Russo-Persian War (1804–1813)
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2012) |
| Russo-Persian War (1804–1813) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Russo-Persian Wars, Russian conquest of the Caucasus and the Napoleonic Wars | |||||||||
 This painting by Franz Roubaud illustrates an episode near the Askerna river where the Russians managed to repel attacks by a larger Persian army for two weeks. They made a "living bridge", so that two cannons could be transported over their bodies. | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Russian Empire |
 Qajar Iran | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Alexander I Ivan Gudovich Pavel Tsitsianov † Pyotr Kotlyarevsky Alexander Tormasov |
Alexander of Georgia | ||||||||
The Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813
The war ended in 1813 with the Treaty of Gulistan which ceded the previously disputed territory of Georgia to Imperial Russia, and also the Iranian territories of Dagestan, most of what is modern Azerbaijan, and minor parts of Armenia.
Origins
The origins of the first full scale Russo-Persian War can be traced back to the decision of Tsar Paul to annex Georgia (December 1800) after
Unequal forces
The Russians were unable to commit a large portion of their troops to the Caucasus region, because Alexander's attention was continually distracted by simultaneous wars with France, the Ottoman Empire, Sweden and Great Britain. Therefore, the Russians were forced to rely on superior technology, training, and strategy in the face of an overwhelming disparity in numbers. Some estimates put the Persian numerical advantage at five to one. Shah Fath Ali's heir, Abbas Mirza, tried to modernize the Persian army, seeking help from French experts through the Franco-Persian alliance, and then from British experts, in order to address the tactical disparity between the forces.
Outbreak of war
The war began when Russian commanders
Holy war and Persian defeat
The Persians scaled up their efforts late in the war, declaring
War
Blue=Georgia from Persia (square) or Turkey (circle)
Yellow=Khanate from Persia before or early in war
Black Diamond=Persian
Red=Turkish
A=Askeran, B=Shakh-Bulakh, S=Shamkir. Shusha is the yellow dot for Karabakh Khanate
Z=Aslanduz, E=Echmiadzin, M=Meghri.
During this period Russia was mainly dealing with the local khanates which were subject to Persia. Following the bloody capture of Ganja the khans could usually be bullied without too much fighting. The main Persian army intervened twice, once successfully and once unsuccessfully. Significant events include the 1804 capture of Ganja and failure to take Yerevan; the 1805 push east, almost to the Caspian; and the 1806 death of Tsitsianov, capture of the Caspian coast, and start of the Russo-Turkish War.
In late 1803
In early 1805 the Shoragel sultanate was taken by the Russians. This was a small area at the junction of Georgia, the Yerevan Khanate, and Turkey and included the militarily important town of Gyumri. On 14 May, the Karabakh Khanate submitted to the Russians, and on 21 May the Shaki Khanate did the same. In response to the loss of Karabakh, Abbas Mirza occupied the Askeran Fortress at the mouth of a valley leading from the plain southwest to Shusha, the capital of Karabakh. The Russians responded by sending Koryagin to take Shahbulag Castle. Abbas Mirza marched north and besieged the place. On hearing of the approach of another army under Fath Ali, Koryagin slipped out at night and headed for Shusha. He was caught at the Askeran gorge but not defeated. More Russian troops relieved the blockade of Koryagin and Shusha. Seeing that the main Russian force had pushed far to the southeast, Abbas Mirza made a wide swing north and besieged Ganja. On 27 July, 600 Russian infantry routed his camp at Shamkir.
In September, a naval attack on Baku failed. In November, Tsitsianov marched east toward Baku, en route to accepting the submission of the Shirvan Khanate (27 December). On 8 February 1806, he was murdered while accepting the surrender of Baku. Russian honor was restored by Glazenap, who marched from north of the mountains and took Derbent, Quba, and Baku (technically Baku surrendered to Bulgakov). Ivan Gudovich replaced Tsitsianov as viceroy. In December, the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia.
Troops were moved west to deal with the Turks, a truce was made and Nibolshin was left to guard the frontier. Fighting resumed in 1808 when Russia took Echmiadzrin. Abbas Mirza was defeated south of Lake Shirvan; as a result, Nakhichevan, or some part of it, was occupied. In September 1808, Gudovich attacked Yerevan. The assault failed, withdrawal became necessary and 1,000 men, mostly sick and wounded, froze to death on the retreat. Escape was only possible because Nibolshin and Lissanevich defeated a "vast horde" of Persians. Gudovich resigned and was replaced by Alexander Tormasov. In 1809, Fath Ali was driven back from Gyumri and Abbas Mirza from Ganja. In 1810 Abbas Mirza tried to invade Karabakh but was defeated at Meghri on the Aras River.
