Battle of Trialeti

The Battle of Trialeti was fought between the armies of the Kingdom of Georgia and the Seljuk Empire in 1110. When the Georgians captured Samshvilde and Dzerna in 1110, the Seljuks felt this kind of defeat very hard and could not easily give up, so the Sultan of the Seljuk Empire sent 100,000 men to Georgia but they were defeated by 1,500 men under the command of David IV in Trialeti.

Battle of Trialeti
Part of Georgian–Seljuk wars
Date 1110 Location Trialeti, Kingdom of Georgia Result Georgian victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Georgia	Seljuk Empire
Commanders and leaders
David IV	Malik Shah [ citation needed ]
Strength
1,500	100,000 [1]

Background

In 1110 the Georgians led by George of Chqondidi, his nephew Theodore, Abuleti and Ivane Orbelian, retaliated against the Seljuk settlement and recaptured the town of Samshvilde, which was added to the royal domains, without a major battle. ^[2] Following this capture, the Seljuks left a large part of their captured territories, allowing Georgian troops to capture Dzerna  [ ka ]. ^[1] The Seljuks felt this kind of defeat very hard and they could not easily give up the territory they had once conquered. ^[3]

Battle

After the loss of Samshvilde and Dzerna, in 1110, the Sultan Muhammad I Tapar sent an army of 100,000 men to Georgia. David was in Nacharmagevi. ^[1] David was faced with a choice: to avoid the enemy and gather an army or to try to stop them. The first option would result in ruining the country. More over, the king would probably not even be able to form an army before the Turks retreat. He chose the more aggressive course. All of his subsequent steps are brilliant illustrations of the implementation of the strategic maneuver proposed by the treatise: as soon as he received information about the Seljuk army, he made a swift decision. David with 1,500 Tadzreulis  [ ka ] warriors, organized a forced march at night and managed to block the enemy's path in the Trialeti mountains, before they could enter the Kartli plain. ^[2] As a result, events unfolded exactly as described in the treatise: the Georgian gained an obvious moral advantage and the Seljuk, exhausted by a long march, were forced to fight in an unfavorable position. Despite their numerical superiority, the Turks were unable to defeat David's detachment (located in a better position) and left the battlefield in despair. The Georgians then chased the Seljuks for a long time until they were sure that the enemy would not dare to come again. ^[1]

Aftermath

The Battle of Trialeti deprived the Seljuk Empire of the opportunity to conduct a major military campaign against Georgia for several years, and for the next 11 years, until the Battle of Didgori the Seljuks did not organized a campaign against Georgia. In 1110-1114, David IV also did not conduct active military operations either. In 1115, Roger of Antioch defeated the Atabag of Mosul at the Battle of Sarmin. After that, David became active again and in 1115-1118 he captured Rustavi, ^{[1] [2]} Lori, ^[1] and Agarani ^[4] and also defeated the Seljuks at the Battle of Rakhsi. ^[5]

References

1. Metreveli 2011, p. 66.
2. Samushia 2015, p. 29.
3. JOURNAL OF MEDIEVAL MILITARY HISTORY. Boydell & Brewer. 21 June 2022. ISBN   9781783277186.
4. History of Georgia 2012, p. 387.
5. History of Georgia 2012, p. 386.

Sources

• Metreveli, Roin (2011). Saint David the Builder. Tbilisi. ISBN   9789941425509.

• Samushia, Jaba (2015). Illustrated history of Georgia. Tbilisi: Palitra L. ISBN   978-9941-21-755-5.
• Lortkipanidze, Mariam; Japaridze, Otar; Muskhelishvili, David; Metreveli, Roin (2012). History of Georgia in four volumes, vol. II - History of Georgia from the 4th century to the 13th century. Tbilisi: National Academy of Sciences of Georgia. ISBN   978-9941-19-585-3.