Finished in 1721 Northern War Emperor Peter I turns his highest attention to the South, to the Caspian Sea, where Russia already had significant trading interests.

The preparation of Peter I for the campaign in Persia is evidenced by expeditions undertaken by Russian researchers long before the Persian campaign. So, in 1714-1715. A. Bekovich-Cherkassky compiled a description of the northern and eastern coasts of the Caspian Sea. In 1718, A. Kozhin and V. Urusov also compiled a description east coast Caspian Sea. In 1719-1720 K. Verdun and F. Soimonov compiled a description of the western and southern shores of the Caspian Sea. As a result of this expedition, a consolidated map of the entire Caspian Sea was compiled. It is noteworthy that the next time the Russians returned to explore the Caspian territories only in 1726 (the next expedition of F. Soimonov), that is, three years after the end of the Persian campaign.

The reason for the campaign was the robbery of Russian merchants in Shemakha. Peter I, by virtue of the trade treaty of 1718, demanded that the Persian side punish the perpetrators. Having not received satisfaction, at the end of the Northern War, in May 1722 he undertook a campaign to assert Russian influence in the Caspian region.

In June, Peter I arrived in Astrakhan. 22 thousand infantry and artillery were put on ships for transportation by sea, and cavalry (9 thousand dragoons, 20 thousand Cossacks, 30 thousand Tatars) were sent overland from Tsaritsyn to the Persian regions adjacent to the Caspian Sea.

As a result of successful operations, Peter I forced the Persians to conclude the Treaty of St. Petersburg in 1723, according to which Shah Tahmasp II (1722-1732) ceded Baku, Derbent and the provinces of Astrabad, Gilan, Mazanderan and Shirvan to Russia, and also entered into allied relations with Russia against Turkey. According to the Treaty of Rasht in 1732 and the Treaty of Ganja in 1735, Russia returned the named cities and territories to Persia.

During the Persian campaign, Admiral General F.M. Apraksin commanded the army, and the head of the Secret Chancellery P.A. Tolstoy and Prince D.K. Cantemir managed civil affairs. The three of them constituted His Majesty's Council. In addition, Peter I instructed Prince Kantemir, as an expert on the East, to be in charge of the military office.

On the way to the Caspian Sea, with the participation of Kantemir, and possibly on his initiative, measures were taken to preserve the ruins of the ancient city of Bulgar. Peter I then ordered to make copies of the “grave inscriptions located there, by which useful work the history of this old city was somewhat clarified”: about fifty Arab and Tatar grave inscriptions were copied and translated into Russian by Akhun Kadyr-Makhmed Shyungaliev and Sloboda translator Yusun Izhbulatov. The work they completed was later called “almost the first work in Russia, caused not by practical need, but by scientific curiosity.” A translation of these inscriptions was published in the 1770s.

Knowledge of Central Asian languages ​​allowed Kantemir to play a prominent role in this campaign. He produced an Arabic typeface, organized a special printing house and printed in Tatar, Turkish and Persian the Manifesto of Peter I, composed and translated by him, to the peoples of the Caucasus and Persia dated July 15 (26), 1722. “...On the printing of them (copies of the Manifesto. - P.G.) the following letter from Prince has been preserved. Dm. Cantemir to Cabinet Secretary Makarov, July 14, 1722: “Please report to His Imperial Majesty: the manifesto, which is now on Turkish is printed, whether it will be signed by whose hand, or whose name will be printed instead of signing, or nothing will happen. So, which month and date, and the place where it was printed, should be depicted in it?.. Half of the manifesto on one side of the sheet has already been printed, up to a thousand (copies - P.G.), and today the other half on the other side of the sheet will be printed “For this reason, I want to know whether to print exactly 1000 or more, so that everything can be printed by tomorrow?”

If at least 1000 copies of the Manifesto were supposed to be printed in Turkish, it can be assumed that in Farsi, the language of the administration of the territory in which it was planned to conduct fighting, at least twice as many copies were printed. Thus, the total circulation of the Manifesto in Oriental languages ​​was probably 5,000 copies.

The following information can serve as indirect confirmation of the said circulation volume of the Manifesto: “On the 24th (July. - P.G.) the Emperor sent Guard Lieutenant Andreyan Lopukhin to Tarkha to Shamkhal with Manifestos (that is, copies of the Manifesto. - P.G.) in Turkish and Persian with the command, giving a few of them to Shamkhal himself, and distributing the rest to Derbent, Shemakha and Baku; For this mailing, 30 Terek Tatars were given to him.” If we assume that each of the messengers had at least 100 copies, then the circulation of the Manifesto in Turkish and Farsi alone was at least 3,000 copies.

