The Russo-Persian Wars (Russian: Русско-персидские войны, Rússko-Persídskije Vóiny), or the Russo-Iranian Wars (Persian: جنگهای ایران و روسیه Janghâ-ye Irân va Russīye), began in 1651 and continued intermittently until 1828. They consisted of five conflicts in total, each rooted in both sides' disputed governance of territories and countries in the Caucasus, particularly Arran (modern-day Azerbaijan), Georgia, and Armenia, as well as much of Dagestan. Generally referred to as Transcaucasia, this region was considered to be part of Persia prior to the 17th century. Between the War of 1722–1723 and the War of 1796, there was an interbellum period in which a number of treaties were drawn up between the two nations themselves and between them and the neighbouring Ottoman Empire; Turkish interest in the Caucasian territories further complicated the Russo-Persian Wars, as the two belligerents started forming alliances with the Ottoman Empire at different points of the conflict. Finally, as a consequence of the Treaty of Turkmenchay, the Persians ceded much of their Transcaucasian holdings to Russia, thus concluding the War of 1826–1828 and resolving their dispute.
Relations between Russia and Persia
Economic
The earliest records of official relations between Russia and Persia show that in 1521, Shah Ismail I of the Safavid dynasty sent a diplomatic envoy to Tsar Vasili III of Muscovy. Commercial relations, however, were infrequent, and often involved Tatars acting as merchant intermediaries.
In 1514, the Ottoman Empire instated a commercial blockade against Persia. In order to reduce this pressure from the Ottomans, Shah Abbas I attempted to establish alternate overland trade routes through Russia. An Ottoman attempt to capture Shirvan caused Shah Tahmasp I to send a diplomatic envoy to Moscow in 1552. In 1580, the Ottomans occupied Shirvan and parts of Khartli-Kakheti, including Tiflis. Ottoman forces also threatened Astrakhan, which was key to an important trade route and a Russian commercial centre. Shah Mohammed Khodabanda promised to cede Derbent and Baku to Russia following the liberation of these cities from the Ottoman Empire.
Russia annexed the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates in 1552 and 1556 respectively, to extend the Volga trade route to the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea. Significant points along this trade route were Gilan and Derbent, as the origins of the maritime and overland trade routes between Russia and Persia respectively, and the commercial centres of Astrakhan and Shamakhi. Shamakhi in particular was the site of much merchant trade from Russia: silks, leather, metal wares, furs, wax and tallow. Persian merchants traded in Russia, additionally, reaching as far as Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan, which developed into trade centres. In 1555, the Muscovy, or Russia Company was created for the sole purpose of overland trade with Persia.
In 1562, the province of Shirvan sent an envoy to Russia to establish official trade relations. Shamakhi subsequently did the same in 1653. The first Persians to engage in commercial trade with Russia were Armenians from Julfa, in northern Persia. Julfa was an important link in the Russo-Persian trade route originating in Gilan. In 1604, Shah Abbas I resettled a significant population of Armenians from Julfa to his newly established capital, Isfahan, giving them commercial rights. Shah Abbas extended credit, lowered taxes, and granted religious freedom to this Armenian population.
Throughout the sixteenth century, Persian diplomatic relations were often accompanied by commercial envoys, sending silk and metal wares to Russia. In return, Russia sent furs, falcons and wild animals. In fact, velvet, taffeta and silk from Kashan, Isfahan and Yazd made up over seventy percent of the goods transported to Russia in the sixteenth century.
In 1616, a diplomatic mission to Moscow assured promises of protection over Persian merchants trading in Russia. Persian merchants in Russia often accompanied diplomatic envoys. However, Russian merchants were regularly harassed in Gilan and Ardabil, and Yusuf Khan, the governor of Shamakhi, refused to grant protection to Russian merchants.
Exports of silk remained high in the early seventeenth century. In 1623, over 2,000 kg of silk was shipped from Astrakhan to cities across the Russian empire. Under Shah Safi I, however, the official exports decreased and were replaced by private merchant trade. In 1634, no trade was recorded, and no wares transported. Two years later, trade was once more brought to a halt, by plague, but trade resumed and grew significantly. In 1676, 41,000 kg of silk was exported from Persia to Russia.
