Khliat was a Vaspurakanian town near the border with the Empire of Videssos. After the Yezda began heavy raiding, it fell to them and was occupied. When Mavrikios Gavras began his campaign against Yezda, he brought the imperial army to Soli, a Videssian town two days from Khliat. After resupplying, he marched onto Khliat and surrounded it. He gave the garrison a chance to surrender but its commander refused, stating that Gavras could do him no more harm than his own lords would if he yielded. That night, the Videssian army unloaded and assembled siege engines but Gavras decided to try to take the town by storm. He originally intended to send his most heavily armed foot, the Namdaleni and "Ronam" mercenaries but Gagik Bagratouni, a Vaspurakan noble, requested that his own volunteers lead th