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Siege of Ganja

Remains of the Ganja Fortress
Location
Ganja, Ganja Khanate, Qajar Iran
Result Russian victory
Territorial
changes		 Russia captures Ganja
Belligerents
Russian Empire

Qajar Iran

Commanders and leaders
Paul Tsitsianov Javad Khan †

The Siege of Ganja (1804) (Persian: نبرد گنجه, Russian: Штурм Гянджи), was the result of a Russian offensive in the South Caucasus intended to conquer the Ganja Khanate of Qajar Iran, which contributed to the escalation of the Russo-Persian War (1804–1813).

The siege led to the escalation of the Russo-Persian War (1804–1813).[1]

Background

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The South Caucasus in the last quarter of the 18th century

Ganja was a town in the South Caucasus, which had been a part of Iran since the reign of the Safavid king (shah) Ismail I (r. 1501–1524).[2][3] Following the collapse of Safavid Iran in 1722, Iranian authority in the South Caucasus started to dwindle. The Ottoman and Russian empires subsequently took advantage of the situation, eventually agreeing to divide the South Caucasus between themselves in 1724. By 1735, however, the former Iranian holdings in the South Caucasus had been restored, under the leadership of Nader, who had restablished the former Safavid borders. Following Nader Shah's assassination in 1747, Iran fell into turmoil, especially in the South Caucasus. There the Georgians and local khans fought over land.[4]

With no central authority left in Iran, Heraclius II (r. 1762–1798), the king of Eastern Georgia (Kartli-Kakheti), and the khans, district aqalars (grandees) and soltans (military commander of a district) attempted to preserve their recent freedom by collaborating with or against their neighbours.[5] The area soon split into multiple semi-autonomous khanates and districts, such as the Ganja Khanate.[6] By 1762, the Zand ruler Karim Khan Zand (r. 1751–1779) had established his authority in most of Iran,[7] and eventually received the submission of Georgia and the various khans of the South Caucasus.[8] Following Karim Khan's death on 1 March 1779, however, a power struggle ensured amongst his kinsmen.[9] Capitalizing on the turmoil in Iran, as well as the Ottomans inability to confront Russia, a group of Russians politicians, led by Grigory Potemkin, convinced the Russian empress Catherine II (r. 1762–1796) to agree to a bilateral treaty (the Treaty of Georgievsk) with Heraclius in 1783. Heraclius, who was worried of reinstatement of fidelty to Iran, agreed to the terms of the treaty, which was to renounce his loyalty to Iran in return for Russian protection.[10]

Catherine was also pressured by some of her advisors to interfere in the conflicts between the khans in the South Caucasus, but she refused. This later changed after 1794, as a result of the actions of Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar (r. 1789–1797), who had established himself as the new shah of Iran.[10] Like Nader Shah, he saw the South Caucasus, including Georgia, as integral parts of Iran.[11] Feeling betrayed by Heraclius' actions and becoming aware of the autonomy enjoyed by the khans, Agha Mohammad Khan invaded the South Caucasus in 1795.[10] With most of the region either under Iranian rule or plundered, Agha Mohammad Khan marched to Heraclius' capital, Tiflis.[12] A severe battle followed, which resulted in the victory of Agha Mohammad Khan and Heraclius' withdrawal. Tiflis was then looted by Agha Mohammad Khan's soldiers for two weeks, resulting in the death of many, as well as the enslavement of women and children.[13] Catherine, viewing the attack on Tiflis as an offense to Russia,[13] used it as a reason to invade the South Caucasus. In March 1796, she sent a public declaration, written in Persian and Armenian, to all the khans and important figures of the region. The letter explained her reason behind the invasion as a way to protect Georgia and the rest of the South Caucasus from the "usurper" Agha Mohammad Khan.[14]

Valerian Zubov, the brother of Catherine's favourite Platon Zubov, was made the leader of the campaign.[14] By the winter of 1796, motivated by Agha Mohammad Khan's absence in Khorasan and Zubov's promise that they could keep their power, the khans (with the exception of Erivan and Shirvan) had accepted Russian suzerainty. Russian sources report that Zubov had planned to continue his campaign into the Iranian shore, but Catherine's death on November 17 led to the withdrawal of the Russian forces under the orders of her son and successor Paul I (r. 1796–1801), and thus an end to the campaign. By January 1797, all the Russian troops had withdrawn to Kizlyar.[15] After having conquered Khorasan, Agha Mohammad Khan went back to the South Caucasus in the spring of 1797, where he punished the khans who had yielded to the Russians.[16] All the khans either re-submitted, fled, or were deposed.[13] However, the situation of the South Caucasus (as well as Iran) once again became uncertain when Agha Mohammad Khan was assassinated on June 17, 1797, in the city of Shushi.[16]