Political
From 1464 to 1465, Tsar Ivan III sent an envoy to Shamakhi seeking an anti-Ottoman coalition. This interest in an anti-Ottoman alliance continued into the sixteenth century, and during the reign of Shah Abbas I, Persia maintained a strong anti-Ottoman foreign policy.
The breakdown of Muscovy in the Time of Troubles preceding the Romanov family’s accession to the Russian throne in 1613 weakened Russia such that Persia turned its foreign policy focus to Western Europe for an anti-Ottoman coalition. Shah Abbas I kept contact with the Habsburgs of Austria in hope of an anti-Ottoman alliance in Hungary.
In the late sixteenth century Russia began a campaign against the Shamkhalate of Tarki, which ruled northern Dagestan and was a nominal vassal of Persia. Russian forces occupied Derbent, Dagestan and Baku, and built fortresses south of the Terek River. The Persians, however, were cautious about challenging these territorial claims in fear of jeopardising an anti-Ottoman coalition.
Between 1598 and 1618, the Russians sent many envoys to Persia in response to requests for military aid against the Ottoman Empire.
In 1612, Shah Abbas I signed the Treaty of Nasuh Pasha with the Ottoman Empire to end the Ottoman-Persian wars. This treaty stipulated Persian neutrality on Russian-Ottoman relations. Trading in Shamakhi decreased sharply following the signature of this treaty, as the Safavid victory over Ottomans in 1618 negated the need for Russian assistance.
In the 1630s there were renewed hostilities between Persia and the Ottoman Empire until the signing of the Peace of Zuhab in 1639, which resulted in diplomatic caution from the Persians, out of a desire to not antagonise the Ottoman Empire.
First Russo-Persian War
In 1645, there was unrest between the Russian Cossacks and the Lezgins, who were considered Persian subjects. These tensions were centred primarily along the Georgian-Dagestani border. A Russian-supported candidate gained leadership of Dagestan over a Persian candidate.
In 1647, Khosrow Khan, the governor of the Shirvan province, complained to the governor of Astrakhan that Cossacks from Astrakhan and Tarki had committed a series of robberies. He threatened to confiscate the goods of Russian merchants in Shamakhi, the capital of the Shirvan province, and to pursue military action against the Cossacks. Russian authorities protested this action, and requested the shah punish Khosrow Khan. The shah took no action and in 1649, Khosrow Khan sent another letter restating his warning. The tension between the countries escalated when, in 1650, Cossacks robbed a caravan carrying wares from Shirvan and Dagestan, and several people were killed.
The Russians expanded a garrison on the Sulak River, and constructed several more on the Terek River, including one garrison in support of the deposed ruler of Khartli-Kakheti, Teimuraz. This expansion into Persian territory and support for Teimuraz angered Shah Abbas II, as Teimuraz had been deposed by the shah.
In 1653, the shah ordered the governors of Ardabil, Erivan, Karabakh, Astarabad and parts of Azerbaijan to send troops to the aid of Khosrow Khan. Further troops were contributed by the governor of Derbent, the Shamkhalate of Tarki and the ruler of the Kara Qaytaq. These troops drove the Russians from the fortress and set fire to it.
That same year, an envoy led by Prince Ivan Lobanov-Rostovsky of Russia travelled to Persia to request that the governor of Shamakhi not meddle in Dagestani affairs, that compensation be given for the losses suffered, and that all Russian merchants be released.
This conflict over Georgia and Dagestan affected trade relations between the countries. In 1651, 138 bales of Persian silk were in storage in Astrakhan due to a lack of demand.
Treaty of 1717
Artemy Petrovich Volynsky was sent as an envoy to Isfahan to conclude a commercial treaty that would give Russia a monopoly on the Persian silk trade. This mission also gathered intelligence about Persian resources, geography, infrastructure, military and other strengths. He was further instructed to highlight Russia as Persia's ally and the Ottoman Empire as their enemy.
