Kipchaks in Georgia

At the peak of this power, from the 12th to the 13th centuries, Georgian monarchs enlisted thousands of Kipchak/Cuman mercenaries and effectively utilized their services in conflicts against neighboring Muslim states.

"[1] The architect of the Georgian–Cuman/Kipchak alliance was the Georgian king David IV “the Builder” (r. 1089–1125), who employed tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of Cuman-Kipchak soldiers and settled them in his kingdom in 1118.

This measure, one of the central parts of David’s military reforms during his wars against the Seljuk invaders, had been preceded by the visit of the high-ranking Georgian delegation, including the king himself and his chief adviser and tutor George of Chqondidi, to the Cuman-Kipchak headquarters.

To secure the alliance with these nomads, David married a Cuman-Kipchak princess, Gurandukht, daughter of Khan Otrok (Atraka, son of Sharaghan, of the Georgian chronicles), and invited his new in-laws to settle in Georgia.

David mediated a peace between the Cumans-Kipchaks and Alans, and probably had some consultations also with the Velikiy Kniaz of Kievan Rus', Vladimir Monomakh, who had defeated Otrak in 1109, to secure a free passage for the Cuman-Kipchak tribesmen back to Georgia.

This caused a great discontent in the aristocratic opposition, which forced George’s successor Queen Thamar (1184–1213) to retire virtually all high-ranking assimilated Cumans-Kipchaks.