Raiding belt · Anatolia and the Caucasus · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Kars-Ani frontier

The open plateau between the citadel of Kars and the Akhurian (Arpacay) river, where Ani stands.

Georgian and Armenian troops under Zakare Mkhargrdzeli took Ani from its Muslim lords in 1199 (common account; some lists give 1201), and since the early 1190s Georgian armies had been raiding the Turkish lands of the plateau. In the winter of 1199-1200 this ground lies between a Georgian garrison in Ani and Ahlat's governor in Kars, who will hold out until 1206: villages here cannot be farmed or taxed safely by either side.

How things stand that morning

Raided frontier.

Who raids here

Georgian and Armenian troops from Ani and Shirak (Zakare Mkhargrdzeli) against the Kars emirate; Turkmen and the Kars garrison against Georgian Shirak (not recorded in detail).

Anchoring castles

Kars (Ahlat's governor); Ani (Georgian since 1199, Zakare's).

Last campaign

The Georgian capture of Ani in 1199 (month not pinned). The next recorded campaigns: Basiani (1202-1205) and the siege and fall of Kars (1206).

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. 1206 (some accounts 1205-07), laterKars falls to the Georgians and the belt moves south and west.Depends on: Georgian victory over the Seljuk coalition. Stopped by: A truce, or relief of Kars from Ahlat or Erzurum.

Where the sources disagree

  • Ani's fall: 1199 in the common account (Wikipedia 'Ani', 'Zakarid Armenia'); 1201 in some lists, which is when Tamar granted it to Zakare. If 1201 is right, Ani is still Muslim on 1 January 1200 and this belt runs round Ani rather than between Ani and Kars.

Evidence: No source describes raiding in that particular winter, and Ibn al-Athir (as extracted in the Recueil) records no Georgian raid on Khilat's lands before 599 AH (1202-03). The belt rests on the fall of Ani in 1199, the general Georgian raiding after 1191 (TDV 'Saltuklular') and the long Georgian siege that ended with the fall of Kars in 1206. The GM may prefer to drop it.

On the map: A rough drawing of a raiding zone whose extent in 1200 is not recorded.

Sources and studies

  1. Wikipedia, 'Ani'
  2. Wikipedia, 'Zakarid Armenia'
  3. Wikipedia, 'Kars' (citing Lordkipanidze and Hewitt, Georgia in the XI-XII Centuries, 1987, p. 135)
  4. TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, 'Saltuklular' (A. Ozaydin, history; N. C. Akcil, architecture), vol. 36, 2009
  5. Wikipedia, 'Tamar of Georgia' (citing Lordkipanidze and Hewitt 1987; Humphreys 1977)
  6. Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, French translation in Recueil des historiens des croisades, Historiens orientaux, vol. II (Paris), pp. 105-122 (Georgian raids on Khilat, Oltu and Kars, 599-604 AH)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.