Frontier town · The Eldiguzid atabegs of Azerbaijan · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Bjni

A castle of the Armenian Pahlavuni princes on a rock above the Hrazdan, on the road from Lori and Lake Sevan down to Dvin and the Ararat plain.

It is the next target of the Mkhargrdzeli, who take it in 1201 and make it Ivane's seat. A castle with a village, not a town.

Who holds it

Name
Not pinned (a Muslim lord)
Title
Lord
Since
Not pinned
Confidence
low

Lord in 1200

A Muslim (Turkish) lord whose name is not pinned, in the Eldiguzid sphere round Dvin. Vardan Areweltsi dates its capture by Zakare and Ivane to 650 of the Armenian era (1201): on 1 January 1200 it is not yet Georgian.

How things stand that morning

A Muslim (Turkish) lord whose name is not pinned, in the Eldiguzid sphere round Dvin. Vardan Areweltsi dates its capture by Zakare and Ivane to 650 of the Armenian era (1201): on 1 January 1200 it is not yet Georgian.

Charter

None recorded.

Council

None recorded.

Communities

Not recorded.

Fairs and markets

None recorded.

Militia

None recorded.

Walls and castle

Not recorded.

Trade and crafts

Not recorded.

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. 1201 (Vardan: 650 AE, about 30 January 1201 to 29 January 1202)Taken by Zakare and Ivane Mkhargrdzeli; becomes Ivane's seat.Depends on: No relief from Dvin or Tabriz Stopped by: Eldiguzid relief

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: General accounts; no source pins the place's state on 1 January 1200.

Primary sources for Eldiguzids

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

  • The Complete History, Izz al-Din Ibn al-Athir (about 1200 to 1231, at Mosul). The widest Muslim narrative for the years 596 to 597 AH (1199 to 1201): al-Adil's entry into Cairo and his taking of the sultanate from his nephew al-Mansur Muhammad early in 1200, the quarrels of the Ayyubid princes at Damascus, Aleppo and Hama, the Nile failure and the great famine of Egypt, Mosul under Nur al-Din Arslan Shah and the Jazira under Gokbori and the Artuqids, Baghdad under the caliph al-Nasir, the Khwarazmshah Tekish's death in 1200 and Muhammad's accession, the Ghurid wars in Khurasan, the Eldiguzids and Georgia, the Almohads in the west, and the Seljuks of Rum in passing. Read online
  • History of the Armenians, Kirakos Gandzaketsi (1241 to 1265). Written at Getik and Gandzak in the Zakarid lands of Georgian Armenia. Read online
  • The Georgian Chronicles: the Histories and Eulogies of the Sovereigns, and the Life of Queen Tamar, Anonymous, attributed to the chancellor Theodore of Chqondidi and to Basili, master of the court (about 1210 to 1225). Two court histories of Queen Tamar written within a generation. Read online
  • The Historical Compilation of Vardan Areveltsi, Vardan Areveltsi (about 1267 to 1271). A short universal history that for the 12th and 13th centuries follows Samuel of Ani, Michael the Syrian (which Vardan helped translate into Armenian in 1248) and Kirakos. Read online
  • Comfort of Hearts and Sign of Joy: a History of the Seljuks, Muhammad ibn Ali al-Rawandi (Ravandi) (1203 to 1204, dedicated to Kaykhusraw I of Rum). A history of the Great Seljuks from their origins to the death of the last sultan Toghril III in 1194, begun at Hamadan and finished for Kaykhusraw of Rum when the author moved to Anatolia. Read online
  • History of Tabaristan, Ibn Isfandiyar (Baha al-Din Muhammad ibn Hasan) (begun 1206, extended about 1216; continued anonymously to 1349). The local history of the Caspian province and the only account of the Bavandid kings of Tabaristan: Husam al-Dawla Ardashir (reigned 1173 to 1206) at Sari and Amul, his dealings with the Khwarazmshahs Tekish and Ala al-Din Muhammad, the Nizaris of Alamut, the Eldiguzids and the caliph, and the marriages, feuds and raids of the Daylamite and Gilaki lords. Read online
  • Dictionary of Countries, Yaqut al-Hamawi (1224 to 1228, at Aleppo). An alphabetical gazetteer of every place Yaqut had read of or seen: he travelled as a bookseller's agent through Syria, Iraq, Persia, Khurasan and Khwarazm (about 1213 to 1220) and settled in Aleppo. Read online

Sources and studies

  1. Vardan Arewelts'i, Compilation of History, tr. R. Bedrosian (archive.org)
  2. Ivane I Zakarian (Wikipedia)

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