Battle of Kirkhbulakh

Battle of Kirkhbulakh
Part of invasions of Georgia
Date 28 July, 1751 Location Kirkhbulakh, near Erivan, present-day Armenia Result Decisive Georgian victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Kakheti	Persian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Heraclius II of Kakheti	Azad-Khan Afghan Mohammad Khan  †
Strength
3,000 men[1]	18,000 men[2][3]
Casualties and losses
unknown	heavy; many killed and captured.

The Battle of Kirkhbulakh or Battle of Kirbulakh (Georgian: ყირხბულახის ბრძოლა) was fought in 1751 in the village of Kirkhbulakh between Georgian and Persian armies commanded by Heraclius II and Azad-Khan respectively. Battle began with the advantage of the Persians, but with brilliant leadership of King Heraclius Georgians managed to rout the enemy.

Background

Azad-Khan Afghan, the Khan of Tabriz as well as a pretender to the Persian throne, looking forward to extend his dominion, took advantage of the defeat of the Georgians against Haji Chalabi Khan. Putting his army under the command of a certain Mohammad Khan, evicted from Georgia earlier, ordered the siege Erivan. Heraclius quickly assembled a small army and marched to lift the siege. Upon hearing about this, Azad-Khan abandoned the siege of the city, which was already devastated. According to Papuna Orbeliani's accounts:

The city of Erivan was so desolated, there were no harvesters there. Apart from the Erivan Fortress and Etchmiadzin Cathedral, the city was left with no standing buildings.^[4]

King Erekle, ordering his men to harvest the crops to deal with the hunger in the city, set up defensive positions at the narrow passage of the nearby village of Kirkhbulakhi (in some sources Kirbulakhi). Meanwhile, Azad-Khan had managed to assemble an 18,000-men strong army. He attacked Erekle's fortifications on 28th July, 1751.^[4][5]

Battle

The battle started off with the Persians gaining an advantage over the Georgians by pushing back their left flank. King Erekle II ordered his cavalry to dismount from horses to allow them to maneuver in a narrow corridor and ordered his musketeers to hold their fire until his command. When the Georgians were virtually encircled, Heraclius ordered the offensive to the center of the Persian ranks, killing Mohammad Khan instantly. Georgians were able to use the confusion and disorientation of the opponent and overrode the Persian encirclement with a fierce counter-attack. King Irakli ordered his men to run down the retreating Persians, which they did for as long as 30 kilometers, killing and capturing many on their way.^[4][5]

Aftermath

The resonance of the decisive battle fought in Kirkhbulakh was apparent in all of neighboring Azerbaijani khanates. The renegade city-states went back under the Georgian authority, while Azad-Khan chose a "friendly relationship" to its northwestern neighbor. King Heraclius could now focus on addressing his losses in his previous war with Haji Chalabi as well as preventing incursions of Dagestani tribes and putting an end to unstable inner politics.^[4][5]

References