Prelude

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Dispute over Georgia

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Left: Paul I (r. 1796–1801), the emperor of Russia
Right: Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (r. 1797–1834), the shah of Iran

Meanwhile, Heraclius had returned to the ruins of Tiflis, and sent Garsevan Chavchavadze as his ambassador to Saint Petersburg to convince the Russians to fulfill their responsibilities to protect Georgia as per the treaty of 1783. However, Paul and his advisors hesitated to take action. Heraclius died on January 22, 1798, and was succeeded by his sickly son George XII (r. 1798–1800).[17]

In Iran, Agha Mohammad Khan was succeeded by his nephew Baba Khan, who ascended the throne as Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (r. 1797–1834) on March 21, 1798. The new shah's position was unstable, as his authority was not recognized in several provinces, such as Fars, Kermanshah and Gilan, as well as the border provinces, such as Khorasan.[17] Because of this, Fath-Ali Shah hesitated to march into the South Caucasus, and instead resorted to send threatening messages to the khans, soltans, aqalars and Georgian princes, reminding them that they were subordinate to Iran.[13][18]

The French conquest of Malta and invasion of Egypt (July 1798) caused Paul to take action. In order to protect the eastern coast of the Black Sea, Paul finally agreed to continue the Russian pledge to protect Georgia on August 19, 1798.[19] However, he did not want to intervene in the internal affairs of the rest of the South Caucasus, which he viewed as being under Iranian rule. Therefore only one Russian regiment under Lieutenant-general Karl Knorring (the new commander of the Caucasian Line) was sent to Tiflis.[18] The shah's messenger, who had stayed in Tiflis, was then sent back to Iran to notify the others that any attack on Georgia would break the peace between the two nations, as Georgia was under Russian protection.[20] George soon requested that Paul incorporate Georgia into the Russian Empire, whilst keeping his dynasty—the Bagrationi—in power. He made this request due to the schemes amongst the Georgian princes, ceaseless attacks on the eastern Georgian border by the Lezgi, the animosity of Javad Khan of Ganja, restoration of Iranian rule over Qarabagh, and new threats from Fath-Ali Shah.[21]

George XII (r. 1798–1800), the last ruler of Eastern Georgia (Kartli-Kakheti) before its annexation by the Russian Empire on December 30, 1800

On April 27, 1799, Paul sent another Russian regiment under the new Russian minister to Georgia, Peter Kovalenskii, to Tiflis. He ordered Kovalenskii and Knorring to help stop the court schemes, the Lezgi and Turkish attacks from Daghestan and Akhaltsikhe, to organize a local militia, to establish good relations with the adjacent khans, and to promote the immigration of pro-Russian Armenians (notable for their trade activities and handicrafts) to Georgia. By the end of 1799, Kovalenskii and the 17th Jäger regiment led by Major-general Ivan Petrovich Lazarev had entered Tiflis.[21] Afraid that the Russian troops might pull back, George requested six conditions to Kovalenskii, such as the placement of 3,000 Russian troops in Georgia, and a fixed border between Georgia and Iran.[22]

As a reaction to George's requests, Kovalenskii had a letter sent to Fath-Ali Shah (whom he addressed him as Baba Khan instead),[a] which stated that Paul wished to maintain good relations with Iran, and that Georgia, according to the treaty of 1783, was under the protection of Russia.[24] Fath-Ali Shah dismissed Kovalenskii's claims and stressed Georgia's historic importance as a part of Iran, as well stated that a force of 60,000 soldiers led by Prince Abbas Mirza was en route to the city of Tabriz.[25] In order to ready a defense against a possible Iranian invasion, as well to calm George's concerns, Paul ordered more Russian troops to go to Tiflis on July 22.[26]

The entry of Russian troops into Georgia was not supported by everyone. One of Heraclius' sons, Prince Alexander, was worried that his country might get seized by the Russians. He passionately opposed the Russians, and thus went to Tabriz, where he joined Abbas Mirza's forces. Alexander told Fath-Ali Shah that his brothers Vakhtang and Parnaoz had raised an army and prepared to stage an insurrection against the Russians. In exchange, Fath-Ali Shah named him vali (warden or viceroy) of Georgia and promised to install him on the Georgian throne.[27]

