User:Georgiano/sandbox/Georgian Armenia

Armenia within the Kingdom of Georgia (სომხეთი საქართველოს სამეფოში) refers to a period between 1118 and 1466 when Greater Armenia or Somkhiti briefly came under the Georgian political and cultural dominance, as the result of David IV of Georgia's gradual expansions against the Seljuk Turks. Since then Georgian monarchs officially bore the title of "mephe somekhta" (მეფე სომეხთა; lit. "King of the Armenians"). The addition of the title indicates the conquest of the Kingdom of Lori in 1118, whose kings were called "mephe somekhta" in Georgian, and not of the Kingdom of Ani, whose kings bore the title of "Shahanshah".

Background
Following the collapse of the Bagratuni dynasty of Armenia in 1045, the elders of Ani gave the city to Bagrat IV of Georgia ((r. 1027 – 1072)), however the three-month-long Georgian control over Ani was disrupted by Byzantines, and the city finally fell to the Byzantine Empire (to theme of Iberia) in 1045, and, following the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, to the Seljuk Empire. As the result, between the 11th and 12th centuries several Muslim emirates were established in Greater Armenia; the Shaddadids ruled in Ani, while Shah-Armens in Khilat. Eventually, the Kingdom of Lori was eliminated in 1113, and the Kingdom of Syunik fell in 1170.

While Armenia suffered from the Seljuk rule, the neighboring Kingdom of Georgia ("Kingdom of Abkhazians and Iberians"), began to increase their economic, political, and military power. The state was ruled by the branch of Bagratid family who wanted to enlarge their political and economic influence in Caucasus region by establishing a new state system which would also include the former Bagratid holdings in Armenia. Georgian authorities found an ally, the Armenian nobles that left Armenia for Georgia. Armenians wanted to liberate their homeland, and considered Georgia, another Christian nation, to be their “natural” ally.

David the Builder
David IV of Georgia ((r. 1089 – 1125)) renounced the tribute to the Seljuks in 1096/7, that brought about new confrontations with Seljuk Empire. During the anti-Seljuk campaigns, amirspasalar (commander-in-chief) Ivane I Orbeli was appointed as governor of newly incorporated Samshvilde in 1110 and Lori in 1118. In 1123 the Armenian elders of Ani, which was then in the hands of the Shaddadid dynasty, petitioned David to rule their city. David seized Ani and the regions adjoining it; Armenians met him as a liberator providing some auxiliary forces. It was then that the important component of "Sword of the Messiah" and Shahanshah, i. e. the title of the Armenian Bagratids appeared in the title of David. Although the David IV wrested Ani – the political and religious capital of Armenia – from the “infidel” Shaddadids, he did not regard them as the legitimate rulers, and, since there were no representatives of the Armenian Bagratids, he considered that his step was legally justified. The Muslim ruler and his son were deported; and David’s General Abuleti was appointed as a governor of Ani.

Demetrius I
As soon as, Demetrius I of Georgia ((r. 1125 – 1156)) ascended to the throne, his most intractable problem was retaining the city of Ani. While Armenian Christians welcomed liberation from Muslim rule, many nobles, feared losing their autonomy and sought better terms as Muslim vassals. Almost immediately, Demetrius released Abu'l-Aswar ((r. 1118 – 1124)), the Muslim governor whom David had imprisoned; in 1126 Abu'l-Aswar's son Fadl IV ((r. 1126 – 1130)) returned from exile, swearing an insincere oath of loyalty, to take the governorship of Ani from the Abuleti and his son Ivane.

Shah-Armen invasion
In 1130 Georgian controled Armenia was attacked by the Sultan of Khilat, Nasir ad-Din Sukman ((r. 1128 – 1183)). Demetre had to come to terms with this energetic invader: they agreed that Cathedral of Ani would remain a Christian site, and that Demetrius could ‘protect’ the city’s Christians – a tense stand-off that lasted two decades, until a mightier Muslim ruler, Saltuk II ((r. 1132 – 1168)) of Erzurum, captured Ani.

