Causes of hostilities in Persia by Peter 1. Prut and Caspian (Persian) campaigns. Territory of hostilities

FOREWORD

“... So in these parts, with the help of God, we received a foot, than we congratulate you,” Peter I wrote in joy to St. Petersburg on August 30, 1722 from Derbent, which had just opened the gates to him. In the Russian imperial historiography of the 19th - early 20th centuries, the campaign against the Caspian Sea became the starting point of the "Caucasian wars" - a long process of annexation of territories from the Kuban and Terek to the borders with Turkey and Iran that had developed at that time. It is not surprising that at the same time the first historical descriptions of this enterprise began to appear, regimental histories and works of the biographical genre, sometimes containing subsequently lost or hard-to-reach sources, and which have not lost their significance until our time when documents were published.

The narrowing of the chronological boundaries of this phenomenon to 1817-1864, which followed in Soviet times, brought the campaign of Peter I and its consequences beyond the scope of the problem under study, especially since the emphasis was on searching for features of the “anti-feudal and anti-colonial movement” of the local population, on the one hand, and on establishing "voluntary" and at least unconditionally progressive nature of the entry of a particular territory into Russia. In this sense, the study of military operations (and, more broadly, the role of the army in establishing a new public order) was irrelevant. Only a few publications appeared, among which the work of E.S. Zevakin, who collected material on the financial condition of Russian possessions in the Transcaucasus.

Nevertheless, in 1951, the first and at the moment the only monograph by V.P. Lystsov, dedicated to this Petrine "project". The author examined in detail the prehistory and background of this military-political action, its course, making extensive use of archival documents. However, he was immediately criticized for his desire to reveal the "alleged" economic goals of the Peter's campaign, as a result of which, according to the reviewer, he demonstrated not the "progressive nature of the annexation of non-Iranian peoples" who were "under the Turkish yoke and Persian oppression", but "the desire to seizures" from Russia. Well-made, this monograph, however, far from exhausts the entire body of sources available; besides, its content does not go beyond 1722-1724. Since then in national historiography there were no separate studies on the topic, with the exception of separate digressions in the works of military history and works on foreign policy Russia XVIII centuries. Recently, some documents and a number of articles have been published that characterize the position of the Grassroots Corps.

In more detail, various aspects of the presence of Russian troops and administration were considered in the detailed works of historians of the former Soviet Union and autonomous republics- as a rule, from the point of view of the history of a given region and people, and mainly from the standpoint of a joint struggle against Turkish or Iranian claims. Similar studies appear later, but with different estimates: the former “promotion economic development"and protection" from robberies and violence by Iranian invaders and Turkish mercenaries" are called occupation, and "treason by separatist-minded local feudal lords" - "anti-colonial actions in the Russian occupation zone." Former "help" from the same Russia is interpreted accordingly - as the implementation of their own plans or the desire to "enslave" the Transcaucasian peoples.

However, the topic does not seem to be “closed” in terms of relevance in our time. According to the sad admission of one of the largest experts, “the past of the peoples of the Caucasus has been turned into a mosaic of national histories at war with each other. They are filled with myths about “our” great cultural and territorial heritage, which is allegedly being encroached upon by neighbors - “barbarians”, “aggressors” and “aliens”. New horizons for the development of the topic are opened by the use of modern historical approaches that highlight new "dimensions" of the past: military-historical anthropology, the history of everyday life, the study social psychology and ideas of the people of that era.

Finally, a new approach to the topic is also important because the available works cover primarily the military-political side of the conflict and the campaign of 1722-1723 itself. The writings that have appeared recently are fiction or superficial reviews in which in question, for example, about plans to “conquer the South Caucasus” in the spirit of the so-called “testament” of Peter I, about the occupation of Mazanderan and Astrabad by the Russians that did not take place in reality, about “powerful clashes” with Turkish troops and the murder of the Russian ambassador. Even in scientific papers you can find errors like statements about the emperor's return to the south in 1723 and his re-occupation of Derbent (24), but also from academic works.

The purpose of the work is a documented story about the first major foreign policy action Russian Empire outside the traditional sphere of its influence - in regions that belonged to a different civilizational circle. The Persian (or, as some historians suggested to call it, the Caspian) campaign of Peter I in 1722-1723 became a large-scale attempt to implement imperial tasks foreign policy in the East. We are not so much interested in this military operation(its main stages are more or less studied), how many subsequent efforts to "develop" the territories obtained as a result of military and diplomatic efforts.

