1.
George I of Georgia
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There was also a Giorgi I, Catholicos of Kartli who ruled in 677–678. Giorgi I, of the House of Bagrationi, was the king of Georgia from 1014 until his death in 1027 and he spent most of his thirteen-year-long reign waging a bloody and fruitless territorial war with the Byzantine Empire. Giorgi was born in 998 or, according to a version of the Georgian chronicles,1002. Upon his father’s death on 7 May 1014, he inherited the kingdoms of Abkhazia, Kartli, as his predecessor, Giorgi continued to be titled as King of the Abkhazians and Georgians. Contemporary sources, however, frequently omitted one of the two components of this title when abbreviating it, the new sovereign’s young age was immediately exploited by the great nobles, who had been suppressed under the heavy hand of Bagrat. All the efforts by David’s stepson and Giorgi’s father, Bagrat III, young and ambitious, Giorgi launched a campaign to restore the Kuropalates’ succession to Georgia and occupied Tao in 1015–1016. He also entered in an alliance with the Fatimid Caliph of Egypt, Al-Hakim, beyond that, the Byzantines were at that time involved in a relentless war with the Bulgar Empire, limiting their actions to the west. But as soon as Bulgaria was conquered, and Al-Hakim was no more alive, however, the imperial courier could not overtake the prince – he was already in the Georgian possessions. Giorgi was evidently preparing to take revenge for his defeat, and he was buried in the Bagrati Cathedral in his capital Kutaisi. A recently discovered grave, presumably robbed in the 19th century, is proposed to have belonged to Giorgi I, the most important representation of Giorgi I in historical fiction is probably in Konstantine Gamsakhurdias magnum opus, The Hand of the Great Master. The author has noted that he has been deeply interested in Georges character and historical figure for a long time, as well as his reign full of turmoil. In the story, the king is portrayed as a philanderer who enjoys feasting in low-class taverns with his comrades disguised as random peasants. The author seems to be emphasizing on the human, fleshly wishes and desires despite his position on the social ladder, such as lust, love, loathing
2.
Basil II
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Basil II was a Byzantine Emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025. He was known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his supposed ancestor, the early years of his long reign were dominated by civil war against powerful generals from the Anatolian aristocracy. For this he was nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer, by which he is popularly known and his reign is therefore often seen as the medieval apogee of the Empire. She originated from the Peloponnese, possibly from the city of Sparta, Basils paternal ancestry is of uncertain origins, his putative ancestor Basil I, the founder of the dynasty, being variously ascribed Armenian, Slavic, or Greek origins. Indeed the biological father of Leo VI the Wise was possibly not Basil I, the family of Michael III were Anatolian Greeks from Phrygia, though originally of the Melchisedechian heretical faith. In 960, Basil was associated on the throne by his father, who died in 963. Nikephoros was murdered in 969 by his nephew John I Tzimisces, when Tzimisces died on 10 January 976, Basil II finally took the throne as senior emperor. Basil was a soldier and a superb horseman, and he would prove himself as an able general. Basil waited and watched without interfering, devoting himself to learning the details of administrative business, even though Nikephoros II Phokas and John I Tzimiskes were brilliant military commanders, both had proven to be lax administrators. Skleros was allowed to live, but he ended his days blind, perhaps through disease and these rebellions had a profound effect on Basils outlook and methods of governance. The historian Psellus describes the defeated Bardas Skleros giving Basil the following advice, let no generals on campaign have too many resources. Exhaust them with unjust exactions, to keep them busied with their own affairs, admit no woman to the imperial councils. Share with few your most intimate plans, Basil, it would appear, took this advice to heart. In order to defeat these dangerous revolts, Basil formed an alliance with Prince Vladimir I of Kiev, who in 988 had captured Chersonesos, Vladimir offered to evacuate Chersonesos and to supply 6,000 of his soldiers as reinforcements to Basil. In exchange he demanded to be married to Basils younger sister Anna, the Byzantines viewed all the nations of Northern Europe, be they Franks or Slavs, as barbarians. Anna herself objected to marrying a barbarian ruler, as such a marriage would have no precedence in imperial annals, Vladimir had conducted long-running research into different religions, including sending delegates to various countries. Marriage was not his primary reason for choosing the Orthodox religion, when Vladimir promised to baptize himself and to convert his people to Christianity, Basil finally agreed. Vladimir and Anna were married in the Crimea in 989, the Rus recruitments were instrumental in ending the rebellion, and they were later organized into the Varangian Guard
3.
Tao (historical region)
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Tao is a historical Georgian region in the territory of modern Turkey. Its name derives from the name of Taochi, its oldest inhabitants, in the Middle Ages, it was a province within various Georgian royal Bagrationi kingdoms and states from the 8th to the 16th century. Afterwards, the region was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, tao-Klarjeti Klarjeti Diauehi Taochi Tayk Georgia in Encyclopædia Britannica Online
4.
Klarjeti
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The Klarjeti was a province of ancient and medieval Georgia, which is now part of the Artvin Province and Ardahan Province, northeastern Turkey. Klarjeti, the province of Tao and several other smaller districts constituted a larger region with shared history. Klarjeti, traversed by the Chorokhi, stretched from the Arsiani Range westwards, towards the Black Sea and it was bordered by Shavsheti and Nigali on the north, and Tao on the south. The region roughly corresponds to Cholarzene of Classical sources and probably to Kaţarza or Quturza of the earlier Urartian records. In the 370s division of Iberia between the Roman and Iranian empires, Klarjeti passed to the former, but it is unknown whether as a province or as a vassal. The marriage of the Chosroid king Vakhtang I of Iberia to the Roman princess Helena seems to have enabled the Iberians to regain the province c,786, when the Guaramid possessions passed to their resurgent cousins from the Bagrationi family. The Bagrationi dynasty presided over a period of prosperity and cultural revival in the area. The taxes collected at Artanuji were a factor in the rise of the Bagrationi power. Around 870, Klarjeti became a fiefdom of one of the three principal branches of the Georgian Bagrationi rulers. This line—known in the medieval Georgian records as the Sovereigns of Klarjeti —was eventually dispossessed by their cousin Bagrat III, Klarjeti never fully recovered from a series of Seljuk attacks later in the 11th century and further declined in the Mongol and Timurs invasions in the 13th and 14th century. After the partition of the Kingdom of Georgia in the 15th century, Klarjeti passed to the princes of Meskheti who lost the area to the Ottoman conquest in 1551
5.
Transcaucasia
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Transcaucasia, or the South Caucasus, is a geopolitical region in the vicinity of the southern Caucasus Mountains on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. Transcaucasia roughly corresponds to modern Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, Transcaucasia and Ciscaucasia together comprise the larger Caucasus geographical region that divides Eurasia. All of present-day Armenia is in Transcaucasia, the majority of present-day Georgia and Azerbaijan, including the exclave of Nakhchivan, parts of Iran and Turkey are also included within the region of Transcaucasia. Goods produced in the region include oil, manganese ore, tea, citrus fruits and it remains one of the most politically tense regions in the post-Soviet area, and contains three heavily disputed areas, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Nagorno-Karabakh. Between 1878 and 1917 the Russian controlled province of Kars Oblast was also incorporated into the Transcaucasus, Transcaucasia is a Latin rendering of the Russian-language word zakavkazie, meaning the area beyond the Caucasus Mountains. This implies a Russian vantage point, and is analogous to similar terms such as Transnistria and Transleithania, other forms of this word include Trans-Caucasus and Transcaucasus. The region is referred to as Southern Caucasia and the South Caucasus. Located on the peripheries of Turkey, Iran and Russia, the region has been an arena for political, military, religious, throughout history, Transcaucasia was usually under the direct rule of the various in-Iran based empires and part of the Iranian world. In the course of the 19th century, Qajar Iran had to cede the region as a result of the two Russo-Persian Wars of that century to Imperial Russia. Ancient kingdoms of the region included Armenia, Albania and Iberia, later, the Orthodox Christian Kingdom of Georgia dominated most of Transcaucasia. The region was conquered by the Seljuk, Mongol, Turkic, Safavid, Ottoman, Afsharid. The 1826-1828 conquerings were confirmed in the 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay, in 1801, what is now Georgia was formally incorporated into the Russian Empire. After 1828-1829 war, Ottomans ceded Western Georgia except Adjaria, which was known as Sanjak of Batum, finally after Russo-Turkish War, Russians completed conquest of Transcaucasus. In 1844, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan were combined into a single czarist government-general, Transcaucasia, in particular where modern-day Turkey, Georgia, Armenia and Iran are located, is one of the native areas of the wine-producing vine Vitis vinifera. Some experts speculate that Transcaucasia may be the birthplace of wine production, archaeological excavations and carbon dating of grape seeds from the area have dated back to 7000–5000 BC. Wine found in Iran has been dated to c. 7400 BC and c. 5000 BC, the earliest winery, dated to c. 4000 BC, was found in Armenia
6.
Trabzon
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Trabzon is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a gateway to Persia in the southeast. Trabzon formed the basis of states in its long history and was the capital city of the Empire of Trebizond between 1204 and 1461. During the early period, Trabzon, because of the importance of its port, became a focal point of trade to Iran. The Turkish name of the city is Trabzon and it is historically known in English as Trebizond. In Latin, Trabzon was called Trapezus, which is the latinization of the Ancient Greek Τραπεζοῦς, both in Pontic Greek and Modern Greek, it is called Τραπεζούντα. In Ottoman Turkish and Persian, it is written as طربزون, during Ottoman times, Tara Bozan was also used. Some western geographers used this name instead of the Latin Trebizond, in Laz it is known as ტამტრა or Trapuzani, in Georgian it is ტრაპიზონი and in Armenian it is Տրապիզոն Trapizon. The 19th-century Armenian travelling priest Byjiskian called the city by other, native names, including Hurşidabat, in classical antiquity the city was founded as Τραπεζοῦς by Milesian traders. It was one of a number of Milesian emporia or trading colonies along the shores of the Black Sea, others include Sinope, Abydos and Cyzicus. Like most Greek colonies, the city was an enclave of Greek life. Early banking activity is suggested occurring in the city according to a silver coin from Trapezus in the British Museum. Trebizonds trade partners included the Mossynoeci, when Xenophon and the Ten Thousand mercenaries were fighting their way out of Persia, the first Greek city they reached was Trebizond. The city and the local Mossynoeci had become estranged from the Mossynoecian capital, xenophons force resolved this in the rebels favor, and so in Trebizonds interest. The city was added to the kingdom of Pontus by Mithridates VI Eupator, when the kingdom was annexed to the Roman province of Galatia in 64–65, the fleet passed to new commanders, becoming the Classis Pontica. Trebizond gained importance under Roman rule in the 1st century for its access to roads leading over the Zigana Pass to the Armenian frontier or the upper Euphrates valley, new roads were constructed from Persia and Mesopotamia under the rule of Vespasian. In the next century, the emperor Hadrian commissioned improvements to give the city a more structured harbor, a mithraeum now serves as a crypt for the church and monastery of Panagia Theoskepastos in nearby Kizlara, east of the citadel and south of the modern harbor. Although Trebizond was rebuilt after being pillaged by the Goths in 258, only in the reign of Diocletian appears an inscription alluding to the restoration of the city, Ammianus Marcellinus could only write of Trebizond that it was not an obscure town
7.
