On March 9, 1226, a ruler whose empire had just been shattered by the Mongols marched into the Caucasus looking for revenge, power, and a new base of control.

In this episode of Baked Battlefields, we break down the Conquest of Tbilisi, when Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, the last ruler of the Khwarazmian Empire, captured the Georgian capital during his desperate attempt to rebuild power after the Mongol invasions. The fall of Tbilisi was brutal and destabilizing, leaving the region weakened just as new threats were emerging.

We talk collapsing empires, siege warfare in the Caucasus, the ripple effects of the Mongol expansion, and how leaders who have lost everything sometimes fight the hardest. Along the way, we get a little high, crack some jokes about strategy and survival, and explore how the chaos of one empire’s fall can reshape an entire region.

Precise history.
Imprecise sobriety.
Empires fall loudly.