reducing the kings of Lori and Kakheti-Hereti, as well as the emir of Tbilisi to vassalage. Like many medieval Caucasian rulers, he bore several Byzantine titles, particularly those of Nobilissimus, Kouropalates, and sebastos.
Liparit IV, sometimes known as Liparit III, was an 11th-century Georgian general and political figure who was at times the most valuable support of King Bagrat IV of Georgia (1027–1072) and his most dangerous rival. He was of the House of Liparitid-Baguashi, and thus, a hereditary duke (eristavi) of Kldekari and Trialeti.
The Emirate of Tbilisi was a Muslim emirate in Transcaucasia. The Emirs of Tbilisi ruled over the parts of today's eastern Georgia from their base in the city of Tbilisi, from 736 to 1080. Established by the Arabs during their rule of Georgian lands, the emirate was an important outpost of the Muslim rule in the Caucasus until recaptured by the Georgians under King David IV in 1122.
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Abu'l-Aswar or Abu'l-Asvar Shavur ibn Fadl ibn Muhammad ibn Shaddad was a member of the Shaddadid dynasty. Between 1049 and 1067 he was the eighth Shaddadid ruler of Arran from Ganja. Prior to that, he ruled the city of Dvin from 1022 as an autonomous lord. A capable warrior, and a wise and cunning ruler, Abu'l-Aswar was engaged in several conflicts with most of his neighbours.
The Battle of Kapetron or Kapetrou was fought between a Byzantine-Georgian army and the Seljuq Turks at the plain of Kapetron in 1048. The event was the culmination of a major raid led by the Seljuq prince Ibrahim Inal into Byzantine-ruled Armenia. A combination of factors meant that the regular Byzantine forces were at a considerable numerical disadvantage against the Turks: the local thematic armies had been disbanded, while many of the professional troops had been diverted to the Balkans to face the revolt of Leo Tornikios. As a result, the Byzantine commanders, Aaron and Katakalon Kekaumenos, disagreed on how best to confront the invasion. Kekaumenos favoured an immediate and pre-emptive strike, while Aaron favoured a more cautious strategy until the arrival of reinforcements. Emperor Constantine IX chose the latter option and ordered his forces to adopt a passive stance, while requesting aid from the ruler of Georgian Duchy of Kldekari, Liparit IV. This allowed the Turks to ravage at will, notably leading to the sack and destruction of the great commercial centre of Artze.
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The Georgian–Seljuk wars, also known as Georgian Crusade, is a long series of battles and military clashes that took place from c. 1048 until 1213, between the Kingdom of Georgia and the different Seljuqid states that occupied most of Transcaucasia. The conflict is preceded by deadly raids in the Caucasus by the Turks in the 11th century, known in Georgian historiography as the Great Turkish Invasion.
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The Kingdom of Kakheti-Hereti was an early Medieval Georgian monarchy in eastern Georgia, centered at the province of Kakheti, with its capital first at Telavi. It emerged in c. 1014 AD, under the leadership of energetic ruler of principality of Kakheti, Kvirike III the Great that finally defeated the ruler of Hereti and crowned himself as a king of the unified realms of Kakheti and Hereti. From this time on, until 1104, the kingdom was an independent and separated state from the united Kingdom of Georgia. The kingdom included territories from riv. Ksani to Alijanchay river and from Didoeti to southwards along the river of Mtkvari.
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Savtegin was a prominent emir of the early Seljuk Empire, during the reigns of Tughril I, Alp Arslan, and Malik-Shah I. His full name in Arabic, as given by Münejjim Bāshī Ahmad Effendi, was 'Imād ad-Dawlah Sarhang Sāw Takīn. He first appears in sources during the reign of Tughril I, when he was sent as an ambassador when rumors arose that Ibrahim Yinal would rebel. He later took part in the campaign against Arslan Besasîrî, a Turkic commander under the Buyids who had captured the Abbasid caliph al-Qa'im. Arslan Besasîrî was killed in battle on 18 January 1060. Later, in April–May 1061, Savtegin was part of the delegation sent to Baghdad to negotiate a marriage between Tughril and al-Qa'im's daughter Sayyida.
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