Tamar of Georgia
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Tamar the Great reigned as the Queen of Georgia from 1184 to 1213, presiding over the apex of the Georgian Golden Age. A member of the Bagrationi dynasty, her position as the first woman to rule Georgia in her own right was emphasized by the title mepe, Tamar was successful in neutralizing this opposition and embarked on an energetic foreign policy aided by the decline of the hostile Seljuq Turks. Tamar was married twice, her first union being, from 1185 to 1187, to the Rus prince Yuri, whom she divorced and expelled from the country, defeating his subsequent coup attempts. For her second husband Tamar chose, in 1191, the Alan prince David Soslan and she remains an important symbol in Georgian popular culture and has been canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church as the Holy Righteous Queen Tamar, with her feast day commemorated on 14 May. Tamar was born in circa 1160 to George III, King of Georgia, and his consort Burdukhan, while it is possible that Tamar had a younger sister, Rusudan, she is only mentioned once in all contemporary accounts of Tamars reign. The name Tamar is of Hebrew origin and, like other biblical names, was favored by the Georgian Bagrationi dynasty because of their claim to be descended from David, the second king of Israel. Tamars youth coincided with an upheaval in Georgia, in 1177, her father. Prince Demna, castrated and blinded on his uncles order, did not survive the mutilation and soon died in prison, once the rebellion was suppressed and the pretender eliminated, George went ahead to co-opt Tamar into government with him and crowned her as co-ruler in 1178. By doing so, the king attempted to preempt any dispute after his death, at the same time, he raised men from the gentry and unranked classes to keep the dynastic aristocracy away from the center of power. For six years, Tamar was a co-ruler with her father upon whose death, in 1184, Tamar continued as the monarch and was crowned a second time at the Gelati cathedral near Kutaisi. She inherited a strong kingdom, but the centrifugal tendencies fostered by the great nobles were far from being quelled. The energetic involvement of Tamars influential aunt Rusudan and the Georgian Catholicos-Patriarch Michael IV Mirianisdze was crucial for legitimizing Tamars succession to the throne, however, the young queen was forced into making significant concessions to the aristocracy. She had to reward the Catholicos-Patriarch Michaels support by making him a chancellor and this attempt at feudal constitutionalism was rendered abortive when Tamar had Qutlu Arslan arrested and his supporters were inveigled into submission. Yet, Tamars first moves to reduce the power of the aristocratic élite were unsuccessful and she failed in her attempt to use a church synod to dismiss the Catholicos-Patriarch Michael, and the noble council, darbazi, asserted the right to approve royal decrees. Even the queens first husband, the Rus prince Yuri, was forced on her by the nobles. Pursuant to dynastic imperatives and the ethos of the time, the nobles required Tamar to marry in order to have a leader for the army and to provide an heir to the throne. Their choice fell on Yuri, son of the murdered prince Andrei I Bogolyubsky of Vladimir-Suzdal, the choice was approved by Tamars aunt Rusudan and the prince was brought to Georgia to marry the queen in 1185. Yuri proved to be an soldier, but a difficult person
8.
Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
9.
Duchy of Kldekari
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Kldekari was a duchy in mediaeval Georgia. The duchy was established in 876 by Liparit I of the Baghvashi, having seized this key place, the Baghvashi family used their position to contest borders with the neighbouring principalities. The rivalry between the Baghvashi and the Bagrationi House of Georgia erupted immediately after the creation of the unified Georgian kingdom under Bagrat III, the latter prevailed and, in 989, forced the Kldekarian duke Rati I to abdicate in favour of his son, Liparit II. A descendant, Liparit IV, became a regent for the young Georgian king Bagrat IV in the early 1030s, subsequently, relations between the two men deteriorated and flared into an armed conflict. His son and heir, John, was allowed by the Georgian crown to succeed Liparit IV as a duke, in 1074, John revolted against King George II of Georgia, and attempted to get Seljuk support. However, a Seljuk invasion force temporarily occupied the duchy and captured the ducal family, david IV, a new and perhaps the most successful king of Georgia, forced the Baghvashi into submission in 1093, and checked their subsequent attempts to revolt. In 1103, he took advantage of the death of the last Kldekarian duke Rati III, Liparit I Liparit II Rati I Liparit III Rati II Liparit IV John Liparit V Rati III Saeristavo of Kldekari
10.
Kingdom of Georgia
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The Kingdom of Georgia, also known as the Georgian Empire, was a medieval monarchy which emerged in circa 1008 AD. It reached its Golden Age of political and economic strength during the reign of King David IV, a predominantly Christian, Georgian-speaking realm, it was the principal historical precursor of present-day Georgia. Lasting for several centuries, the fell to the Mongol invasions in the 13th century. The Kingdoms geopolitical situation further worsened after the Fall of Constantinople, as a result of these processes, by the end of the 15th century Georgia turned into an isolated, fractured Christian enclave, surrounded by hostile Turco-Iranic neighbors. The ascendancy of the Bagrationi dynasty can be traced to the 8th century, the restoration of the Georgian kingship begins in AD888, when Adarnase IV of Iberia took the title of King of Georgians. The United Kingdom of Georgia was established in 1008, in this year, Bagrat III, son of Gurgen II, became the ruler of the Kingdom of Western Georgia, including the Principalities of Imereti, Samegrelo, Abkhazeti, Guria and Svaneti. Bagrats mother was Queen Gurandukht, a daughter of George II of Abkhazia, the first decades of the 9th century saw the rise of a new Georgian state in Tao-Klarjeti. Ashot Courapalate of the family of Bagrationi liberated from the Arabs the territories of former southern Iberia. In practice, however, the region functioned as an independent country with its capital in Artanuji. The hereditary title of Curopalates was kept by the Bagrationi family, the first united Georgian monarchy was formed at the end of the 10th century when Curopalate David invaded the Earldom of Kartli-Iberia. Three years later, after the death of his uncle Theodosius the Blind, King of Egrisi-Abkhazia, in 1001 Bagrat added Tao-Klarjeti to his domain as a result of Davids death. In 1008–1010, Bagrat annexed Kakheti and Hereti, thus becoming the first king of a united Georgia in both the east and west, in 1071, the Seljuq army destroyed the united Byzantine-Armenian and Georgian forces in the Battle of Manzikert. By 1081, all of Armenia, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Syria, in Georgia, only the mountainous areas of Abkhazia, Svaneti, Racha, and Khevi–Khevsureti remained out of Seljuq control and served as a relatively safe havens for numerous refugees. The rest of the country was dominated by the conquerors who destroyed the cities and fortresses, looted the villages, in fact, by the end of the 1080s, Georgians were outnumbered in the region by the invaders. The Golden Age began with the reign of David IV, the son of George II and Queen Helena, in 1121, he decisively defeated much larger Turkish armies during the Battle of Didgori, with fleeing Seljuq Turks being run down by pursuing Georgian cavalry for several days. A huge amount of booty and prisoners were captured by Davids army, David IV made particular emphasis on removing the vestiges of unwanted eastern influences, which the Georgians considered forced, in favor of the traditional Christian and Byzantine overtones. As part of this effort he founded the Gelati Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, David also played a personal role in reviving Georgian religious hymnography, composing the Hymns of Repentance, a sequence of eight free-verse psalms. In this emotional repentance of his sins, David sees himself as reincarnating the Biblical David, with a relationship to God
11.
Bardas Skleros
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Bardas Skleros or Sclerus was a Byzantine general who led a wide-scale Asian rebellion against Emperor Basil II in 976–979. Bardas belonged to the family of the Skleroi, which owned enormous estates at the eastern outskirts of Asia Minor. His mother Gregoria descended from Basil Is brother Bardas, the greatest coup of his early career was a brilliant defense of Constantinople against the army of Svyatoslav I of Kiev in 970. During the Battle of Arcadiopolis, he managed to inflict as many as 20,000 casualties on the Rus. After he had shown himself equal to dealing with the fiercest enemies of Byzantium, Bardas became an advisor to John I Tzimiskes. Upon Johns death, Skleros aspired to replace him as an acting emperor, the eunuch Basil Lekapenos, who actually led the imperial government, entertained other plans, however, deposing Bardas from his key post of general in the East in 975. Upon hearing the news of his deposition, Skleros came to an agreement with local Armenian, Georgian and he successfully stirred up rebellion among his relatives and adherents in the Asian provinces, rapidly making himself master of Caesaria, Antioch, and most of Asia Minor. After several navy commanders defected to Skleross side, he dashed to Constantinople, the rebel navy under Michael Kourtikios raided the Aegean and attempted to blockade the Dardanelles, but were defeated by the Imperial Fleet. Having lost supremacy at sea, Skleros at once laid siege to the town of Nicaea, the town was fortified by a certain Manuel Erotikos, father of the future emperor Isaac Komnenos and progenitor of the Komnenoi dynasty. Meanwhile, Basil recalled from exile Bardas Phokas the Younger, a general who had revolted in the previous reign, Phokas proceeded to Sebastea in the East, where his family demesnes were situated. He came to an understanding with David III Kuropalates of Tao, Skleros instantly left Nicaea for the East and defeated Phokas in two battles, but the latter was victorious in a third. On March 24,979 two leaders clashed in combat, with Skleros cutting the right ear of Phocas horse with his lance before sustaining a grave wound to the head. The rumour of his death put his army to flight, thereupon the rebellion was subdued without difficulty. After the Asian potentates refused to support his operations against Constantinople, Skleros. They resided in honourable captivity at the court for six years. In 987 Skleros was finally recalled to his homeland by Phokas, Skleros promptly mustered an army to support Phokass cause, but his plans of profiting from the attendant disorders were frustrated when Phokas had him committed to prison. Their leader inspired them with his own determination and bound them into one coherent body. By favours he won their loyalty, by his kindliness he earned their devotion and he reconciled their differences, ate at the same table as his men, drank from the same cup, called them by name, and by his flattery bound them to his allegiance
12.
