[4][5] King George II, conceded control of the city to his powerful vassal Ivane I of Kldekari, thereby buying his loyalty, in 1073.

[7] In 1110 the Georgians led by George of Chqondidi, his nephew Theodore, governor of Trialeti, Abuleti and Ivane I Orbeli, retaliated against the Seljuk settlement and recaptured the town of Samshvilde, which was added to the royal domains, without a major battle.

[9][10] Responding to this double defeat, Sultan Muhammad I Tapar in 1110, sent a large army of 200,000[10] or 100,000[9] (or only 10,000 according to the Armenian version of the Georgian Chronicles) soldiers with the aim of invading Georgia.

Knowing of the approach of Turkish troops, David IV left his home at Nacharmagevi with a personal guard of only 1,500 men and set out to meet the invaders during the night.

[11] The two armies, clearly unequal, clashed the next day at the Battle of Trialeti in a hard fight which ended in a decisive victory for Georgia.