Battle of Alinja (1399)
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| Battle of Alinja | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Timurid–Georgian wars | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
|
 Timurid Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| George VII |
Seif ad-Din Abu Bakr | ||||||
The Battle of Alinja took place in 1399 at the Alinja Fortress, located in present-day Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan. King George VII of Georgia, seeking to break the siege laid by Timurid forces, led a coalition of Georgian and Caucasian allies to successfully relieve the fortress and defeat a Timurid reinforcement army. This victory, however, provoked a brutal retaliatory campaign by Timur, which devastated Georgia and the surrounding regions in the following years.
Since 1386, Timur had launched multiple invasions, devastating Georgia's cities, killing civilians, and forcing George VII into submission at various points. However, the Georgian king continued to resist Timurid dominance.[1]
Since 1388, the Timurids had laid siege to the Jalayirids at Alinja. During a brief lull in the siege, Tahir, the son of Ahmad Jalayir, ruler of the Jalayirid Sultanate,[2] arrived to strengthen the defenses of the fortress.[3] In 1396, Timur appointed Miran Shah as the governor of Azerbaijan and tasked him with the siege of Alinja.[3][4] Meanwhile, in 1398, Timur himself led a massive army to invade India.[4] That same year, Miran Shah’s forces constructed a wall around Alinja, effectively severing all communication between the fortress and the outside world.[3][4]