The
Russian vision of reaching the “hot waters” of the Mediterranean Sea,
formulated during the reign of Peter the Great (1689-1725), achieved its
initial objective in the period from 1804-1828, when the region known
as Transcaucasia (now called South Caucasus) was conquered from Persia
and incorporated with the Russian Empire. This included, indeed, Eastern
Armenia.
The
treaty of Gulistan (1813) incorporated the region of Gharabagh to
Russia. The rest of Eastern Armenia was conquered during the
Russo-Persian war of 1826-1828. With British financial support, Persian
crown prince Abbas Mirza launched the hostilities without previous
declaration of war in July 1826. After Persian initial success, Czar
Nicholas I (1825-1855) sent General Ivan Paskevich (1782-1856), who had
distinguished himself in 1807-1814 during campaigns against Turkey and
France, as second in command. He took the chief command in early 1827
and the Russian troops started advancing in territory of the Khanate of
Yerevan.
In
April 1827 the monastery of Holy Etchmiadzin was occupied without
resistance, and Yerevan was first besieged from April to June. Paskevich
joined Russian general A. I. Krasovky in June and occupied Nakhichevan.
However, Krasovky was forced to raise the siege due to the condition of
his troops. He left one regiment at Etchmiadzin and retired further
north.
Abbas
Mirza attempted a counterattack, planning to take Etchmiadzin and
Gyumri, plunder Tiflis and return to Tabriz via Gharabagh. Krasovsky was
forced to return south in August to relieve the garrison of
Etchmiadzin. Despite the inferiority of troops (2300 Russians against
30000 Persians), the Russians were able to cut their way through at the
battle of Oshagan, losing half of their number. They relieved
Etchmiadzin, while the Persians withdrew south with a loss of just 400
men.
Paskevich
returned to Etchmiadzin in early September. He moved east and, after
capturing Sardarabad, he appeared before the walls of Yerevan on
September 23. The fortress was located on a rocky shore of the Hrazdan
River, and had double walls and a moat. After shelling the fortress, the
Russian command suggested Persians to capitulate. The garrison and
residents asked Hasan Khan to surrender, but the khan turned down the
suggestion of capitulation, hoping to resist until the arrival of the
Persian army.
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| Capture of Erivan Fortress by Russia, 1827 (by Franz Roubaud) |
After
a week of siege, disorder broke out in Yerevan on the morning of
October 1. The Armenian population of the city forcefully demanded that
Hasan surrender the city. Armenian and Persian citizens took up arms and
occupied the already destroyed part of the eastern wall. The Persian
garrison refused to fight and Russian troops entered Yerevan. Hasan Khan
and his army laid down their arms in front of the Russian before the
main mosque. Four thousand prisoners were taken.
After
this victory, advancing Russian troops crossed the Arax River and
entered Persian Azerbaijan, seizing its capital Tabriz. Paskevich
arrived later with the main Russian forces. Persia sued for peace, but
the negotiations dragged on due to the beginning of the Russo-Turkish
war of 1828-1829. However, the Russian occupation of Ardabil and Urmia
forced Fath-Ali Shah to accept all peace conditions, according to the
Treaty of Turkmenchay (February 10, 1828). For the victory in the
Russo-Persian war, Paskevich was awarded the St. George Order of the 2nd
class and the title of Count of Yerevan. He also received a million
rubles and a diamond-mounted sword.
The
khanates of Yerevan and Nakhichevan went to the Russian Empire, and
Yerevan became the capital of the newly-created Armenian Province until
1840. After short-lived administrative changes, the Yerevan Governorate
would be created in 1849, again with Yerevan as capital of a territory
that included both Persian khanates.
