"A Written History of the Kingdom of Georgia..."
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Chapter 1.2
The beginning of the campaign that would change Georgia forever was not the invasion of the Timurids at the end of the year – no, it happened in January of 1399, upon the cusp of winter’s break. Though the mountains were packed with snow, Georgian troops moved east – news of the Conqueror Timur had reached them, and their chief rival, the Caucasian Emirate of Qara Koyunlu, struggled to protect itself against the Timurid Horde. Georgia would seize this opportunity to become the dominant state of the Caucasus, to expand their power and remind local powers that they were not afraid of Islam any longer.
The majority of Georgia’s standing army, including 1,000 Alanian horses, marched east through the mountains, reaching the lands between the mountains and the Caspian Sea surprisingly quickly. The Emir’s armies were in the south, trying to resist the Timurid invasion, and villages and towns all along the shores of the Caspian sea fell before the quick advance of the Alanian cavalry. This continued for over a month before news reached General Takaishvili that a force of Persian cavalry under a Timurid general had advanced north into Qarabagh. Rather than risk confrontation with the Mongols, he ordered a halt to the advance. The Mongols were marching northwest, and there was a possibility they would be needed to defend Tbilisi from them.
Knowing that their rival feared the Timurids far more than he feared the Georgians, Giorgi VII sent an offer to Muslim lands. Georgia would advance no further and would form a united front against the Timurid invasion on the condition that they be paid tribute in gold and the lands they had conquered so far. If they refused this offer, Takaishvili would continue to advance and crush the weakened Emirate’s armies. Faced with little other choice, Qara Koyunlu folded, surrendering their territory and granting Georgia access to the Caspian Sea.
The gains made in the Caspian Sea campaign were significant – though the areas Georgia had conquered were predominantly Muslim, they were reasonably populous and would give Georgia significant power over its weaker neighbour. This would spell the beginning of Georgian imperialism, and the beginning of a new era for the country. The first of many lands had been claimed, and the Georgians determined to become masters of the Caucasus forevermore.
The Georgian army would return to Imereti victorious, and for most of the remainder of the year, news would remain good. The Timurids, faced with resistance from both the local Emirates and Georgia, ceased its advances towards Tbilisi and headed for occupied Armenia. The Ottoman Turks were launching counter-attacks east, hoping to blunt the Timurid offensive – this would force Timur to concentrate most of his forces against the Anatolian Empire and would leave the Empire’s soft interior vulnerable.
The Georgians cared not so long as their lands were safe, and were entered into a relative era of prosperity. The new Caspian territories had granted their economy new options, and for a country so reliant on Alanian gold, this was an important thing. The country had been left unstable in the wake of Giorgi’s early failures, but now it seemed Georgia might recover – Georgia’s economy focused itself on the arts, philosophy and culture, helping the citizens remember the golden country it once was. They had endured one Mongol invasion, and they would endure this one. The King’s advisors worked day and night to bring confidence to the people.
Ambassadors were sent across the Black Sea to Bessarabia, where they would travel north. By the late summer, these men would reach the great city of Moskva, the juggernaught of the Russian plains. There, King Giorgi would propose to the Grand Duke of Moscow a pact to protect one another in the event of an invasion by the Tartars, to be sealed by offering the Duke’s son Giorgi’s own daughter. The alliance was accepted, and the two would be married within the month.
It seemed things had grown brighter in Georgia’s future, and the people were rejoicing as the fear seemed to subside. But then the news game, in the late of December – Timurid armies marched for Imereti, a horde that outnumbered Georgia’s own army by seven times, and was led by the Khan himself. Takaishvili ordered the retreat from the province, and issued the decree that no Georgian would surrender to a Mongol again. Word was spread to the villages, who would resist bitterly and to the end. Many packed up any belongings they had to flee north or east.
The Timurid Horde steadily entered the Caucasus and found little to sustain them – used to campaigning on the spoils of pillaged lands, the attrition they suffered was horrendous – thousands died marching through the mountainous, snowy terrain. All wealth had been taken to Tbilisi, and those villages who had not fled bitterly resisted them, forcing numerous massacres and only enraging the Georgian people more.
Though the Georgian Army was also attempting to flee, on the 11th of February, the Khan’s faster-moving forces encircled 3,000 footmen near Imereti itself. The soldiers would fight bitterly but, being no match for the Khan’s armies, were crushed utterly. Only Georgia’s cavalry forces remained to resist the Khan, and numbering a mere 1,000 men, they would stand no hope of resisting Timur’s assault. Imereti was abandoned to the Khan.
"The Khan's men annihilate the Georgian Foot."
The Timurids would find no solace in Imereti, though – the city was well-fortified and held a large garrison which was determined to resist any assault. Used to cities surrendering before they approached, Timur lacked the siege weaponry necessary to crack the city in any sort of speed. An initial assault was attempted, but driven back (albeit with heavy casualties). Two months into the campaign and the Timurids had yet to take one bit of real plunder. Morale had plummeted and thousands had died from starvation in the harsh winter of the mountains.
Then, news reached Timur that Azerbaijani was in open revolt and the Black Sheep Turkomans had advanced into Persia. More news came that an Ottoman Army of 15,000 men had reached Erzurum, and had laid siege to the city. Faced with stubborn resistance in the Caucasus and little profit, the horde prepared to turn back. Timur sent word to Giorgi VII that, if he was given a small tribute, no greater than the tribute of wealth given to Georgia by Qara Koyunlu, he would leave the Caucasian kingdom to its own devices.
Though Giorgi loathed the thought of giving in to this man’s demands, his advisors insisted that they do so, and he relented, accepting the Khan’s proposal. Within a week, Timur’s horde had turned back to fight the Turks, and Georgia was safe from their advance. On April 7th of the year 1400, a shipment of Alanian gold arrived at Timur’s camp, and a formal peace treaty was signed between Timur and Giorgi. Officially it stated that Giorgi was subservient to Timur, but unofficially both sides knew there was no way for Timur to practically enforce this demand.
Much to Giorgi’s dismay, Takaishvili received far greater credit than he for the successful resistance of Timur Khan. He was lauded as a national hero and there was a great boom of children named Kaihosro in his honour. Though the Imereti region was devastated by the war, it would recover over the next year and Georgia would see the eventual collapse of the Timurid Empire under the weight of its myriad wars. Rebellions plagued the mighty state and it seemed that it would lose control of everything from Persia to Turkey as the Ottomans fought mercilessly.
Georgia’s great rejuvenation had begun.