Third Perso-Turkic War - Siege of Tbilisi

Siege of Tbilisi

The next objective of the Turkic-Byzantine offensive was the Kingdom of Iberia, whose ruler Stephanus was a tributary to Khosrau II of Persia. In the words of Movses Kagankatvatsi, the Khazars "encircled and besieged the famous and great sybaritic trade city of Tbilisi," whereupon they were joined by Emperor Heraclius with his mighty army.

Heraclius and Tong Yabghu (called Ziebel in the Byzantine sources) met under the walls of Narikala. The yabgu rode up to the emperor, kissed his shoulder and made a bow. In return, Heraclius hugged the barbarian ruler, called him his son, and crowned him with his own diadem. During the ensuing feast the Khazar leaders received ample gifts in the shape of earrings and clothes, while the yabghu was promised the hand of the emperor's daughter, Eudoxia Epiphania.

The siege dragged on without much progress, punctuated by frequent sallies on the part of the besieged; one of these claimed the life of their king. After two months the Khazars retreated to the steppe, promising to return by the autumn. Tong Yabghu left young Böri Shad, either his son or nephew, in charge of the remaining forty thousand which were to assist Heraclius during the siege. Before long these departed as well, leaving the Byzantines to continue the siege alone and prompting jeers from the besieged.

When the Georgians ironically referred to the Emperor as "the goat," hinting at his incestuous marriage, Heraclius recalled a passage from the Book of Daniel about the two-horned ram overthrown by the one-horned goat. He interpreted this as a good sign and struck southward against Persia. On 12 December 627 he appeared on the bank of the Tigris and clashed with Persian forces near the ruins of Nineveh. In January he ravaged the environs of the Persian capital Ctesiphon, signalling a sea-change in the Persian-Byzantine relations.