Latest / The Story of Armenia: Survival Through Empires and Genocide — Fexingo History / Armenia Under the Mongols: Surviving the Ilkhanate
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Armenia under the Seljuks and the Bagratids, but the 13th century brought a whole new power that reshaped everything: the Mongols. And Armenia’s experience with them is one of those wild rides — collaboration, devastation, and a surprising cultural flowering. Luna: I know the Mongols conquered a huge swath of Asia, but what did that mean for Armenia specifically? Lucas: Well, the first Mongol incursions into the Armenian highlands started in the 1220s, under Genghis Khan himself, but it was after his death that things got serious. By 1236, a Mongol general named Baiju — that's B-A-I-J-U — led a full-scale invasion. He targeted the former Bagratid cities like Ani and Kars, and the fortresses of Lori and Amberd. Luna: Wait — didn't the Armenians try to resist? Lucas: They did, but it was hopeless against the Mongol war machine. The local nakharars, the feudal lords, either submitted or were crushed. A few fortresses held out for a while — Amberd, for instance, fell only after a long siege — but by 1240, most of Greater Armenia was under Mongol control. The historian Kirakos Gandzaketsi, who was actually captured by the Mongols, wrote about the devastation firsthand. Lucas: But here's the twist: the Mongol Empire wasn't monolithic. After Genghis Khan's death, it split into khanates. The part that ruled Armenia was the Ilkhanate, founded by Hulagu — a grandson of Genghis. And Hulagu, surprisingly, became an ally of Christian Armenia. Luna: Really? The Mongols allied with Christians? Lucas: Yes, because the Ilkhanate's main enemy was the Muslim Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. And Cilician Armenia — that's the kingdom that had formed on the Mediterranean coast after the Seljuk conquests — was a Christian state. So it made perfect political sense. King Hetum I of Cilician Armenia traveled all the way to the Mongol capital of Karakorum in 1254 to negotiate an alliance with the Great Khan Mongke. Luna: That's a long journey. What came of it? Lucas: Hetum secured a pact: the Mongols would help Armenia fight the Mamluks, and Armenia would support Mongol campaigns. It paid off for a while. In 1260, Hulagu and Hetum captured Aleppo and Damascus together. But then disaster struck at the Battle of Wadi al-Khaznadar in 1299, where the Mamluks defeated the Mongols, and Armenia was left exposed to vengeance. Lucas: And you know, this period also saw some fascinating cultural exchange. The Mongols were surprisingly tolerant of different religions in their empire. Under the Ilkhanate, Armenia experienced what some historians call a 'Pax Mongolica' — relative peace and a revival of trade along the Silk Road. Armenian merchants traveled as far as China, and you can see Mongol influences in Armenian art of the time, like in the miniatures of the Gladzor Gospels. Luna: That's a side of the Mongols I didn't expect. Lucas: It's easy to only think of them as destroyers, but they were also facilitators of exchange. The Mongols even used a relay system called the 'yam' — like a postal network — which the Armenians adopted. Kirakos Gandzaketsi wrote admiringly about how fast news could travel across the empire. Lucas: But the alliance didn't last. Later Ilkhans converted to Islam, and the Mongols became persecutors instead of protectors. By the early 14th century, Armenia was caught between the Islamized Mongols and the Mamluks. The final blow came from the Turkic confederation known as the Qara Qoyunlu — the 'Black Sheep' — who overran Armenia and ended any hope of recovery. Luna: So from alliance to devastation again. It's a pattern. Lucas: It really is. And speaking of patterns, if you've been following the show episode by episode, you'll have noticed how often Armenia’s survival depended on navigating between empires. That kind of deep dive takes time to research and produce, and honestly, it's only possible because a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It keeps the show ad-free and lets us tackle these complex stories. Luna: Yeah, and it’s thanks to that support that we can spend hours on sources like Kirakos’s history. Lucas: Exactly. So back to the Mongols — one of the most remarkable figures from this era is the historian Kirakos Gandzaketsi. He was a monk from Gandzak — modern Ganja in Azerbaijan — who was captured by the Mongols in 1234 and served as a scribe. His 'History of the Armenians' includes one of the best contemporary accounts of the Mongol invasions, and he gives us vivid details about their tactics, their beliefs, and their impact. Luna: What did he say about them? Lucas: He describes their archery as terrifyingly accurate, and their ability to cross mountains in winter. But he also notes that, initially, they didn't interfere with local religion. He writes that the Mongols said, 'We have come from God's command, and we do not harm those who submit.' Of course, that was only if you submitted. If you resisted, they massacred everyone. Lucas: Under the Ilkhanate, Armenian architecture saw some interesting hybrid forms. The church of St. Thaddeus in Iran — not in Armenia proper but part of the Armenian cultural sphere — shows a blend of Armenian and Mongol decorative elements. And there's evidence that Mongol patrons funded Armenian monasteries to gain favor with the Christian population. Luna: So it wasn't all destruction. Lucas: No, and that's what makes it so complex. The Mongols also brought a unified legal code, the Yassa, which sometimes protected minorities. But the eventual collapse of the Ilkhanate in the mid-14th century left Armenia in a power vacuum, and the following centuries under the Qara Qoyunlu and then the Ak Koyunlu were periods of decline and fragmentation. Luna: I had no idea the Mongols played such a nuanced role in Armenian history. Lucas: It's a chapter that doesn't get much attention, but it really shaped the late medieval period. The alliances, the trade, the cultural blending — and then the eventual betrayal. It's a story of survival through shifting allegiances, which is pretty much the Armenian story in a nutshell.