Peter the Great's capture of Rasht

The pretext for the Russian conquest was grounded in the same reasons as for why the entire war in general had started;

The war went on swiftly for Peter and his troops. By now, he was in possession of Iranian-ruled Dagestan and had made large inroads into Arran and Shirvan, the latter two territories roughly comprising the modern-day Azerbaijan Republic. Taking further advantage of Tahmasp II's desperate situation,^[3] Peter wanted to push deeper into Iran and annex even more territories. Even though the bulk of the army had withdrawn to Astrakhan following the storm of early September 1722 that had destroyed a large number of vessels, the horse epidemic that virtually destroyed the Russian cavalry, and the diseases amongst the soldiers which made the Russians suffer tens of thousands of losses every year during the war, he still ordered for new captures, namely the Caspian Sea provinces of contemporary northern Iran and the rest of modern-day Azerbaijan.^[3]

In November 1722, he ordered Colonel Shipov to sail for

Although Peter's forces had entered the town already in late 1722, ostensibly to help defend the city,[3] the local Iranian governor had demanded their withdrawal. In February 1723 the governor is known to have assured the Russians that their help was not needed, the Persians being able to protect themselves, and that Russian troops should leave.^[3] Met unwelcomly by both the governor as well as the locals, the Russians were settled in the confines of Rasht in a caravanserai.^[2] Around the same time, king Tahmasp II now demanded the immediate withdrawal of the Russians.^[2] The Russian commander, Colonel Shipov, promised to send away his artillery and equipment first and then to withdraw.^[3] However, he failed to keep his promise and thus found himself under siege in the barracks,^[3] near Rasht where the battle commenced. The Safavid governor had mobilized some 15,000 untrained and inadequately armed troops, levied mostly from the peasantry.^[2] Late at night on 28 March 1723, a detachment of Russian troops crept through the Persian lines. The Russians attacked from two directions, taking the Iranians by surprise.^[3] As the Persians fled, the Russians pursued, killing about,^[1] or over,^[3] 1,000 men.

Aftermath

By now, Rasht was in firm hands of the Russians. Following the Safavid defeat, Peter now sent four battalions of regular troops under Brigadier Levashev to replace Shipov.^[2] Following his arrival in Gilan in September 1723, he decisively dealt with the (remaining) opposition in the province.^[2]

Under the circumstances and with Russia keeping the offensive, king Tahmasp II had no choice but to negotiate.^[5] The Treaty of Saint Petersburg was signed just a few months later after even more territorial losses, confirming all Russian conquerings of Iran's territories in the North Caucasus, South Caucasus, and contemporary northern Iran as made during the war.^[5]

Peter was determined to keep Gilan, Mazandaran and the rest of the newly conquered territories from Iran in the Caucasus, and add them to Russia.^[5] In May 1724 the Tsar wrote to Matiushkin, Russian commander in Rasht, that he should invite "Armenians and other Christians, if there are such, to Gilan and Mazandaran and settle them, while Muslims should be very quietly, so that they would not know it, diminished in number as much as possible."^[5] Peter however never managed to fulfil these plans for the long-term future, for he died in 1725.

The town, alongside the rest of