On December 1, 1800, it was announced that Georgia was to be incorporated into Russia, whilst the Bagrationi were preserved as titular rulers. Two weeks later, however, Paul had a change of heart and instead resolved to completely incorporate Georgia.[28] His decision may have been influenced by the recent Anglo-Iranian treaty of friendship. Although opinions on this decision was divided in The Imperial Council, Paul went ahead and signed a manifesto on December 30, 1800, which declared that the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti was added to the Russian crown.[29] Albeit no mention of the Bagrationi was made in the manifesto, Paul stated that he wanted to install George's heir David as the head of the new management and to make the Georgian nobles part of the Russian nobility. Ten days later, George died, on January 9, 1801.[29]

Meanwhile, Alexander had joined forces with Umma Khan, the ruler of the Avar Khanate. They both contacted the Georgian princes and told them to assemble their men and prepare to repel the Russians. However, on November 19, 1800, their forces were routed by a Russian force led by Lazarev and Vasilii Semyonovich Guliakov. Both Umma and Alexander were wounded during the battle; Umma eventually died on March 22, 1801, while Alexander at first sought shelter in Qarabagh, and then in Daghestan.[29] By this period, Abbas Mirza had crossed the Aras River and moved into Nakhichevan and then Erivan, both in order to put an end to the friendly correspondence between Mohammad Khan Qajar of Erivan and Tiflis, and to prepare an invasion of Georgia.[29] Following the defeat of the Georgian princes, however, Abbas Mirza departed from Erivan at the end of August and went back to Tabriz.[30] In the same month, Kovalenskii was dismissed because of his inefficient administration and his dishonest reports that served his own purposes.[31]

On March 18, 1801, the Russian senate decreed that Kartli-Kakheti was named the Georgian guberniia (province) of the Russian Empire. Nevertheless, the situation of Georgia once again fell into a state of uncertainty, when Paul was assassinated by a group of courtiers on March 23/24, 1801.[32]

Russian resumption of Catherine II's plans

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The new Russian emperor Alexander I (r. 1801–1825), who resumed Catherine II's plan to expand into the South Caucasus

Paul was succeeded by his son Alexander I (r. 1801–1825), who reinstalled his grandmothers previous generals to their former positions, and also chose to resume her plans for the Caucasus.[13] On 24 September, he announced that Kartli-Kakheti was now added to the Russian Empire.[33] He installed Knorring as the governor of Georgia,[33] and instructed him to persuade various khanates that Fath-Ali Shah's authority had not yet been established in—such as Erivan, Ganja, Shakki, Shirvan, and Baku—to request Russian protection. This demonstrates that Alexander, unlike his father, sought to conquer the entire area that was situated between the Aras and Kur rivers. Russian soldiers were now permanently stationed in Tiflis and were prepared to advance to the banks of the Aras.[34]

While Knorring was relocating his management to Tiflis, Lazarev attempted to sway the khans, telling them that Russia had no plans regarding their domains, and that they should accept Russian protection. He was very mindful of the fact that most khans wanted the same authority they had enjoyed before the advent of the Qajars. The difficulty of his task was to some degree made easier due to Fath-Ali Shah's threats against the khans and the unsteady situation in Iran. He dealt with the khans as if they were autonomous, and also did not recognize Fath-Ali Shah as shah, continuing to call him by his former name of Baba Khan.[34]

Several reports had guaranteed Lazarev that the khanates on the Caspian coast should not pose a major problem, and therefore he mainly focused on defending Georgia from a possible Iranian invasion from Erivan or Ganja.[35] Because Javad Khan of Ganja continued to remain faithful to the shah, Lazarev attempted to sway Mohammad Khan of Erivan and Kalb-Ali Khan Kangarlu of Nakhichevan to the Russian side. Albeit both khans at first reacted positively to this, they ultimately declined.[36]

In January 1802, rumours circulated that Fath-Ali Shah had sent one of his commander to Tabriz to prepare for an invasion of Nakhichevan and the removal of Kalb-Ali Khan from his post. If Mohammad Khan of Erivan did not yield to the shah, the commander his men were to advance to Erivan and then wait for the shah and the rest of the Iranian forces to appear. Several other rumours also later circulated, such as the planned Iranian siege of Erivan and attack on Tiflis. None of these rumours turned out be true, as other events had caught the attention of the shah; the Wahhabi sack of Karbala, the third campaign in Khorasan, and the murder of the Iranian envoy Hajji Khalil Khan in Bombay. Fath-Ali Shah was busy with these matters from March 1802 to March 1803.[36]

