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

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many <strong>in</strong>dividuals who were bil<strong>in</strong>gual aa well as bicultural.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Anonymous Chronicle, one part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> larger History<br />

£f K'art'li is devoted to <strong>the</strong> <strong>13</strong>-14th centuries, i.e..,<br />

to <strong>the</strong> period 1207-<strong>13</strong>18 . Unfortunately little is known<br />

about <strong>the</strong> author. He is believed to have been a senior<br />

contemporary <strong>of</strong> k<strong>in</strong>g Giorgi <strong>the</strong> Brilliant (<strong>13</strong>18-46) . <strong>The</strong><br />

Anonymous Chronicle Itself is a remarkable work written by<br />

a surpris<strong>in</strong>gly unbiased <strong>in</strong>dividual who recorded <strong>the</strong> positive<br />

<strong>and</strong> negative aspects <strong>of</strong> Georgia's native <strong>and</strong> foreign rulers<br />

<strong>in</strong> a clear, concise fashion, avoid<strong>in</strong>g repetitions <strong>and</strong><br />

keep<strong>in</strong>g to a m<strong>in</strong>imum those tales <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> fantastic <strong>and</strong><br />

miraculous which characterize medieval histories generally.<br />

However, like o<strong>the</strong>r sections <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> History <strong>of</strong> K'art'li.<br />

<strong>the</strong> Anonymous Chronicle unfortunately lacks absolute chron-<br />

ology, a circumstance which requires <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r sources<br />

for verification. Apparently <strong>the</strong> author knew several<br />

2<br />

languages <strong>and</strong> had at his disposal a number <strong>of</strong> sources now lost .<br />

1 Yrac' JEamanakagrut'yun (1207-<strong>13</strong>18) [<strong>The</strong> Georgian Chronicle],<br />

trans, <strong>in</strong>to <strong>Armenia</strong>n with an <strong>in</strong>troduction <strong>and</strong> notes by<br />

P. Muradyan (Erevan, 1971) PP. 11-16. <strong>The</strong> so-called Old<br />

Section <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> History <strong>of</strong> K art'11 is a compilation <strong>of</strong> 10<br />

historical works written aT different times. Of <strong>the</strong>se, 9<br />

present <strong>the</strong> history <strong>of</strong> Georgia from remote antiquity to<br />

<strong>the</strong> <strong>13</strong>th century, while only one portion, <strong>the</strong> Anonymous<br />

Chronicle perta<strong>in</strong>s to <strong>the</strong> <strong>13</strong>-14th centuries.<br />

2 <strong>The</strong> author seems to have had some knowledge <strong>of</strong> <strong>Mongol</strong>ian,<br />

s<strong>in</strong>ce <strong>in</strong> several passages he transcribes <strong>Mongol</strong>ian names<br />

<strong>and</strong> entire sentences <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n translates <strong>the</strong>m <strong>in</strong>to Georgian<br />

[X'art'lis C'xovreba (<strong>The</strong> History <strong>of</strong> K'art'li) vol. II<br />

ST SauxSTsvTli, ed. (Tbilisi, l$59'Fpp.TT77?68]. P.Muradyan<br />

has demonstrated that <strong>the</strong> author made use—albeit not full<br />

use— <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Persian histories <strong>of</strong> Juva<strong>in</strong>i <strong>and</strong> Rashid al-D<strong>in</strong><br />

58

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