Battle of Garni

Battle of Garni
Date 1225 Location Garni, Armenia Result Khwarazmian army victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Georgia	Khwarezmid Empire
Commanders and leaders
Ivane Mkhargrdzeli	Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu
Strength
70,000	100,000-180,000
Casualties and losses
15,000	9,000

The Battle of Garni took place near Garni in Armenia that was a vassal to Georgia, it was fought in 1225 by Georgians and Armenians, together with some 70,000 menagainst Khwarazmians (estimated 100,000 to 180,000 men); the invaders were led by Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, the desperate last sultan of the Khwarezmid Empire who, driven from his realm by the Mongols, was trying to recapture it. Having his request of an alliance being rejected by the Georgians, he attacked them. In the battle at Garni Georgia was heavily defeated; as a result the royal court with Queen Rusudan (1223-1245) moved to Kutaisi and the country was left exposed to subsequent Mongol aggression.

Prelude

Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu sent an abasement letter to the Queen Rusudan demanding subordination of Georgia under him. At the same time Jalal ad-Din asked other Muslim leaders to join their forces against Kingdom of Georgia to put an end to it's dominion over region. Georgian leaders did not take seriously Jalal ad-Din's threat and in a reply they reminded Jalal ad-Din about his shameful defeat with Mongols. Georgians had no idea of how strong Jalal ad-Din was.

Strength

Under the command of Queen Rusudan, a messenger was sent to the regions of Kingdom of Georgia to gather troops. During that period the Kingdom could gather 80,000-90,000 men, but Georgians had reserved some troops, gathering only 60,000-70,000. The strength of invaders was far more. According to the unknown Georgian chronicler, which is called as "jamtaagmwereli" , the army of Jalal ad-din was 140,000. Armenian sources say that the muslim coalition was up to 200,000.

Disposal

The Georgian vanguard was led by Toreli brothers - Shalva Akhaltiskheli and Ivane Akhaltsikheli. Georgian army was disposed on heights, Khwarazmians were on low lands.

Battle

The battle began by Khwarazmian army's left wing attacking on Georgian vanguard. Soon the main forces of Khwarazmians engaged in battle. During this time Shalva Toreli-Akhaltiskheli and Ivane Toreli-Akhaltsikheli sent a messenger to the Georgian commander Ivane Atabag-Mkhargrdzeli several times asking them to engage in the battle because some advantages had been archieved by vanguard. But Georgian main forces did not move. Georgian vanguard was forced to retreat. Ivane Atabag-Mkhargrdzeli ordered his troops to leave the battlefield, leaving Shalva and Ivane Akhaltsikheli in their enemies' hands.

The results of betrayal were that the Georgian army's 1/4 was completely annihilated,leaving country defenseless against Mongol invasions of Georgia, capture of Dvin and bringing about the end of Georgia's medieval heyday. The main causes of defeat of Georgian Army were weakening of king's power and existence of envy and grudge between Georgian grand feudal lords.