On April 21, 1802, Knorring was back in Tiflis. He had brought Kovalenskii back, whom he installed as the chief administrator of Georgia.[36] Under the emperors orders, Knorring was to convince the khans of Erivan and Ganja to accept Russian garrisons, in order to protect Georgia from a possible Iranian invasion. During this period Mohammad Khan of Erivan had remained in his fortress, whilst sending contradictory messages to the shah and Lazarev, declaring his allegiance to both. Lazarev replied back, stating that he needed Knorring's permission to negotiate. Mohammad Khan of Erivan's emissary stayed in Tiflis until receiving Knorring's reply. The latter soon replied, urging Mohammad Khan of Erivan to send a formal request with a official signature and seal to the emperor, so that Erivan could be put under Russian protection.[37]

Opposition to the Russians

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Coin of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar, minted at Ganja in 1802/03. The khan of the Ganja Khanate, Javad Khan, remained loyal to the shah and opposed the Russians

Although some khans and soltans had showed interest in receiving Russian protection, Javad Khan staunchly opposed it. He remained loyal to the shah and planned to defy any Russian intrusion. When Javad Khan was made aware of the gradual Russian expansion into the neighboring districts, he had his son Hossein Qoli Aqa relocate the Tatar and Armenian families of Shams al-Din to Ganja. Javad Khan also plundered the district, seizing livestock and forcing many locals to flee to Georgia.[37] In response, Knorring sent a diplomat named Gorgin Beg to Javad Khan, asking him to stop his hostility, as Shams al-Din was Georgian land and that it had only been controlled by Ganja due to being granted by Agha Mohammad Khan. Javad Khan responded by saying that while Shams al-Din had occasionally been detached from Ganja, it had still been part of it for centuries. He also added that he desired good relations with his neighbour. Knorring responded back, by repeating that the district belongs to Georgia, which was now part of Russia.[38]

On 4 June, 1802, Knorring sent a Russian force under Lazarev into Shams al-Din. Lazarev and his men only had supplies to last until June 13, and thus had hoped to acquire some from the Armenian villages bordering Ganja. However, when he reached the border on June 8, he discovered that 29 out of 33 Armenian and Tatar villages, which amounted to 1,900 families, had been moved to Ganja. Recognizing his dangerous position, Lazarev and his men withdrew into Qazzaq and Borchalu. Meanwhile, Alexander had reached an agreement with Kalb-Ali Khan and the pasha of Akhaltsikhe to attack Tiflis through Kars, which was the best passage. However, the pasha of Kars refused to help, due to his good relations with Georgia.[38] On June 20, Kalb-Ali Khan led a force of 3700 soldiers towards Kars, but was defeated by a combined Russian-Kars army.[39]

During this period, Alexander's mother Queen Darejan Dadiani and some Georgian princes continued their schemes against the Russians, while Kakheti was still suffering from raids by the Lezgis and other mountain tribes, who also controlled the Darial Gorge. Many anti-Russian schemes took place in court of the king of Imereti, Solomon II, where Prince Iulon and Parnaoz had fled to. Alexander and the pasha of Akhaltsikhe continued their attempts to expel the Russians, and Javad Khan and Ibrahim Khalil Khan of Qarabagh were prepared to participate in an Iranian attack against Russia.[40] Javad Khan was ready to guide the Iranian forces to Tiflis, as he had previously done during Agha Mohammad Khan's invasion of the city in 1795.[41] Lazarev thus found himself in a difficult position to protect Georgia.[40]

Fath-Ali Shah did not capitalize on this situation, and instead sent messages to the Georgian notables and the khans, soltans and aqalars of the South Caucasus, reminding them that they were subordinate to Iran. During this whole period, he had to advance thrice to the northeastern border of Iran to deal with the Afghans and the Khorasanis, stop the rebellion of his brother in Fars, and also deal with the threatening Jafar Qoli Khan Donboli of Khoy. Based on this, the Iranian-American specialist George Bournoutian adds that "It is clear that the shah did want to leave his capital and lead his army into the South Caucasus, a region which had not always welcomed the Qajars."[40]