Persian campaign 1722 - 1723
	coast of the Caspian Sea
	Capture territories, persuade the Persian khans to be friends with Russia, explore gold deposits, find trade routes to India
	Russian victory
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
	Endireev principality
Kalmyk Khanate	Kazikumukh Khanate
Shamkhalate Tarkovskoe	Lezgi rebels
Tabasaran Maysumstvo
Commanders
	Shah Tahmasp II
F. M. Apraksin
Mikhail Matyushkin	Sultan Mahmud
I. M. Krasnoshchekov	Otemishsky
Daniel the Apostle	Ahmed Khan
Vakhtang VI	Prince Aydemir
David Beck	Prince Chopalav
Isaiah Gasan-Jalalyan	Surkhay Khan I
Murza Cherkassky	Hadji-Davud-Bek
Aslan-bek	Myushkyursky
Adil Giray
Rustam Kadi
Side forces
22,000 infantrymen 9,000 regular cavalry 196 artillery pieces 6,000 sailors 10,000 Ukrainian Cossacks 7,000 Kalmyks 1,000 Don Cossacks 30 thousand Tatars Georgian-Armenian army: 40-52 thousand people Kabardian cavalry

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

Prerequisites

After the end of the Northern War, Peter I decided to make a trip to the western coast of the Caspian Sea, and, having mastered the Caspian, to 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 path 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 deliver goods throughout the entire Russian Empire.

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

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

The embassy of Israel Ori also 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 help the Armenians after the end of the war with Sweden.

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

Training

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 march from Astrakhan, go along the Caspian coast, capture Derbent and Baku, reach the Kura River and establish a fortress there, then go to Tiflis, help the Georgians in the fight against the Ottoman Empire and from there return to Russia. In case of an impending war, contact was established both with the King of Kartli, Vakhtang VI, and the Armenian Catholicos, Asdvadzur. Kazan and Astrakhan became centers of organization of the Persian campaign. For the upcoming campaign, out of 80 companies of field troops, 20 separate battalions total strength 22 thousand people and 196 artillery pieces. Also, on the way to Astrakhan, Peter enlisted the support of the Kalmyk Khan Ayuka, so detachments of the 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 heckboats, 1 hooker, 9 shuttles, 17 talaks, 1 yacht, 7 evers, 12 gallots, 1 plow, 34 last ships), which were equipped with 6 thousand sailors.

On June 15, 1722, Peter issued a manifesto in which he stated that “the subjects of the Shah — the Lezgi owner Daud-bek and the Kazykum owner Surkhai — rebelled against their sovereign, took the city of Shemakha by storm and carried out a predatory attack on Russian merchants. In view of the refusal of Daud-bek 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 avant-garde was Peter I. On July 20, the fleet entered the Caspian Sea and followed the western coast for a week. On July 27, the infantry landed at Cape Agrakhan, 4 versts below the mouth of the Koysu River. A few days later the cavalry arrived and linked up with the main body. On August 5, the Russian army continued to move towards Derbent. On August 6, on the Sulak River, the Kabardian princes Murza Cherkassky and Aslan-Bek joined the army with their detachments. 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 Khaitak Ahmed Khan was repulsed. Peter's ally was the Kumyk shamkhal Adil-Girey, who captured Derbent and Baku before the Russian army approached. 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 the garrison in the city and returned with the main forces to Astrakhan, where he began preparations for the campaign of 1723. This was the last military campaign in which he directly took part.

In September, Vakhtang VI entered Karabakh with an army, where he fought against the rebellious Lezgins. After the capture of Ganja, the Georgians were joined by Armenian troops led by the Gandzasar Catholicos Isaiah. Near Ganja, in anticipation of Peter, the Georgian-Armenian army stood for two months, but after learning about the departure of the Russian army from the Caucasus, Vakhtang and Isaiah returned with the troops to their possessions.

In November, an assault force from 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 Ryashchi 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 repulsed.

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 heckbots, field and siege artillery and infantry took part in the campaign. On June 20, the detachment moved south, followed by a fleet of geckbots from Kazan. July 6 ground troops approached Baku. On the offer of Matyushkin to voluntarily surrender the city, its residents refused. On July 21, with 4 battalions and two field guns, the Russians repulsed the sortie of the besieged. Meanwhile, 7 geckboats 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 side of the sea through the gaps formed in the wall, but a strong wind rose, which drove the Russian ships away. The residents of Baku managed to take advantage of this by filling up all the gaps in the wall, but anyway, on July 26, the city capitulated without a fight.