Ivan IV, having accepted Kabarda into Russian citizenship in 1557, became so partial to her that in 1561, for his second marriage, he married a Kabardian princess, the daughter of the Supreme Prince of Kabardians Temryuk Aidarov. And Russia always had its supporters among the Kabardian nobility. The Russian government cared about friendly relations with Kabarda, which kept all the neighboring mountain tribes dependent - Abaza, Ingush, Ossetians, Mountain Tatars - and controlled all the roads leading from the plain to the most convenient pass through the Main Caucasus Range.

During the Persian campaign, the Kabardians, despite the threats of the Crimean Khan Saadet IV, sided with Peter I: their troops joined the Russian army and took part in the campaign.

Adil-Girey met Peter I near Tarki and escorted him to the place prepared for Russian troops camp. The emperor visited the residence of the shamkhal in Tarki and presented the owner with a gold watch. Meanwhile, a delegation from Derbent arrived in Tarki in response to the imperial manifesto, expressing their readiness to receive Russian troops.

On August 23, Naib Imam Kuli-bek presented Peter I with a silver key to Derbent. Here the emperor spent three days, paying a visit to the house of Kuli-bek. In Derbent, envoys from Utsmiya, Kadi and Maisum Tabasaran came to Peter I with a request to accept them into Russian citizenship.

In the camp on the Rubasa (Melikenta) river, which became extreme point During the Persian campaign, Peter I issued a letter of grant to the residents of Derbent and another one - separately to Kuli-bek, granting him his portrait with diamonds and thousands of red notes. On September 6, the main forces of the Russian expeditionary force moved back after the emperor, who had left the day before.

Let's return to Cantemir. For him Persian campaign was more of a scientific expedition than a military enterprise. Thus, in Derbent, the attention of Prince Dmitry was attracted by the ancient fortress “Naryn-Kala”. He carefully examined it, took measurements, and copied the discovered Arabic inscriptions. This study of Arabic inscriptions was presented in the collection “Collectanea orientalia” (“Oriental Collection”).

On the way, Cantemir kept a literary diary. For us, the pages dedicated to Derbent are of greatest interest. Along with a description of what he saw, the diary included legends about the city and stories about its fortifications recorded from the words of the population.

Upon arrival in Derbent, Kantemir visited the grave of Elder Korkut and left a description of it and brief information about Korkut itself. Kantemir's records about the Derbent elder, whom many Turkic-speaking peoples of the Caucasus and Central Asia revered as a saint, are the first in Russian.

In Derbent, Kuli-bek presented Peter I with the Persian manuscript Tarikh-i Derbend-nama - “The Book of the History of Derbent” as a gift. Kantemir set about translating it with interest, but did not have time to implement his plan.

Notes:
Berezin I. Bulgar on the Volga. Kazan, 1853, p. 29.
Savelyev P.S. Oriental literature and Russian orientalists // Russian Bulletin. 1856, vol. 2, book. 2, p. 119.
History of Russian Oriental Studies until the mid-19th century. M., 1990, p. 46-47.
Pekarsky P. Science and literature in Russia under Peter the Great. T. II. St. Petersburg, 1862, p. 652-653.
Tarki is an urban village in Dagestan, near Makhachkala. At the end of XV - early XIX V. the capital of the Tarkov Shamkhalate, one of the Dagestan principalities, which since the first half of the 17th century. was under Russian citizenship.
Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts (RGADA): F. 121 “Kumyk and Tarkov affairs” (1614-1719). Cm.: Kusheva E.N. Policy of the Russian state in the North Caucasus in 1552-1572. // Historical notes of the USSR Academy of Sciences. T. 34, 1950; It's her. Peoples North Caucasus and their connections with Russia in the second half of the 16th - 30s. XVII century M., 1963.
Shamkhal is the title of rulers in Dagestan. Here we're talking about about Adil-Girey (1700-1725) from the Khalklavchi dynasty (1641-1858).
Golikov I.I. Acts of Peter the Great. T. 9. M., 1838, p. 154-155.
RGADA: F. 115 “Kabardian, Circassian and other affairs” (1578-1720). See: Kusheva E.N. Uk. op.
See: Kabardino-Russian relations in the 16th–18th centuries. Documents and materials. In 2 vols. M., 1957.
Kurkin I.V. Persian campaign of Peter the Great. The lower corps on the shores of the Caspian Sea (1722-1735). M., 2010, p. 64-65.
Here: viceroy.
Kurkin I.V., With. 67.
There, p. 71.
Trunov D. Light from Russia. Makhachkala, 1956, p. 29-30.
See: History of World Literature. T. 3. M., 1985, p. 588-590; Kitab-i dedem Korkut. Transl. V.V. Bartold. M.-L., 1962.
Korogly H. Dmitry Cantemir and the culture of the East. - In the book: The legacy of Dmitry Kantemir and modernity: Sat. Art. Chisinau, 1976, p. 108.
Trunov D., With. thirty.