Due to his inability to deal with the Lezgi raids and rebellious Georgian princes, Knorring was dismissed on September 20, 1802.[42] He was replaced with Lieutenant-general Pavel Tsitsianov, whose Georgian noble family had served Russia since the start of the 18th-century.[43]

Siege

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After having successfully secured Georgia, Tsitsianov was able to start focusing on the khanates by the Kur and Aras rivers.[44]

Storming of the fortress

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Aftermath

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Notes

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  1. ^ The Russians did not recognize Fath-Ali Shah as shah, and thus called him by his former name, Baba Khan, until 1813.[23]

References

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  1. ^ Bournoutian 2021, p. XI.
  2. ^ Barthold & Boyle 1965, p. 975.
  3. ^ Bosworth 2000, pp. 282–283.
  4. ^ Bournoutian 2016, p. 107.
  5. ^ Bournoutian 2016, p. 107. For the meaning of "soltan", see p. 120, note 2.
  6. ^ Bournoutian 2016, pp. 107–108.
  7. ^ Bournoutian 2021, p. 10.
  8. ^ Bournoutian 2021, p. 234.
  9. ^ Perry 1979, pp. 81–82.
  10. ^ a b c Bournoutian 2016, p. 108.
  11. ^ Bournoutian 2021, p. 17.
  12. ^ Bournoutian 2016, pp. 108–109.
  13. ^ a b c d e Bournoutian 2016, p. 109.
  14. ^ a b Bournoutian 2021, p. 18.
  15. ^ Bournoutian 2021, p. 19.
  16. ^ a b Bournoutian 2021, p. 20.
  17. ^ a b Bournoutian 2021, p. 21.
  18. ^ a b Bournoutian 2021, p. 22.
  19. ^ Bournoutian 2021, p. 22 (see also note 15).
  20. ^ Bournoutian 2021, p. 22–23.
  21. ^ a b Bournoutian 2021, p. 23.
  22. ^ Bournoutian 2021, pp. 23–24.
  23. ^ Bournoutian 2021, p. 21 (note 3).
  24. ^ Bournoutian 2021, p. 24.
  25. ^ Bournoutian 2021, pp. 24–25.
  26. ^ Bournoutian 2021, p. 25.
  27. ^ Bournoutian 2021, p. 26. For the meaning of "vali", see p. 4.
  28. ^ Bournoutian 2021, p. 26.
  29. ^ a b c d Bournoutian 2021, p. 27.
  30. ^ Bournoutian 2021, pp. 27–28.
  31. ^ Bournoutian 2021, p. 28.
  32. ^ Bournoutian 2021, p. 29.
  33. ^ a b Bournoutian 2021, p. 33.
  34. ^ a b Bournoutian 2021, p. 34.
  35. ^ Bournoutian 2021, pp. 34–35.
  36. ^ a b c Bournoutian 2021, p. 35.
  37. ^ a b Bournoutian 2021, p. 36.
  38. ^ a b Bournoutian 2021, p. 37.
  39. ^ Bournoutian 2021, pp. 37–38.
  40. ^ a b c Bournoutian 2021, p. 38.
  41. ^ Bournoutian 2021, pp. 17, 38.
  42. ^ Bournoutian 2021, pp. 38–39.
  43. ^ Bournoutian 2021, p. 39.
  44. ^ Bournoutian 2021, p. 44.

Sources

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  • Barthold, W. & Boyle, J.A. (1965). "Gand̲j̲a". In Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch. & Schacht, J. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume II: C–G. Leiden: E. J. Brill. OCLC 495469475.
  • Bosworth, C. Edmund (2000). "Ganja". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. X/3: Fruit–Gāvbāzī. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 282–283. ISBN 978-0-933273-47-4.
  • Bournoutian, George (2016). "Prelude to War: The Russian Siege and Storming of the Fortress of Ganjeh, 1803–4". Iranian Studies. 50 (1). Taylor & Francis: 107–124.
  • Bournoutian, George (2021). From the Kur to the Aras: A Military History of Russia's Move into the South Caucasus and the First Russo-Iranian War, 1801–1813. Brill. ISBN 978-9004445154.
  • Kazemzadeh, F. (1991). "Iranian relations with Russia and the Soviet Union, to 1921". In Avery, Peter; Hambly, Gavin R. G.; Melville, Charles Peter (eds.). The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 7: From Nadir Shah to the Islamic Republic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 314–349. ISBN 0-521-20095-4.
  • Perry, John R. (1979). Karim Khan Zand: A History of Iran, 1747-1779. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0226660981.
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