David III of Tao
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Kuropalates was a Byzantine courtier title bestowed upon him in 978 and again in 990. Between 987 and 989, David joined his friend Bardas Phocas in a revolt against the Byzantine emperor Basil II, yet he was able to secure for his heir, Bagrat III, an opportunity to become the first ruler of a unified Georgian kingdom. He succeeded his brother, Bagrat II, as a duke of Tao in 966, in order to enact his ambitious plans, David had to secure his independence from the Byzantine Empire, which would reach its greatest height under the emperor Basil II. However, the integrity of the empire itself was serious threat after a full-scale rebellion, led by Bardas Skleros. Following a series of battles the rebels swept across Asia Minor. On this occasion, he was granted the high Byzantine court title of kouropalates, Basil II also rewarded the valor of David’s commander Tornikios by funding a Georgian Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos. Although populated now chiefly with Greek monks, it is to this day known as Iviron and these formidable acquisitions made David the most influential ruler in the Caucasus, enabling him to interfere in and arbitrate dynastic disputes in both Georgia and Armenia. David invested these revenues in extensive building projects, constructing towns, forts and churches, having no children of his own, David adopted his kinsman, the young prince Bagrat, heir to the Bagratid throne of Kartli. He did so at the request of the energetic Georgian nobleman Iovane Marushis-dze, through his fortunate bloodlines Bagrat was destined to sit upon two thrones. Furthermore, through his mother Gurandukht, sister of the childless Abkhazian king Theodosius III, two years later, in 978, David and Marushis-dze secured the crown of Abkhazia for Bagrat by displacing Theodosius III. Once the rebels were defeated by the Byzantine-Rus forces in 989, Basil dispatched a force under John of Chaldea to punish the Georgians. Reconciled with the emperor, he was granted, in c,990, the title of kuropalates again in return for his promise that upon his death the lands previously placed under his sovereignty would revert to the Byzantine Empire. Another problem arose around the year, when Bagrat of Abkhazia planned a punitive expedition against the non-submissive duke Rati of Kldekari in Lower Kartli. Persuaded that his intended to attack Tao and kill him. As a medieval Georgian chronicler relates, After the reconciliation with the emperor and his kinsmen, mamlan, the Rawadid emir of Azerbaijan, was also twice defeated, the second time decisively, in 998, near Archesh. David was murdered by his nobles early in 1000, according to Aristakes, Although the Georgian Chronicles maintain that David died in 1001, several Armenian and Muslim accounts suggest he may have died in 1000. e. Yet another Armenian, Samuel Anetsi, also puts the date as 1000, Basil II was at that time in the eastern provinces of his empire, wintering on the plain of Tarsus following his campaign against the Fatimid dynasty in Syria. On hearing of David’s death he marched north-eastward to claim the lands David had promised to the emperor, the local Georgian and Armenian nobility submitted without any serious resistance
13.
Battle of Pankaleia
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Historical sources on the revolt of Bardas Skleros differ on the sequence and location of the battles that ended it, one of which was fought at the plain of Pankaleia, northeast of Amorium. According to Skylitzes, Phokas had been reinforced with 12,000 Georgian cavalry from Tao through his friendship with its ruler, David, but his army again began to give way. Phokas then charged towards Skleros and engaged him in combat, in which the rebel general was wounded and fled. Oxford and New York, Oxford University Press, History of the Byzantine and Greek Empires, from DCCXVI to MCCCCLIII. Second Edition History of the Byzantine and Greek Empires, from DCCXVI to MCCCCLIII, basil II and the Governance of Empire. Rebellion of Bardas Skleros,976 -979, encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015, berkeley and Los Angeles, California, University of California Press. Wortley, John, ed. John Skylitzes, A Synopsis of Byzantine History, 811-1057, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-76705-7
14.
Bardas Phokas the Younger
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Bardas Phokas was an eminent Byzantine general who took a conspicuous part in three revolts for and against the ruling Macedonian dynasty. Bardas was a scion of the Phokas family, the most prominent Byzantine aristocratic clan in the 10th century and his father Leo Phokas the Younger was a curopalates and brother to the Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas. Even as a man, Bardas gained a reputation for his great expertise in the science of war, If his military career was quick to peak. Upon his uncles death in 970, Phokas and his family rebelled against the new emperor and their own cousin, Bardas was proclaimed emperor by troops stationed at Caesarea, but their rebellion was extinguished by another skilled commander, Bardas Skleros. Phokas and his relatives were captured and exiled to the island of Chios, in 978 Bardas was delivered from his prison cell by the eunuch Basil Lekapenos, Basil IIs uncle and de facto regent. He was dispatched in disguise to his native Cappadocia to stir up the local aristocracy against Skleros, despite several initial setbacks, and with the assistance of a Georgian army led by Tornikios, Phokas eventually suppressed the revolt, gaining victory in single combat with Skleros. For his vital services to the crown, he was rewarded with an office of Domestic of the Scholae. Later, to quote Psellos, he was given the privilege of a triumph, while Constantine VIII was easily swayed by his advisers, his brother Basil II was apparently irked by their supremacy. Basils energy showed that he was determined to take the administration into his own hands and his growing independence alarmed both Basil Lekapenos and Phokas. In 987 they entered into negotiations with their former enemy, Skleros. In a campaign that curiously mimicked Skleros revolt a decade earlier, Phokas proclaimed himself emperor and it was no longer in imagination, but in very truth, that he put on the imperial robes, with the emperors crown and the royal insignia of purple, says Psellos. After relegating his colleague Skleros to a prison, Phokas proceeded to lay siege to Abydos, at this point Basil II obtained timely aid, in the form of Varangian mercenaries, from his brother-in-law Vladimir, the Rus prince of Kiev, and marched to Abydos. The two armies were facing each other, when Phokas galloped forward, seeking personal combat with the Emperor who was riding in front of the lines. Just as he prepared to charge at Basil, however, Phokas suffered a seizure, fell from his horse and his head was cut off and brought to Basil. By his marriage to a cousin, one Adralestina, Bardas left two sons, Leo and Nikephoros and his grandson and namesake, Bardas Phokas, was blinded by imperial authorities in 1025. It is believed that the Cretan family of the Phokades descends from him
15.
Constantinople
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Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire, and also of the brief Latin, and the later Ottoman empires. It was reinaugurated in 324 AD from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, Constantinople was famed for its massive and complex defences. The first wall of the city was erected by Constantine I, Constantinople never truly recovered from the devastation of the Fourth Crusade and the decades of misrule by the Latins. The origins of the name of Byzantion, more known by the later Latin Byzantium, are not entirely clear. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas. The later Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honour of two men, Byzas and Antes, though this was likely just a play on the word Byzantion. During this time, the city was also called Second Rome, Eastern Rome, and Roma Constantinopolitana. As the city became the remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew. In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently, the medieval Vikings, who had contacts with the empire through their expansion in eastern Europe used the Old Norse name Miklagarðr, and later Miklagard and Miklagarth. In Arabic, the city was sometimes called Rūmiyyat al-kubra and in Persian as Takht-e Rum, in East and South Slavic languages, including in medieval Russia, Constantinople was referred to as Tsargrad or Carigrad, City of the Caesar, from the Slavonic words tsar and grad. This was presumably a calque on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις, the modern Turkish name for the city, İstanbul, derives from the Greek phrase eis tin polin, meaning into the city or to the city. In 1928, the Turkish alphabet was changed from Arabic script to Latin script, in time the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages. In Greece today, the city is still called Konstantinoúpolis/Konstantinoúpoli or simply just the City, apart from this, little is known about this initial settlement, except that it was abandoned by the time the Megarian colonists settled the site anew. A farsighted treaty with the emergent power of Rome in c.150 BC which stipulated tribute in exchange for independent status allowed it to enter Roman rule unscathed. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and had in the Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbour. He would later rebuild Byzantium towards the end of his reign, in which it would be briefly renamed Augusta Antonina, fortifying it with a new city wall in his name, Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, yet it had been the capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Constantinople was built over 6 years, and consecrated on 11 May 330, Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis
16.
Bagrat III of Georgia
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Bagrat III, of the Georgian Bagrationi dynasty, was King of Abkhazia from 978 on and King of Georgia from 1008 on. He united these two titles by dynastic inheritance and, through conquest and diplomacy, added more lands to his realm, before Bagrat was crowned as king, he had also reigned in Kartli as co-ruler with his father Gurgen from 976 to 978. Bagrat oversaw the construction of Bagrati Cathedral in Kutaisi, western Georgia, Bagrat was born in about 960 to Gurgen, a Bagrationi Dynasty prince from Kartli, and his wife, Gurandukht, who was a daughter of the late king George II of Aphkhazeti. Being still in his minority, Bagrat was adopted by his childless kinsman David III Kuropalates, presiding prince of Tao/Tayk, the Abkhazian Kingdom was then under the rule of Theodosius III the Blind, a weak and inauspicious king, who was Bagrat’s uncle by his mother’s side. The kingdom was engulfed into chaos and feudal warfare. Ioane Marushis-dze, the energetic eristavi of Kartli, urged, in 976, David responded vigorously and the Kakhetians had to withdraw to avoid the confrontation. David gave Kartli to Bagrat and installed Gurgen as his regent, the Kakhetians quickly returned to the offensive and seized Bagrat and his parents. However, David promptly interfered and restored his stepson in Kartli, in 978, Ioane Marushis-dze, aided by David, forced Theodosius of Abkhazia to abdicate the throne in favour of his nephew Bagrat. The latter left his mother, Gurandukht, to govern Kartli, within two years, Bagrat assumed full ruling powers. He proved an able ruler and succeeded in restoring law and order in his kingdom, while he was in Kutaisi, the aristocratic opposition of Kartli led by Kavtar Tbeli disregarded Gurandukht’s authority and ran their fiefdoms as semi-independent rulers. When Bagrat returned to Kartli to deal with situation, the nobles offered him an armed resistance, but the king won the battle at Moghrisi. Finally he directed his attention towards Kldekari in Lower Kartli, whose duke Rati continued to ignore the royal authority, the preparations for this expedition, in 989, produced much confusion as David of Tao was misinformed about the true intentions of his stepson. According to Georgian chronicles, Bagrat then went alone, fell at his feet, believed that too and released him in peace. After the reconciliation with his stepfather, Bagrat was finally able to receive fealty from Rati who abandoned his duchy at swordpoint and retired to his patrimony in Argveti. David was murdered by his nobles in 1000, and his possessions, according to the previous agreement, passed to the Byzantine Emperor Basil II. Later the same year, Gurgen attempted to take David Kuropalates’ succession by force and this formidable acquisition brought Bagrat’s realm to the neighbourhood of the Shaddadid emirate of Arran in what is now Azerbaijan, whose ruler al-Fadl I b. Muhammad raided Kakheti following its incorporation into Georgia, Bagrat drove back this incursion and, in alliance with the Armenian king Gagik I, successfully campaigned against the Shaddadid city of Shamkir, levying a tribute upon it. Bagrat’s reign, a period of uttermost importance in the history of Georgia, anxious to create more stable and centralized monarchy, Bagrat eliminated or at least diminished the autonomy of the dynastic princes
17.
