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Zakare III Zakarian

Zakare III Zakarian (; ) (died 1261 AD) was a 13th century Armenian noble and a Court official of the Kingdom of Georgia, holding the position of amirspasalar (Commander-in-Chief) for the Georgian army.

Family

He was a son of the noble Shahnshah Zakarian, and a member of the Zakarid dynasty. He was married to the daughter of Sargis I Jaqeli, duke of Samtskhe. He was one of the main Greater Armenian lords to implement the alliance between his suzerain the Georgian King David VII and the Mongol Prince Hulegu, during the Mongol conquest of the Middle East (1258-1260). Others included the Georgian leader Hasan Brosh, Prince of Kakheti and son of Vasak Xaxbakean, and Sevadin, son of Grigor Xachenac'i.

Biography

King David VII made Zakare, son of Shahnshah Zakarian, an escort for his journey to Karakorum, where Zakare attended on an official recognition of David by Güyük Khan. According to the 13th century historian Juvayni:

Siege of Baghdad (1258)

In 1258, Zakare participated in the Siege of Baghdad organized by Hulegu Khan, together with Prince Prosh Khaghbakian. They participated in the capture of the city and the massacre of its inhabitants, but the Christians were spared. According to Bar Hebraeus, the Georgians, who had been recognized warriors among the Mongols since the 1240s, 'especially effected a great slaughter'. From the Christian point of view, the conquest of Baghdad was considered as a "divine revenge" against the Caliphate.

In 1260, Hulegu Khan requested from David VII Ulu to support him in the war against Mamluk Sultanate in Cairo. David, remembering the Georgian losses at Baghdad refused to comply and revolted against his Mongol overlord. It happened that Zakare was with Mongol general Arghun Aqa. However he went unbeknownst to Arghun to see his wife who was with her father Sargis I Jaqeli, one of the rebels. When Arghun learned about this, he notified Hulegu, who himself ordered that Zakare be taken shackled. Zakare was executed, while his father Shahnshah was freed for a ransom.

Mural paintings

The family members of the Zakarian family, including Zakare, Ivane, Shahnshah or Khutlubuga, are thought to be depicted in the murals of the Haghpat Monastery, and inside the arches at the Kobayr Monastery (1282). Khutlubuga in particular is directly attested through an inscription and a relatively well preserved mural, renforcing the suggestion that other close members of the dynasty were also depicted with him.

Sources

  • Shoshiashvili, N., Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia, vol. 7, p. 271. Tbilisi, 1979

References