Khanate of Shirvan خانات شروان | |||||||||
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1761–1820 | |||||||||
![]() The South Caucasus in the last quarter of the 18th century. The Shirvan Khanate is located on the far right | |||||||||
Status | Khanate Under Iranian suzerainty [1] | ||||||||
Capital | Old Shamakhi New Shamakhi (Aqsu) | ||||||||
Common languages | Persian (official) [2] [3] Azerbaijani Armenian [4] Tat [5] | ||||||||
Ethnic groups | Tatars (later known as Azerbaijanis), [6] Kurds, Armenians, Jews, Russians, Iranians (1820 survey) [7] | ||||||||
Religion | Shia Islam | ||||||||
Khan | |||||||||
History | |||||||||
• Assassination of Nader Shah | 1761 | ||||||||
• Annexation by Imperial Russia | 1820 | ||||||||
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Today part of | Azerbaijan |
Shirvan Khanate (Persian : خانات شیروان, romanized: Khānāt-e Shirvan) was a Caucasian khanate under Iranian suzerainty, which controlled the Shirvan region from 1761 to 1820.
Under the Safavid dynasty of Iran, Shirvan was a leading silk manufacturer and its principal city, Shamakhi, became an important place for trade. [8] In 1724, most of Shirvan was annexed to the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Constantinople. In 1734, the Iranian military leader Nader recovered Shirvan and installed Mohammad Mehdi Khan as its beglarbegi (governor-general). [9]
The following year, Mohammad Mehdi Khan was killed by rebellious dignitaries of the province. They had been incited by the governor of Darband, Morad-Ali Soltan Ostajlu. Mohammad Qasem Beg, who was a prominent dignitary of Shirvan and Nader's ishikaghasi-bashi (chamberlain), successfully appealed to Nader to pardon Shirvan. In 1735, Nader had the inhabitants of Shamakhi resettled in New Shamakhi (Aqsu), situated 18 miles north of the Kur River. [9] He then installed as Sardar Khan Qaraqlu the new governor of Shirvan, and soon appointed Heydar Khan Afshar as the ruler of both Shirvan and Darband. In 1743, the Safavid pretender Sam Mirza led a local rebellion, overthrowing Heydar Khan. In 1761, the Zand ruler Karim Khan Zand (r. 1751–1779) approved the request of the inhabitants of Old Shamakhi to overthrow Sardar Khan Qaraqlu and install their own applicant, Hajji Mohammad Ali Khan, as the governor of Shirvan. [9]
Hajji Mohammad Ali Khan governed Shirvan until 1763, when Fath-Ali Khan of Quba gained influence there, and appointed his own governors, such as Aghasi Beg and Askar Beg, both members of the same family. Askar Beg, along with supporters from the Khanchoban tribe, returned to Old Shamakhi, and soon became powerful enough to establish control over New Shamakhi. Aghasi Beg and another family member Mohammad Sa'id successfully acquired the title of khan from Karim Khan Zand. The family were in control of Shirvan until 1767, when a combined army from Quba and Shakki captured Old Shamakhi. Fath-Ali Khan of Quba had Mohammad Sa'id imprisoned, while Hosein Khan of Shakki had Aghasi Khan blinded. [9] Shirvan was subsequently divided between Quba and Shakki. Nevertheless, Aghasi Khan later managed to restore his control over Shirvan, in 1774. He was later succeeded by his son Mostafa Khan. [10]
After the massacre in Ganja, Mostafa Khan asked the central government in Tehran for assistance, in order to prevent Tsitsianov's advance. [11] The government responded by sending an army under general Pir Qoli Khan Qajar. [11] However, when the general had reached the Mughan plain, he found out that Mostafa Khan had entered negotiations with the Russians. [11] Mostafa Khan hoped that the Russians would recognize a Shirvan Khanate "enlarged" to the boundaries of the Shirvanshah's of the Medieval era. [12] Though Mostafa Khan was uncomfortable with Tsitsianov's proposal, the latter threatened that if he wouldn't agree with his terms, he would replace Mostafa with his younger brother (who was reportedly enthusiastic about it). [12] Anyhow, the Russians invaded the khanate, and on 6 January 1806, Mostafa Khan was forced to submit. [13] [14]
"I, Mostafa Khan of Shirvan, in my name and that of my heirs, remove myself forever from the vassalage or honors of Persia (Iran) or any other state. I declare before the entire world that I do not recognize anyone as my liege, except His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of All the Russias, and His heirs to the throne. I promise to be a loyal slave to that throne. I swear this by the Holy Qur'an." [15]
Mostafa Khan was allowed to administer the khanate and had to give an annual tribute in gold rubles to the Russians. Furthermore, he had to send hostages to Tiflis (Tbilisi), which had recently been annexed and transformed into the "base" of the Russian Caucasus Viceroyalty. Lastly, he also had to provide food and accommodation for the Russian garrisons. [13] After Tsitsianov was killed in Baku in 1806, Mostafa Khan repudiated his allegiance to the Russians, and re-submitted himself to the shah. [16]