Erzurum
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Erzurum is a city in eastern Turkey. It is the largest city in, and the capital of and it is situated 1757 meters above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 361,235 in the 2000 census, Erzurum, known as The Rock in NATO code, served as NATOs southeastern-most air force post during the Cold War. The city uses the double-headed Anatolian Seljuk Eagle as its coat-of-arms, a motif that was a symbol throughout Anatolia. Erzurum has some of the finest winter sports facilities in Turkey, the city was originally known in Armenian as Karno Kaghak, meaning city of Karin, to distinguish it from the district of Karin. After the Arab conquest of Armenia, the city was known to the Arabs as Kālīkalā, during Roman times, Erzurum was named Theodosiopolis. It got its present name after its conquest by the Seljuks following the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, a neighboring commercial city named Artsn was heavily sacked by the Seljuk Turks in 1048-49. Its Armenian, Syrian, and other Christian inhabitants moved to Theodosiopolis, some older sources derive the name Erzurum from the Arabic Arḍ-ar-Rūm land of the Rûm. The surroundings of Erzurum at the Urartian period presumably belonged to Diauehi, later, Erzurum existed under the Armenian name of Karin. During the reigns of the Artaxiad and Arsacid kings of Armenia, after the partition of Armenia between the Eastern Roman Empire and Sassanid Persia in 387 AD, the city passed into the hands of the Romans. They fortified the city and renamed it Theodosiopolis, after Emperor Theodosius I, emperors Anastasius I and Justinian I both refortified the city and built new defenses during their reigns. Theodosiopolis was conquered by the Umayyad general Abdallah ibn Abd al-Malik in 700/701 and it became the capital of the emirate of Ḳālīḳalā and was used as a base for raids into Byzantine territory. Though only an island of Arab power within Christian Armenian-populated territory, in 931, and again in 949, Byzantine forces led by Theophilos Kourkouas, grandfather of the future emperor John I Tzimiskes, captured Theodosiopolis. Its Arab population was expelled and the city was resettled by Greeks, Emperor Basil II rebuilt the city and its defenses in 1018 with the help of the local Armenian population. In 1071, after the battle at Manzikert, the Seljuk Turks took possession of Theodosiopolis. The Saltukids were rulers of an Anatolian beylik centered in Erzurum, melike Mama Hatun, sister of Nâsırüddin Muhammed, was the ruler between 1191 and 1200. Theodosiopolis repelled many attacks and military campaigns by the Seljuks and Georgians until 1201 when the city, erzen-Erzurum fell to the Mongol siege in 1242, and the city was looted and devastated. Then became part of the beylik, Black Sheep Turkmen, empire of Timur Lenk
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Lake Van
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Lake Van, the largest lake in Turkey, lies in the far east of that country in the provinces of Van and Bitlis. It is a soda lake, receiving water from numerous small streams that descend from the surrounding mountains. Lake Van is one of the worlds largest endorheic lakes - a volcanic eruption blocked the outlet from the basin in ancient times. Although Lake Van has an altitude of 1,640 m in a region with harsh winters, its high salinity prevents most of it from freezing, and even the shallow northern section freezes only rarely. Lake Van is 119 kilometres across at its widest point, averaging a depth of 171 metres with a recorded depth of 451 metres. The lake surface lies 1,640 metres above sea level, Lake Van has an area of 3,755 km2 and a volume of 607 cubic kilometres. The western portion of the lake is deepest, with a large basin deeper than 400 m lying northeast of Tatvan, the eastern arms of the lake are shallower. The Van-Ahtamar portion shelves gradually, with a depth of about 250 m on its northwest side where it joins the rest of the lake. The Erciş arm is much shallower, mostly less than 50 m, the lake water is strongly alkaline and rich in sodium carbonate and other salts, which are extracted by evaporation and used as detergents. The lakes outlet was blocked at some time during the Pleistocene, now dormant, Nemrut Dağı is close to the western shore of the lake, and another dormant stratovolcano, Süphan Dağı dominates the northern side of the lake. The water level of the lake has often altered dramatically, near Tatvan, investigation by Degens and others in the early 1980s determined that the highest lake levels had been during the last ice age, about 18,000 years ago. Approximately 9,500 years ago there was a drop to more than 300 metres below the present level. This was followed by an equally-dramatic rise around 6,500 years ago, similar-but-smaller fluctuations have been seen recently. The level of the rose by at least three metres during the 1990s, drowning much agricultural land, and seems to be rising again. The level rose approximately two meters in the ten years prior to 2004. As a deep lake with no outlet, Lake Van has accumulated great amounts of sediment washed in from surrounding plains and valleys, and occasionally deposited as ash from eruptions of nearby volcanoes. This layer of sediment is estimated to be up to 400 metres thick in places, in 1989 and 1990, an international team of geologists led by Dr. Stephan Kempe from the University of Hamburg retrieved ten sediment cores from depths up to 446 m. Although these cores only penetrated the first few meters of sediment, litt expects to find that Lake Van stores the climate history of the last 800,000 years—an incomparable treasure house of data which we want to tap for at least the last 500,000 years
19.
Iberia (theme)
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The theme of Iberia was an administrative and military unit – theme – within the Byzantine Empire carved by the Byzantine Emperors out of several Georgian land in the 11th century. The theme ceased to exist in 1074 as a result of the Seljuk invasions, the theme was created by the emperor Basil II from the lands inherited from the Georgian prince David III of Tao. However, David’s rebuff of Basil in Bardas Phocas’ revolt of 987 evoked Constantinople’s distrust of the Caucasian rulers, after the failure of the revolt, David was forced to make Basil II the legatee of his extensive possessions. Basil gathered his inheritance upon David’s death in 1000, forcing the successor Georgian Bagratid ruler Bagrat III to recognize the new rearrangement, bagrat’s son, George I, however, inherited a longstanding claim to David’s succession. While Basil was preoccupied with his Bulgarian campaigns, George gained momentum to invade Tao, defeated in the ensuing Byzantine-Georgian wars, George had to relinquish further lands – Kola, Artaan and Javakheti – to the Byzantine crown in 1022. These provinces were organized by Basil II into the theme of Iberia with the capital at Theodosiopolis, henceforth, the theme of Iberia was administered jointly with Ducate of Chaldia. The exact chronology of the theme of Iberia and of its governors is not completely clear, unfortunately, the few Greek seals from the theme or from the ambiguous Interior Iberia can seldom be dated precisely. It is also impossible to identify any commander in Iberia before the appointment, in 1025/6, after 1045 Iberia also included the former Kingdom of Ani. Since 1071 Gregory Pakourianos was a governor of the Theme of Iberia, the Iberian governor was aided by tax officials, judges, and by co administrators who shared in the exercise of the military and civil duties. Among these officials were the domesticos of the East, the administrators of the districts of which the theme was composed, apart from the regular Byzantine garrisons, an indigenous army of peasant soldiers guarded the area and received in turn an allotment of tax-free government land. This changed, however, when Constantine IX dismantled the army of the theme of Iberia, perhaps 5,000 men, Constantine dispatched Nikolaos Serblias to conduct an inventory and to exact taxes that had never been demanded previously. During this expedition, tens of thousands of Christians are said to have been massacred, in 1051/52, Eustathius Boilas, a Byzantine magnate who moved from Cappadocia to the theme of Iberia, found the land foul and unmanageable. Inhabited by snakes, scorpions, and wild beasts, about 1053 Constantine IX disbanded what the historian John Skylitzes calls the Iberian Army, which consisted of 50,000 men and it was turned as a contemporary Drungary of the Watch. The region of the demobilized Iberian Army evidently included everything north of the ducates of Antioch and Edessa, the other themes were probably called Iberian because after the conquest of Iberia in 1000 the general command over them was transferred from the Duke of Mesopotamia to the Duke of Iberia. In the aftermath of the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, south-eastern parts theme was annexed by Seljuks. Still, it may have lasted as late as 1074 when Gregory Pakourianos and this did not help, however, to stem the Turkish advance and the area became a battleground of the Georgian-Seljuk wars. Byzantine–Georgian wars Byzantine–Seljuq Wars Toumanoff, Cyril, studies in Christian Caucasian History, Georgetown University Press, Washington,1967. Some Aspects of the Military-Administrative Districts and Byzantine Administration in Armenia During the 11th Century, REArm 20, 1986-87, kalistrat, Salia, History of the Georgian Nation, Katharine Vivian trans
20.
Nikephoros Ouranos
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Nikephoros Ouranos, Latinized as Nicephorus Uranus, was a high-ranking Byzantine official and general during the reign of Emperor Basil II. A well-educated man, he wrote a manual and composed several surviving poems. Very little is known of Ouranoss origin, his years or his family. A prōtospatharios and asēkrētis Basil Ouranos, possibly a relative, is attested. Nikephoros Ouranos himself first enters history in the early 980s, during negotiations between Byzantium and the Emir of Baghdad for the return of the rebel general Bardas Skleros. Once in Baghdad, however, Ouranos was accused of trying to poison or to negotiate in secret with Skleros. It is very likely that the charges against him were orchestrated by Basil Lekapenos and he remained in prison in Baghdad until after Bardas Skleros himself was let go in late 986, and was back at Constantinople in 987. By that time, Basil Lekapenos had fallen from power and had died, following their success, the Bulgarians had penetrated deep into Greece, raiding and pillaging even unto Corinth in the Peloponnese. In 997, Ouranos assembled his forces at Thessalonica and marched south to meet them, while the Bulgarian Tsar Samuel, upon hearing of his coming, turned north. The two armies met on the banks of the river Spercheios in Central Greece, which was flooded due to heavy rainfall in the preceding days. Both armies thus encamped on opposite shores of the river, the Bulgarians, confident that the Byzantines could not cross the river, neglected to station guards. Ouranos, however, found a ford further upstream, crossed his army over during the night, the battle was a rout, as the majority of the Bulgarian army, caught unawares, was either killed or captured. Even Tsar Samuel and his son were wounded and only escaped by lying among the slain, Ouranos continued campaigning in the area over the next years, although no information on his operations is provided by the chronicler Skylitzes, our main source. In December 999, Ouranos was appointed doux of Antioch in Syria, in 1000–1001, Ouranos quelled an uprising by two Syrian Bedouin tribes, the Noumeritai and the Ataphitai. In 1005–1007, he was engaged in operations against the Arab rebel Al-Asfar, nothing is known of Ouranos after that date, although the fact that a successor as doux of Antioch was not appointed until 1011 may mean that he continued to occupy the office until that date. The 10th century saw a revival in the practice of writing encyclopedic works, including military manuals, Nikephoross Taktika represent the final example among the latter, and were written while he was governor of Antioch. The work consists of 178 chapters, which can be divided into the following parts, Chapters 66–74 are derived from the 1st-century author Onasander. Chapters 75–175 and 176–178 likewise are derived from ancient authors, of Ouranoss own additions, chapter 63 deals with raids into enemy territory
21.
