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

The History of Tamerlane and His Sueoessora. although
the major source for Armenia In the late 14th and early
15th centuries, ia, nonetheless a rather defective produc-
tion. Written for the most part from memory, the work
especially when dealing with events occurring outside of
Armenia, contains historical inaccuracies and frequent
repetitions, jumps episodically back and forth from one
decade to another, and does not, generally seem to be a
well-structured history . T'ovma himself was well aware
of its shortcomingsc He wrote: "This [referring to the
martyrdom of four vardapets] occurred in 1425/26 more or
less. You must excuse me, for I was old and commenced
after 50 years [of age]. Therefore I wrote going backward
O
and forward (yet ew yaraH grec'l)" .
The History commences with the devastations wreaked
on Siwnik* by the northern Tatars in 1366. Tamerlane's
invasions of 1387, 1388, 1395, 1401, and 1402 on numerous
districts of eastern and western Armenia and Georgia are
described with the blood-curdling immediacy of a terrified
eye-witness. The account is more detailed yet for the
M. Abelyan, vol. 4, pp. 417-20.
TM, p.44