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

when the central government was at its strongest, there
is evidence of irregularities. For example, the Armenian
city of Surb Marl (Suroalu) was sacked by the regular
Mongol army, but then ravished a second time by a certain
noble named Lara Bahatur . Similarly, during the taking
of Western Armenia, though it was Mongol policy to spare
surrendering cities, some were sacked nonetheless, because
chieftains could not control their men, or (perhaps better)
because so many chieftains themselves were inclined to
plunder. The centrifugal nomadic element was unaccustomed
to and uninterested in sedentary government and its forma.
The Turco-Mongol nomads were unhappy at the fixed rates
of taxation imposed on subject populations. Indeed, their
constant illegal exactions were the root cause behind each
o
Caucasian rebellion . Kor, clearly, did this element
fancy the exalted stations given to some of the Caucasian
nobles. Tor example, the death of Awag'a influential
patron, the Mongol general Chormaghun in 1242/43 led to
an increase in disorders of all sorts. Turkmens immediately
plotted (unsuccessfully) to murder Awag . When the same
KG p. 260.
KG pp. 263-64; GA pp. 321, 323.
KG p. 264.
204