Saktukid Invasion
Fadl's successor, Fakr al-Din ((r. 1131 – 1156)), a Shaddadid emir of Ani asked for Saltuk II's daughter's hand, however Saltuk refused him. This caused a deep hatred in Shaddad towards Saltuk. In 1154 he planned a plot and formed a secret alliance with the Demetrius I. While a Georgian army waited in ambush, he offered tribute to Saltukids, ruler of Erzerum and asked the latter to accept him as a vassal. In 1153-1154 Emir Saltuk II marched on Ani, but Shaddad informed his suzerain, the King of Georgia, of this. Demetrius marched to Ani and captured the emir.

George III
Demetrius was succeeded by his son George III of Georgia ((r. 1156 – 1184)). The same year he ascended to the throne, George launched a successful campaign against the Shah-Armens of Khilat. It may be said that the Shah-Armen took part in almost all the campaigns undertaken against Georgia between 1130s to 1160s. In 1156 the Ani's Christian population rose against the emir Fakr al-Din Shaddad, and latter turned the town over to his brother Fadl ibn Mahmud ((r. 1156 – 1161)). But Fadl, too, apparently could not satisfy the people of Ani, and this time the town was offered to the George III, who took advantage of this offer and incorporated Ani. In May, 1161 George III appointed his treasurer, Sadun as governor of Ani. Sadun fortified the city, and George III had him arrested and executed. The city then came under the joint command of Ivane II Orbeli and Sargis I Mkhargrdzeli.

Saltukid invasion
A Muslim coalition was formed as soon as the Georgians seized the town, however it was defeated. The capture of Ani and the defeat of the Saltukid-forces enabled the Georgian king to march on Dvin. The following year in August/September 1162, Dvin was temporarily occupied and sacked, the non-Christian population was pillaged. The king appointed certain Ananiya, a member of the local feudal nobility to govern the town.

Eldiguzid invasion
Another muslim coalition now headed by Shams al-Din Eldiguz, ruler of Azerbaijan formed in early 1163. The enemy laid waste as far as the region of Gagi and Gegharkunik, and then moved to Ani. George had no choice but to make peace. The king restored Ani to Shahanshah ((r. 1164 – 1174)) who became his vassal. Eldiguz and the king's sister Rusudan acted as intermediaries between the Georgians and the Muslims. The Shaddadids, ruled the town for about 10 years, but in 1174 King George took the Shahanshah ((r. 1164 – 1174)) as a prisoner and occupied Ani once again. Ivane II Orbeli, was appointed governor of the town. In 1177 George III faced the revolt of House of Orbeli. George III however was able to crush the revolt; Ivane II Orbeli was put to death and the surviving members of his family were driven out of Georgia. Sargis I Mkhargrdzeli was appointed as a governor of Ani, while Kubasar was appointed amirspasalar of Lori. The control over Ani was temporary and it was lost to Muslims after few years.

Tamar the Great
In 1178, George III appointed his daughter and heiress Tamar of Georgia ((r. 1184 – 1213)) as heir apparent and co-ruler to forestall any dispute after his death. However, he remained co-regent until his death in 1184. There was considerable opposition to Tamar's succession; this was sparked by a reaction against the repressive policies of her father. Tamar was also pressured into dismissing her father's appointees, among them the amirspasalar Kubasar, a Georgian Kipchak of ignoble birth, who had helped George III in his crackdown on the defiant nobility. Tamar gradually expanded her own power-base and elevated her loyal nobles to high positions at the court, most notably the Mkhargrdzeli. She appointed Sargis I Mkhargrdzeli as amirspasalar (commander-in-chief) of Georgia and granted him Lori in 1186, and gave presents to his elder son, Zakaria, and his younger son, Ivane, and she made them a member of the Darbazi (council of the state).

Starting in 1190, the Mkhargrdzelis rose quickly in power. In the ninth year of Tamar's reign the mandaturtukhutsesi (Grand Master of Ceremonies) and amirspasalar Zakaria Mkhargrdzeli and his brother msakhurtukhutsesi (Majordomo) Ivane took the city of Ani in 1199, and in 1201, Tamar gave it to them under the joint command. In 1193 and 1194 Zakaria Mkhargrdzeli’s forces were fighting along the Araxes river, penetrating to Dvin, Amberd and Bjni. Prosperity quickly returned to Ani; its defences were strengthened and many new churches were constructed.

