KHWAREZMIAN CONQUEST OF THE SOUTH CAUCASUS AND THE BATTLE OF GARNI IN 1225

The article deals with one of the most striking moments of the Khwarezmian expansion into the South Caucasus, namely the battle of Garni in 1225. It was this military clash that largely predetermined the course of the further military and political activity of the Khorezmshah Jalal ad-Din Mankburni: till his death in 1231, his attention was focused on this region, which had rightfully become the heart of his power. For its part, it was the Khwarezmian expansion that undermined the military and political might of the Georgian Empire, so that it could no longer properly withstand the Mongolian threat in the 1230s. The author of the article considers the battle and focuses on the causes and preconditions of this military conflict and its consequences. The article also presents a brief analysis of the military and political situation in the South Caucasus on the threshold of Khwarezmian threat. The events are reconstructed basing on the available sources in the Arabic-Persian, Georgian and Armenian languages. The author of the article highlights the key matters, which the authors of the three sources draw attention to, and emphasizes the most important authors’ assessments and conclusions cited in the historical sources. Thus, the author of the article considers the battle of Garni in 1225 both as a historical event and as a certain narrative created by medieval historians belonging to different religious, ethnic and social communities. The analysis of the mentioned narrative and the laws of its formation is an important component of this study.