Battle of Shirimni ( ka, შირიმნის ბრძოლა) also known as the Battle of Palakazio was fought between the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

armies at the place of Shirimni at the Palakazio Lake (now Childir,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

; then part of Georgia) on September 11, 1021.

Background

The battle was preceded by the two-decade-long dispute over the Georgian '' courapalates''’ succession that included several Byzantine-Georgian-

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

n marchlands in

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. A full-scale war erupted when the Georgian king

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgor ...

took the disputed areas by force, 1014. In retaliation the Byzantine emperor

Basil II Basil II Porphyrogenitus ( gr, Βασίλειος Πορφυρογέννητος ;) and, most often, the Purple-born ( gr, ὁ πορφυρογέννητος, translit=ho porphyrogennetos).. 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar S ...

led, in 1021, a large army into Georgia pushing the Georgians back to their inner frontiers.

Battle

Both Byzantine and Georgian armies were led by the monarchs themselves. Basil’s army included many

Varangian Guard The Varangian Guard ( el, Τάγμα τῶν Βαράγγων, ''Tágma tōn Varángōn'') was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army from the tenth to the fourteenth century who served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors. The Varangi ...

s while George was reinforced by Armenian auxiliaries. The two armies met at a village Shirimni at the Palakazio Lake. The Georgians were close to winning the battle, but powerful counterattacks by Basil proved to be decisive. Two Georgian high-ranking generals, Rati

Baghvashi The Liparitids ( ka, ლიპარიტები), also known as Baghuashi (ბაღჳაში), were a noble house ('' didebuli'') in medieval Georgia, with notable members from the 9th to 12th centuries and famed for their powerful resistanc ...

and Khursi were killed in action. Following this costly victory, the emperor plundered the nearby lands and returned to his dominions to winter at

Trapezius The trapezius is a large paired trapezoid-shaped surface muscle that extends longitudinally from the occipital bone to the lower thoracic vertebrae of the spine and laterally to the spine of the scapula. It moves the scapula and supports the ...

References

* René Grousset, L'Empire du Levant : Histoire de la Question d'Orient, Paris, Payot, coll. « Bibliothèque historique », 1949 (réimpr. 1979), 648 p. (), p. 153 Shirimni Shirimni 1020s in the Byzantine Empire Conflicts in 1021 Battles of Basil II Byzantine–Georgian wars 1021 in Asia 1021 in Europe 11th century in the Kingdom of Georgia {{battle-stub

Background

Battle

See also

References