Georgian campaign against the Eldiguzids

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Georgian campaign against the Eldiguzids
Part of Georgian–Seljuk wars
Georgian invasion of northern Iran.png
Georgian campaign against the Eldiguzids in 1209 and 1210–1211
Date1209–1211
Location
Northern Iran
Result Georgian victory
Belligerents
Flag of the Kingdom of Georgia.svg  Kingdom of Georgia Eldiguzids
Commanders and leaders
Zakare II Zakarian Nusrat al-Din Abu Bakr
Muzaffar al-Din Uzbek

The Georgian campaign against the Eldiguzids was a military campaign led by the Amirspasalar (Commander-in-Chief of the army) of the Kingdom of Georgia, Zakare II Zakarian for Queen Tamar of Georgia, from 1209 to 1211.

The campaign was a response to the 1209 plundering of the Armenian capital of Ani by the ruler of Ardabil, a vassal of the Eldiguzid Atabeg Nusrat al-Din Abu Bakr. Ani had been left unprotected, as the Georgian court was spending Easter at the Palace of Geguti. [1] Ani was thoroughly plundered and a population of 12,000 was allegedly massacred on this Eastern Sunday of 1209. [2] [1]

In retaliation, Zakare raided Ardabil on Ramadan. [2] [3] In 1210, Zakare launched a vast campaign against Persia, passing Nakhchivan, and going on to plunder the cities of Julfa, Marand, Tabriz, Meyaneh, Zanjan, Qazvin, and as far as Gorgan. [2] Altogether, it was a journey of about 3,000 kilometers, before going back to the Georgian capital of Tbilissi. [2] [3]

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