Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-qdpjg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-16T17:01:04.107Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

“Betrayed into the Hands of the Enemy”: The 1795–96 Russian Investigation of the Death of Hedayat-Allah Khan of Gilan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2022

Kevin Gledhill
Kevin Gledhill*
Affiliation:
Department of History, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA
*
Email:[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article examines the Russian investigation of the death of Hedayat-Allah Khan, who ruled Gilan from the mid-1750s until his death in 1786. Using Russian consular reports and records of the 1795 Russian investigation of his death, the article offers two major conclusions. First, Hedayat-Allah Khan ruled a Caspian-centered polity linked to the Russian consulate and trade through partnerships with merchant intermediaries. As Qajar hegemony in Iran emerged by 1786, the consulate and merchants threw their support to Aqa Mohammad Khan. Second, the 1795 Russian investigation of his death was opened by Catherine II to solidify alliances in response to Qajar claims to Tiflis in 1795. Shifting Russian strategic priorities under Emperor Paul removed the need for this investigation.

Keywords

Aqa Mohammad Khan QajarCaspian SeaErekle IIGeorgiaGilanRusso-Iranian relationsSouth Caucasus
Type
Article
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 55 , Issue 2 , April 2022 , pp. 355 - 378
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Iranian Studies

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akty sobrannye Kavkazskoȋu arkheograficheskoi͡u komissiei͡u: Arkhiv glavnago upravlenīi͡a namestnika Kavkazskago, vol. 2. Edited by A. D. Berzhe. Tiflis: Tip. Glavnago Upravlenīi͡a Namestnika Kavkazskago, 1868.Google Scholar
Asnadi az ravabet-e Iran va Rus az Safavieh ta Qajarieh. Edited and translated by Rahim Moslemanian Qobayani and Behruz Moslemanian Qobayani. Tehran: Markaz-e Asnad va Tarikh-e Diplumasi, 1387/2008.Google Scholar
Iz istorii rossiĭsko-gruzinskikh otnosheniĭ k 230-letii͡u zakli͡unchenii͡a Georgievskogo traktata: Sbornik dokumentov. Edited by A. N. Artizov. Moscow: Drevlekhranilishche, 2014.Google Scholar
Polnoe sobrannie zakonov Rossiĭskoĭ Imperii, vol. 22. St. Petersburg: 1830.Google Scholar
Prince Lieven Papers. British Library, Add MS 47243A, n.d.Google Scholar
RGADA (Rossiĭskyĭ Gosudarstvennyĭ Arkhiv Drevnikh Aktov), f. 23, o. 1, dd. 13 (ch. 3), 14 (ch. 1–3).Google Scholar
RGADA (Rossiĭskyĭ Gosudarstvennyĭ Arkhiv Drevnikh Aktov), f. 276, o. 1, dd. 613, 644, 645, 647, 648, 651.Google Scholar
RGVIA (Rossiĭskyĭ Gosudarstvennyĭ Voenno-Istoricheskiĭ Arkhiv), f. 52, o. 1/194, dd. 217, 241, 244, 269, 288, 350 (ch. 3), 482.Google Scholar
Sbornik Imperatorskago Russkago Istoricheskago Obshchestva, vol. 27. St. Petersburg: Soveta Imperatorskago Russkago Istoricheskago Obshchestva, 1880.Google Scholar
Dogovory Rossii c vostokom″, politicheskie i torgovie. Edited by T. I͡uzefovich’. St. Petersburg: Tipografii͡a O.I. Baksta, 1869.Google Scholar
Abdullaev, G. B. Iz istorii severo-vostochnogo Azerbaĭdzhana v 60–80kh gg. XVIII v. Baku: Izd. Akademii Nauk Azerbaĭdzhanskoĭ SSR, 1958.Google Scholar
Afsharian, Nader. Tarikh-e Shaft. Rasht, Iran: Farhang-e Ilya, 1388/2009.Google Scholar