Outcome

The successes of the 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 were ceded to Russia.

Peter I had to refuse to penetrate into the central regions of 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 Sea, and Russia - the rights of the sultan to Western Transcaucasia.

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

Convenient article navigation:

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 the strengthening of Russian influence in the East, the capture of 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 ends 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 the plan to annex the lands located near the Caspian Sea. Modern historians distinguish the following factors as the main reasons for the Caspian campaign:

• protection of the Orthodox inhabitants 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 positions of the Ottoman Empire in the East.

The beginning of the Caspian campaign

The beginning of the Persian campaign of Peter the Great falls 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 of the Russian fleet goes to sea and continues to move along the coastline.

The city of Derbent was chosen as the first target by Peter, 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 beat off the pressure of Sultan Magmud. In the same period, the Kumyk Shah Adil Giray, acting in alliance with Russia, captures the cities of Baku and Derbent. Peter's troops enter this city on the twenty-third of August without fighting or loss.

However, the further movement of the army to the south was stopped, because the Russian fleet, carrying out its supply, was defeated as a result of a storm. Peter the Great leaves his army and leaves urgently for Astrakhan, where he begins preparations for a military campaign, which will begin in 1723. Thus, the first stage of the campaign ends.

The course of hostilities

In the second stage of the Caspian campaign, Perth the First entrusts the command of the army to Matyushkin. The Ruchk troops left in the direction of Baku on the twentieth of June and reached their goal already on the sixth of July. Immediately the siege of the city begins, because the townspeople rejected the offer of the commander 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 at the first order to repel enemy sorties. The first such sortie took place the day after the start of the siege.
• The Russian fleet anchors near the fortress and begins regular shelling, which completely withdraws enemy artillery and partially destroys the fortress wall.
• As soon as the enemy positions were weakened, the Russian troops begin the assault.

Thanks to the strict adherence to each point of the plan, the Persian campaign had a fairly high chance of success. The beginning of the assault on Baku is appointed by the commander on the twenty-fifth of July, making the main key figure the fleet, which was supposed to deliver the main blow to the fortress. However, strong winds prevented the implementation of the plan and this operation was canceled. On July 26, 1723, the fortress surrenders without a fight.

Results of the Caspian campaign

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

The Persian or Caspian campaign of Peter 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 text of the terms of this document, the Russian Empire departed Rasht, Derbent, Baku, as well as other settlements located along the southern coastline of the Caspian Sea. The ruler of Russia was able to realize only one of the many undertakings and was not going to stop there.

As we mentioned at the beginning, historians agree that Emperor Peter the Great did a very important thing by deciding to annex the Eastern Territories to the Russian Empire. However, unfortunately, his successors, who ascended the Russian throne, could not hold these positions. According to the treaties of 1732 and 1735, the ruler of Russia, Empress Anna, returns all the Caspian lands to Persia, thus canceling out all the efforts and strength spent by Peter.

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

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

Historical table: Caspian campaign of Peter I

Video lecture: Caspian campaign of Peter I

Test on the topic: The Caspian campaign of Peter I Time limit: 0 Navigation (job numbers only) 0 of 3 tasks completed Information Check yourself! Historical test on the topic: The Caspian campaign of Peter I You have already taken the test before. You cannot run it again. Test is loading... You must login or register in order to start the test. You must complete the following tests to start this one: results Correct answers: 0 out of 3 Your time: Time is over You scored 0 out of 0 points (0 ) With an answer Checked out Task 1 of 3 1 . Start date of the Caspian campaign of Peter 1 Correctly Not properly

MILITARY-HISTORICAL POSTER OF THE XVIII CENTURY ABOUT THE PERSIAN CAMPAIGN OF PETER I

This publication introduces one of the little-known military-historical issues of the Geographical Department of the Academy of Sciences of the 18th century, containing materials on the history of the Persian campaign of 1722-1723. The first and only report about this monument was made long ago by V. V. Komarov in the article “The Persian War of 1722-1725”, to which the text part of the issue was attached as an illustration.

In studies on the history of Russian policy in the Caspian Sea in the first half of the 18th century, including in the special work of V.P. Lystsov “The Persian Campaign of Peter I 1722-1723.” (M., 1951) the monument in question is not mentioned. There is no information about him in the well-known works of M. D. Lebedev on the history of the development of geographical knowledge in Russia in the 18th century. This monument is also not included in the source review of materials on military history Russia L. G. Beskrovny 1 .

