Siege of Khokhanaberd

Siege of Khokhanaberd
Part of Mongol invasions of Georgia and Armenia
Walls of Khokhanaberd
Date 1236 Location Khokhanaberd, Kingdom of Artsakh (present-day Azerbaijan) 40.01599°N 46.53177°E / 40.01599; 46.53177 Result Armenian victory Peace Negotiations
Combatants
Kingdom of Artsakh	Mongol Empire
Commanders and leaders
Hasan-Jalal Dawla	Jula
class=notpageimage| Location within Azerbaijan

The siege of Khokhanaberd or Siege of Ishkanaberd was military conflict between Armenian and Mongol forces in XIII century during Mongol invasions of Georgia and Armenia.

Background

In 1220, Mongols invaded Georgia. The same year they invaded Armenia under Zakarid dynasty.

After conquering the coastal regions of Lake Sevan and Syunik, another Mongol army led by Jughbugha Noyin set out to conquer Khachen.

The Mongol army led by the general Jughbugha invades Khachen (the mountainous part of Artsakh), where it encounters stubborn resistance. Moreover, unlike other regions, in Khachen the struggle was not concentrated in one fortress, which served as a hub, but rather numerous pockets of resistance were created. Part of the Armenians of Inner Khachen took refuge in the Havakhaghats fortress. Despite the stubborn resistance of the Khachens, the Mongols nevertheless managed to sneak into the fortress and overwhelm the defenders.The Mongols, in order to break the will of the Armenians of Artsakh, took revenge on the peaceful population in the most brutal and savage way. According to the testimony of Kirakos Gandzaketsi, they put part of the population of Havka-Akhrat (Havakhaghats) to the sword, and the rest were thrown from the fortress. Blood flowed like a river. After a long time, the bones of the unburied martyrs looked like piles of stones.

Siege

Then the Mongols moved on Hasan-Jalal, the ruler of Inner Khachen, who had fortified himself in the impregnable Khokhanaberd opposite Gandzasar. The Mongols could not capture the fortress for a long time. Seeing that it was impossible to capture it by fighting, they resorted to their already tried method: they called for obedience. The ruler of Inner Khachen, having no hope for help from outside and in order to save the country from unnecessary destruction and massacres, accepted the Mongols' offer.

Aftermath

Although Hasan-Jalal submitted to the Mongols, the conquest of the entire Khachen proceeded rather slowly, because the people stubbornly resisted. The struggle continued until 1238.