Battle of Didgori 1121 - Georgian-Seljuk War DOCUMENTARY

rear.   As the two sides formed up, a Muslim cleric attacked, inspiring the rest to join him.   The Crusaders on the right and center held their ground, while archers on both sides exchanged fire, but the

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was decided on the left, where the Turcopolo mercenaries were pushed towards the center, breaking the formation. The confusion only intensified when a north wind blew dust into the knights' faces, obscuring their vision, and before long they were surrounded by the larger host.   Most of the army was killed or captured, including Roger himself, who was hit by a sword.  The Antiochene army was decimated and many cities fell into the hands of the Artúcids.

A few months later, King Baldwin II faced Ilghazi at the Battle of Hab, where 700 knights and a few thousand infantry won a narrow tactical victory, with both sides suffering heavy losses.   Antioch was spared, but losses caused it to quickly fall under the influence of the new Byzantine emperor John II Komnenus.  Ilghazi managed to turn the second

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into another victory, presenting himself as the Islamic champion, who managed to defeat the crusaders, comparing himself to the Seljuk sultan Mahmud II, who was little more than a puppet.  Meanwhile, to the north, around 1120 the Emirate of Tiflis was ruled by a wealthy merchant oligarchy, isolated from the rest of the Muslim world and faced with an expansionist Christian state.   Suddenly, David was the one who demanded tribute from the Muslims and even subjugated Shirvan that same year.

In response, merchants from Tbilisi-Ganja and Dmanisi asked Ilghazi to help them against this growing threat. While some Seljuks joined this coalition, it is important to note that the sultan himself had limited power and gave little more than his blessings to the campaign.   This was an opportunity for Ilghazi to capitalize on his fame and significantly expand his status against the Georgian aggressors, so he signed a one-year truce with the crusaders and gathered his forces, joined by the atabeg of Ganja and emirs. minors from Armenia. .  At this point, we should address the controversial points that have caused the impending battle of Didgori to be considered more of a legend than a real fact.

In essence, history is the study of sources and every source has some level of bias or agenda. Over time, certain chroniclers, scholars or states can distort perceptions on a given topic and the Battle of Didgori is one of the most egregious examples. Some Islamic contemporaries ignored or omitted the events, while Christian scholars exaggerated the number of the Islamic coalition to 800,000. In this and many other cases, nationalism only made matters worse, as at various times nations looked to glorious moments from their past in an attempt to solidify their identity, a process that was further complicated by two centuries of Russian rule and Soviet, which at times attempted to suppress national identities, while at other times used them as a means of propaganda.   Many generations saw this battle as a heroic last Christian stand against an imminent Muslim power, when in reality both sides had soldiers of both religions and purely political interests.   Fortunately, the newly translated works, which have come to us thanks to the great work of people like Ph.D.   Nika Khoperia, please allow us to present to you a more accurate version of these important events.  First, let's look at the army composition of the two sides.

The fact that Ilghazi led an army of 20,000 men in 1119 gives us a good idea of ​​how large his army was in

1121

. His own force was joined by many smaller factions who wanted to retaliate against the Georgian raids, so the The figure of 30,000, quoted from the Arab historian Ibn al-Athir, writing in the 13th century, is very plausible.   The numbers of the Georgian army were also exaggerated, especially considering the population of the region and how many fortresses needed to be garrisoned.   Georgian military historian Soso Margishvili believes that David had between 15 and 18 thousand soldiers in his army. This number included several thousand highly trained Kipchaks, the heavy cavalry of the royal guard or Monaspa, 500 Alan mercenaries, and 200 francs.

The inclusion of the Franks is unlikely, but not impossible. Small, well-trained detachments of 20 and 100 members increased the flexibility of this force, allowing it to perform difficult military maneuvers.  In early June

1121

, the Islamic coalition left Mardin and advanced through Erzerum, Kars, until they reached Trialeti, strengthening as members of the coalition arrived. The objective was to reach Mtkvari and establish a base of operations, achieving the capture of Tbilisi. impossible.   However, these moves were anticipated and followed by David IV, who confronted the coalition at noon in Tbilisi. The conventional wisdom is that the battle was fought on Didgori Mountain, but in reality, according to sources and terrain, that was not the location of the engagement nor was there a single battle.

This was not so much a single battle between two forces as a campaign with numerous military actions and skirmishes.   In mid-August a trap was laid at Ilghazi: 200 Kipchak horse archers abandoned the main army and fled to the camp of Ilghazi, who welcomed the deserters to his host. Shortly after, the nomads attacked the camp and shot every commander they saw before fleeing. The chase lasted several hours, until the coalition entered a valley. Hidden from view to the west, David waited, while his son, Prince Demetrius, stood to the right.  As the enemy approached, the king gave a speech to boost the morale of his soldiers quoted by the crusader chronicler Walter the Chancellor: “Soldiers of Christ!

If we fight with abandon, defending the faith of our Lord, we will not only defeat the countless servants of Satan, but the Devil himself. I will only advise you one thing that will increase our honor and our benefit: raising our hands to Heaven, we will all swear to our Lord that, in the name of his love, we will rather die on the battlefield than flee. who were untouched by the royal words, fallen trees piled up behind them, ensuring that there could only be one way forward. As the enraged Ilghazi pushed his force further into the valley, a contingent of heavy cavalry collided with his vanguard and halted his momentum.

At this time, Georgian forces arrived from both sides and faced the larger, but confused enemy.   The pointed spears crashed into the artuqids, while the Kipchak archers fired arrows.   Soon Ilghazi was seriously wounded and fled with the remains of his army, leaving a considerable amount of captives and booty for David. This carefully planned maneuver utilized the strengths of the Kipchaks, the Royal Guard, well-trained infantry detachments and the intelligence network in ideal terrain. By denying access to the economic center of Tbilisi, David ensured that the war would be fought on his terms. This point becomes even more evident if we include Georgian military historian Soso Margishvili's suggestion that David attacked and defeated Ganja's army even before the coalition was assembled.  The following year, Georgia took control of the city and made it the new capital of her kingdom.   In 1124 Dmansi, Shirvan and Ani also fell.  When David came to the throne in 1089, at the age of sixteen, he inherited a fractured, plundered and weak state, and fought for its survival.

Now, at the age of 51, he lay on his deathbed leaving behind him a united and consolidated regional power.   It is difficult to determine to what extent this battle changed the geopolitical situation, but it is undeniable that David IV Bagrationi turned Georgia into a regional power, setting the stage for Georgia's future golden era that will come with Queen Tamar the Great. We will talk about his reign and more events that happened in the Caucasus in our future videos, so be sure to subscribe and hit the bell button to watch them. Please consider liking, commenting and sharing, it helps us tremendously.  Our videos would be impossible to produce without our kind sponsors and YouTube channel members whose ranks you can join via the links below in the description to find out our schedule, get early access to our videos, access our discord, and much more.

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