Article from Pavel Gusterin’s collection “The Russian Empire and the Caucasus” (Saarbrücken, 2014)

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Caspian campaign of Peter I

The Caspian or Persian military campaign of Peter the Great lasted a year from 1722 to 1723. The main objectives of this operation were to strengthen Russian influence in the East and seize rich trade routes, most of which at that time passed through the territory of Persia. At the same time, the king personally led the campaign. But first things first.

Reasons for the Caspian campaign of Peter I

In 1721, the Russian Empire triumphantly ended the Northern War with Sweden, which lasted for twenty-one years. Due to the absence of serious external enemies on the horizon, the sovereign decides to implement a plan to annex the lands located next to the Caspian Sea. Modern historians identify the following factors as the main reasons for the Caspian Campaign:

• protection of Orthodox residents of the Caucasus;
• the desire to exercise control over the trade routes of Asia and India passing through the Caspian Sea;
• the desire by all means to weaken the power position of the Ottoman Empire in the East.

The beginning of the Caspian campaign

The Persian campaign of Peter the Great began on July 18, 1722. It is on this day that two hundred and seventy-four ships descend into the Caspian Sea down the Volga. The Tsar entrusted the command of the fleet to Admiral Apraksin, who showed excellent results in naval battles against Sweden in the Northern War. On the twentieth, the Russian fleet goes to sea and continues to move along coastline.

Peter chose the city of Derbent as the first target, where the infantry and ships moved. In total, the infantry numbered twenty-two thousand people, which were based on regular Russian army, as well as Tatars, Kabardians, Cossacks and Kalmyks.

The first battle happens a month later. On August 19, near the town of Utemysh, Russian troops repulse the pressure of Sultan Magmud. During the same period, the Kumyk Shah Adil-Girey, allied with Russia, captured the cities of Baku and Derbent. Peter's troops enter this city on August 23rd without fighting or losses.

However, further movement of the army to the south was stopped, because the Russian fleet supplying it was defeated as a result of the storm. Peter the Great leaves his army and urgently leaves for Astrakhan, where he begins preparations for a military campaign that will begin in 1723. Thus, the first stage of the hike is completed.

Progress of hostilities

In the second stage of the Caspian campaign, Perth the First entrusts command of the army to Matyushkin. The Russian troops set out in the direction of Baku on June 20 and reached their goal on July 6. The siege of the city immediately begins, because the townspeople rejected the commander’s offer to surrender and open the gates. The plan for the siege of the city prepared by the sovereign was simple, but very effective:

• The infantry took up positions and was ready to repel enemy attacks at the first order. The first such sortie took place the day after the siege began.
• The Russian fleet anchors near the fortress and begins regular shelling, which completely eliminated the enemy artillery and partially destroyed the fortress wall.
• As soon as the enemy positions were weakened, Russian troops began the assault.

Thanks to strict adherence to each point of the plan, the Persian campaign had a fairly high chance of success. The commander sets the beginning of the assault on Baku on the twenty-fifth of July, making the main key figure fleet, which was supposed to deliver the main blow to the fortress. However, strong winds prevented the plan from being implemented and the operation was cancelled. On July 26, 1723, the fortress surrendered without a fight.

Results of the Caspian campaign

This victory was a huge success for Russia and no less a huge failure for its enemy Persia, which, given the current situation, had to look for a reason to conclude a peace agreement with Peter the Great.

Peter's Persian or Caspian campaign officially ends on September 12, 1723, when a peace treaty between Russia and Persia is signed in St. Petersburg, which will go down in history as the Persian Peace of 1723. According to the terms and conditions of this document, Russian Empire Rasht, Derbent, Baku, as well as others departed settlements, located along the southern coastline of the Caspian Sea. The ruler of Russia was able to implement only one of many ideas and was not going to stop there.

As we already mentioned at the beginning, historians agree that Emperor Peter the Great did a very important thing by deciding to annex Eastern territories to the Russian Empire. However, unfortunately, his successors, who ascended to Russian throne were unable to maintain these positions. According to the treaties of 1732 and 1735, the ruler of Russia, Empress Anna, returns all the Caspian lands to Persia, thus negating all the efforts and efforts expended by Peter.

Thus the history of the Caspian campaign of Peter the Great was completed.