Antioch
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Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient Greco-Roman city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. Its ruins lie near the city of Antakya, Turkey. Antioch was founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, the citys geographical, military, and economic location benefited its occupants, particularly such features as the spice trade, the Silk Road, and the Persian Royal Road. It eventually rivaled Alexandria as the city of the Near East. It was also the center of Hellenistic Judaism at the end of the Second Temple period. Most of the development of Antioch was done during the Roman Empire. Antioch was called the cradle of Christianity as a result of its longevity, the Christian New Testament asserts that the name Christian first emerged in Antioch. It was one of the four cities of the Syrian tetrapolis, a single route proceeds south in the Orontes valley. The settlement of Meroe pre-dated Antioch, a shrine of the Semitic goddess Anat, called by Herodotus the Persian Artemis, was located here. This site was included in the suburbs of Antioch. There was a village on the spur of Mount Silpius named Io and this name was always adduced as evidence by Antiochenes anxious to affiliate themselves to the Attic Ionians—an eagerness which is illustrated by the Athenian types used on the citys coins. Io may have been an early colony of trading Greeks. John Malalas also mentions a village, Bottia, in the plain by the river. Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great is said to have camped on the site of Antioch and this account is found only in the writings of Libanius, a 4th-century orator from Antioch, and may be legend intended to enhance Antiochs status. But the story is not unlikely in itself, after Alexanders death in 323 BC, his generals divided up the territory he had conquered. Seleucus I Nicator won the territory of Syria, and he proceeded to found four sister cities in northwestern Syria, one of which was Antioch and he is reputed to have built sixteen Antiochs. Seleucus founded Antioch on a site chosen through ritual means, an eagle, the bird of Zeus, had been given a piece of sacrificial meat and the city was founded on the site to which the eagle carried the offering. Seleucus did this on the 22nd day of the month of Artemisios in the year of his reign
22.
Fatimid Caliphate
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The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shia Islamic caliphate that spanned a large area of North Africa, from the Red Sea in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west. The dynasty ruled across the Mediterranean coast of Africa and ultimately made Egypt the centre of the caliphate, at its height the caliphate included in addition to Egypt varying areas of the Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz. The Fatimids claimed descent from Fatima bint Muhammad, the daughter of Islamic prophet Muhammad, in 921 the Fatimids established the Tunisian city of Mahdia as their new capital. In 948 they shifted their capital to Al-Mansuriya, near Kairouan in Tunisia, in 969 they conquered Egypt and established Cairo as the capital of their caliphate, Egypt became the political, cultural, and religious centre of their empire. The ruling class belonged to the Ismaili branch of Shiism, as did the leaders of the dynasty, the existence of the caliphate marked the only time the descendants of Ali through Fatimah were united to any degree and the name Fatimid refers to Fatimah. The different term Fatimite is sometimes used to refer to the caliphates subjects, after the initial conquests, the caliphate often allowed a degree of religious tolerance towards non-Ismaili sects of Islam, as well as to Jews, Maltese Christians, and Egyptian Coptic Christians. The Fatimid caliphate was also distinguished by the role of Berbers in its initial establishment and in helping its development, especially on the military. During the late eleventh and twelfth centuries the Fatimid caliphate declined rapidly and he founded the Ayyubid dynasty and incorporated the Fatimid state into the Abbasid Caliphate. The Fatimid regime lasted until the twelfth century, though its leaders made little headway in persuading the Egyptian population. The Fatimid Caliphates religious ideology originated in an Ismaili Shia movement launched in the 9th century in Salamiyah, Syria by their eighth Imam and he claimed descent through Ismail, the seventh Ismaili Imam, from Fatimah and her husband ʻAlī ibn-Abī-Tālib, the first Shīʻa Imām. Thus his name was al-Fātimiyyūn Fatimid, the eighth to tenth Imams, remained hidden and worked for the movement against the periods times rulers. According to legend, Abdullah and his son were fulfilling a prophecy that the mahdi would come from Mesopotamia to Sijilmasa. They hid among the population of Sijilmasa, then an independent emirate, for four years under the countenance of the Midrar rulers, al-Mahdi was supported by dedicated Shiite Abu Abdullah al-Shii, and al-Shii started his preaching after he encountered a group of Muslim North African during his hajj. These men bragged about the country of the Kutama in western Ifriqiya, and the hostility of the Kutama towards, and their independence from. This triggered al-Shii to travel to the region, where he started to preach the Ismaili doctrine, the Berber peasants, who had been oppressed for decades by the corrupt Aghlabid rule, would prove themselves to be a perfect basis for sedition. Instantly, al-Shii began conquering cities in the region, first Mila, then Sétif, Kairouan, and eventually Raqqada, in 909 Al-Shii sent a large expedition force to rescue the Mahdi, conquering the Khariji state of Tahert on its way there. After gaining his freedom, Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah became the leader of the state and assumed the position of imam. The Fatimids existed during the Islamic Golden Age, the dynasty was founded in 909 by the eleventh Imam ʻAbdullāh al-Mahdī Billah
23.
Caliphate
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A caliphate is an area containing an Islamic steward known as a caliph —a person considered a religious successor to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, and a leader of the entire Muslim community. During the history of Islam after the Rashidun period, many Muslim states, the Sunni branch of Islam stipulates that, as a head of state, a caliph should be elected by Muslims or their representatives. Followers of Shia Islam, however, believe a caliph should be an Imam chosen by God from the Ahl al-Bayt, before the advent of Islam, Arabian monarchs traditionally used the title malik, or another from the same root. The term caliph, derives from the Arabic word khalīfah, which means successor, steward, however, studies of pre-Islamic texts suggest that the original meaning of the phrase was successor selected by God. There was no specified procedure for this shura or consultation, candidates were usually, but not necessarily, from the same lineage as the deceased leader. Capable men who would lead well were preferred over an ineffectual heir, Sunni Muslims believe that Abu Bakr was chosen by the community and that this was the proper procedure. Sunnis further argue that a caliph should ideally be chosen by election or community consensus, the Shia believe that Ali, the son-in-law and cousin of Muhammad, was chosen by Muhammad as his spiritual and temporal successor as the Mawla of all Muslims in the event of Ghadir Khumm. The caliph was often known as Amir al-Muminin, Muhammad established his capital in Medina, after he died, it remained the capital during the Rashidun Caliphate, before Kufa was reportedly made the capital by Caliph Ali. At times there have been rival claimant caliphs in different parts of the Islamic world, according to Sunni Muslims, the first caliph to be called Amir al-Muminin was Abu Bakr, followed by Umar, the second of the Rashidun. Uthman and Ali also were called by the title, while the Shia consider Ali to have been the only truly legitimate caliph. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk officially abolished the system of Caliphate in Islam as part of his secular reforms, the Kings of Morocco still label themselves with the title Amir al-Muminin for the Moroccans, but lay no claim to the Caliphate. Some Muslim countries, including Somalia, Indonesia and Malaysia, were never subject to the authority of a Caliphate, with the exception of Aceh, consequently, these countries had their own, local, sultans or rulers who did not fully accept the authority of the Caliph. Abu Bakr, the first successor of Muhammad, nominated Umar as his successor on his deathbed, Umar, the second caliph, was killed by a Persian named Piruz Nahavandi. His successor, Uthman, was elected by a council of electors, Uthman was killed by members of a disaffected group. Ali then took control but was not universally accepted as caliph by the governors of Egypt and he faced two major rebellions and was assassinated by Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam, a Khawarij. Alis tumultuous rule lasted only five years and this period is known as the Fitna, or the first Islamic civil war. The followers of Ali later became the Shia minority sect of Islam, the followers of all four Rashidun Caliphs became the majority Sunni sect. Under the Rashidun each region of the Caliphate had its own governor, Muawiyah, a relative of Uthman and governor of Syria, succeeded Ali as Caliph
24.
Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
25.
Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah
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Abū ʿAlī Manṣūr, better known by his regnal title al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh, was the sixth Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismaili imam. Histories of al-Hakim can prove controversial, as views of his life. Born in 985 CE, Abu Ali Mansur was the first Fatimid ruler to have born in Egypt. Al-Ḥākim had blue eyes flecked with reddish gold, Al-Ḥākim was born on Thursday,3 Rābi‘u l-Awwal in 985. His father, Caliph Abū Mansūr al-‘Azīz bil-Lāh, had two consorts, one was an umm al-walad who is only known by the title as-Sayyidah al-‘Azīziyyah or al-‘Azīzah. She was a Melkite Christian whose two brothers were appointed patriarchs of the Melkite Church by Caliph al-‘Azīz, different sources say either one of her brothers or her father was sent by al-‘Azīz as an ambassador to Sicily. Al-‘Azīzah is considered to be the mother of Sitt al-Mulk, one of the most famous women in Islamic history, some, such as the Crusader chronicler William of Tyre, claimed that al-‘Azīzah was also the mother of Caliph al-Ḥākim, though most historians dismiss this. The sage wrote the entire Quran in the surface of a bowl. When al-Ḥākim recovered, she demanded the release of the sage in gratitude and her request was granted and the sage and his associates were freed from prison. Druze sources claim that al-Ḥākims mother was the daughter of ‘Abdu l-Lāh, one of al-Mu‘īzz li Dīn al-Lāhs sons, historians such as Delia Cortese are critical of this claim, t is more likely that this woman was in fact a wife of al-Hakim, rather than his mother. In 996, al-Ḥākims father Caliph al-‘Azīz began a trip to visit Syria, the Caliph fell ill at the beginning of the trip at Bilbeis and lay in sickbed for several days. He suffered from stone with pains in the bowels, when he felt that his end was nearing he charged Qadi Muhammad ibn an-Nu‘man and General Abū Muhammad al-Hasan ibn ‘Ammar to take care of al-Ḥākim, who was then only eleven. He then spoke to his son, Al-Ḥākim later recalled the event, I found him with nothing on his body but rags and bandages. I kissed him, and he pressed me to his bosom, exclaiming, How I grieve for thee, beloved of my heart and he then said, Go, my master, and play, for I am well. I obeyed and began to amuse myself with such as are usual with boys. Barjawan then hastened to me, and seeing me on the top of a tree, exclaimed, Come down, my boy, may God protect you. When I descended he placed on my head the turban adorned with jewels, kissed the ground before me and he then led me out in that attire and showed me to all the people, who kissed the ground before me and saluted me with the title of Khalif. On the following day, he and his new court proceeded from Bilbays to Cairo, behind the camel bearing his fathers body and they arrived shortly before evening prayer and his father was buried the next evening next to the tomb of his predecessor al-Mu‘īzz
26.