Zakare and Ivane commanded the Georgian-Armenian armies for almost three decades, achieving major victories at Shamkor in 1195 and Basian in 1203 and leading raids into northern Persia in 1210. By 1209 Georgia challenged Ayyubid rule in eastern Anatolia and led unsuccessful liberational war for southern Armenia. The campaign ended with a thirty-year truce. This brought the struggle for the Armenian lands to a stall, leaving the Lake Van region in a relatively secure possession of its new masters – the Ayyubids of Damascus.

The royal title of Georgian monarchns was correspondingly aggrandized. It now reflected not only Tamar's sway over the traditional subdivisions of the Georgian realm, but also included new components, emphasizing the Georgian crown's hegemony over the neighboring lands. Thus, on the coins and charters issued in her name, Tamar is identified as: Zakaria and his descendants ruled in northwestern Armenia with Ani as their capital, while Ivane and his offspring ruled eastern Armenia, including the city of Dvin. They also had their own vassal nobles; Orbelians in Syunik, Proshians in Vayots Dzor, Hasan-Jalalians and Dopians in Artsakh, Vachutians in Aragatsotn.

George IV
George IV of Georgia ((r. 1213 – 1223)) continued Tamar's policy of strengthening of the Georgian feudal state. However, the Mongol generals Jebe and Subutai destroyed the Georgian army in two successive battles, in 1221–1222, most notably the Battle on Kotman river. Georgians suffered heavy losses in this war and the King George IV, himself was severely wounded. In 1222, King George appointed his sister Rusudan as a co-regent and died later that year.

Queen Rusudan
Queen Rusudan ((r. 1223 – 1245)) proved a less capable ruler, and domestic discord intensified on the eve of foreign invasion. First Mongol offensive, which would prove the ruin of Georgia, was preceded by the devastating conflict with Khwarazm ruler Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu ((r. 1220 – 1231)). When the Khwarezms invaded the region, Dvin was ruled by the aging Ivane, who had given Ani to his nephew Shanshe ((r. 1212 – 1261)), son of Zakaria. Georgian army under command of Ivane saw bitter defeat at the battle of Garni, the results of the battle was that a quarter of the Georgian army was annihilated, leaving the country poorly steeled against an upcoming Mongol invasion.

In 1236 Avag ((r. 1227 – 1250)), son and successor of Ivane, had been besieged by the Mongols in the fortress of Kayean (near Tavush), finally surrendered. He was gladly received by Chormaqan, who sent him to the Great Khan. Other powerful Armenian lords, such as Shanshe, Vahram Gageli ((r. 1230 – 49/51)) and his son Agbugha, and Hasan Jalal ((r. 1214 – 65/6)), a lord of the Khachen, followed Avag. They were confirmed in their fiefs. Rusudan was soon forced to accept the sovereignty of the Mongol Khan in 1242/3. Under the Mongols the Mkhargrdzelis other Armenian nobles continued to be the vassals of the Georgian monarch.

Mongol invasion and split of the monarchy
During the period of interregnum (1245–1250) in Georgia, with the two Davids absent at the court of the Great Khan in Karakorum, the Mongols divided the kingdom into eight districts (tumen), five of which belonged to the Georgians, the remaining three tumens were Armenian, i.e., the territories of the Zakarids of Ani; of the Avagids in Syunik and Artsakh; and of the Vahramids (Gagi, Shamkor and the surrounding area).

Armenia within the Kingdom of Eastern Georgia
The Mongol conquest of Georgia resulted in a disastrous situation; These inroads and settlements had a ruinous effect on Georgia's economic and political order. The huge taxes, occasional invasions and resettlements of nomadic tribes started to destroy the traditional demographic picture. In 1248-1249, high taxes imposed by the Mongols caused unrest in Georgia, but uprisings was harshly dealt suppressed. If the first rebellion in the Caucasus was against the repression of the Mongols, the second can be considered an internal clash between lords who were under the Georgian crown and those princes who were under Mongol patronage. Mongols preferred to have their own suzerainty over the Armenians and to see the Armenian lords attached to them rather than to the Georgian court, ensuring that the Georgio-Armenian lords were more disunited.