Things changed when Aleksey Yermolov took office as the new Russian commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, in 1816. [13] A staunch Russian imperialist, Yermolov was committed to bringing the entire Caucasus under the Russian sway. He wanted to establish the Aras river as the border between Iran and Russia at all costs, and was therefore determined to conquer the last remaining khanates under Iranian rule; the Erivan Khanate and the Nakchivan Khanate. [13] [17] When Ismail, the khan of Shaki, died in 1819 without any heir, Yermolov annexed the entity. Realizing what was going to happen to himself, Mostafa Khan fled to mainland Iran in 1820 with his son; Yermolov did not waste any time to annex the Shirvan Khanate. [13] [18]
Several years later, in violation of the Gulistan treaty (1813), the Russians invaded Iran's Erivan Khanate. [19] [17] This sparked the final bout of hostilities between the two; the Russo-Iranian War of 1826-1828. Crown prince Abbas Mirza led a full-scale attack in the summer of 1826 order to recover the Iranian territories that had been lost by the Gulistan treaty. [20] The war started off well for the Iranians; they quickly recaptured Ganja, Shirvan and Shaki amongst others, and performed attacks on Tiflis. [20] The government then reinstated Mostafa in Shirvan. [20] However, just a few months later, the tide had completely turned with the Iranian army suffering decisive defeats against the militarily superior Russians. In September 1826, Abbas Mirza was defeated at Ganja by Ivan Paskevich, and thus the army had to retreat over the Aras. Mostafa Khan, accompanied by a small retinue, fled once again to mainland Iran. [20]
The Khanate was composed of 17 mahals (districts): [21]
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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.
Hossein Qoli Khan Qajar Sardar Iravani was a statesman and commander in Qajar Iran, who was the last khan (governor) of the Erivan Khanate from 1807 to 1828.
The Russian conquest of the Caucasus mainly occurred between 1800 and 1864. The Russian Empire sought to control the region between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. South of the mountains was the territory that is modern Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Iran and Turkey. North of the mountains was the North Caucasus region of modern Russia. The difficult conquest of the intervening mountains is known as the Caucasian War. Multiple wars were fought against the local rulers of the regions, as well as the dominant powers, the Ottoman Empire and Qajar Iran, for control. By 1864 the last regions were brought under Russian control.
Fatali Khan or Fath Ali Khan of Quba was a khan of the Quba Khanate (1758–1789) who also managed to dominate the Derbent, Baku, Talysh and Shirvan Khanates, as well as the Salyan Sultanate during much of his reign.
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Javad Khanate was a Caucasian khanate with its capital in the town of Javad. It extended from Javad on the Kura River southwest along the east side of the Aras River. It was bordered by the Shamakhy (north), Karabakh (west), Karadagh (southwest) and Talysh khanates (south), and the Salyan Sultanate (east), its territory lays within modern Azerbaijan.
The siege of Lankaran took place from 7 January to 13 January 1813 during the Russo-Iranian War of 1804–1813. Lankaran, a city in the Talish region, was previously held by Mir-Mostafa Khan of the Talysh Khanate, a subject of Iran. However, due to his defiance, he was ousted from the city by Iranian forces in August 1812. Now directly held by the Iranians, the city was soon besieged by the Russian commander Pyotr Kotlyarevsky, who had recently defeated the Iranian crown-prince Abbas Mirza at the battle of Aslanduz.
Mostafa Khan was the last khan of Shirvan, until 1820.
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(...) and Persian continued to be the official language of the judiciary and the local administration [even after the abolishment of the khanates].
(...) The language of official acts not only in Iran proper and its fully dependant Khanates, but also in those Caucasian khanates that were semi-independent until the time of their accession to the Russian Empire, and even for some time after, was New Persian (Farsi). It played the role of the literary language of class feudal lords as well.
Also notable was the continuing use in the late nineteenth century of several ethnic categories that would later be differently applied or discontinued: "Tatars" (or in rarer cases, "Azerbaijani Tatars") to denote Turkic-speaking Transcaucasian populations that would later be called "Azerbaijanis"