King Haithon I of Little Armenia Visits the Great Khan
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| King Hetum and his predecessor Queen Zabel |
In the year of
our Lord 1254 King Hetum I the ruler of Little Armenia was summoned by Batu
Khan to attend him and then travel to see Mongke the new Great Khan. Little Armenia was a key Mongol ally dating
back to 1243 when they backed the Mongols under Baichu against Kai Khosrau
(Ghiyath-al-din Kay-Khusru II, son of Kai Kubad) the father of the Sultan of
Rum at the battle of Erzincan.
Erzincan was
the key point in history when the Seljuk Sultan(s) of Rum and the Armenian
Kingdom of Cilicia became vassals of the Mongols. The Seljuk became vassal by
defeat. This meant that they had a very low status in the hierarchy of Mongol vassals.
They were neither particularly respected or trusted. King Haithon I was not a
defeated vassal. Haithon switched sides at the battle of Erzincan. Kai Khosrau
had trusted Hetum with his camp and his Harem. Along with helping the Mongols
to a great military victory Hetum delivered Kai Khosrau’s wives and concubines
into the hands of the Mongol general Baichu.
Not long after Erzincan
Sempad the Constable had traveled on behalf of his brother Haithon to pledge allegiance
to the Mongol Great Khan. At the same time Guyuk named David Narin king of Georgia and his cousin David
Ulu the ruler to his
east also paid. They paid homage and gained Mongol recognition of their rank
and domains. Sempad the Constable was rewarded with a number of cities for his
brother’s Kingdom that had been lost to the Seljuk Sultan of Rum. Obviously
restoration off cities guaranteed by Mongol power and troops was a great gift.
The problem was
that Sempad the Constable had pledged on his brothers behalf to the short lived
Great Khan Guyuk son of Ögedei and the last Ögedeid Khan. Sempad had been
present as an ambassador at the Kuraltai in August of 1246, outside Karakorum. Guyuk was formally selected as Great Khan August
24 and Sempad pledged fealty to him personally as opposed to the Mongol empire.
At that point in time fealty was pledged and owed to the man rather than to
some sort of abstract concept of state. This made Hetum of Cilicia an ally of
the Ögedeid line of
leadership.
But Guyuk had a very short reign. At the time off his death
Guyuk was marching west with an army to confront his cousin Batu who was
marching east with an army. Batu was a grandson
of Genghis Khan by his son Jochi. His ulus was the Golden Horde, which ruled
Rus, Volga Bulgaria, Cumania, and south into the Caucasus region.
Guyuk and Batu had fought on the same side in the Russian campaigns.
Guyuk led his
cotaimans rps in the Siege of Ryazan and the long siege at the Maghas, the
Ossetian capital. On this campaign Guyuk and Batu clashed over tactics.
Guyuk demanded a more aggressive direct approach who brought him into conflict
with his cousin Batu. Güyük was a morose mean
spirited drunk who called out Batu at the victory celebration. Before the
assembled Mongol elite Guyuk cried, "Batu is just an old woman with a
quiver". Güyük and Büri, a prince and cousin of the Chagataid line
fled Batu’s ordu and earnjned his undying enmity.
Batu tried to block Guyuk’s
election as great Khan but he failed. So when Guyuk died Batu moved to take his
revenge on the Ögedeid and Chagatayid branches
of the Mongol Royal Family. He engineered the election of Mongke at a Kuraltai
but it was deemed to be improper so a second Kuraltai was called another where Mongke
was named Great Khan.
Since Mongke
was the first Great Khan from the Toluid line it was important that an ally
even one as obscure as Little Armenia come to Karakorum and pledge his fealty
to Mongke and the Toluid line.
It is my belief
that Batu and Mongke wanted to solidify the empire. Mongke Khan was the first
Great Khan from the Toluid line. He had just dealt with a revolt of the Ögedeid
and Chagatayid princes.
After Mongke's second Kurultai where he was elected
Great Khan, Oghul's son Khoja and Ögedei's favorite grandson Shiremun attempted
a coup d'etat that failed. At this point Mongke and his ally Batu moved to
block any opposition.
Batu Khan summoned King Hetum to the court of the Great Khan
Hetum had to
travel in disguise because the Mongols had been backing King Haithon against
the Seljuk in his ongoing border war. At Kars he met with Baichu leader of the
Mongols in what was about to become IL-Khanid Persia. Reaching Baichu meant
safety since Rum or as we call it now Anatolia was the western frontier. The
Mamluk power extended up to and at times into Anatolia. Once Haithon was with
Baichu he was under the protecion of the Great Khan.
From Kars Hetum traveled north to Derbend and then on to Batu’s camp on the Volga north of the
Caspian. He left Batu’s ordu May 13th 1254. On the way Haithon met Hulagu at
Talas. Hulagu Khan was named IL-Khan and was on his way to take the west to
create Modern Persia as the IL-Khanid Empire. Hulagu was brother of Mongke. The
strategy was to secure the Empire for the Toluid line. When Mongke sent his
brother Hulagu Khan to Persia and his brother Kublai Khan to China is was to
cut of his enemies, With Batu as his ally and his brothers in place he could
hold off other claimants to the throne.
N.B. Hulagu was
tasked with destroying the power of the Muslim Caliphate in Baghdad and the
Ismaili Muslims who are usually referred to as the Assassins in Persia. I think
he was also put in place to cut off the Chagatayid Mongols from gaining Persian
and Iraq.
"Master William the Parisian William Buchier) had made for him a great silver tree, and at its roots are four lions of silver, each with a conduit through it, and all belching forth white milk of mares. And four conduits are led inside the tree to its tops, which are bent downward, and on each of these is also a gilded serpent, whose tail twines round the tree. And from one of these pipes flows wine, from another cara cosmos, or clarified mare's milk, from another bal, a drink made with honey, and from another rice mead, which is called terracina; and for each liquor there is a special silver bowl at the foot of the tree to receive it. Between these four conduits in the top, he made an angel holding a trumpet, and underneath the tree he made a vault in which a man can be hid. And pipes go up through the heart of the tree to the angel. In the first place he made bellows, but they did not give enough wind. Outside the palace is a cellar in which the liquors are stored, and there are servants all ready to pour them out when they hear the angel trumpeting. And there are branches of silver on the tree, and leaves and fruit. When then drink is wanted, the head butler cries to the angel to blow his trumpet. Then he who is concealed in the vault, hearing this blows with all his might in the pipe leading to the angel, and the angel places the trumpet to his mouth, and blows the trumpet right loudly. Then the servants who are in the cellar, hearing this, pour the different liquors into the proper conduits, and the conduits lead them down into the bowls prepared for that, and then the butlers draw it and carry it to the palace to the men and women."
William of Rubruck's Account of the Mongols
Hetum reached
Mongke’s court in Karakorum September 13th 1254. Meeting Mongke Khan on the
next day. All told Haithon and Party
spent less than three months in Karakorum
Haithon
returned to Armenia in late July 1255.
I will deal with Hetum at the court and how it affected Armenia and the world in a later article.
Originally I used the name Heithon and also Haithon. But at the suggestion of a trusted friend I switched to Hetum.
Originally I used the name Heithon and also Haithon. But at the suggestion of a trusted friend I switched to Hetum.
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