With the Abaqa Khan's initiation Sadun Mankaberdeli was appointed as an atabeg of Georgia. Mkhargrdzelis had lost its leading role to the Mankaberdelis. Being unable to pay taxes to the Ilkhanid court, Mkhargrdzelis had to trade a part of the city of Ani to Shams al-Dīn Juvaynī in 1263. The latter befriended Sadun Mankaberdeli and was married to Sadun’s protégée Khuashak, the daughter of Avag Mkhargrdzeli and Gvantsa Kakhaberisdze. Although the Mkhargrdzelis were in decline, this marriage gave the them a chance to gain prominence yet again. Beside the Mankaberdeli family, the Orbelian family gained a strong position through Tarsaich, the favourite of Abaqa.

Decline
Kingdom of Georgian was under the Mongol rule until 1335, when George V of Georgia ((r. 1299 – 1346)) took advantage of the civil war in the Ilkhanate (successor of Mongol Empire in Persia) and drove the last remaining Mongol troops out of Georgia.

Timurid invasion
The Turco-Mongol Timurid Empire (1370-1405) invaded Georgia in 1386. Their disastrous campaigns repeated for three more times. According to the Armenian historian of the 15th century, Thomas of Metsoph, Timur organized huge massacres in Armenia (especially in Syunik and Vaspurakan). Tamur’s last campaign, organized in 1403, caused some diseases and starvation. After Timur's death in 1405, his family quickly fell into disputes and civil wars, and many of the governorships became effectively independent.

Turkmen invasions
Turkomans, particularly the Kara Koyunlu clan, were among the first to rebel against Shah Rukh who ruled most of the Persia. After they established themselves as the new leading power in the middle east. They took advantage of the temporary weakness of Georgians and launched attacks against them. Most of Armenia became a part of the Turkmen Kara Koyunlu tribal confederation, and as a result around 1430 Qara Iskander declared himself to be “Shah-i-Arman” (i.e. “King of Armenia”).

Alexander I of Georgia who sought to strengthen and restore his declining Kingdom, reconquered Lori from the Turkomans in 1431, which was of great importance in securing of the Georgian borders. Around 1434/5, Alexander encouraged the Armenian prince Beshken II Orbelian to attack the Kara Koyunlu in Syunik and, for his victory, granted him Lori under terms of vassalage.

Economy and Society
Liberation of Armenian lands by Georgian monarchs meant the re-emergence of Christian rule in Armenian domains. This was a period of Georgian political hegemony, economic growth and cultural flourishing known as the Georgian Golden Age. The city of Ani and Dvin prospered again, this time as a trade station on the route to Trebizond, which had become a capital of Trebizond Empire after the Georgian invasion of Chaldia in 1204. The Armenian historians of those days paid tribute to King David for liberating the Armenians from foreign oppression and regarded him as the saviour of their people. King David did much to restore Armenian towns, build good roads and promote the welfare of the population. Large numbers of Georgian twelfth-century coins have been found on the territory of the former kingdom of Armenia.

Nobles endowed or rebuilt monastic complexes, supporting new intellectual enterprises and literary activities. The peasantry had a higher measure of freedom and prospered. The agricultural and craft production strongly increased. The mecatuns (the earliest form of Armenian urban bourgeoisie) are getting prominence and getting more wealth. The names of the donors from this class appear in the inscriptions of many churches. Some merchants, such as Tigran Honents, became very rich, as demonstrated by his lavish church on the eastern flank of Ani. These mecatuns are also beginning to replace nakharars as landowners.

