[22] Despite these measures, the Muslims did not stop their seasonal devastation and several nomadic Turkish tribes settled in Georgia at the expense of the Georgian population, causing the collapse of the local feudal system.

[15] To expel the Turkomans from his territories, King David began by reorganising an army whose morale was at its lowest due to its many defeats; he then formed several small military detachments made up of the lower nobility[23] and peasants from the royal estates.

In 1104, a conspiracy led by the Heretian nobles Arishiani, Baram and their uncle Kavtar Baramisdze dethroned Aghsartan II and handed him over to David IV, who then had no need to resort to arms, as every Kakhetian citadel and fortress capitulated to the approaching Georgian forces.

[45] The Council of Ruisi-Urbnisi, led only indirectly by David IV who, as a lay sovereign, could not take part in the internal affairs of the Church,[43] adopted resolutions reflecting the will of the pious party.

Under Kings Bagrat IV and George II, the general decline in the economy had been accompanied by a significant fall in the population and an increase in the arbitrariness of the great feudal lords, leading to a deterioration in the quality of the Georgian army by undermining the discipline of the troops.

In addition to several wars between the two countries, each of these states interfered in the internal affairs of the other by openly or secretly supporting candidates to the throne, usurpers or, in the case of the Byzantine strategy, rebellious nobles against the power of the king.

[67] The Georgians, led by George of Chqondidi, his nephew Theodore, governor of Trialeti, Abuleti and Ivane I Orbeli, retaliated against the Turkish settlement and recaptured the town of Samshvilde without a major battle, adding it to the royal domains.

Still in 1118, the Armenian towns of Lori and Agarak were captured by David IV,[76][74] marking the beginning of the conquest of Armenia by medieval Georgia, while the Agarani region was recaptured in July of the same year, after just one day of fighting.

[40][77] It was after this victory at Agarani that David IV and George of Chqondidi travelled to North Caucasus, realising that despite the encouraging signs of a total defeat for the Seljuk forces, the Georgian army would have to be considerably strengthened to achieve this goal.

However, King David, having learned of the situation in the rest of his kingdom, rushed out of Abkhazia and ordered his soldiers to dig a passage through Likhi Range, then impassable and thus separating eastern Georgia from its part Western.

But once again, David IV, accompanied by a personal guard of Kipchaks, crossed the river towards Khunan and organized military incursions against the Turks stationed at Barda and Arabia in June.

[78] Shortly after the double defeat of Barda and Arabia, the Turkish settlers of South Caucasus and the Muslim merchants of Ganja, Tbilisi and Dmanisi sent representatives to the Seljuk Sultan of Iraq Mahmud II (r. 1118–1131), formally requesting military support against the Georgian forces.

The Muslim monarch, fed up with the victories won by an increasingly powerful Christian kingdom while the Crusaders already found themselves powerful enemies of the Turks in the west, then declared jihad (holy war of Islam) against Georgia and unifies a large Turkish army with detachments formed by the Seljuks of Turks coming from all over the Middle East (from Damascus and Aleppo to Caucasus) with: Tughril a Seljuk cadet who governs Azerbaijan and Arran from Nakhchivan, Arab forces of the Mazyadid emir Dubays ibn Sadaka, troops led by Najm ad-Din Ilghazi ibn Artuq from Aleppo, and garrisons from Ganja and Armenia, with the aim of invade the Kingdom of Georgia.

Mahmud II also appointed General Ilghazi, famous for his battles against the Europeans in the Holy Land and having concluded a temporary truce with the crusading Latins, as commander of these massive Muslim troops, whose numbers rose, d 'according to the sources, from 200,000 to 400,000 or even 600,000 soldiers.

[82] Having learned of the declaration of jihad by Mahmud II, David IV understood that the defeat of such an army would lead to the total liberation of the Caucasus and, therefore, the completion of the political goal of the Georgian ruler.

[83] The king decided to let the Turks penetrate into Georgia proper, with the idea of benefiting from the local geography, and finally intercepted the enemy on the roads linking Trialeti to interior Kartli.

[83] At this moment, David IV launched a new attack, which turned into a coup de grace for the Muslim allies on the battlefield: suddenly, the vigor of the enemy army collapsed in the middle of the fight.

Already in June 1121, David IV had put the city of Tbilisi under siege but was content with a formal allegiance with an annual tribute, in view of the upcoming war against the Turkish invaders.

[95] The resumption of Tbilisi by David the Builder ebuilder therefore established the kingdom of Georgia as the supreme protector of Christianity in the Caucasus and the Georgians now tried to assert their domination by trying to reduce the Muslim presence in the same region, this one being considered an ally of the Seljuk Empire.

The Seljuk sultan locked himself in Shamakhi after learning of the arrival of the Georgian troops, prompting David IV to halt his advance, deeming it disrespectful to pursue a retreating army.

Mahmud II then offered the king the opportunity to regain control of his vassal province if he would let him leave in peace, but the monarch categorically refused and resumed his march towards the Shirvan capital after defeating an army of 4,000 Seljuks led by the Atabeg of Arran.

The resumption of Tbilisi and the conquest of Shirvan not only completed the long process of the unification of Georgia which began at the end of the 10th century, but henceforth gave the kingdom a regional reputation as protector of Christianity and brought different peoples of South Caucasus to ask for help from David IV against the Muslim forces.

In May 1124, Georgian troops led by David the Builder entered southern Transcaucasia and within a few days captured many Armenian strongholds, such as the fortresses of Gagni, Teronakal, Kavazani, Norbed, Manasgonmni and Talinjakari.

[103][104] The following month, the king, after returning to Georgia proper, resumed his journey and crossed the Javakheti, Kola, Carnipola and the Basiani and destroyed all Seljuk installations there, before reaching the town of Speri, in Tao-Klarjeti.

Without a single fight, the Armenian population of Ani opened the gates to the Georgians,[101] who captured Emir Abu'l-Aswar Shavur ibn Manuchihr (r. 1118-1124) and exiled him and his family to Abkhazia.

The latter, accompanied by Emir Davout ibn-Soukman of Hantzit, however failed to achieve a victory over the kingdom of Georgia and the Christian sovereign managed to massacre the invaders after five days of battle.

The king died in his capital Tbilisi, after having appointed his eldest son Demetrius as successor, transmitting to him the Georgian royal attributes, consisting of a crown of precious stones, a scimitar and purple kneepads and sleeves.

Although there are no clear and reliable indications that David was indeed buried in Gelati and that the present epitaph is his, this popular belief had already been established by the mid-19th century as evidenced by the French scholar Marie-Félicité Brosset who published his study of the Georgian history between 1848 and 1858.

Indeed, he built hospitals in the country for the sick, which he took care of occasionally, as described in the chronicles:[66] He had yet another thought, following the example of the good God, gentle and merciful, loving men; it was to build a hospice, in a beautiful and suitable place, where he gathered his brothers afflicted with various illnesses, provided for all their needs, with generous lavishness and assigned income to meet their needs.

beds, their mattresses, their dishes, and all their utensils; gave everyone abundant alms, animated their supervisors and put their affairs in the most beautiful order, following the spirit of religion.The king has several residences across the country.