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Russo-Persian War (1804-1813)

 
Russo Persian War (1804 1813)

 
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Russo-Persian War (1804-1813)
 
 
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The 1804-1813 Russo-Persian War, one of the many wars between the Persian Empire
Persian Empire

The 'Persian Empire' was a series of successive Iranian or Persianization empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in Southwest Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
 and Imperial Russia, began like many wars as a territorial dispute. The Persian king, Fath Ali Shah Qajar, wanted to consolidate the northernmost reaches of his Qajar dynasty
Qajar dynasty

The Qajar dynasty is a common term to describe Iran under the ruling Qajar royal family that ruled Iran from 1794 to 1925. In 1794 the Qajar family took full control of Iran as they had eliminated all their rivals, including Lotf 'Ali Khan, the last of the Zand dynasty, and had reasserted Persian sovereignty over the former Iranian terr...
 by securing land near the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the List of lakes by area or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometers and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometers ....
's southwestern coast (modern Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan , is the largest and most populous country in the South Caucasus, located partially in Eastern Europe and partially in Western Asia....
) and the Transcaucasus (modern Georgia
Georgia (country)

Georgia is a transcontinental country in the Caucasus region, located at the dividing line between Europe and Asia. It is bordered by the Russia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, Armenia to the south, and Turkey to the southwest....
 and Armenia
Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in South Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea....
). Like his Persian counterpart, the Russian czar Alexander I
Alexander I of Russia

Alexander I of Russia , also known as Alexander the Blessed served as Tsar of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and Ruler of Poland from 1815 to 1825, as well as the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland....
 was also new to the throne and equally determined to control the disputed territories.

779, following the death of Karim Khan
Karim Khan

Karim Khan Zand, , , was the ruler and de facto Shah of Iran from 1760 until 1779. He founded the Zand dynasty. He never styled himself as "shah" or king, and instead used the title President ....
, the Zand dynasty
Zand dynasty

The Zand dynasty ruled southern and central Iran in the eighteenth century....
 ruler of southern Persia, Agha Mohammad Khan (reigned 1779-97), a leader of the Turkmen
Turkmen people

The Turkmen are a Turkic people found primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan and in northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language which is classified as part of the Western Oghuz languages branch of Turkic languages family together with Turkish language, Azerbaijani language, Gagauz language, Salar languag...
 Qajar tribe, set out to reunify Persia.






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The 1804-1813 Russo-Persian War, one of the many wars between the Persian Empire
Persian Empire

The 'Persian Empire' was a series of successive Iranian or Persianization empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in Southwest Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
 and Imperial Russia, began like many wars as a territorial dispute. The Persian king, Fath Ali Shah Qajar, wanted to consolidate the northernmost reaches of his Qajar dynasty
Qajar dynasty

The Qajar dynasty is a common term to describe Iran under the ruling Qajar royal family that ruled Iran from 1794 to 1925. In 1794 the Qajar family took full control of Iran as they had eliminated all their rivals, including Lotf 'Ali Khan, the last of the Zand dynasty, and had reasserted Persian sovereignty over the former Iranian terr...
 by securing land near the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the List of lakes by area or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometers and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometers ....
's southwestern coast (modern Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan , is the largest and most populous country in the South Caucasus, located partially in Eastern Europe and partially in Western Asia....
) and the Transcaucasus (modern Georgia
Georgia (country)

Georgia is a transcontinental country in the Caucasus region, located at the dividing line between Europe and Asia. It is bordered by the Russia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, Armenia to the south, and Turkey to the southwest....
 and Armenia
Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in South Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea....
). Like his Persian counterpart, the Russian czar Alexander I
Alexander I of Russia

Alexander I of Russia , also known as Alexander the Blessed served as Tsar of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and Ruler of Poland from 1815 to 1825, as well as the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland....
 was also new to the throne and equally determined to control the disputed territories.

Territorial claims

In 1779, following the death of Karim Khan
Karim Khan

Karim Khan Zand, , , was the ruler and de facto Shah of Iran from 1760 until 1779. He founded the Zand dynasty. He never styled himself as "shah" or king, and instead used the title President ....
, the Zand dynasty
Zand dynasty

The Zand dynasty ruled southern and central Iran in the eighteenth century....
 ruler of southern Persia, Agha Mohammad Khan (reigned 1779-97), a leader of the Turkmen
Turkmen people

The Turkmen are a Turkic people found primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan and in northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language which is classified as part of the Western Oghuz languages branch of Turkic languages family together with Turkish language, Azerbaijani language, Gagauz language, Salar languag...
 Qajar tribe, set out to reunify Persia. By 1794 he had eliminated all his rivals, including Lotf Ali Khan
Lotf Ali Khan

Lotf Ali Khan was the last Shah of Persia of the Zand dynasty.The son of Jafar Khan, he came to the throne in 1789. He faced the resurgent Agha Mohammad Khan of the Qajar dynasty from 1792....
, the last of the Zand dynasty, and had reasserted Persian sovereignty over the former Persian territories in Georgia
Georgia (country)

Georgia is a transcontinental country in the Caucasus region, located at the dividing line between Europe and Asia. It is bordered by the Russia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, Armenia to the south, and Turkey to the southwest....
 and the Caucasus
Caucasus

The Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region located between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. It is home to Europe's highest mountain ....
. In 1796 he was formally crowned as shah
Shah

Shah is a Persian language term for a monarch that has been adopted in many other languages.Shah used as a last name by Jains and Hindus is unrelated....
 (Persian for emperor
Emperor

An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress is the female equivalent. As a title, "empress" may indicate the wife of an emperor or a woman who rules in her own right ....
). Agha Mohammad was assassinated in 1797 and was succeeded by his nephew, Fath Ali Shah (reigned 1797-1834). Fath Ali attempted to maintain Persia's sovereignty over its new territories, but he was disastrously defeated by Russia in two wars.