De-Nakhararization of Armenia
During the 10-12th centuries, Georgian monarchs attempted to to circumvent powerful Georgian dynasts by relying on foreign mercenaries, the lesser nobility, and the increasingly influential Armenian emigre element. The availability of non-noble and foreign elements gave the Georgian Bagratids more leverage in dealing with dynasts. After the territorial expansion into historical Armenia, the Georgian monarchs had at its disposal an ample fund of land. To strengthen his state, King David IV of Georgia launched a major military and administrative reform; he introduced a new military and aristocratic rank, monapire, (Marcher Lord). Choice sites especially in the borderlands were available for gifts to court officials as rewards for military or other services, or to guarantee loyalty. They were given to a particular individual for the duration of his life or of his tenure. The fact remains, however, that with time, just as appointed offices (such as the amirspasalar) tended to become hereditary, so did those landholds become hereditary within one House of Mkhargrdzeli. Thus Mkhargrdzelis established themselves within a Georgian context at the Georgian court before returning to Armenia to take power there. The nature of their rule is unclear. At the Georgian court, and in many of their inscriptions in Armenia, they proclaimed their power through their Georgian court titles, and simply transliterated these into Armenian. Whilst this must have rendered the titles effectively meaningless to an Armenian audience, it made those deliberately foreign words signifiers of the non-Armenian source of their power.

Religious affairs
Common Orthodox religion had an enormous importantce for spiritual and political unification of Georgia. A genius tenth century Georgian scholar, Giorgi Merchule expressed a simple and clear idea: "Georgia is the land where the liturgy is performed in Georgian and all prayers are said in the Georgian language". In other words, the boundaries of Georgia were defined according to the area of spreading of Georgian as a State and church language.

In parallel with policy of religious tolernce, Georgian monarchs carefully and consistently sought to convert other Christian denominations particularly the monophysite Armenians, into the chalcedonian denomination. The tendency to unite the Armenian and Georgian Churches emerged in Georgia in the 12th century. Georgian monarchs were well aware that religious unity with Armenia would create a solid foundation for the further strengthening of Georgian-Armenian political relations, but this was seriously hindered by the religious particularism of the Armenians. If those Armenians adhered to the Georgian orientation, their compatriots and entourage immediately called them “Ivers” (i.e. Georgians). The disputes occasionally took the form of land disputes between monasteries.

Zakaria then summoned a Church council held in Lore to find a compromise, but Georgian dyophysites were adamant. Zakaria demanded a change in Armenian practice to bring it into line with the Georgians' acts, but was told by the Armenian priests that it needed approval from the Armenian Catholicos in Hromkla, and from Leo, the Armenian King in Cilicia. Whilst the authorities in Cilicia were fearful that Zakaria would convert like his brother and promulgated eight new canons. In 1208 Catholicos John VII of Georgia publicly banned Zakaria as ‘a heretic’ from taking communion. Ivane, unlike Zakaria, decided to be rebaptized as a dyophysite. Thus, when Ivane converted to Georgian Orthodoxy he publicly signalled a major shift in his identity and that of his family. The Georgian Chronicle records that when Ivane converted many chose to follow him. Armenian chroniclers explained Ivane's capture at Khilat by his conversion from Armenian to Georgian Orthodoxy. Before the Battle of Garni, Ivane even promised that he would force all the Armenians "to convert to the Georgians' religion, while they would kill those resisting".

Georgian orthodox eparchies in Armenia
In Armenia there have functioned at least three Orthodox-Georgian eparchies – Anisi (Ani), Kari (Kars) and Valashkerti (Valashkert).

Arts and Culture
The city of Ani remained the centre of Armenian culture. The Armenian architecture, influenced by the Georgian architecture, is then characterized by churches gaining in height; between 12th to 14th centuries under the Mkhargrdzeli rule Armenia saw an explosion in the number of monasteries built, including Saghmosavank Monastery, the Akhtala monastery, Kaymaklı Monastery, Kecharis Monastery and Makaravank Monastery. Monasteries were institutes of learning, and much of medieval Armenian literature was written in this time period.

The early thirteenth century also saw the translation of the compilation of The Georgian chronicles into Armenian. The sole extensive narrative record of Georgian history, It seems likely that this project was sponsored by the Mkhargrdzelis, and was designed to inculcate a sense of shared history with the Georgians.