Scheme: goals and results of the Caspian campaign of Peter I

Historical table: Caspian campaign of Peter I

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All Caucasian wars of Russia. The most complete encyclopedia Valentin Aleksandrovich Runov

Caspian campaign of Peter I

Caspian campaign of Peter I

At the beginning of the 18th century, Persia intensified its activities in the Eastern Caucasus, and soon all the coastal possessions of Dagestan recognized its power over them. Persian ships were complete masters in the Caspian Sea and controlled its entire coastline. But the arrival of the Persians did not put an end to civil strife between local owners. There was a fierce massacre in Dagestan, into which Türkiye, which was at enmity with Persia, was gradually drawn into.

The events that took place in Dagestan could not help but alarm Russia, which was actively trading with the East through its lands. Trade routes from Persia and India through Dagestan were essentially cut off. Merchants suffered huge losses, and the state treasury also suffered.

For the purpose of reconnaissance in 1711, Prince Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky, a native of Kabarda, who knew many eastern languages ​​and customs of the highlanders, was sent to the Caucasus, and Artemy Petrovich Volynsky was sent to reconnaissance of the situation in Persia in 1715.

Upon his return in 1719, A.P. Volynsky from Persia, he was appointed governor of Astrakhan with great powers of both a military and political nature. For the next four years, his activities were based on measures to bring the Dagestani rulers into Russian citizenship and prepare the campaign of Russian troops in the Caucasus. This activity was very successful. Already at the beginning of the next year, through Volynsky, Moscow received a request from the Dagestan shamkhal of Tarkovsky Adil-Girey to accept him as Russian citizenship. This request was greeted kindly, and the shamkhal himself was granted “as a sign of his sovereign favor” valuable furs for 3 thousand rubles.

As soon as it emerged victorious from the Northern War, Russia, proclaimed an empire, began preparing for a campaign in the Caucasus. The reason was the beating and robbery of Russian merchants, organized by the Lezgin owner Daud-bek in Shemakha. There, on August 7, 1721, crowds of armed Lezgins and Kumyks attacked Russian shops in the Gostiny Dvor, beat and dispersed the clerks who were with them, and then plundered goods totaling up to half a million rubles.

Having learned about this, A.P. Volynsky urgently reported to the emperor: “...according to your intention for the undertaking, there can be no more legitimate reason than this: the first thing is that you deign to stand up for your own; second, not against the Persians, but against their enemies and their own. In addition, you can offer to the Persians (if they began to protest) that if they pay your losses, then Your Majesty can give them everything you have won. This way you can show before the whole world that you deign to have a true reason for this.”

On this letter in December 1721, Peter wrote: “I answer your opinion; that this opportunity is not to be missed, and we have already ordered a satisfied part of the army to march to you...” In the same 1721, the Terek-Greben Cossacks were placed under the jurisdiction of the Russian military college and formalized as a military class.

A.P. Volynsky

At the beginning of 1722, the Russian emperor learned that the Persian Shah was defeated by the Afghans near his capital. The country began to be in turmoil. There was a threat that, taking advantage of this, the Turks would strike first and appear on the coast of the Caspian Sea before the Russians. It became risky to further postpone the campaign to the Caucasus.

In early May 1722, the guards were loaded onto ships and sent down the Moscow River, and then along the Volga. Ten days later, Peter and Catherine set off, deciding to accompany her husband on the campaign. Soon the expeditionary force concentrated in Astrakhan, where Volynsky had prepared a good material base for it in advance. There, on his orders, the atamans of the Donets, the military leaders of the Volga Tatars and Kalmyks, whose troops were to take part in the campaign, arrived to meet with the emperor. The total number of Russian troops intended for the invasion of the Caucasus exceeded 80 thousand people.

In addition, the Kabardian princes were supposed to take part in the campaign: the brother of Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky, Murza of Cherkassy and Araslan-bek. With their military detachments, they were supposed to join the Russian army on August 6 on the Sulak River.

On July 18, ships with regular infantry and artillery left Astrakhan for the Caspian Sea. Nine thousand dragoons, twenty thousand Don Cossacks and thirty thousand mounted Tatars and Kalmyks followed the seashore. Ten days later, Russian ships landed at the mouth of the Terek in the Gulf of Agrakhan. Peter was the first to set foot on land and determined a place to set up a camp, where he intended to wait for the cavalry to arrive.

The fighting began earlier than expected. On July 23, a detachment of brigadier Veterani, on the approach to the village of Enderi in the gorge, was suddenly attacked by the Kumyks. The mountaineers, hiding in the rocks and behind the trees, disabled 80 soldiers and two officers with well-aimed rifle fire and arrows. But then the Russians, having recovered from the surprise, went on the offensive themselves, defeated the enemy, captured the village and turned it into ashes. Thus began a military expedition, which later became known as the Caspian Campaign of Peter the Great.

