The Activities and Attitudes of Armenian-Georgian Troops which Affected the Course of Kösedağ War

Abstract

The events which occurred during the course of the War of Kösedağ at which the Seljuk Empire of Turkey met the armies under the command of the Mongolian Baycu Noyan are one of the major happenings to be examined in terms of their consequences, ever recorded in Turkish History. Prior to the war, the Seljuks of Turkey were traumatized because of internal rebellions. The Mongol Army gained an easy victory because of the incorrect decisions made Sultan Gıyaseddin Kaykhusraw II from the beginning of the war and of the negative roles of those involved in the war. Anatolia, which was like paradise and whose inhabitants experienced a kind of idyllic bliss and happiness under the administration of The Seljuks, was invaded by the Mongolian army, which advanced facing no resistance and caused mischief on the earth. The sources concerned indicate that the relationship between the Turks, the Armenians and the Georgians coincided with the entrance of the Seljuks into Anatolia. The Armenians, who lived under oppression and tyranny under the administration of the Byzantine Empire, met and viewed the Seljucks as their liberators. However, the Christians during the Crusades provoked and instigated both the Armenians and sometimes the Georgians against the Turks. The Armenians, who captured the Çukurova Region with the help of the Crusaders, established a barony here. During the reign of Alaeddin Keykubâd and İzzeddin Keykavus, the Sultans of the Seljuks of Turkey, the Seljuks made the Armenians subjected to them, but the Armenians did not keep their promise during the war of Kösedağ in 1243. The study focuses on the effects of the course of Armenian and Georgian forces, which played a role in the War of Kösedağ, upon the course of the war. The study also deals, in brief, with the role the statesmen of the Seljuks played in the defeat. Different historical sources written in such various languages as Arabic, Syrian, Armenian, Persian and Georgian on the War of Kösedağ provide plenty of useful information for you. The sources in question describes and explains in detail the number of the enemy, the way the enemy got prepared for the War, the deployment of the troops, the ethnic composition of the enemy troops and the course of the War. Contemporary Turkish historians give important knowledge of about the Mongolian and Pre-Asian communities. However, based on the Armenian and Georgian sources, some research needs to be done on the relationship with the Armenians - Georgians and their role in the War and in the collapse of the the State of the Seljuks.