| November 21 |  |
Editor says, what if Timur had fallen at Tbilisi? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the December 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1386, on this day a Georgian army under the command of King Bagrat V defeated the forces of Timur of Samarkand at the gates of the capital city, Tbilisi.
The Triumph of Bagrat the GreatA fair and popular ruler, also known as a perfect soldier, he was dubbed as "Bagrat the Great" by his multiethnic subjects. The Trapezuntine chronicler Michael Panaretos, who knew the king personally, called him a "prominent and victorious general"
But the hard fought victory was only made possible by the arrival of a vital ally, the Khan of Golden Horde, Tokhtamysh (a descendant of Genghis Khan's eldest grandson, Orda Khan or his brother Tuqa-Timu).
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Tbilisi, King Bagrat V, Georgia, Timur, Samarkand. Editor says, in authoring this post we have repurposed content Wikipedia which reports ~ Tbilisi was besieged and taken on November 22, 1386 after a fierce fight. The city was pillaged and Bagrat V and his family were imprisoned. Taking advantage of this disaster, the royal vassal Duke Alexander of Imereti proclaimed himself an independent ruler and was crowned king of Imereti at the Gelati Monastery in 1387.
~ While it appeared to be a good thing for Georgia, I believe a lot of the hordes of that time had previously gone around the Georgians en route to the Middle East and Europe. But, this win, had it happened, would have slowed that conquest route down from what I have read. Things like the Polish Empire were about to get in their way.
~ The Georgians come out ahead for a minute, and with good military/political leadership their location could keep them a functionally independent local power, however the big winners are the Golden Horde and the Ottomans (not to mention the current iteration of the Delhi Sultanate).
~ Eventually, Georgia would have gone down. But getting rid of Timur might mean that some other empires would last longer.
~ We'd have a very different Middle East as the Renaissance took hold in Europe.
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