Subsequently, Peter acted very decisively, combining diplomacy with armed force. At the beginning of August, his troops moved to Tarki. On the approaches to the city they were met by Shamkhal Aldy-Girey, who expressed his submission to the emperor. Peter received him in front of the guard formation very kindly and promised not to cause the devastation of the region.

On August 13, the Russian regiments solemnly entered Tarki, where they were greeted with honor by the Shamkhal. Aldy-Girey gave Peter a gray argamak in a golden harness. Both of his wives paid a visit to Catherine, presenting her with trays of the best grape varieties. The troops received food, wine and fodder.

August 16 Russian army set out on a campaign to Derbent. This time the path was not entirely smooth. On the third day, one of the columns was attacked by a large detachment of the Utemish Sultan Mahmud. The soldiers repelled the enemy's attack with relative ease and captured many prisoners. As a warning to all other enemies, Peter ordered the execution of 26 captured military leaders, and the town of Utemish, which consisted of 500 houses, to be turned into ashes. Ordinary soldiers were granted freedom under an oath not to fight the Russians in the future.

Highlander attack

The Russian emperor's loyalty to the submissive and his cruelty to those who resisted soon became known throughout the region. Therefore, Derbent did not resist. On August 23, its ruler with a group of eminent townspeople met the Russians a mile from the city, fell to his knees and presented Peter with two silver keys to the fortress gates. Peter kindly received the delegation and promised not to send troops into the city. He kept his word. The Russians set up a camp near the city walls, where they rested for several days, celebrating their bloodless victory. The emperor and his wife spent all this time, escaping the unbearable heat, in a dugout specially built for them, covered with a thick layer of turf. The ruler of Derbent, having learned about this, was very surprised. In a secret message to the Shah, he wrote that the Russian Tsar is so wild that he lives in the ground, from where he emerges only at sunset. Nevertheless, when assessing the state of the Russian troops, the naib did not skimp on praise.

After capturing Derbent, the Russian camp began to prepare for a campaign against Baku. However, an acute shortage of food and fodder forced Peter to postpone it until next year. Leaving a small detachment in Dagestan, he returned the main forces to Astrakhan for the winter. On the way back, the Russians founded the fortress of the Holy Cross at the place where the Agrakhan River flows into the Sulak River.

At the end of September, on the orders of Peter, Ataman Krasnoshchekin with the Don and Kalmyks inflicted a series of blows on the Utemish Sultan Mahmud, defeated his troops and ruined everything that had survived the previous pogrom. 350 people were captured and 11 thousand heads of cattle were captured. This was the last victory won in the presence of Peter I in the Caucasus. At the end of September, the imperial couple sailed to Astrakhan, from where they returned to Russia.

After Peter's departure, the command of all Russian troops located in the Caucasus was entrusted to Major General M.A. Matyushkin, who enjoyed the special trust of the emperor.

Türkiye was alarmed by the appearance of Russian troops on the Caspian coast. In the spring of 1723, a 20,000-strong Turkish army occupied the space from Erivan to Tabriz, then moved north and occupied Georgia. King Vakhtang took refuge in Imereti, and then moved to the Russian fortress of the Holy Cross. From there, in 1725, he was transported to St. Petersburg and received by Catherine I. Astrakhan was assigned to him for residence, and the Russian treasury allocated 18 thousand rubles annually for the maintenance of the court. In addition, he was granted lands in various provinces and 3,000 serfs. The exiled Georgian king lived comfortably in Russia for many years.

Fulfilling the will of the emperor, in July 1723 Matyushkin with four regiments made a sea crossing from Astrakhan and after a short battle occupied Baku. 700 Persian soldiers and 80 cannons were captured in the city. For this operation, the detachment commander was promoted to lieutenant general.

The alarm was sounded in Isfahan. The internal situation in Persia did not allow the Shah to engage in Caucasian affairs. We had to negotiate with Russia. To St. Petersburg in urgently Ambassadors were sent to propose an alliance in the war with Turkey and request help for the Shah in the fight against his internal enemies. Peter decided to focus on the second part of the sentences. On September 12, 1723, an agreement was signed on terms favorable to Russia. It stated: “Shakhovo Majesty cedes to His Imperial Majesty the All-Russian for the eternal possession of the cities of Derbent, Baku with all the lands and places that belong to them and along the Caspian Sea, as well as the provinces: Gilan, Mazanderan and Astrabad, in order to support the army that His The Imperial Majesty will send help to His Shah’s Majesty against his rebels, without demanding money for it.”