Persia at the time claimed Karabakh
Karabakh khanate

The Karabakh khanate was a Turkic Muslim khanate founded in 1747, which remained under a nominal Persian Empire suzerainty but was de facto independent feudal state in Karabakh and adjacent areas until 1805....
, Shirvan
Shirvan Khanate

Shirvan Khanate was a self-governing khanate that existed in what is now Azerbaijan in 1748?1805....
, Talysh
Talysh Khanate

The Talysh khanate was one of many semi-independent principalities that existed on the territory of modern Azerbaijan between 1747 and 1813. It broke away from Iran after Nadir Shah?s death in 1747 but had already been developing a degree of autonomy since 1736 under Seyid Abbas ....
, and Shakki
Shaki Khanate

Shaki khanate was a principality on the territory of modern Azerbaijan between 1743 and 1819 with its capital in the town of Shaki. The khanate was under suzerainty of Persian Empire, a dependency of Quba Khanate for the most part of the 18th century....
 (parts of modern Azerbaijan) among its possessions; however, these claims appeared shaky after Russia's 1801 annexation of Georgia, a territory also claimed by the Persians. The Russians, eager to extend and consolidate their advantage, pushed forward militarily into the Persian frontier, planning to expand Imperial Russia's borders to the Aras River
Araks River

The Aras is a river located in and along the countries of Turkey, Armenia, Iran, and Azerbaijan. Its total length is 1,072 kilometers . Given its length and a basin that covers an area of 102,000 km?, it is one of the largest rivers of the Caucasus....
, bordering what is now northern Turkey
Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
.

Unequal forces


The Russians were unable to dedicate a larger portion of their troops in the Caucasus
Caucasus

The Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region located between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. It is home to Europe's highest mountain ....
 region, because Alexander's attention was continually distracted by concomitant wars with France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
, and Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
. 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
Abbas Mirza

Field-Marshal Abbas Mirza , was a Qajar crown prince of Iran. He developed a reputation as a military commander during wars with Russia and the Ottoman Empire, as an early modernizer of Persia's armed forces and institutions, and for his untimely death before his father, Fath Ali Shah....
, tried to modernize the Persian army, seeking help from French and British experts with a mind to achieving this cause, but this merely delayed the Persian defeat.

Outbreak of war

The Russian commanders Ivan Gudovich
Ivan Gudovich

Count Ivan Vasilyevich Gudovich was a Russian Empire noble and military leader of Ukrainians descent. His exploits included the capture of Khadjibey and the conquest of maritime Dagestan ....
 and Paul Tsitsianov catalysed the outbreak of war when they attacked the Persian settlement of Echmiadzin
Echmiadzin

Etchmiadzin, also Echmiatsin, Echmiadzin, Ejmiatsin is the spiritual centre of Armenia and the seat of the Catholicos of All Armenians, the head of the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church....
, notable as the most holy town in Armenia. Gudovich, unsuccessful in the siege of Echmiadzin due to a lack of troops, withdrew to Yerevan
Yerevan

Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia. It is situated on the Hrazdan River, and is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country....
 where he again prosecuted another failed siege. Despite these ineffective forays, the Russians held the advantage for the majority of the war, due to superior troops and strategy; however, Russia's inability to dedicate anything more than 10,000 troops allowed the Persians to mount a fairly respectable resistance effort, the Persian troops being of a low grade, mostly irregular cavalry.

Holy war and Persian defeat

The Persians scaled up their efforts late in the war, declaring a holy war on Imperial Russia in 1810; however, this was to little avail. Russia's superior technology and tactics ensured a series of strategic victories, culminating in Pyotr Kotlyarevsky
Pyotr Kotlyarevsky

Pyotr Stepanovich Kotlyarevsky was a Russian military hero of the early 19th century. He was born in the village of Olkhovatka near Kharkov into a cleric's family....
's victories at Aslanduz
Battle of Aslanduz

The Battle of Aslanduz was fought on October 31, 1812, between Russia and Persia. The 10-times numerically superior Persians were led by Abbas Mirza....
 and Lenkoran, in 1812 and 1813 respectively. Upon the Persian surrender, the terms of the Treaty of Gulistan ceded the vast majority of the previously disputed territories to Imperial Russia. This led to the region's once-powerful khans being decimated and forced to pay homage to Russia.

See also

  • Russo-Persian Wars
    Russo-Persian Wars

    The Russo-Persian Wars were a series of wars fought between the Russian Empire and Persia in the 18th and 19th centuries, the most important of which were:...