Русско-персидская война 1722–1723 гг. и Санкт-Петербургский мирный договор

Conflict between the Russian Empire and Safavid Iran from 1722 to 1723
Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1723)
| territory = Russia gains Derbent, Baku, and the provinces of Shirvan, Gilan, Mazandaran and Astarabad. | casus = the Tsar's attempt to expand Russian influence in the Caspian and Caucasian regions and to prevent its rival, the Ottoman Empire, from territorial gains in the region at the expense of declining mutually neighboring Safavid Iran. | combatant1 =
Cossack Hetmanate
Kingdom of Kartli Eastern Circassia
Shamkhalate of Tarki
Tabasaran principality
| combatant2 = Safavid Iran
| commander1 = Peter the Great Fyodor Apraksin Mikhail Matyushkin Ivan Matveevich KrasnoshchyokovDanylo Apostol Vakhtang VI Murza CherkasskyAdil Giray was a war between the Russian Empire and Safavid Iran, triggered by the tsar's attempt to expand Russian influence in the Caspian and Caucasus regions and to prevent its rival, the Ottoman Empire, from territorial gains in the region at the expense of declining Safavid Iran. The Russian victory ratified for Safavid Iran's cession of their territories in the North Caucasus, South Caucasus and contemporary northern Iran to Russia, comprising the cities of Derbent (southern Dagestan) and Baku and their nearby surrounding lands, as well as the provinces of Gilan, Shirvan, Mazandaran and Astarabad conform the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1723). killed the envoys and gathered about 16,000 men at Utemish to bar the way. The mountaineers fought valiantly, but could not withstand the disciplined infantry. Utemish was burned and all the prisoners hanged in revenge for the murder of the envoys. On learning of this, the Khan of Derbent offered Peter the keys to the city on August 23 (September 3 N. S.). Derbent is at a narrow point on the coastal plain and has long been considered the northern gateway to Iran. While in Derbent, Peter learned that the flotilla had been caught in a storm and most of the supplies lost. Since there was no possibility of resupply this late in the season, he left a strong garrison at Derbent, marched back to the Terek River, took ship to Astrakhan and, on December 13 (December 24 N. S.), made a triumphal entry into Moscow. Vakhtang VI of Kartli (central Georgia) was a vassal of Iran and had been their captive for seven years. Given the weakness of Iran, he made an arrangement with Russia. In September 1722, he advanced on Ganja. When the Russians did not join him, he returned to Tbilisi in November. This provocation of Iran led to a disastrous invasion of his country.

Before leaving Astrakhan, Peter, on 6 November (17 November N. S.), sent Colonel Shipov and two battalions south to occupy the Iranian city of Rasht at the southwest corner of the Caspian. The locals wanted help against the invading Afghans but quickly changed their minds. 15,000 men were gathered, Shah Tamasp ordered the Russians out (February) and towards the end of March the Russians defeated the Iranians, and had decisively taken the Caspian Sea town. After a long siege on 26 June 1723 (7 July 1723 N. S.) General Matyushkin took the Iranian town of Baku and soon Shirvan to the west and then the three Iranian provinces on the south coast of the Caspian Sea. On September 12 (September 23 N. S.), the Russians and Iranians made a treaty in which the Russians would drive out the Afghans and restore Shah Tahmasp to the throne in return for the cession of Derbent, Baku and the three south coast provinces. Next year, Prince Meshchersky went to Iran but was unable to secure ratification and was almost killed. The war was formally concluded by the 1723 Treaty of Saint Petersburg, which recognized the Russian annexation of the west and south coasts of the Caspian. By the 1724 Treaty of Constantinople, Russia recognized Turkish control of nearly everything west of what they had captured, thereby partitioning Transcaucasia between the two powers. The Russians lost many soldiers to disease. At the same time, Nader Shah restored Iranian power. In 1732, through the Treaty of Resht, Russia withdrew to approximately the current Iranian border. In 1735, as a result of the Treaty of Ganja, Russia withdrew to its former border along the Terek River.

The war was a costly war for both sides in different measures. Iran had lost swaths of its territories, while Russia had suffered large human losses. The campaign proved costly; of the 61,039 men who took part, 36,663 did not return. Thus, in Gilan, one of the consequences of the occupation was the rapid decline of sericulture, as many of those involved in it fled. By the 1735 Treaty of Ganja, the remaining territories were returned, including Derbent, Baku and Tarki, and Iran was again in full possession of its territories in the North and South Caucasus and in contemporary northern Iran. The Russian troops nevertheless had not evacuated from the Iranian provinces until 1734. As The Cambridge History of Iran adds, "perhaps the only long term consequence was the consciousness on the part of Russia's rulers that their armies had once marched beyond the Caucasus, that the Russian flag had flown over the southern shore of the Caspian Sea." However, the sequel was additionally disastrous for the Georgian rulers who had supported Peter's venture. In eastern Georgia, Vakhtang VI of Kartli lost his throne and sought protection of the Russian court in 1724. In western Georgia, Alexander V of Imereti had to accept an Ottoman suzerainty on more stringent terms. The Ottomans, further, alarmed by the Russian intervention, strengthened their hold along the Caucasian coastline.