In the Library of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (BAN), the monument is stored under the code No. 71/655, in the State Historical Museum (GIM), it is available in two copies, No. 2959, 6473/7250, in the Central State Military Historical Archive (TSGVIA) - then the same in two copies for one No. 1538. Copies of the State Historical Museum: No. 2959 - from the collection of Baron Rosen, No. 6473/7250 - from the collection of the Military Historical Museum; copies of TsGVIA - from the collection of the Military Educational Archive 2 . In the catalog of the archive of the Hydrographic Department of the Naval Ministry, compiled by B. Ewald and published in 1917, a copy of the published monument was also noted (No. 1573) 3 . It was no longer included in the new edition of the catalog, published in 1958. 5 . Searches for him have yielded no results. 4 .

All the mentioned copies are made by hand in ink and, with the exception of one (No. 6473/7250), painted with watercolors. The latter generally bears traces of incompleteness and is rather a working copy. Archival pencil marks have been preserved on it, it consists of two scattered sheets, etc.

The published monument does not have a common title. It is a kind of poster, which consists of three parts: a) a map of the Caspian Sea, b) plans of cities and fortresses on the southwestern coast of the Caspian Sea, and c) a description of the Persian campaign of Peter I 6 . This description is located between the map and plans and, in addition, occupies the basement of the general sheet of the source 7 . BAN poster size 73 X 117 cm, State Historical Museum and TsGVIA - 80 X119 cm.

Let us turn to the characteristics of the parts that make up the content of the poster. The central place in it is occupied by a handwritten text entitled “Description of the campaign of the Emperor Peter the Great to the Persian provinces lying near the Caspian Sea” 8 . The author of the text is not specified. However, this text is associated with the name of the famous Russian cartographer, a direct participant in the Persian campaign of Peter I, F. I. Soymonov. It is an abridged transcription of the work of F. I. Soymonov “Description of the Caspian Sea and the Russian conquests made on it, as part of the history of the Emperor Peter the Great”, which was published under the editorship of G. F. Miller in St. Petersburg in 1763 9 .

The historical and geographical poster published by us includes several sections of “Descriptions of the Caspian Sea” by F.I. expeditions to Baku”, “About the trip to Gilan” 10 .

This part of the work of F. I. Soymonov reproduces in chronological order the course of hostilities in the Caspian region until 1725 and is purely descriptive. The text of the "Description of the Campaign", which is included in the poster, is divided into five parts, corresponding to the expeditions carried out under Peter I. The first part is given under the general heading "Descriptions of the campaign"; the second - under the heading "Expedition for the Transport Auxiliary Troop to Gilan in 1722"; the third - "On the expedition to Baku in 1723"; the fourth - "1724"; the fifth is "1725". The first part of the "Description of the campaign" is in turn divided into six paragraphs. These sections of F. I. Soymonov’s research are used in the poster with abbreviations, but the text given is given almost verbatim. The compilers of the poster omitted, in particular, in the section “On the campaign of the Emperor Peter the Great”, the statement of the manifesto, the description of the city of Bulgar, etc. They also used other kinds of abbreviations, such as: “General Admiral Count Apraksin, who had the with all this fleet, on a hooker, called Princess Anna, with him lieutenant Soymonov. Privy Councilor Count Tolstoy on the shnav Astrakhan: this was led by Lieutenant Lunin "(Original text by F. I. Soymonov - p. 66) and" General Apraksin on the hooker, with him Lieutenant Soymonov and other noble generals had special ships "(poster text). In the text of the poster, sometimes other, but identical in meaning, verbs are used. The link at the end of the third part of the poster to the monthly journal of the Academy of Sciences "Works and translations for the benefit and entertainment of employees" for the month of October 1760 is taken from the original text of F. I. Soymonov 11 . This issue of the journal published a continuation of the notes of the participant of expeditions to the Caspian Sea, Colonel of Artillery I. G. Gerber “News about the peoples and lands located on the western side of the Caspian Sea, between Astrakhan and the Kur River, and about their condition in 1728”, dedicated to the description of Baku and nearby surroundings. It should be noted that V.V. Komarov, who published the text part of the monument in the article mentioned above, did not connect it with the name of F.I. Soimonov and mistakenly considered the “Description of the Campaign” unknown in the literature 12 .

