Markar Khan Davidkhanian | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chief of Procurement | |
| In office 1804–1848 | |
| Monarch | Fath-Ali Shah Qajar |
| Minister of Finance | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Iran |
| Relations | See Davidkhanian family |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
Markar Khan Davidkhanian was the Minister of Finance of Iran,a close advisor to Fath-Ali Shah Qajar,the second King of Qajar Iran,and a member of the Davidkhanian family. [1] As Finance Minister,Davidkhanian shaped Iranian economic policy during the Great Game. [2]
Prior to his duties in the court,Davidkhanian was educated abroad in England at Cambridge. [2] Davidkhanian served as the financial supervisor or Chief of Procurement to Fath-Ali Shah Qajar for forty-four years,from 1804 to 1848. It was noted that he performed his duties with accuracy. [3] He also served as the Minister of Finance of Iran for fifteen years. [2]
Davidkhanian was appointed Chief Financial Advisor in 1804,a year after the Russo-Persian War had begun,which was a struggle for supremacy in Transcaucasia dating back to the empires of Peter the Great and Nader Shah. Both Tsar Alexander and Fath-Ali Shah hoped to consolidate disputed territory in Georgia. Although Persia had the numerical advantage on the battlefield,Russia had superior technology,training,and strategy. Despite the Persian alliance with Napoleon,France could provide little concrete help to Persia,and in early 1813 Persia signed the Treaty of Gulistan,ceding what is modern-day Dagestan,Georgia,and large parts of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Russia also gained trade rights within Persia. [4] [5]
Although peace reigned for thirteen years after the war,the Persian economy was in shambles,forcing Davidkhanian to rely on foreign subsidies. In July 1826,Russia occupied Mirak,violating the Treaty of Gulistan and reigniting war between the two powers. Persia signed the Treaty of Turkmenchay to end the war in February 1828,which forced Davidkhanian to pay 20 million rubles in silver. As Russia increased its sphere of influence in Iran,Davidkhanian attempted to stem the flow of the Shah's dwindling finances,organized foreign loans,and managed domestic economic instability. [6]
Abbas Mirza was a Qajar crown prince of Iran. He developed a reputation as a military commander during the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813 and the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828,as well as through the Ottoman–Persian War of 1821–1823. He is furthermore noted as an early modernizer of Persia's armed forces and institutions,and for his death before his father,Fath Ali Shah.
Fath-Ali Shah Qajar was the second Shah (king) of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irrevocable ceding of Iran's northern territories in the Caucasus,comprising what is nowadays Georgia,Dagestan,Azerbaijan,and Armenia,to the Russian Empire following the Russo-Persian Wars of 1804–1813 and 1826–1828 and the resulting treaties of Gulistan and Turkmenchay. Historian Joseph M. Upton says that he "is famous among Iranians for three things:his exceptionally long beard,his wasp-like waist,and his progeny."
The Treaty of Gulistan was a peace treaty concluded between the Russian Empire and Qajar Iran on 24 October 1813 in the village of Gulistan as a result of the first full-scale Russo-Persian War. The peace negotiations were precipitated by the successful storming of Lankaran by General Pyotr Kotlyarevsky on 1 January 1813. It was the first of the series of treaties signed between Qajar Iran and Imperial Russia that forced Persia to cede the territories that formerly were part of Iran.
The Treaty of Turkmenchay was an agreement between Qajar Iran and the Russian Empire,which concluded the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828). It was second of the series of treaties signed between Qajar Iran and Imperial Russia that forced Persia to cede or recognize Russian influence over the territories that formerly were part of Iran.
The Karabakh Khanate was a khanate under Iranian and later Russian suzerainty,which controlled the historical region of Karabakh,now divided between modern-day Armenia and Azerbaijan. In terms of structure,the Karabakh Khanate was a miniature version of Iranian kingship. The administrative and literary language in Karabakh until the end of the 19th century was Persian,with Arabic being used only for religious studies,despite the fact that most of the Muslims in the region spoke a Turkic dialect.
The Russo-Persian Wars or Russo-Iranian Wars were a series of conflicts between 1651 and 1828,concerning Persia (Iran) and the Russian Empire. Russia and Persia fought these wars over disputed governance of territories and countries in the Caucasus. The main territories disputed were Aran,Georgia and Armenia,as well as much of Dagestan –generally referred to as Transcaucasia –and considered part of the Safavid Iran prior to the Russo-Persian Wars. Over the course of the five Russo-Persian Wars,the governance of these regions transferred between the two empires. Between the Second and Third Russo-Persian Wars,there was an interbellum period in which a number of treaties were drawn up between the Russian and the Persian Empires,as well as between both parties and the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman interest in these territories further complicated the wars,with both sides forming alliances with the Ottoman Empire at different points throughout the wars. Following the Treaty of Turkmenchay,which concluded the Fifth Russo-Persian War,Persia ceded much of its Transcaucasian territory to the Russian Empire.
The Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813 was one of the many wars between the Persian Empire and Imperial Russia,and began like many of their wars as a territorial dispute. The new Persian king,Fath Ali Shah Qajar,wanted to consolidate the northernmost reaches of his kingdom—modern-day Georgia—which had been annexed by Tsar Paul I several years after the Russo-Persian War of 1796. Like his Persian counterpart,the Tsar Alexander I was also new to the throne and equally determined to control the disputed territories.
Talysh Khanate or Talish Khanate was a khanate of Iranian origin that was established in Persia and existed from the middle of the 18th century till the beginning of the 19th century,located in the south-west coast of the Caspian Sea.
The Nakhichevan Khanate was a khanate under Iranian suzerainty,which controlled the city of Nakhichevan and its surroundings from 1747 to 1828.
The Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828 was the last major military conflict between the Russian Empire and Persia.
The Erivan Khanate,also known as Chokhur-e Sa'd,was a khanate that was established in Afsharid Iran in the 18th century. It covered an area of roughly 19,500 km2,and corresponded to most of present-day central Armenia,the Iğdır Province and the Kars Province's Kağızman district in present-day Turkey and the Sharur and Sadarak districts of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of present-day Azerbaijan.
The Persian Cossack Brigade or Iranian Cossack Brigade was a Cossack-style cavalry unit formed in 1879 in Persia. It was modelled after the Caucasian Cossack regiments of the Imperial Russian Army. Until 1920,it was commanded by Russian officers,while its rank and file were composed of ethnic Caucasians and later on Persians as well. During much of the brigade's history it was the most functional and effective military unit of the Qajar dynasty. Acting on occasion as kingmakers,this force played a pivotal role in modern Iranian history during the Revolution of 1905–1911,the rise of Reza Shah,and the foundation of the Pahlavi dynasty.
The khanates of the Caucasus,also known as the Azerbaijani khanates,Persian khanates,or Iranian khanates,were various administrative units in the South Caucasus governed by a hereditary or appointed ruler under the official rule of Iran. The title of the ruler was khan,which was identical to the Ottoman rank of pasha. Following the assassination of Nader Shah in 1747,internal chaos erupted in Iran,particularly in the South Caucasus,where semi-autonomous khanates emerged as a result of the lack of a centralized government. The khans neither had territorial or religious unity,nor an ethnic/national identity. They were mostly interested in preserving their positions and income.
A Franco-Persian alliance or Franco-Iranian alliance was formed for a short period between the French Empire of Napoleon I and Fath Ali Shah of Qajar Persia against Russia and Great Britain between 1807 and 1809. The alliance was part of a plan to gather extra aid against Russia and by Persia's help,having another front on Russia's southern borders,namely the Caucasus region. The alliance unravelled when France finally allied with Russia and turned its focus to European campaigns.
Mirza Abolhassan Khan Ilchi was an Iranian politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs twice,first from 1824 to 1834,and then again from 1838 until his death in 1845. He also served as the ambassador to Russia and Britain,and was the main Iranian delegate at the signing of the Golestan and Turkmenchay treaties with Russia in 1813 and 1828 respectively.
Qajar Iran,also referred to as Qajar Persia,the Qajar Empire,Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran and also known as the Guarded Domains of Iran,was an Iranian state ruled by the Qajar dynasty,which was of Turkic origin,specifically from the Qajar tribe,from 1789 to 1925. The Qajar family took full control of Iran in 1794,deposing Lotf 'Ali Khan,the last Shah of the Zand dynasty,and re-asserted Iranian sovereignty over large parts of the Caucasus. In 1796,Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar seized Mashhad with ease,putting an end to the Afsharid dynasty. He was formally crowned as Shah after his punitive campaign against Iran's Georgian subjects.
Manuchehr Khan Gorji Mo'tamed al-Dowleh was a eunuch in Qajar Iran,who became one of the most powerful statesmen of the country in the first half of the 19th-century.
The following lists events that have happened in 1813 in the Sublime State of Persia.
Abu'l-Fath Khan Javanshir was an Iranian commander who participated in the Russo-Iranian War of 1804–1813. He was the son of Ibrahim Khalil Khan,a member of the Javanshir tribe and governor of the Karabakh Khanate in the South Caucasus.
Set Khan Astvatsatourian was an Iranian–Armenian businessman,ambassador to Great Britain,envoy to the Ottoman empire,military advisor to Fath-Ali Shah,and a member of the Davidkhanian family. He played a leading role in the modernization of the Persian military,working with close friend Abbas Mirza,the Crown Prince of Iran,to reform the military during The Great Game. Set Khan is immortalized in stone holding his Ottoman-jeweled dagger within the "Asia Group" statuary at the Prince Albert Memorial in London's Hyde Park.