 Signing ceremony of the treaty | |
| Signed | 22 February 1828 |
|---|---|
| Location | Turkmenchay,Qajar Iran |
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TheTreaty of Turkmenchay (Persian:عهدنامه ترکمانچای,romanized: Ahdnāme-ye Torkmânčây;Russian:Туркманчайский договор,romanized: Turkmanchayskiy dogovor) was an agreement betweenQajar Iran and theRussian Empire, which concluded theRusso-Persian War (1826–1828). It was second of the series of treaties (the first was the 1813Treaty of Gulistan and the last, the 1881Treaty of Akhal) signed between Qajar Iran and Imperial Russia that forced Iran to cede or recognize Russian influence over the territories that formerly werepart of Iran.[1][2]
The treaty was signed on 22 February 1828 (5 Sha'ban 1243) inTorkamanchay (a village betweenTabriz andTehran[3]). It made Iran cede the control of several areas in theSouth Caucasus to Russia: theErivan Khanate, theNakhchivan Khanate and the remainder of theTalysh Khanate. The boundary between Russia and Iran was set at theAras River. These territories are nowArmenia, the south of the Republic ofAzerbaijan,Nakhchivan andIğdır Province (now part ofTurkey).
The treaty was signed for Iran by the Crown PrinceAbbas Mirza and Allah-Yar KhanAsef al-Dowleh, chancellor toFath-Ali Shah Qajar, and for Russia by GeneralIvan Paskievich. Similarly to the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan, the treaty was imposed on Iran following a Russian military victory. Paskievich threatened to occupy Tehran in five days unless the treaty was signed.[4]
Following this treaty, as well as the Treaty of Gulistan, Russia completed its conquest of theCaucasian territories from Qajar Iran; what is nowDagestan, easternGeorgia,Azerbaijan, andArmenia, all of which had formed part of its very concept for centuries.[5][failed verification] The areas north of theAras River, such as the territory of the contemporary nations of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and theNorth Caucasian Republic of Dagestan, were Iranian until they were conquered by Russia during the 19th century.[6][7][8][9][10][11]
Following the two treaties, the formerly Iranian territories came under Russian, and laterSoviet control for approximately 180 years, whereDagestan remains a constituent republic within theRussian Federation to this day. Comprising most of the territory ceded in the Gulistan and Turkmenchay treaties, three separate nations would gain independence following thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991: namely Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The terms of the treaty are as follow[12][13]
Article 15 provided for the resettlement of Armenians fromIranian Azerbaijan to the Caucasus, which also included an outright liberation of Armenians taken captive by Persia since 1804 or 1795.[14][15] This resettlement replaced the 20,000 Armenians who moved to Georgia between 1795 and 1827.[16]
According to Prof. Alexander Mikaberidze:
Under article 4 of the treaty, Iran ceded sovereignty over the Khanates of Yerevan, Nakchivan, Talysh, Ordubad, and Mughan in addition to regions that Russia had annexed under theTreaty of Gulistan (1813). The Aras River was declared the new border between Iran and Russia. In articles 6–8, Iran agreed to pay reparations of 20 million rubles in silver and transferred to Russia the exclusive rights to maintain a Caspian fleet. In addition, the capitulatory rights guaranteed Russia preferential treatment for its exports, which generally were not competitive in European markets. In article 10, the shah recognized Russia's right to send consulate envoys to anywhere in Iran. The Treaty of Turkmenchay was the definite acknowledgement of the Persian loss of the Caucasus region to Russia.[17]
According to theCambridge History of Iran:
Even when rulers on the plateau lacked the means to effect suzerainty beyond the Aras, the neighboring Khanates were still regarded as Iranian dependencies. Naturally, it was those Khanates located closest to the province of Āzarbāījān which most frequently experienced attempts to re-impose Iranian suzerainty: the Khanates ofErivan,Nakhchivān andQarābāgh across the Aras, and the cis-Aras Khanate of Ṭālish, with its administrative headquarters located at Lankarān and therefore very vulnerable to pressure, either from the direction of Tabrīz or Rasht. Beyond the Khanate of Qarābāgh, the Khān of Ganja and the Vāli of Gurjistān (ruler of the Kartli-Kakheti kingdom of south-east Georgia), although less accessible for purposes of coercion, were also regarded as the Shah's vassals, as were the Khāns of Shakki and Shīrvān, north of the Kura river. The contacts between Iran and the Khanates of Bākū and Qubba, however, were more tenuous and consisted mainly of maritime commercial links with Anzalī and Rasht.The effectiveness of these somewhat haphazard assertions of suzerainty depended on the ability of a particular Shah to make his will felt, and the determination of the local khans to evade obligations they regarded as onerous.[18]
In combination with the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan, some authors have claimed that the two resulting Iranian territorial cessions separated theAzerbaijani people and theTalysh people from their brethren in Iran.[19][20][21] Following the two treaties, the formerly Iranian territories came under the Russian, and later theSoviet control for approximately 180 years, andDagestan remains a constituent republic within theRussian Federation to this day. Comprising most of the territory ceded in Gulistan and Turkmenchay treaties, three separate nations would gain independence following thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991: Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
By virtue of the 15th term of the Treaty of Turkmenchay, Armenians from the Iranian Azerbaijan Province were given the freedom to emigrate to Russian-controlled territory north of theAras River. In the period 1828–1831 following Russia's annexation, 45,000 Armenians from Iran and 100,000 from theOttoman Empire immigrated toRussian Armenia.[22] Beginning in October 1829, 7,668 families immigrated to Russian Armenia; ultimately, 14,047 families consisting of 90,000–100,000 people had immigrated.[3]
In the aftermath of the war and the signing of the treaty, anti-Russian sentiment in Persia was rampant. On 11 February 1829, an angry mob stormed the Russian embassy inTehran and killed almost everyone inside. Among those killed in the massacre was the newly-appointed ambassador to Persia,Aleksander Griboyedov, a celebrated Russian playwright. Griboyedov had played an active role in negotiating the terms of the treaty.[23] As a sign of his apology for the murder of the Russian ambassador, the Shah of Iran gave the Russian Czar his most valuablecrown jewel, theShah Diamond.
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