The maps in all copies of the poster have the same heading: “Map of the Caspian Sea showing: 1) the sea route of Emperor Peter the Great in 1722 to the Agrakhan Bay, where the landing of the army was made, and then the continuation of His Majesty’s journey along the coast of the Caspian Sea to Derbent; 2) Expedition of the same 722 Colonel Shipov in Zinzilia; 3) in 723, the expedition of Major General Matyushkin to capture Baku, which means on the map with different colors, and besides, the then occupied Persian provinces with their cities were assigned on the west coast " 13 . These maps, identical in general content, projection (conical) and size (50 X 36 cm), excellent in vignette, cartouche arrangement and other small details. Maps No. 71/655, 2959 and 1538 are given on a scale of 52 versts per inch (1:2184000). Map No. 6473 has no scale designation. On the frame of all copies of the maps, a degree grid is marked through 1 °. On the maps of the BAN and TsGVIA in the lower left corner there are vignettes with the image of Peter I in a laurel wreath with the inscription "Petrus Magnus" 14 . On all maps, the coastline of the entire Caspian Sea is drawn in the same way. A wide coastal strip of land is given on the southwestern coast. The Caucasus is marked up to Tiflis. The rivers within this region are settlements and fortresses. The relief of the coastal strip is marked with mounds; the map shows the depths of the sea off the coast.

The map of the Caspian Sea used in the poster is not known in the geographical literature. Unlike the text part, it is not contemporary with the events to which the monument as a whole is dedicated. The most similar outlines of the contour of the Caspian coast are on the map of Lieutenant Commander Iv. Nogatkin in 1765, compiled taking into account the description of the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea by captain I. Tokmachev in 1764, on which Kendyrli Bay was first plotted 15 . The contours of the Kendyrli Bay are also outlined on the "Map of the Caspian Sea with an indication of the sea route." On the eastern coast of the last map, the Karabugansky (Karabugazsky) bay is also not reduced to the end, the coastline from the Khiva (Krasnovodsky) to the Balkhansky bays is drawn by a dotted line. At the place of the former confluence of the Amu Darya into the Caspian, both maps bear the inscription: “The place where the river used to flow, and now only the forest grows and in some places there is water. This river is recognized as the Aktsus River. The general contour of the coasts of the Caspian Sea in the map published by us is also close to its contour on the Nogatkin map of 1765. 16 .

Meanwhile, the map of the Caspian Sea on the poster is not an exact copy of Nogatkin's map. The map of the poster does not yet reflect the latest data from the descriptions of 1764 by the navigators Erofeev and Gorbunov of the area of ​​​​the Sebdura, Fusa and Shakhalin Bay rivers, which Iv used when compiling the map. Nogatkin; the region of the southeast and southwest has an excellent line of outline of the coast, including the Astrabatsky and Zinzilinsky bays. All this allows us to think that the map of the Caspian Sea included in the poster was compiled in the 60s of the 18th century, perhaps earlier than the map of Iv. Nogatkina 17 . As well as on the map of the Caspian Sea Iv. Nogatkin 1765, the years are much wider than other maps of the Caspian of the XVIII century, showing the western and southwestern coastal territories. But according to the indication of the situation of this territory, the maps are not equivalent. On the wide western and southwestern coastal strip of the studied map of the Caspian Sea, from Astrakhan to Astrabad, more settlements, fortresses and harbors of the Persian provinces (the cities of Derbent, Baku, the fortress of the Holy Cross, the province of Gilan, etc.), temporarily ceded to the Russian state. Very few Russian maps specifically dedicated to this territory have come down to us. 18 , and therefore the Map of the Caspian Sea with the indication of the sea route is of considerable interest.

The poster is illustrated with 12 plans of cities, fortresses and their fortifications, which were occupied by Russian troops during the campaign of 1722-1723. 19 . These are the plans of the cities of Derbent, Baku, Ryashch, Kesker, Ostara, the fortress of the Holy Cross, a new fortress at the mouth of the Agrakhani River, the places of Lagashak and Peribazar, the Agrakhan and Boynyat retrangements. They are made on one sheet (size 55 X 49 cm); scale is indicated for each plan. The plans of the cities and fortresses of the southwestern Caspian are drawn on the poster, apparently in accordance with their image adopted in the period close to the events of the war with Persia (in particular, Derbent is depicted in the tradition of the first half of the 18th century).

