The last decades of the eighteenth century…
May 1796 CE
The last decades of the eighteenth century in Iran are marked by continual strife between rival claimants to the Peacock Throne.
Catherine the Great of Russia takes advantage of the disorder to consolidate her control over the weak polities of the Caucasus, which is, for swaths of it, an integral Persian domain.
The kingdom of Georgia, a subject of the Persians for many centuries, becomes a Russian protectorate in 1783, when Heraclius II (Erekle II) signed the Treaty of Georgievsk, whereby the Empress promised to defend him in case of the Iranian attack.
The shamkhals of Tarki followed the lead and accepted Russian protection three years later.
With the enthronement of Agha Mohammad Khan as Shah of Persia in 1794 the political climate has changed.
He has put an end to the period of dynastic strife and proceeded to re-strengthen the hold of the Caucasus by re-garrisoning the Iranian territories and cities in what is modern-day Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, as well as ravaging and recapturing Georgia and reducing its capital Tbilisi to a pile of ashes in 1795.
Belatedly, Catherine II is determined to mount a punitive expedition against the Shah.
The ultimate goal for the Russian government is to topple the anti-Russian shah, and to replace him with a half-brother of Agha Muhammad Khan, namely Morteza Qoli Khan, who has defected to Russia, and is therefore pro-Russian.
Although it is widely expected that a fifty thousand-strong Russian corps will be led by a seasoned general (Gudovich), the Empress follows the advice of her lover, Prince Zubov, and entrusts the command to his youthful brother, Count Valerian Zubov.
The Russian troops set out from Kizlyar in April 1796 and storm the key fortress of Derbent on May 10.
The event is glorified by the court poet Derzhavin in his famous ode; he is later to comment bitterly on Zubov's inglorious return from the expedition in another remarkable poem.
