The Turco-Mongol Invasions and the Lords of Armenia in the 13 ...

Co-optation of allegiance, a corollary of the
manipulation of naxarar precedence, occurred as a natural
consequence of Mongol policies. This involved more than
simply the extension of one lord's boundaries at the
expense of another's. The Mongols attempted to incorporate
certain prominent naxarars into their own court and
administration, and thereby created conflicts of loyalty.
They further sought to bind naxarars to themselves by
providing them with Mongol wives. The source mention
such co-optation beginning after 1256, the year in which
HUlegU became Il-Khan in Iran:
When Hulegti saw the Georgian nobility which
had come before him, received them affectionately
and armed [them] to take them to battle with him.
Some he appointed as uldaS. that is, sword-bearing
palace guards; some were designated aak *ur8 . that
is, those who hold above the Khan's head a parasol
with a rounded end, like a flag; and only those
from the Khan's relatives had the right to fan;
others were appointed lubSac"— keepers of the
wardrobe and shoes (basmatT; others, eydCalrg.
bodyguards; and one group also was designated
tore — folders of arrows and quivers. Thus did
the Khan bestow these mean honors on the great
princes of Georgia, and he considered each honored.
1 gC pp. 222-23; Mur. p. 98. Aknerc'i wrote: "HClegtt—
Khan greatly loved the Armenian and Georgian forces
because of the extreme bravery which they displayed before
him in all battles. Therefore he called them Bahaturs .
He selected the young and handsome sons of the great
princes of Armenia and Georgia and appointed them as his
guards, styling them K'esikt'oyk'-- guards with sword and
bow" (GA p. 342). The Mongols also tried— obviously with
limited success— to co-opt the allegiance of king David
Laiaean. From Batu-Khan of the Northern Tatars, David
received "a parasol Tsuk'ur) which no one excepting the
Khans and their relations~Tiave . [Batu] told Kulegtt that
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