The Battle of Partskhisi ( ka, ფარცხისის ბრძოლა) was fought between the armies of
Kingdom of Georgia
The Kingdom of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამეფო, tr), also known as the Georgian Empire, was a medieval Eurasian monarchy that was founded in circa 1008 AD. It reached its Golden Age of political and economic ...
and
Seljuk Empire
The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turko-Persian, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total area of from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to ...
. After hours of intense fighting, Georgians won a decisive victory over the Turks.
Description
After a brief campaign conducted by
Melik-Shah I of Seljuq Empire in southern
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, the emperor handed the duchies of
Samshvilde and
Arran to a certain "Sarang of Gandza", referred to as Savthang in Arabic sources. Leaving 48,000 cavalrymen to Sarang, he ordered another campaign to bring Georgia fully under the dominion of
Seljuq Empire
The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turko-Persian, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total area of from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to t ...
. The ruler of Arran, aided by the Muslim rulers of
Dmanisi
Dmanisi ( ka, დმანისი, tr, , az, Başkeçid) is a town and archaeological site in the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia approximately 93 km southwest of the nation’s capital Tbilisi in the river valley of Mashavera. The hominin ...
,
Dvin and
Ganja marched his army into Georgia.
The dating of the invasion is disputed among modern Georgian scholars. While the battle is mostly dated in 1074 (Lortkipanidze, Berdzenishvili, Papaskiri),
Prof. Ivane Javakhishvili puts the time somewhere around 1073 and 1074. 19th-century Georgian historian
Tedo Jordania dates the battle in 1077. According to the latest research, the battle happened either in August or in September 1075 A.D.
Giorgi II, with military support of
Aghsartan I of Kakheti
Aghsartan I ( ka, აღსართან I; died 1084) was a King of Kakheti and Hereti in eastern Georgia from 1058 until his death in 1084.
Life
He succeeded on the death of his father Gagik of Kakheti. His reign coincided with the Seljuk ...
, met the invaders near the castle of Partskhisi. Although the details of the battle remain largely unstudied, it is known that one of the most powerful Georgian nobles,
Ivane Baghuashi of Kldekari, allied to the Seljuks, handing them his son, Liparit, as a political prisoner as a pledge of loyalty. The battle raged on for an entire day, finally ending with a decisive victory for
Giorgi II of Georgia.
The momentum gained after the victory of an important battle fought in Partskhisi allowed the Georgians to recapture all the territories lost to the
Seljuk Empire
The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turko-Persian, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total area of from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to ...
(
Kars,
Samshvilde) as well as the
Byzantine Empire
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 ...
(
Anacopia,
Klarjeti
Klarjeti ( ka, კლარჯეთი ) was a province of ancient and medieval Georgia, which is now part of Turkey's Artvin Province. Klarjeti, the neighboring province of Tao and several other smaller districts, constituted a larger region wi ...
,
Shavsheti,
Ardahan
Ardahan (, ka, არტაანი, tr, hy, Արդահան, translit=Ardahan Russian: Ардаган) is a city in northeastern Turkey, near the Georgian border.
It is the capital of Ardahan Province.
History
Ancient and medieval
Ardaha ...
,
Javakheti
Javakheti ( ka, ჯავახეთი ) or Javakhk ( hy, Ջավախք, ''Javakhk'') is a historical province in southern Georgia, corresponding to the modern municipalities of Akhalkalaki, Aspindza (partly), Ninotsminda, and partly to the Turk ...
).
[''Studi bizantini e neoellenici: Compte-rendu'', Volume 15, Issue 4, 1980, pg. 194-195]
References
{{reflist
Partskhisi
Partskhisi
Partskhisi
11th century in the Kingdom of Georgia
1070s in Asia
1070s in Europe