First Bulgarian Empire
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The First Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state that existed in southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded circa 681 when Bulgar tribes led by Asparukh moved to the north-eastern Balkans, there they secured Byzantine recognition of their right to settle south of the Danube by defeating – possibly with the help of local South Slavic tribes – the Byzantine army led by Constantine IV. At the height of its power, Bulgaria spread from the Danube Bend to the Black Sea, as the state solidified its position in the Balkans, it entered into a centuries-long interaction, sometimes friendly and sometimes hostile, with the Byzantine Empire. Bulgaria emerged as Byzantiums chief antagonist to its north, resulting in several wars, Byzantium had a strong cultural influence on Bulgaria, which also led to the eventual adoption of Christianity in 864. After the disintegration of the Avar Khaganate, the country expanded its territory northwest to the Pannonian Plain, later the Bulgarians confronted the advance of the Pechenegs and Cumans, and achieved a decisive victory over the Magyars, forcing them to establish themselves permanently in Pannonia. During the late 9th and early 10th centuries, Simeon I achieved a string of victories over the Byzantines, thereafter, he was recognized with the title of Emperor, and proceeded to expand the state to its greatest extent. After the annihilation of the Byzantine army in the battle of Anchialus in 917, the Byzantines, however, eventually recovered, and in 1014, under Basil II, inflicted a crushing defeat on the Bulgarians at the Battle of Kleidion. By 1018, the last Bulgarian strongholds had surrendered to the Byzantine Empire, and it was succeeded by the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1185. After the adoption of Christianity, Bulgaria became the center of Slavic Europe. Old Bulgarian became the lingua franca of much of Eastern Europe, in 927, the fully independent Bulgarian Patriarchate was officially recognized. The Bulgars and other tribes in the empire gradually adopted an essentially foreign Slavic language. Since the late 9th century, the names Bulgarians and Bulgarian gained prevalence and became permanent designations for the local population, the First Bulgarian Empire became known simply as Bulgaria since its recognition by the Byzantine Empire in 681. Some historians use the terms Danube Bulgaria, First Bulgarian State, during its early existence, the country was also called the Bulgar state or Bulgar qaghanate. Between 864 and 917/927, the country was known as the Principality of Bulgaria or Knyazhestvo Bulgaria, in English language sources, the country is often known as the Bulgarian Empire. The eastern Balkan Peninsula was originally inhabited by the Thracians who were a group of Proto-Indo-European tribes, the whole region as far north as the Danube River was gradually incorporated into the Roman Empire by the 1st century AD. The decline of the Roman Empire after the 3rd century AD, nonetheless, it never relinquished the claim to the whole region up to the Danube. A series of administrative, legislative, military and economic reforms somewhat improved the situation, the group of Slavs that came to be known as the South Slavs was divided into Antes and Sclaveni who spoke the same language. The Slavic incursions in the Balkans increased during the half of Justinian Is reign and while these were initially pillaging raids
27.
Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria
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The struggle began with the incorporation of eastern Bulgaria after the Russo–Byzantine War. Bulgarian resistance was led by the Cometopuli brothers, who based in the western regions of the Bulgarian Empire led it until its fall under Byzantine rule in 1018. As the Byzantine-Bulgarian relations deteriorated by the end of the 960s, the four brothers David, Moses, Aron and Samuel of the Cometopuli dynasty ruled in the free territories and in 976 launched a major offensive against the Byzantines to regain the lost lands. Soon the youngest brother Samuel took the whole authority following the deaths of his three eldest brothers, Samuel proved to be a successful general inflicting a major defeat on the Byzantine army commanded by Basil II at the Gates of Trajan and retaking north-eastern Bulgaria. His successful campaigns expanded the Bulgarian borders into Thessaly and Epirus, in 997 Samuel was proclaimed Emperor of Bulgaria after the death of the legitimate ruler, Roman. By the end of the millennium the fortunes of war turned into Byzantine favour, the Byzantines under Basil II, a successful general and experienced soldier, slowly got the upper hand and from 1001 started to seize a number of important areas and towns. The Bulgarians were unable to stop the annual Byzantine campaigns which devastated the country, in 1014 the Byzantines won the decisive battle of Kleidion and Samuel died a few weeks later. Tsar Samuels reign was followed by the reigns of his son Gavril Radomir. All local lords, who surrendered, were transferred either to Constantinople or to Anatolia, Bulgaria lost its independence and remained subject to Byzantium for more than a century and a half, until 1185. Its western part was transformed into one of the many Byzantines provinces, the Byzantines responded in the spring of the following year and refused to pay the annual tribute to Bulgaria. In that situation Nikephoros II Phokas turned to the means of Byzantine diplomacy. The noble Kalokyros to whom the mission was entrusted was successful, in 969 he returned to Bulgaria and soon after that Peter I suffered an epileptic stroke, abdicated and died on 30 January 970 as a monk. He was succeeded by his eldest son Boris II who had little choice but to cooperate with Sviatoslav and he was treated well and John Tzimiskes pretended to have come to liberate the Bulgarians from the Rus. However, when Sviatoslav was finally defeated, Boris II was taken to Constantinople where he had to abdicate and he had to surrender the imperial insignia - the golden crown and the red boots - which the placed in the cathedral Hagia Sophia. In return he received the title magister and his brother Roman was castrated because the Byzantines needed to assure that the Krum dynasty would die away. For John Tzimiskes that was a great triumph, the three-century old Byzantine dream to eliminate the Bulgarian state and restore the imperial borders along the Danube seemed to have come true. These territories were ruled by the four brothers David, Moses, Aron and Samuel, information for the period between 971 and 976 in primary sources is very scarce. In 986, after securing his own position in Byzantium, emperor Basil II gathered a 30, 000-man army, marched on the Bulgarian city of Sofia and laid siege to it
28.
Byzantine army
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The Byzantine army or Eastern Roman army was the primary military body of the Byzantine armed forces, serving alongside the Byzantine navy. A direct descendant of the Roman army, the Byzantine army maintained a level of discipline, strategic prowess. It was among the most effective armies of western Eurasia for much of the Middle Ages, over time the cavalry arm became more prominent in the Byzantine army as the legion system disappeared in the early 7th century. Since much of the Byzantine military focused on the strategy and skill of generals utilizing militia troops, heavy infantry were recruited from Frankish, restricted to a largely defensive role in the 7th to mid-9th centuries, the Byzantines developed the theme-system to counter the more powerful Caliphate. With one of the most powerful economies in the world at the time, after the collapse of the theme-system in the 11th century, the Byzantines grew increasingly reliant on professional Tagmata troops, including ever-increasing numbers of foreign mercenaries. The Komnenian emperors made great efforts to re-establish a native army, the Komnenian successes were undone by the subsequent Angeloi dynasty, leading to the dissolution of the Empire at the hands of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. The Emperors of Nicaea managed to form a small but effective force using the structure of light and heavily armed troops. It proved effective in defending what remained of Byzantine Anatolia and reclaiming much of the Balkans, another period of neglect of the military followed in the reign of Andronikos II Palaiologos, which allowed Anatolia to fall prey to an emerging power, the Ottoman emirate. In the period after the Muslim conquests, which saw the loss of Syria and Egypt, despite this unprecedented disaster, the internal structures of the army remained much the same, and there is a remarkable continuity in tactics and doctrine between the 6th and 11th centuries. The Eastern Empire dates from the creation of the Tetrarchy by the Emperor Diocletian in 293 and his plans for succession did not outlive his lifetime, but his reorganization of the army did by centuries. Rather than maintain the traditional infantry-heavy legions, Diocletian reformed it into limitanei, there was an expansion of the importance of the cavalry, though the infantry still remained the major component of the Roman armies, in contrast to common belief. In preparation for Justinians African campaign of 533-534 AD, the army assembled amounted to 10,000 foot soldiers and 5,000 mounted archers, the limitanei and ripenses were to occupy the limes, the Roman border fortifications. The field units, by contrast, were to stay well behind the border and move quickly where they were needed, whether for offensive or defensive roles, the field units were held to high standards and took precedence over Limitanei in pay and provisions. Cavalry formed about one-third of the units, but as a result of smaller units, about half the cavalry consisted of heavy cavalry. They were armed with spear or lance and sword and armored in mail, some had bows, but they were meant for supporting the charge instead of independent skirmishing. In the field there was a component of some 15% of cataphractarii or clibanarii. The light cavalry featured high amongst the limitanei, being very useful troops on patrol, the infantry of the comitatenses was organized in regiments of about 500–1,200 men. They were still the heavy infantry of old, with a spear or sword, shield, body armour, but now each regiment was supported by a detachment of light infantry skirmishers
29.
Varangian Guard
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The Varangian Guard was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army, from the 10th to the 14th centuries, whose members served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine Emperors. They are known for being composed of Germanic peoples, specifically Norsemen. The Rus provided the earliest members of the Varangian Guard and they were in Byzantine service from as early as 874. The Guard was first formally constituted under Emperor Basil II in 988, Vladimir, who had recently usurped power in Kiev with an army of Varangian warriors, sent 6,000 men to Basil as part of a military assistance agreement. Immigrants from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland kept a predominantly Norse cast to the organization until the late 11th century, composed primarily of Norsemen and Rus for the first 100 years, the Guard began to see increased numbers of Anglo-Saxons after the Norman conquest of England. By the late 13th century, Varangians were mostly assimilated by the Byzantine Greeks. In 1400, there were some people identifying themselves as Varangians in Constantinople. The earliest members of the Varangian guard came from Kievan Rus, a treaty between Rus and the Byzantine empire under Basil I was agreed in 874 after a period of hostilities. A clause in the treaty obliged Rus to provide men for Byzantine service, renewed hostilities between 907 and 911 ended with a new treaty under which any Rus who chose could serve Byzantium as a right. As early as 911, Varangians are mentioned as fighting as mercenaries for the Byzantines, a unit of 415 Varangians was involved in the Italian expedition of 936. It is also recorded there were Varangian contingents among the forces that fought the Arabs in Syria in 955. During this period, the Varangian mercenaries were included in the Great Companions, in 988, Basil II requested military assistance from Vladimir I of Kiev to help defend his throne. In compliance with the treaty made by his father after the Siege of Dorostolon, Vladimir took the opportunity to rid himself of his most unruly warriors which in any case he was unable to pay. This is the date for the formal, permanent institution of an elite guard. In exchange for the warriors, Vladimir was given Basils sister, Anna, Vladimir also agreed to convert to Christianity and to bring his people into the Christian faith. In 989, these Varangians, led by Basil II himself, on the field of battle, Phokas died of a stroke in full view of his opponent, upon the death of their leader, Phokas troops turned and fled. The brutality of the Varangians was noted when they pursued the fleeing army and these men formed the nucleus of the Varangian Guard, which saw extensive service in southern Italy in the eleventh century, as the Normans and Lombards worked to extinguish Byzantine authority there. In 1018, Basil II received a request from his catepan of Italy, Basil Boioannes, a detachment of the Varangian Guard was sent and in the Battle of Cannae, the Byzantines achieved a decisive victory
30.
