Siege of Queli
| Siege of Q'ueli | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Sajid invasion of Georgia | |||||||||
 A painting of St. Mikel-Gobron by Mikhail Sabinin. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Kingdom of Tao-Klarjeti | Sajid Emirate | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Gobron 
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Yusuf ibn Abi'l-Saj | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 200 | 20,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 133 | Heavy | ||||||||
The Siege of Q'veli or Siege of Q'ueli (Georgian: ყველისციხის ალყა) was the last major military engagement during the Sajid invasion of Georgia in 914. The heroic 28-day long siege resulted in pyrrhic Muslim victory and execution of the Georgian commander Gobron. Despite the important victory, the invaders were unable to maintain a strong foothold in western Georgia and were forced to withdraw.
The most detailed information about the event is described by a contemporary Georgian hagiographer Stephen of Tbeti in his best-known work Passion of Gobron. Before beginning their destructive campaign in Georgian kingdoms and principalities, the Sajids overran Caucasian Albania and Armenia, executing king Smbat I. After pillaging 87 settlements in eastern Georgia and capturing Ujarma and Bochorma fortresses in Kakheti, the Sajid ruler of Azerbaijan, known as Abu l'Kasim in Georgia and Yusuf ibn Abi'l-Saj elsewhere, launched his massive army to Uplistsikhe, only to find the fortifications demolished by their defenders in order to prevent him from gaining a foothold in the vicinity. From there, the amir surged into Samtskhe and Javakheti. Unable to seize control of the stronghold of Tmogvi, he besieged the castle of Q'ueli (Q'uelis-Tsikhe), which was a fief of a prominent Georgian feudal, Gurgen II of Tao.
The defense of the fortress was headed by Gobron, a military commander on Gurgen's court. The size of the Muslim army, which included siege engines, was so colossal that the camps set up by its soldiers would cover the expanses of five villages:
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