View of Derbent from the sea

In the fall of 1723, the Persian province of Gilan was under threat of occupation by Afghans, who entered into a secret conspiracy with Turkey. The provincial ruler, in turn, turned to the Russians for help. M.A. Matyushkin decided not to miss such a rare opportunity and forestall the enemy. Within a short time, 14 ships were prepared for sailing, and two battalions of soldiers with artillery boarded them. The squadron of ships was commanded by captain-lieutenant Soimanov, and the infantry detachment was commanded by Colonel Shipov.

On November 4, the squadron left Astrakhan and a month later entered the Anzeli raid. Having landed a small landing party, Shipov occupied the city of Rasht without a fight. In the spring of the following year, reinforcements were sent to Gilan from Astrakhan - two thousand infantry men with 24 guns, commanded by Major General A.N. Levashov. With combined efforts, Russian troops occupied the province and established control over the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. Their separate detachments infiltrated deep into the Caucasus, frightening the vassals of Persia, the Sheki and Shirvan khans.

The Persian campaign was generally completed successfully. True, having captured vast territories on the coast of the Caspian Sea, Russian troops lost 41,172 people, of whom only 267 died in battle, 46 drowned, 220 deserted, and the rest died from wounds and disease. The campaign, on the one hand, showed the weakness of the resistance of the rulers of the Eastern Caucasus, on the other, the unpreparedness of the Russian army to conduct operations in southern latitudes, the shortcomings of its medical support, supplies, and much more.

Peter highly noted the military merits of his soldiers. All officers were awarded special gold medals, and the lower ranks - silver medals with the image of the emperor, which were worn on the ribbon of the first Russian Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. This medal was the first of many awards established for military operations in the Caucasus.

Thus, Peter the Great, based primarily on the trade and economic interests of Russia, was the first of its rulers to put the task of annexing the Caspian coast of the Caucasus at the forefront of the empire's policy. He personally organized a military expedition to the Eastern Caucasus with the aim of conquering it and achieved some success. However, the appearance of Russian troops in the Caucasus intensified the aggressive activities of this region also on the part of Persia and Turkey. Military operations in the Caucasus on the part of Russia were in the nature of expeditions, the purpose of which was not so much the defeat of the main forces of the opposing enemy as the seizure of territory. The population of the occupied lands was subject to indemnity, which was mainly used to maintain the occupation administration and troops. During the expeditions, it was widely practiced to bring local rulers into Russian citizenship through an oath.

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Peter's last ship...Behind the windows of the Summer Palace, endless fireworks roared, guns roared loudly on the ships docked in the Neva - Petersburg celebrated the conclusion of the long-awaited peace with Sweden. From now on, Russia became a full-fledged maritime power. Peter, joyful, although

Persian campaign 1722 - 1723
	coast of the Caspian Sea
	Capture territories, persuade the Persian khans to friendship with Russia, explore gold deposits, find trade routes to India
	Victory for Russia
Territorial changes:	The cities of Derbent, Baku, Rasht and the provinces of Shirvan, Gilan, Mazandaran and Astrabad were ceded to Russia.
	Otemysh Sultanate
	Kaitag utsmiystvo
	Endireevo Principality
Kalmyk Khanate	Kazikumukh Khanate
Shamkhaldom of Tarkovskoe	Lezgin rebels
Tabasaran Maysumism
Commanders
	Shah Tahmasp II
F. M. Apraksin
Mikhail Matyushkin	Sultan Mahmud
I. M. Krasnoshchekov	Otemishsky
Daniel the Apostle	Ahmet Khan
Vakhtang VI	Prince Aydemir
David-Bek	Prince Chopalav
Isaiah Hasan-Jalalyan	Surkhay Khan I
Murza Cherkassky	Haji Davud Beg
Aslan-Bek	Myushkyursky
Adil-Girey
Rustam-kadi
Strengths of the parties
22 thousand infantry 9 thousand regular cavalry 196 artillery pieces 6 thousand sailors 10 thousand Ukrainian Cossacks 7 thousand Kalmyks 1 thousand Don Cossacks 30 thousand Tatars Georgian-Armenian army: 40-52 thousand people Kabardian cavalry

Persian campaign of 1722-1723 (Russian-Persian War of 1722-1723) - the campaign of the Russian army and navy to Northern Azerbaijan and Dagestan, which belonged to Persia.

Prerequisites

After the end of the Northern War, Peter I decided to make a campaign on the western coast of the Caspian Sea, and, having captured the Caspian Sea, restore the trade route from Central Asia and India to Europe, which would be very useful for Russian merchants and for the enrichment of the Russian Empire. The route was supposed to pass through the territory of India, Persia, from there to the Russian fort on the Kura River, then through Georgia to Astrakhan, from where it was planned to transport goods throughout the entire Russian Empire.

