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Q'ueli Fortress/Kol (Kuvel) Kalesi
Nestled within the modern-day borders of Turkey, specifically near the village of Kolköy in the Posof district of Ardahan Province, lies the remnants of a medieval fortress known by several names: Q'ueli, Kol Kalesi, or Kuvel Kalesi. Its original Georgian designation was Q'ueli, or more elaborately, Q'uelis-tsikhe, which translates, rather mundanely, to "fortress of Q'ueli." This imposing structure once crowned a mountain in the Arsiani Range, a prominent geographical feature now also known as Yalnızçam Dağları. The fortress's Georgian name has seen various transliterations over time, appearing as Qveli, Kveli, K'veli, Qvelis-ts'ikhe, or Qvelis-c'ixe. It first appears in historical records dating back to the early 10th century, solidifying its place as a crucial fortification within the historical Georgian province of Samtskhe. Its strategic importance persisted until the 16th century, when it ultimately succumbed to the expansion of the Ottoman Empire.
The rather peculiar Georgian name, Q'ueli/Q'uelis-tsikhe, meaning "a cheese fortress," is not merely a quaint etymological quirk. It directly corresponds to the Greek appellation, Tyrokastron (Τυρόχαστρον), the name by which the fortress is referenced in the seminal work De Administrando Imperio by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos. It seems even formidable fortresses can have rather humble origins or associations.
History
The fortress of Q'ueli, now largely a collection of ruins, stands as a testament to a turbulent past. Its location is precise: the village of Kolköy, within the Posof district of northeastern Turkey, a stone's throw from the Georgian border. The earliest mention of Q'ueli surfaces in the early 10th-century Georgian hagiographic text, the Passion of Gobron, penned by Stepane Mtbevari. This account details the fortress's role as a site of fierce resistance against the invading army of the Azerbaijani emir Yusuf Ibn Abi'l-Saj, known in Georgian chronicles as Abu l'K'asim. The year was 914. According to the narrative, Q'ueli endured a grueling 28-day siege before ultimately falling. The Georgian commander, Gobron, a staunch adherent of Christianity, met a grim end, refusing to renounce his faith for Islam and subsequently being put to death. A rather stark reminder of the religious and political schisms of the era.
By the 920s, Q'ueli had ascended to prominence as a principal fortress in Javakheti, a Georgian duchy. This is corroborated by Constantine Porphyrogennetos in his De Ceremoniis, where he refers to the region as Kouel (Κουελ), clearly named after its most significant stronghold. In this context, Constantine speaks of the "archon of Kouel." Professor Cyril Toumanoff, a scholar of considerable repute, posits that this archon might have been the Georgian Bagratid prince David. The fortress is also referenced by Constantine under its Greek moniker, Tyrokastron. Later, it appears in the possession of Gurgen II of Tao, a cousin of David known for his expansionist ambitions. Gurgen, in a rather shrewd, if ultimately temporary, territorial maneuver, exchanged Q'ueli and Adjara with his father-in-law, Ashot Kiskasi, for Klarjeti. He subsequently managed to reclaim even those territories, leaving Ashot with very little. Following Gurgen's demise in 941, Q'ueli passed into the hands of his cousins. Ultimately, the fortress, along with other Bagratid ancestral lands, was inherited by Bagrat III, who would later forge the unified Kingdom of Georgia in 1008, becoming its first king.
Its strategic position rendered Q'ueli a frequent battleground throughout its existence. In the 1040s, the rebellious Georgian warlord Liparit seized control of Q'ueli. However, King Bagrat IV of Georgia eventually dispossessed him of the fortress in 1059. Following this, Q'ueli was apparently granted to Murvan Jaq'eli, who is noted as the eristavi (duke) of Q'ueli in the 1060s. The Seljuqid sultan Alp-Arslan captured the fortress in 1065 during his incursions into Georgia. A decade later, in 1080, Turkish forces under the command of amir Ahmad, possibly affiliated with the Mamlān dynasty, launched a surprise attack and routed King George II of Georgia at Q'ueli. The fortress, along with a significant portion of southwestern Georgia, eventually fell under Ottoman control in the 16th century, marking the end of its historical significance.
- ^ (in Turkish) Kol Kalesi ve Kol Zaferinin Tarihçesi [permanent dead link] . Posof.gov.tr. 24 Haziran 2010. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
- ^ a b c d Toumanoff, Cyril (1963). Studies in Christian Caucasian History , pp. 492-495. Georgetown University Press.
- ^ Rayfield, Donald (2000), The Literature of Georgia: A History , pp. 48-9. Routledge, ISBN 0-7007-1163-5 .
- ^ (in French) Martin-Hisard, Bernardette. "Constantinople et les Archontes du Monde Caucasien dans le Livre de Cérémonies", pp. 452-455. In Travaux et mémoires du Centre de recherche d'histoire et civilisation byzantine , no. 13, pp. 361-521. Paris: De Boccard, 2000.
- ^ Thomson, Robert W. (1996), Rewriting Caucasian History , p. 310. Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-826373-2 .
- ^ (in Georgian) დ. მუსხელიშვილი, „ყველისციხე“. ქსე, ტ. X.-თბ., 1986.-გვ.639.