In early 1812, Persia invaded Karabagh. They occupied Shahbulag Castle, which the Russians later recaptured. They attacked a Russian battalion at "Sultan-Buda" using European-style infantry and a few British officers. After a day of fighting the Russians surrendered. Russia responded to this unusual defeat by moving Pyotr Kotlyarevsky, the hero of Akhalkalaki, from the Turkish to the Persian front.
In the summer of 1812, just as Napoleon was preparing to invade Russia, the Russians made peace with the Ottoman Empire and Russian troops in Caucasia turned to Persia. On 19 October, Kotlyarevsky ignored the cautious Ritishchev's orders, crossed the
Thirteen years later, in another Russo-Persian War fought from 1826 to 1828, Persia tried to regain its territory. It was defeated and lost the khanates of Yerevan and Nakhichevan, roughly corresponding to modern Armenia.
Anglo-French diplomacy in Persia
Although this Russo-Persian War was in many respects a continuation of a struggle for supremacy in
The rise of French influence in Persia, viewed as the prelude to an attack on India, had greatly alarmed the British, and the Franco-Russian rapprochement at Tilsit conveniently provided an opportunity for a now isolated Britain to resume its efforts in Persia, as reflected in the subsequent missions of
Then, in the third and final twist to this story,
In February 1812,
1813: Treaty of Gulistan
Russia fought on two frontiers: against the Ottomans between 1806 and 1812; and against the Persians from 1804 to 1813. Both frontiers were concluded via treaties: the Treaty of Bucharest in 1812 with the Ottoman Empire; and the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813 that lasted until 1826 when Russian troops, acting outside of the control of Tsar Nicholas I, occupied Mirak. Under the Gulistan treaty, Russia was acknowledged as the power in control of the South Caucasus; western and eastern Georgia and the Muslim khanates until Baku and Quba were placed under Russian administration.[7]
![[icon]](/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2016) |
Assessment and aftermath
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2016) |
Although Russia was recognized as a dominant power over the Caucasus, the success of the Treaty of Gulistan was overshadowed by the threat of the Ottomans. The Treaty of Bucharest was in favor of the Ottoman Empire which had claimed the territories that Russia conquered during the war: Poti and Anapa, which were Black Sea port cities, as well as Akhalkalaki. Still, the conditions of sovereignty were comparatively stable in these years. In the complex political map of the South Caucasus, Russia had the means to control the region through defensive lines.[7]
According to William Bayne Fisher (et al.):
The defeat of Napoleon enabled Russia to allocate greater resources to the Caucasus front. The difference between well-drilled, well-equipped, disciplined armies and the tribal levies of Abbas Mirza was decisive. At Aslanduz on the Aras, 2,260 Russians under General P. S. Kotlyarevsky fought a two-day battle with 30,000 Persians under Abbas Mirza, killing 1,200 enemy soldiers, and capturing 537 at a loss to themselves of only 127 dead and wounded. Though on occasion the Persians fought well, for instance at Lankaran, where the same Kotlyarevsky lost 950 of 1,500 men under his command and was himself permanently disabled, the war was obviously lost.[8]
See also
Notes
References
- Muriel Aiken, Russia and Iran, 1780–1828, 1980
- ISBN 0-415-07822-9.
- ISBN 978-1-59884-948-6.
- ^ Pourjavady 2023.
- ^ a b Daniel, Elton L. "Golestān Treaty". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
- ^ All dates old style so add 12 days for the Western calendar
- ^ following Atkin, page 120. The Russian Wiki has Tsitsianov go directly to Yerevan and an army under Portnyagin retreat from Echmiadzran on 19 June
- ^ OCLC 975362899
- ^ Fisher et al. 1991, pp. 334.
Sources
- N. Dubrovin. История войны и владычества русских на Кавказе, volumes 4–6. SPb, 1886–88.
- Fisher, William Bayne; Avery, P.; Hambly, G. R. G; Melville, C. (1991). The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 7. Cambridge: ISBN 0521200954.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-0755637379.
- ISBN 978-90-04-44515-4.
- Pourjavady, Reza (2023). "Russo-Iranian wars 1804-13 and 1826-8". Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History Volume 20. Iran, Afghanistan and the Caucasus (1800-1914). Brill.