Siege of Derbent in 1173 or 1174 was a successful

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

Derbent Derbent (russian: Дербе́нт; lez, Кьвевар, Цал; az, Дәрбәнд, italic=no, Dərbənd; av, Дербенд; fa, دربند), formerly romanized as Derbend, is a city in Dagestan, Russia, located on the Caspian Sea. It i ...

, by the Shirvanese 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 ...

allies against Rus', Alan and Kipchak raiders.

History

Akhsitan I Akhsitan I (also spelled Akhsatan; fa, اخستان یکم, Aḵestān) was the Shirvanshah after 1160, and thought to have reigned until the years 1197–1203/04. He was the son and successor of Manuchihr III (). His mother was Tamar, a Georg ...

's reign saw raids of Rus' which sailed from

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchm ...

and threatening shores of river Kura. They crossed the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

on 73 ships and, having dropped anchor near island Ruinas (Sari), went up the Kura to Lemberana. At the same time, the Kipchaks occupied Derbent and, having proceeded to the south, occupied the citadel

Shabran Shabran District ( az, Şabran rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the north-east of the country and belongs to the Guba-Khachmaz Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Khachmaz, Quba, Khizi and ...

. During the period Sharvan had established close matrimonial ties with the Christian

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 the Georgian kings had several times supported Sharvan in its struggle against al-Bab (Derbent). Akhsitan called his ally

George III of Georgia George III ( ka, გიორგი III) (died 27 March 1184), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the 8th King of Georgia from 1156 to 1184. He became king when his father, Demetrius I, died in 1156, which was preceded by his brother's revolt agains ...

, which in 1173 or 1174 accompanied the Georgian army on an expedition to

Shirvan Shirvan (from fa, شروان, translit=Shirvān; az, Şirvan; Tat: ''Şirvan''), also spelled as Sharvān, Shirwan, Shervan, Sherwan and Šervān, is a historical Iranian region in the eastern Caucasus, known by this name in both pre-Islam ...

up to the

Caspian Caspian can refer to: *The Caspian Sea *The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea *The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea *Caspian languages, collection of languages and dialects of Caspian peopl ...

shores, where George with the future

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 ...

emperor Andronicus recaptured the fortress of Shabaran from the invaders from Dernemt for his cousin, the Shirvanshah

and strengthened the Georgian dominance in the area. Yevgeni Pakhomov and

Vladimir Minorsky Vladimir Fyodorovich Minorsky (russian: Владимир Фёдорович Минорский; – March 25, 1966) was a Russian Orientalist best known for his contributions to the study of Persian, Lurish and Kurdish history, geography, ...

thought the invasion was initiated by the ruler of Darbent, Bek-Bars b. Muzaffar. According to Minorsky, "the initiative of Bek-Bars was independent of Kiev, and he must have used bands of free-lances (

Brodnici The Brodnici (russian: Бродники, ukr, Бродники) were a tribe of disputed origin. Etymology In some opinions, the name, as used by foreign chronicles, means a person in charge of a ford (water crossing) in Slavic language (cf. Sla ...

) who were roaming in the south, as a prototype of the future Cossacks". Georgian sources speak of the Khazars, but do not mention Rus' in connection with this event. Peter Golden argued that the Rus' mentioned by Khaqani were Volga pirates who came in 73 ships.

References

Works cited

* * {{cite journal , last1=Minorsky , first1=V. , title=Khāqānī and Andronicus Comnenus , journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London , date=1945 , volume=11 , issue=3 , pages=550–578 , jstor=609336 , doi=10.1017/S0041977X0007227X , s2cid=161748303 12th century in the Kingdom of Georgia