Antonov, Sergei. Bankrupts and Usurers of Imperial Russia: Debt, Property, and the Law in the Age of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 2016.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atkin, Muriel. Russia and Iran, 1780–1828. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, 1980.Google Scholar
Baberowski, Jörg. Autokratie und Justiz: Zum Verhältnis von Rechtstaatlichkeit und Rüskständigkeit im ausgehenden zarenreich 1864–1914. Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann, 1996.Google Scholar
Behrooz, Maziar. “From Confidence to Apprehension: Early Iranian interaction with Russia.” In Iranian-Russian Encounters: Empires and Revolutions Since 1800. Edited by Cronin, Stephanie, 49–68. London: Routledge, 2013.Google Scholar
Bournoutian, George. “Prelude to War: The Russian Siege and Storming of the Fortress of Ganjeh, 1803–4.” Iranian Studies 50, no. 1 (2017): 107–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butkov, P. G. Materialy dli͡a novoĭ istorii Kavkaza c″ 1722 po 1803 god″, vols. 1–2. St. Petersburg: Imperatorskai͡a Akademii͡a Naku, 1869.Google Scholar
Dubrovin, N. Istorīi͡a voĭny i vladychestva russkikh na Kavkazi︠e︡. 3 vols. St. Petersburg: Tipografii͡a Departamenta Udelov″, 1871.Google Scholar
Floor, Willem. The Persian Textile Industry in Historical Perspective, 1500–1925. Paris: Societé d'Histoire de l'Orient–L'Harmattan, 1999.Google Scholar
Floor, Willem. “Who Were the Shamkhal and the Usmi?” Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 160, no. 2 (2010): 341–81.Google Scholar
Ghaffari Kashani, Abu al-Hasan. Golshan-e Morad. Edited by Majd, Gholam-Reza Tabatabai. Tehran: Entesharat-e Zarrin, 1369/1990.Google Scholar
Gmelin, Samuel Gottlieb. Travels through Northern Persia, 1770–1774. Edited and translated by Floor, Willem. Washington, DC: Mage, 2007.Google Scholar
Guliev, A. N., and Mochalova, V. D.. Prisoedinenie Azerbaǐdzhana k Rossii i ego progressivnye posledstvii͡a v oblasti ėkonomiki i kul′tury: XIX-nach. XX vv. Baku: Izd. Akademii Nauk Azerbaĭdzhanskoĭ SSR, 1955.Google Scholar
Hambly, Gavin. “Āghā Muhammad Khān and the Establishment of the Qājār Dynasty.” In Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 7, From Nader Shah to the Islamic Republic. Edited by Avery, Peter, Hambly, Gavin R. G., and Melville, Charles, 104–43. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University, 1991.Google Scholar
Hanway, Jonas. An Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea, vol. 2. London: 1753.Google Scholar
Hedayat, Reza-Qoli Khan. Tarikh-e Rowzat al-Safa-ye Naseri, j. 9, b. 1. Edited by Kianfar, Jamshid. Tehran: Esatir, 1380/2001.Google Scholar
I͡ukht, A. I. “Torgovli͡a Rossii so stranami vostoka vo vtoroĭ polovine XVIII-ogo veka i Armi͡anskoe kupechestvo.” Istoriko-filologicheskiĭ zhurnal Akademii Nauka Armi͡anskoĭ SSR 2 (1981): 85–106.Google Scholar
I͡ukht, A. I. Torgovli͡a s vostochnymi stranami i vnutreniĭ rynok Rossii (20–60-e gody XVIII veka). Moscow: RAN Institut Rossiĭskoĭ Istorii, 1994.Google Scholar
Khachaturi͡an, V. A. “Naselenie armi͡anskoĭ kolonii Astrakhani vo vtoroĭ polovine XVIII veke.” Izvestii͡a Akademii Nauk Armi͡anskoĭ SSR 7 (1965): 77–87.Google Scholar
Khodarkovsky, Michael. Where Two Worlds Met: The Russian State and the Kalmyk Nomads, 1600–1771. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1992.Google Scholar
