Georgia and the Anatolian Turks in the 12th and 13th centuries

This article presents a study of the political and military relations of the Kingdom of Georgia and the Muslims of Anatolia from the 12th century AD up to the Mongol conquest of the region in the mid 13th century. Georgia's expansion during the 12th century and the web of marriage alliance that the Muslim rulers of Anatolia wove to protect themselves drew her into conflict even with distant principalities with which she shared no border, such as the Artukids of Mardin. Meanwhile, Erzurum appears to have been obliged to acknowledge Georgian suzerainty for much of the 12th and early 13th centuries. In the 13th century, however, the Mongol threat forced the Seljuks of Rūm and Georgia to form an alliance, and Georgians came to form a significant part of the Seljuk army. This alliance was sealed with a marriage between the Seljuk sultan and a member of the Georgian ruling house, the Bagratids, and the Seljuks appear to have derived prestige from their association with the Bagratid dynasty.