The Persians became hostile to the envoy party when a Russian expedition led by Prince Bekovich-Cherkassky landed on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea at Khiva.
Volynsky reported to the tsar that Persia was on the verge of collapse. He furthermore recommended that the provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran and Astarabad be annexed by Russia due to their capacity for silk production.
Second Russo-Persian War
In January 1721 the Pashtun Afghans, led by Mirwais Hotak and subsequently Mahmud Hotak, began a campaign against the Persians over the ruling of Qandahar. The Afghans, with an army of 25,000 men, invaded Persia and attempted to seize Kerman. They were unable to hold the city and were similarly unable to capture the nearby city of Yazd. Mahmud subsequently moved to camp outside the city of Gulnabad, ten miles from the Persian capital, Isfahan.
Daud Khan, the Sunni Muslim chieftain of the Lezgin tribe, had been detained in Derbent for inciting rebellion, but was released in August 1721 following the initial attack by the Afghans in the hope that he would raise an army to support the shah. Daud Khan and his Lezgin followers sacked the city of Shamakhi in August 1721, killing thousands of Shia Muslims and killing several wealthy Russian merchants. Artemy Volynsky, who was now the governor of Astrakhan, urged Tsar Peter I to send troops to intervene in the rebellion. Vakhtang VI, ruler of the Persian vassal state and Georgian kingdom of Kartli, contacted Peter to give his support for Russian advances into the Caucasian territories. Daud Khan then sought the protection of the Ottoman sultan.
Following the Afghan victory over the Persians at the Battle of Gulnabad on 8 March 1722, Mahmud Hotak and his army besieged Isfahan. Mirza Tahmasp, the son of Shah Husayn, escaped Isfahan with 600 men and fled to Qazvin. From Qazvin, Tahmasp then was forced to flee to Resht, followed by Afghan forces. The governor of Resht contacted Tsar Peter requesting aid, as did Tahmasp, who sent an envoy, Ismail Beg, to Astrakhan.
Tsar Peter and the Russian troops arrived in Astrakhan on 29 June 1722. An envoy was sent to inform Shah Husayn that the Russian forces were there to aid in subduing the rebels, rather than to declare war. Peter proposed to render aid in subduing the Afghans and the Lezgin rebellion, and to ensure that the Ottoman Empire did not take advantage of the situation and invade. The envoy was also instructed to inform Shah Husayn that this aid would only be given provided Persia ceded certain provinces to Russia. The envoy, however, did not pass on the message concerning the cessation of these provinces.
Vakhtang VI supplied 30,000 men to the army, and the Armenians sent 10,000 more. From Astrakhan, the troops then proceeded to attack Persian fortresses on the western coast of the Caspian Sea, and occupied the fortress at Derbent. The Russians then seized Baku and Salyan in the Shirvan province, Lankaran in the Talesh province, and Anzali in the Gilan province, which were significant provinces in the silk production industry.
The Ottoman sultan sent an emissary to Peter warning that further incursion on Persian territory would constitute grounds for declaring war on Russia.
In September 1722, many Russian ships were lost in a storm, and an epidemic killed a significant portion of the horses in the Russian cavalry. Russian troops withdrew to Astrakhan, with a few garrisons remaining in the Shamkhalate of Tarki, Baku and Derbent. The Georgian and Armenian troops were left to subdue the rebels.
On 23 October 1722, Shah Husayn surrendered Isfahan to the Afghans, and abdicated in favour of Mahmud Hotak. Peter offered to aid Tahmasp in gaining back his throne from Mahmud.
On 3 November 1722, 14 ships sailed from Astrakhan to Anzali, a port near Resht. Russian forces entered Resht under the pretext of helping the city. In 1723, the governor of Resht requested Russian troops leave as aid was not required. The troops did not leave, however, and were besieged in their barracks. On 28 March 1723, a company of Russian troops escaped the siege and the Persians besieging the barracks were attacked from both sides, with over 1,000 men killed.