Kukanova, Nina G. Ocherki po istorii Russko-iranskikh torgovykh otnosheniĭ v XVII–pervoiĭ polovine XIX veka. Saransk, Russia: Mordovskoe Knizhnoe Izd., 1977.Google Scholar
Kukanova, Nina G. Torgovo-ėkonomicheskie otnoshenii͡a Rossii i Irana v period pozdnego feodalizma. Saransk, Russia: Izd. Mordovskogo Universiteta, 1994.Google Scholar
Lang, D. M. “Georgia and the Fall of the Safavi Dynasty.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 14, no. 3 (1952): 523–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langaroudi, Reza Rezazadeh. “Gilān vi. History in the 18th Century.” Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2330-4804_EIRO_COM_9946.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LeDonne, John P. “Criminal Investigations Before the Great Reforms.” Russian History 1, no. 2 (1974): 101–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mamedova, Gekhar. O pokhode V. Zubova v Azerbaĭdzhan (1796 g.). Baku, Azerbaijan: Elm, 2003.Google Scholar
Markova, O. P. Zakavkaz′e i mezhdunarodnye otnoshenii͡a v XVIII veke. Moscow: Nauka, 1966.Google Scholar
Mikhaĭl Dmitrievich, Chulkov. Istoricheskoe opisanie rossiĭskoĭ komertsii pri vsekh portakh i granitsakh, vol. 2, ch. 2. Moscow: Universitetskai͡a Tipografii͡a, 1785.Google Scholar
Nikonov, Oleg A. Iran vo vneshnepoliticheskoĭ strategii Rossiĭskoĭ Imperii v XVIII v. Vladimir, Russia: Izd. Vladimirskogo Universiteta, 2009.Google Scholar
Perry, John R. Karim Khan Zand: A History of Iran, 1747–1779. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rabino, H. L. “Rulers of Lahijan and Fuman in Gilan, Persia.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (June 1918): 277–96.Google Scholar
Rading, Captain-Lieutenant. “O proisshestvii͡akh sluchivshikhsi͡a pri osnovanii Russkago selenii͡a na beregu Astrabadskago zaliva v 1781 godu.” Zhurnal″ ministerstva vnutrennikh del′ 33, no. 8 (1839): 9–45.Google Scholar
Rashtiani, Goodarz. “Iranian-Russian Relations in the Eighteenth Century.” In Crisis, Collapse, Militarism & Civil War: The History and Historiography of 18th Century Iran. Edited by Axworthy, Michael, 163–82. New York: Oxford University, 2018.Google Scholar
Safronova, E. V. Stanovlenie i razvitie konsulskoĭ sluzhby Rossiĭskoĭ Imperii v XVIII–nachale XIX v. St. Petersburg: I͡uridicheskiĭ T︠S︡entr, 2002.Google Scholar
Sartippur, Jahangir. Namha va namdarha-ye Gilan. Rasht, Iran: Nashr-e Gilakan, 1370/1991.Google Scholar
Saruʾi, Mohammad Fath-Allah b. Mohammad-Taqi. Tarikh-e Mohammadi. British Library, Add MS 27243, 1222/1807.Google Scholar
Shahvar, Soli, and Abramoff, Emil. “The Khan, the Shah and the Tsar: The Khanate of Talesh between Iran and Russia.” In Russians in Iran: Diplomacy and Power in the Qajar Era and Beyond. Edited by Matthee, Rudi and Andreeva, Elena, 24–48. London: I. B. Tauris, 2018.Google Scholar
Teĭmuraz, [Tsarevich]. Vzi͡atie Tiflisa Aga Mogammed Khanom v 1795 godu: iz zapisok Tsarevicha Teĭmuraza. Tbilisi: K. N. Begichev, 1895.Google Scholar
Uli͡anitskiĭ, V.A. Russkīi͡a konsul′stva za granitsei͡u v XVIII veke, vol. 1. Moscow: Tipografii͡a L. Lissenera i A. Gesheli͡a, 1899.Google Scholar
Varahram, Gholam-Reza. Tarikh-e siasi va ejtemaʿi-e Iran dar ʿasr Zand. Tehran: Moʿayyin, 1385/2006.Google Scholar
Wortman, Richard S. The Development of a Russian Legal Consciousness. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1976.CrossRefGoogle Scholar