With his ascent to the throne, Giorgi III launched a successful campaign against the Seljuk sultanate of Ahlat (the Shah-Armen State) in 1156.
The consort of Queen Rusudan was a younger son of 'Abdu'l Harij Muhammad Mughis ad-din Tughril Shah, the Seljuq emir of Erzurum, and his wife, a daughter of Sayf al-Din Begtimur, the ruler of Ahlat.
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However, after the Khwarezmid shah departed to lay siege to Ahlat, Ghias ad-Din returned to Christianity, redefected to the Georgians, and informed them about the weakness of a Khwarezmid garrison in Tbilisi.
Tarchaneiotes's segment of the army was detached to take nearby Khliat before the main battle took place.
Rusudan made an alliance with the neighbouring Seljuk rulers of Rüm and Ahlat, but the Georgians were routed by the Khwarezmians at Bolnisi, before the allies could arrive (1228).
Ahlat |