It should be noted that Peter I paid great attention to trade and economics. Back in 1716, he sent a detachment of Prince Bekovich-Cherkassky across the Caspian Sea to Khiva and Bukhara.

The expedition was tasked with persuading the Khan of Khiva into citizenship and the Emir of Bukhara into friendship with Russia; explore trade routes to India and gold deposits in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya. However, this first expedition was a complete failure - the Khiva Khan first persuaded the prince to disperse his forces, and then attacked individual detachments.

Also, the embassy of Israel Ori played a big role, through which Peter received a message from the Syunik meliks, in which they asked for help and protection from the Russian Tsar. Peter promised to provide assistance to the Armenians after the end of the war with Sweden.

The reason for the start of a new campaign was the uprising of rebels in the coastal provinces of Persia. Peter I announced to the Shah of Persia that the rebels were making forays into the territory of the Russian Empire and robbing merchants, and that Russian troops would be sent into the territory of Northern Azerbaijan and Dagestan to assist the Shah in pacifying the inhabitants of the rebel provinces.

Preparation

Even during the Northern War, Russian troops were preparing for a campaign in Persia. Captain Verdun compiled detailed map Caspian Sea, later sent to the Paris Academy, Russian units were constantly on the border with Persia. Peter I planned to set out from Astrakhan, go along the shores of the Caspian Sea, capture Derbent and Baku, reach the Kura River and establish a fortress there, then go to Tiflis, assist the Georgians in the fight against Ottoman Empire and from there return to Russia. In case of the coming war contact was established with both the Kartlian king Vakhtang VI and Armenian Catholicos, Asdvadzur. Kazan and Astrakhan became centers for organizing the Persian campaign. For the upcoming campaign, out of 80 companies of field troops, 20 were formed separate battalions with a total number of 22 thousand people and 196 artillery pieces. Also, on the way to Astrakhan, Peter enlisted the support of the Kalmyk Khan Ayuki, so detachments of Kalmyk cavalry numbering 7 thousand people took part in the campaign. June 15, 1722 Russian Emperor arrives in Astrakhan. He decides to transport 22 thousand infantry by sea, and send 7 dragoon regiments with a total number of 9 thousand people under the command of Major General Kropotov by land from Tsaritsyn, and Ukrainian and Don Cossack units also went by land. 30,000 Tatars were also hired.

By order of Peter I and with his direct participation in the Kazan Admiralty, about 200 transport ships were built (including: 3 shnyavs, 2 gekbots, 1 hooker, 9 shuts, 17 tyalaks, 1 yacht, 7 evers, 12 gallots, 1 plow, 34 finned ships), which were equipped with 6 thousand sailors.

On June 15, 1722, Peter issued a manifesto in which he stated that “the Shah’s subjects—the Lezgin owner Daud-bek and the Kazykum owner Surkhay—revolted against their sovereign, took the city of Shemakha by storm and carried out a predatory attack on Russian merchants. In view of Daud Beg’s refusal to give satisfaction, we are forced... to bring an army against the predicted rebels and all-evil robbers.”

Fighting

Campaign of 1722

On July 18, the entire flotilla of 274 ships went to sea under the command of Admiral General Count Apraksin. At the head of the vanguard was Peter I. On July 20, the fleet entered the Caspian Sea and followed along the western shore for a week. On July 27, the infantry landed at Cape Agrakhan, 4 versts below the mouth of the Koisu River. A few days later the cavalry arrived and joined the main forces. On August 5, the Russian army continued its movement towards Derbent. On August 6, on the Sulak River, the Kabardian princes Murza Cherkassky and Aslan-Bek joined the army with their troops. On August 8, she crossed the Sulak River. On August 15, the troops approached Tarki, the seat of Shamkhal. On August 19, an attack by a 10,000-strong detachment of the Otemish Sultan Magmud and a 6,000-strong detachment of the Khaytak Akhmet Khan was repulsed. Peter's ally was the Kumyk shamkhal Adil-Girey, who captured Derbent and Baku before the approach of the Russian army. On August 23, Russian troops entered Derbent. Derbent was a strategically important city, as it covered the coastal route along the Caspian Sea. On August 28, all Russian forces, including the flotilla, converged on the city. Further progress to the south was stopped by a strong storm, which sank all the ships with food. Peter I decided to leave a garrison in the city and returned with the main forces to Astrakhan, where he began preparations for the 1723 campaign. This was the last military campaign in which he directly took part.

In September, Vakhtang VI and his army entered Karabakh, where he conducted military operations against the rebel Lezgins. After the capture of Ganja, the Georgians were joined by Armenian troops led by the Gandzasar Catholicos Isaiah. Near Ganja, waiting for Peter, the Georgian-Armenian army stood for two months, but upon learning of the departure of the Russian army from the Caucasus, Vakhtang and Isaiah returned with their troops to their possessions.