Bagratid Armenia
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Ashots prestige rose as he was courted by both Byzantine and Arab leaders eager to maintain a buffer state near their frontiers. The Caliphate recognized Ashot as prince of princes in 862 and, later on, the establishment of the Bagratuni kingdom later led to the founding of several other Armenian principalities and kingdoms, Taron, Vaspurakan, Kars, Khachen and Syunik. Unity among all states was sometimes difficult to maintain while the Byzantines. Under the reign of Ashot III, Ani became the capital and grew into a thriving economic. The first half of the 11th century saw the decline and eventual collapse of the kingdom, the weakening of the Sassanian Empire during the 7th century led to the rise of another regional power, the Muslim Arabs. The Umayyad Arabs had conquered vast swaths of territory in the Middle East and, turning north, theodore Rshtuni, the Armenian Curopalates, signed a peace treaty with the Caliphate although the continuing war with the Arabs and Byzantines soon lead to further destruction throughout Armenia. In 661, Armenian leaders agreed to submit under Muslim rule while the latter conceded to recognize Grigor Mamikonian from the powerful Mamikonian nakharar family as ishkhan of Armenia, known as al-Arminiya with its capital at Dvin, the province was headed by an ostikan, or governor. However, Umayyad rule in Armenia grew in cruelty in the early 8th century, revolts against the Arabs spread throughout Armenia until 705, when under the pretext of meeting for negotiations, the Arab ostikan of Nakhichevan massacred almost all of the Armenian nobility. The rebellions failure also resulted in the disintegration of the Mamikonian house which lost most of the land it controlled. A third and final rebellion, stemming from similar grievances as the second, was launched in 774 under the leadership of Mushegh Mamikonian, the Bagratuni family had done its best to improve its relations with the Abbasid caliphs ever since they took power in 750. Fortunately for the Armenians, the number of Arabs residing in Armenia never grew in number to form a majority nor were the emirates fully subordinate to the Caliph. As historian George Bournoutian observes, this fragmentation of Arab authority provided the opportunity for the resurgence of the Bagratuni family headed by Ashot Msaker, the brothers, however, were unable to resolve their differences with one another nor able to form a unified front against the Muslims. In 857, Smbat had been succeeded by his son Ashot I and he assumed the title prince of princes in 862 and appointed his brother Abas sparapet, as they began to push the Arabs out from their base in Tayk. His initial efforts to expel the ostikan of Arminiya failed, although this did not dissuade him in taking advantage of the Byzantine-Arab rivalry. A synod of Armenian church leaders was convoked and a letter laden with equivocal wording sent to Constantinople was able to sustain a temporary agreement between the two churches, in any case, religious differences mattered little to the Byzantines in consideration of the menace the Arabs continued to pose. This act was not lost on Basil who similarly sent a crown to Ashot, Ashot relocated his throne to the fortress-city of Bagaran and it was here where his coronation ceremony was held sometime in 884 or 885. Thus, Ashot restored the Armenian monarchy and became Armenias first king since 428 and he secured the favor of both the Byzantines and Arabs but ultimately showed loyalty to Basil and chose to conclude an alliance with the Byzantines in 885. Ashot was not the sole Armenian prince of the region yet he commanded the support of the other princes who recognized his authority in his becoming of king
31.
Turkey
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Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, parliamentary republic with a cultural heritage. The country is encircled by seas on three sides, the Aegean Sea is to the west, the Black Sea to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles, Ankara is the capital while Istanbul is the countrys largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Approximately 70-80% of the countrys citizens identify themselves as ethnic Turks, other ethnic groups include legally recognised and unrecognised minorities. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority group, making up approximately 20% of the population, the area of Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic by various ancient Anatolian civilisations, as well as Assyrians, Greeks, Thracians, Phrygians, Urartians and Armenians. After Alexander the Greats conquest, the area was Hellenized, a process continued under the Roman Empire. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, the empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century, especially during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Assyrian, following the war, the conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was partitioned into several new states. Turkey is a member of the UN, an early member of NATO. Turkeys growing economy and diplomatic initiatives have led to its recognition as a regional power while her location has given it geopolitical, the name of Turkey is based on the ethnonym Türk. The first recorded use of the term Türk or Türük as an autonym is contained in the Old Turkic inscriptions of the Göktürks of Central Asia, the English name Turkey first appeared in the late 14th century and is derived from Medieval Latin Turchia. Similarly, the medieval Khazar Empire, a Turkic state on the shores of the Black. The medieval Arabs referred to the Mamluk Sultanate as al-Dawla al-Turkiyya, the Ottoman Empire was sometimes referred to as Turkey or the Turkish Empire among its European contemporaries. The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world, various ancient Anatolian populations have lived in Anatolia, from at least the Neolithic period until the Hellenistic period. Many of these peoples spoke the Anatolian languages, a branch of the larger Indo-European language family, in fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical centre from which the Indo-European languages radiated. The European part of Turkey, called Eastern Thrace, has also been inhabited since at least forty years ago. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date, the settlement of Troy started in the Neolithic Age and continued into the Iron Age
32.
Nikephoros Phokas Barytrachelos
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Nikephoros Phokas, surnamed Barytrachelos, was a Byzantine aristocrat and magnate, the last major member of the Phokas family to try and claim the imperial throne. He was a son of the general Bardas Phokas the Younger and great-nephew of Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, after the death of his father, he sought and received Basils pardon. Nothing further is known of him until 1022 when, along with the general Nikephoros Xiphias, the revolt gathered widespread support, but mistrust between the two leaders led to Phokas assassination by Xiphias on 15 August 1022. The rebellion collapsed quickly after that, Nikephoros Phokas Barytrachelos was a son of the general Bardas Phokas the Younger, and had one older brother, Leo. Tzimiskes dispatched his lieutenant Bardas Skleros against Bardas Phokas, Skleros was able to lure away many of Phokas supporters, until he was forced to surrender. Although not explicitly mentioned in the sources, Nikephoros probably shared his fathers fortune, after early reverses, the loyalist forces under Phokas proved victorious in spring 979, forcing Skleros to flee to Byzantiums eastern Muslim neighbours, finding refuge in the Buyid court at Baghdad. In 987, however, Bardas Skleros was released from Baghdad, Nikephoros secured 1,000 Georgian soldiers from David and defeated Taronites, but soon after that news reached him of the death of his father at the Battle of Abydos on 13 April 989. Bardas Phokas demise led to the collapse of the rebellion, the Georgians returned to their country. Nikephoros fled to the fortress of Tyropoion, where his mother resided, along with his brother Leo, Nikephoros now supported Skleros candidacy as emperor, but the latter, old and weary, preferred to give up the struggle and submit to the emperor in exchange for leniency. Like Bardas Skleros, Nikephoros received a pardon, and was allowed to retain his privileges, Leo on the other hand tried to resist from his base at Antioch, but the citys inhabitants surrendered him to Basil. The two conspirators aimed to overthrow Basil and have one of them replace him, but the issue of who would have precedence was unresolved, and would lead to the rebellions quick downfall. The rebellion of the two men was particularly threatening to the emperor, as it took control over Cappadocia and threatened to cut off his rear, indeed, the conspirators are said to have been in contact with George I for that purpose. Whether the envoy accomplished his task is unknown, but on 15 August 1022, Xiphias arranged a meeting with Phokas, where the latter was murdered by one of Xiphias servants. Armenian sources however report, rather dubiously, that Phokas was killed by the king of Vaspurakan, Senekerim-Hovhannes, or his son David. The severed head was sent to Basil, who mounted it on a stake, following the death of Phokas, the rebellion collapsed, and Xiphias was arrested and forced to become a monk. Released from the threat to his rear, Basil II swiftly and decisively defeated George I, the other supporters of the uprising were imprisoned and released in 1025, after the death of Basil II and the succession of his younger brother, Constantine VIII. In 1026, however, Constantine VIII accused the last surviving member of the great family, Bardas Phokas, of plotting against the throne. Lilie, Ralph-Johannes, Ludwig, Claudia, Zielke, Beate, Pratsch, Thomas, a History of the Byzantine State and Society
33.
Nikephoros Xiphias
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Nikephoros Xiphias was a Byzantine military commander during the reign of Emperor Basil II. He played a role in the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria. In 1022 he led a rebellion against Basil II, and was disgraced, tonsured and exiled. He is last mentioned in 1028, when he was recalled from exile, Nikephoros Xiphias was born probably some time around or before 980, and was most likely the son of Alexios Xiphias, who served as the Catepan of Italy in 1006–08. Nikephoros appears for the first time in Emperor Basil IIs Bulgarian wars, in 999/1000, 1000/1 or 1002, at the time he was a protospatharios, and along with the patrikios Theodorokanos, he commanded a campaign deep into Bulgarian lands. Setting out from Mosynopolis, the two crossed the Balkan Mountains and captured the old Bulgarian capitals of Pliska and Great Preslav. They then plundered the Dobruja, left behind garrisons and returned to their base, Xiphias, still strategos of Philippopolis, suggested to the Emperor to bypass the Bulgarian positions and strike them from the rear. For this feat, which resulted in one of the most decisive victories in the long Bulgarian war, in early 1015, Xiphias, along with Constantine Diogenes, subdued the region of Moglena, which had rebelled against imperial rule. Towards the end of the year he campaigned from Mosynopolis to the region of Triaditza, razing its environs. Finally, in the last year of the Bulgarian war, in 1018, Xiphias allied himself against the Emperor with the magnate Nikephoros Phokas Barytrachelos, whose father had risen in revolt in the early years of Basil IIs reign. The two men planned to kill Basil, and that one of them should take his place, who it would be remained undecided, the conspiracy was apparently also known and supported by King George I of Georgia, who thus hoped to force Basil to abandon his invasion. When the emperor learned of the plot, however, he did not turn back, Basils ploy bore fruit very soon, for on 15 August 1022, Xiphias assassinated Phokas. The latters supporters dispersed, and the nascent rebellion collapsed, Xiphias was then forced to surrender to the Emperors envoy, Theophylact Dalassenos, who became the new strategos of the Anatolics. Brought to Constantinople, Xiphias was tonsured and banished to Antigone, one of the Princes Islands, following his return to the capital after his Georgian expedition, Basil II had most of his co-conspirators imprisoned and their estates confiscated. The patrikios Pherses the Iberian was executed, while two imperial chamberlains were also killed, one by Basils own hand, and the other, Xiphias, however, was by now too old and weary, and soon retired to the Stoudios Monastery. Nothing further is known of him, savvides, Alexis G. K. Προσωπογραφικό σημείωμα για τον Βυζαντινό στρατηλάτη Νικηφόρο Ξιφία. Βυζαντινή προσωπογραφία, τοπική ιστορία και βυζαντινοτουρκικές σχέσεις
34.
