Armeno-Mongol Relations - Armenian Vassalage To The Mongols

Armenian Vassalage To The Mongols

When the Mongols reached the Caucasus, they conquered Greater Armenia, and various of the Armenian barons opted to swear loyalty to the Mongol Empire. In 1236, the Grand Prince of Karabagh, Hasan Jalal submitted to the Mongols, and in return received back some of the territories which had previously been conquered. He also traveled twice to the Mongol capital of Karakorum, where he negotiated further details of the relationship with the khan.

In the 1240s, as the Mongols continued their advance towards Cilicia, King Hethum I chose to follow the example of the Greater Armenian barons such as Hasan Jalal, and also submitted to the Ilkhanate.

To formalize his own relationship with the Mongols, in 1247 Hethum I sent his elder half-brother Sempad the Constable to the Mongol court in Karakorum. Sempad met with Güyük Khan and his successor, Kublai Khan's brother Möngke Khan, and made an agreement of cooperation, against their common enemy the Muslims. The nature of this relationship is disputed by historians, some of whom call it an alliance, and others who say that the Armenians had submitted to Mongol overlordship, and become a vassal state similar to any other conquered region.

Sempad was enthusiastic about his travel to the Mongol realm, which lasted until 1250. He discovered many Christians in Mongol lands, even among the Mongols themselves. On February 7, 1248, he sent a letter from Samarkand to his brother-in-law Henry I, king of Cyprus (who was married to the Armenian princess Stephanie, Sempad and Hethum I's sister). In his letter, Sempad described a Central Asian realm of oasis with many Christians, generally of the Nestorian rite:

"We have found many Christians throughout the land of the Orient, and many churches, large and beautiful... The Christians of the Orient went to the Khan of the Tartars who now rules (Güyük), and he received them with great honour and gave them freedom and let it know everywhere that no-one should dare antagonize them, be it in deeds or in words." —Letter from Sempad to Henry I.

During his visit to the Mongol court, Sempad received a relative of the Great Khan as a bride. He had a child with her, named Vasil Tatar, who would later be captured by the Mamluks at the Battle of Mari in 1266.