In November, a landing force of five companies was landed in the Persian province of Gilan under the command of Colonel Shipov to occupy the city of Ryashch. Later, in March of the following year, the Ryashch vizier organized an uprising and, with a force of 15 thousand people, tried to dislodge the Shipov detachment that occupied Ryashch. All Persian attacks were repelled.

Campaign of 1723

During the second Persian campaign, a much smaller detachment was sent to Persia under the command of Matyushkin, and Peter I only directed the actions of Matyushkin from the Russian Empire. 15 gekbots, field and siege artillery and infantry took part in the campaign. On June 20, the detachment moved south, followed by a fleet of gekbots from Kazan. July 6 ground troops approached Baku. To Matyushkin’s offer to voluntarily surrender the city, its residents refused. On July 21, with 4 battalions and two field guns, the Russians repulsed an attack by the besieged. Meanwhile, 7 geckbots anchored next to the city wall and began to fire heavily at it, thereby destroying the fortress artillery and partially destroying the wall. On July 25, an assault was planned from the sea through the gaps formed in the wall, but a strong wind arose, which drove away the Russian ships. The residents of Baku managed to take advantage of this by sealing all the gaps in the wall, but still, on July 26, the city capitulated without a fight.

Bottom line

The successes of Russian troops during the campaign and the invasion of the Ottoman army in Transcaucasia forced Persia to conclude a peace treaty in St. Petersburg on September 12, 1723, according to which Derbent, Baku, Rasht, the provinces of Shirvan, Gilan, Mazandaran and Astrabad went to Russia.

From penetration into central areas Peter I had to abandon Transcaucasia, since in the summer of 1723 the Ottomans invaded there, devastating Georgia, Armenia and the western part of modern Azerbaijan. In 1724, the Treaty of Constantinople was concluded with the Porte, according to which the Sultan recognized Russia’s acquisitions in the Caspian region, and Russia recognized the Sultan’s rights to Western Transcaucasia.

Later, due to the deterioration of Russian-Turkish relations, Russian government, in order to avoid new war with the Ottoman Empire and interested in an alliance with Persia, according to the Treaty of Rasht (1732) and the Ganja Treaty (1735) returned all the Caspian regions of Persia.

Caspian campaign of Peter I (briefly)

Caspian campaign of Peter I (briefly)

Campaign of 1722

On the eighteenth of July, the Russian flotilla in full strength (two hundred and seventy-four ships) goes out to the open sea under the command of Count Apraksin. On July 20, the fleet enters the Caspian Sea, after which it travels for a week, sticking to the western shore. Already on the twenty-seventh of July, infantry landed at Cape Agraharsky, and a few days later the arriving cavalry united with the main forces. On August 5, the army continues to move towards Derbent and a day later it is joined by detachments of the Kabardian princes Aslan-Bek and Murza Cherkassky.

After August twenty-eighth, the further advance of the army to the south was stopped by a powerful storm, which sank all the ships with provisions. However, Peter the Great decides to leave a garrison in the city and return with the main forces to Astrakhan, where he begins to plan preparations for the 1723 campaign.

At the beginning of autumn, Vakhtang the Fourth and his army enter Karabakh, where he conducts military operations against the rebellious Dagestanis. After Ganja was captured, Armenian troops led by Isaiah joined the ranks of the Georgians. They stood waiting for Peter for about two months, but having received news of the departure of the Russian army from the Caucasus, Isaiah and Vakhtang returned to their possessions with the army.

In November, an assault force of five companies landed in the Persian province of Gilan to occupy the city of Rasht. The landing force was commanded by Colonel Shipov. Later, in the early spring of next year, the vizier organizes an uprising and, having gathered fifteen thousand people, tries to dislodge the detachment. However, all Persian attacks were repulsed.

Campaign of 1723

During the second campaign, Peter sent a much smaller detachment to Persia than the last time. Matyushkin commanded them. At the same time, Peter the Great acted only as the leader of Matyushkin himself from Russia.

So, fifteen geckobots, infantry, as well as siege and field artillery took part in this campaign. On the twentieth of June, the army moves south, and behind them the fleet of geckbots leaves Kazan. On July 6th, ground forces approached Baku. Local residents refuse to surrender the city peacefully.

On the twenty-first, the Russians repelled the besieged attack with two field guns and four battalions. Along with this, seven geckbots open powerful fire on the city wall, destroying its integrity and knocking out the fortress’s artillery.

On July 26, the city of Baku capitulated.