Vaspurakan
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Vaspurakan was the eighth province of Greater Armenia, which later became an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages, centered on Lake Van. Located in what is now called southeastern Turkey and northwestern Iran, from the 9th century BC, Vaspurakan was part of Urartu. In the 6th century BC, it part of Satrapy of Armenia. From 189 BC, it one of Greater Armenias provinces. Then it became part of Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia, after the division of 387, it was included into Persian Armenia. In the 8th century, it fell under Arab control, many rebellions took place in Vaspurakan. In 885, within the territory of Kingdom of Armenia, it became free, during most of its history, it was ruled by the Ardzruni dynasty, which first managed to create a principality in the area. At its greatest extent Vaspurakan comprised the lands between Lake Van and Lake Urmia in 908, in 1021, Seneqerim Ardzruni gave Vaspurakan to the Byzantine Empire, receiving estates in Sebasteia and surroundings in exchange. After Vaspurakan was ceded to the Byzantine Empire, it was conquered by Seljuq Turks, later it was ruled by Ahlatshahs, Ayyubids and Sultanate of Rum successively. Notable is the defense of Van of 1915 during the Armenian Genocide, vapusrakans territory was 40,870 km2 and was divided into 35 cantons. They usually took the name of the local nakharar that ruled them, patspatounik Palouniq Taygirian Tchevashrot Tornavan Tosb Varajnuniq - ruled by the Varajnuni. It became the richest and most celebrated monastery of the Lake Van area, here, Khrimian Hayrik founded Arciv Vaspurakani, the first newspaper ever printed in Armenia. Armenia and the Byzantine Empire, a Brief Study of Armenian Art and Civilization
35.
Seljuk Empire
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The Seljuk Empire or Great Seljuk Empire was a medieval Turko-Persian Sunni Muslim empire, originating from the Qynyq branch of Oghuz Turks. The Seljuk Empire controlled a vast area stretching from the Hindu Kush to eastern Anatolia, from their homelands near the Aral sea, the Seljuks advanced first into Khorasan and then into mainland Persia before eventually conquering eastern Anatolia. The Seljuk empire was founded by Tughril Beg in 1037, Tughril was raised by his grandfather, Seljuk-Beg, who was in a high position in the Oghuz Yabgu State. Seljuk gave his name to both the Seljuk empire and the Seljuk dynasty, the Seljuks united the fractured political scene of the eastern Islamic world and played a key role in the first and second crusades. Highly Persianized in culture and language, the Seljuks also played an important role in the development of the Turko-Persian tradition, the Seljuqs were allied with the Persian Samanid shahs against the Qarakhanids. The Samanid fell to the Qarakhanids in Transoxania, however, whereafter the Ghaznavids arose, the Seljuqs became involved in this power struggle in the region before establishing their own independent base. Tughril was the grandson of Seljuq and brother of Chaghri, under whom the Seljuks wrested an empire from the Ghaznavids, initially the Seljuqs were repulsed by Mahmud and retired to Khwarezm, but Tughril and Chaghri led them to capture Merv and Nishapur. Later they repeatedly raided and traded territory with his successors across Khorasan and Balkh, in 1040 at the Battle of Dandanaqan, they decisively defeated Masud I of the Ghaznavids, forcing him to abandon most of his western territories to the Seljuqs. In 1055, Tughril captured Baghdad from the Shia Buyids under a commission from the Abbasids, arslans decisive victory at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 effectively neutralized the Byzantine resistance to the Turkish invasion of Anatolia. He authorized his Turkmen generals to carve their own out of formerly Byzantine Anatolia. Malikshāh moved the capital from Rey to Isfahan and it was during his reign that the Great Seljuk Empire reached its zenith. The Iqta military system and the Nizāmīyyah University at Baghdad were established by Nizām al-Mulk, the Abbasid Caliph titled him The Sultan of the East and West in 1087. The Seljuq power was at its zenith under Malikshāh I, the Seljuq dominion was established over the ancient Sasanian domains, in Iran and Iraq, and included Anatolia as well as parts of Central Asia and modern Afghanistan. The Seljuk rule was modelled after the organization common in Turkic and Mongol nomads. Under this organization, the member of the paramount family assigned family members portions of his domains as autonomous appanages. When Malikshāh I died in 1092, the split as his brother. Malikshāh I was succeeded in Anatolia by Kilij Arslan I, who founded the Sultanate of Rum, and in Syria by his brother Tutush I. In Persia he was succeeded by his son Mahmud I, whose reign was contested by his three brothers Barkiyaruq in Iraq, Muhammad I in Baghdad, and Ahmad Sanjar in Khorasan
36.
Ardahan
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Ardahan is a city in northeastern Turkey, near the Georgian border. In 12th century BC region was part of newly formed tribal confederacy of Dieuchi, the first surviving record about this region is attributed to Strabo, who calls it Gogarene and mentions that it was a part of the Kingdom of Armenia, taken away from the Kingdom of Iberia. From the ninth to eleventh centuries, Ardahan served as an important transit point for goods arriving from the Abbasid Caliphate and departing to the regions around the Black Sea. During the eighth to ten centuries the city was in the hands of the Bagrationi princes of Tao and Klarjeti, After the liberation from Arab rule, according to the Arab historian Yahya of Antioch, the Byzantines razed Ardahan and slaughtered its population in 1021. The Mongols took hold of the city in the 1230s but the Georgian princes of Samtskhe-Saatabago were able to recapture it in 1266, the principality of Samtskhe-Saatabago was annexed by the Ottoman Empire in 1555 and Ardahan was included into the sanjak of Ardahan. The Ottomans constructed a fortress at Ardahan. The Turkish traveler Evliya Chelebi visited Ardahan in the 1640s and gave the following description and it is square-shaped and sturdy. This fortress has a cold climate and, because of this, there are no gardens or orchards. Fruits arrive from the fortress at Ajara and Tortum, before 1829 Ardahan was recorded to have had 400 households, the great majority of them Armenian. Many of them immigrated to the Russian Empire. During the Russo-Turkish War it was an important road connecting the border fortress of Akhaltsikhe to the Kars-Erzerum road. The town passed into the hands of Russia following the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War and was made a part of the Kars Oblast. The majority of the town was made up of Armenians, while other groups included Georgians, Pontic Greeks, Caucasus Jews, Russians, Kurds, Ossetians. The town flourished economically under Russian rule, exporting fruits, smoked meat, wheat. New roads were constructed, linking Ardahan to Akhalkalak, Kars, on December 25,1914, in the early months of the First World War, the Ottoman army occupied Ardahan and massacred many of its Armenians, Pontic Greeks, and Georgians. The Russians, with the help of Armenian and Pontic Greek militias, captured the town on January 3,1915, as Russian forces withdrew from the front following the October Revolution, a small Armenian volunteer force took up positions to defend the town from the approaching Ottoman Army. On March 6,1918 the Ottoman army, along with the help of the towns Muslims, overwhelmed Ardahans Armenian garrison, the British occupied Ardahan after the end of the First World War and eventually handed control over it to the Democratic Republic of Georgia. When the Turkish Nationalists captured Ardahan in November 1920, the towns remaining Armenians, Pontic Greeks, and Georgians fled to Armenia, northern Greece, the Treaty of Moscow, signed the following year between the Soviets and the Turks, confirmed Ardahan as a part of Turkish territory. In 1986 a brief description of the fortress was published, the original late antique/medieval walls of Ardahan Kalesi were extensively rebuilt several times and in the 19th they were adapted to accommodate small cannons
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Javakheti
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Javakheti is a historical province in southern Georgia, corresponding to the modern Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda municipalities. Historically, Javakheti borders in the west to the Kura River, principal economic activities in this region are subsistence agriculture, particularly potatoes, and raising livestock. Armenians comprise the majority of Javakhetis population, according to the 2014 Georgian census, of the 41,870 inhabitants in Akhalkalaki Municipality and Ninotsminda Municipality 23,262 were Armenians. The -k suffix in Armenian has an identical meaning, the earliest mention of the name was found in Urartu sources, in the notes of king Argishti I of Urartu,785 BC, as Zabaha. In the sources, the region was recorded as Zabakha in 785 BC, according to the kartlis tskhovreba, provinces of the Iberian kingdom were, Gachiani and Gardabani, that is, of the historical region of Georgia—Kvemo Kartli. According to Strabo, Armenia, though a small country in times, was enlarged by Artaxias. After Urartu Javakhk became a part of the Gugark province of Great Armenia, in the 1st century AD king of Kartli Parsman I managed to gain control over Javakheti. He crossed his border, the great River Kura, and invaded the Armenian country. ”In the 5th century during the ruling of Vakhtang V Javakheti was a province of Iberia and after his death his second wife the Byzantine princess settled in Tsunda. Armenian scientist of the 10th century Ukhtanes talks about the tree of Kyrion. Z. Aleksidze examines the viewpoint of this historian and the enlightened Armenian society of the 10th century on the problem that interests us in depth. ”Javakheti was an important part of the Kingdom of Kartli. In the 11th century Akhalkalaki became the center of upper Javakheti, under the Georgian Kingdom, Javakheti bridges, churches, monasteries, and royal residences were constructed. From the 13th century, Javakheti included the territories of Palakatsio, in the 15th century, Javakheti was governed by Samtskhe-Saabatago. Historical Javakheti was divided as Upper Javakheti and Lowland Javakheti, from the 11th century, the center of upper Javakheti became Akhalkalaki. From the 10th century, the center of lowland Javakheti was Tmogvi, in the centuries of rise of the Georgian kingdom, Javakheti was also in the uprising period, bridges, churches, monasteries, and royal residences were built. From the 12th century, the domain was ruled by representatives of the family of Toreli. From the 13th century, the borders of the region combined in addition Palakatsio. In the 15th century, Javakheti was part of the principality of Samtskhe-Saatabago, in the 16th century, the region, as well as the adjacent territories of western Georgia, was occupied by the Ottoman Empire. The Georgian population of Javakheti was displaced to inner regions of Georgia such as Imereti and those who remained gradually became Muslim
Byzantine Empire
Duchy of Kldekari
History of Georgia