The map and plans of the Caspian Sea were used by the compilers of the poster to draw the routes of expeditions by sea, the ways of advancing military landings on land (1722-1724) and the borders of Russia, Persia and Turkey (within the coverage of the map of Transcaucasia) after the conclusion of peace. The routes of the expeditions by sea on the map are indicated by a broken line nnn, the ways of advancing Russian military landings on land are indicated by a solid line 20 . Along the route of sea expeditions, sketches of sea galleys are given on the map. Paths of five sea expeditions are marked: 1) Peter the Great to the Agrakhan Bay in 1722; 2) fleets with an army under the command of Admiral General Count Apraksin; 3) last ships with provisions under the command of Captain Verdun in 1722; 4) Colonel Shipov in Gilan in 1722; 5) Major General Matyushkin in Baku in 1723.

Of the land expeditions, the map shows the campaign of Peter the Great against Derbent in 1722. Along the paths of sea and land expeditions on the map, as well as on the plans, special letters A, B, C, etc. indicate the main points of movement and stops of the flotilla and landing forces, in the same order in which they are given in the "Description of the campaign".

Thus, the map and separate plans of the cities and fortresses of the Caspian Sea, which are included in the poster, are auxiliary cartographic material and serve as a kind of pictorial tool for revealing the theme of the monument. At the same time, each of these parts serves as an independent source on the history of the Persian campaign of Peter I.

How is the issue of the origin of the published monument resolved? The appearance of the poster dates back to the second half of the 18th century, but not earlier than 1764, when the “Map of the Caspian Sea with an indication of the sea route” could be used for the first time. The copies of the BAN, TsGVIA and the copy, the record of which is preserved in the catalog of atlases and maps of the Naval Ministry, compiled by B. Ewald, are dated. At the end of the title of the maps in these copies, the date 1779 is set (“Composed in 1779”, “Composed in 1779”). The compilation of the monument is directly related to the activities of the Geographical Department of the Academy of Sciences, which was the country's main cartographic institution in the 18th century. 21 . The collection of nautical charts of the handwritten department of the BAN, in which one of the reviewed copies of the poster is stored, belonged at one time to the Geographical Department. When examining some archival files of the department, including reports on the work of employees, personal files of students and surveyors, minutes of meetings, no directive documents were found on the compilation of cartographic materials showing the Persian campaign of Peter I. However, other valuable information was found confirming the fact that work on release of these materials. The “List of surveyors and what map he made” of the daily journal of the Geographical Department for 1783 included the following entries for the month of February: “Fyodor Cherny makes a general map of the Astrakhan, Azov provinces, student Andrei Ushakov makes a map of the last eastern part of Siberia. Pupil Pyotr Nazarov makes a map of the Caspian Sea showing the path of Tsar Peter the Great”; and for the month of April - "On the 7th, an unfinished map was received by Nazaryev's student of the campaign of Peter the Great near the Caspian Sea." As it became clear from other materials, Peter Nazaryev in April 1783 left the Geographical Department 22 . Therefore, one can think that the work on compiling cartographic materials and the entire poster as a whole on the history of the Persian campaign of Peter I was carried out in the Geographical Department of the Academy of Sciences, obviously, for several years, including in 1779 and 1783 23 . More precisely to establish the dating of the monument is not yet possible. Those copies that are at the disposal of the author of this publication do not allow the installation of a protograph poster, in particular a protograph map. We can only talk about his later lists. The paper on which all copies of the poster are made is Alexandrian, the period of its circulation is determined late XVIII century. The watermark of the paper is a coat of arms topped with a crown, in the shield is a heraldic lily, under the shield are the letters “I. Koo1. "- corresponds to the printed book of 1791 24 .

It should be noted that the compilation of a poster on the history of the Persian campaign of Peter I continued and was carried out in other versions. In the Department of Cartography of the State Historical Museum, No. 1992, there is a version of the monument, which is made in the technique of engraving. It is compiled on two sheets, bound, on which the title is signed by hand: “Two maps of the Caspian Sea and the cities lying on the shores of it. Also depicting the campaign of Peter the Great in 1722. The monument was printed by the famous writer and translator of the 18th century F. Tumansky. In the cartouche, under the title of both sheets, it is engraved: "Cut and printed at the expense of F. Tumansky." This edition includes only the cartographic materials of the monument-poster: a map and plans of cities and fortresses (undated) of the Caspian Sea showing the Persian campaign of Peter the Great. The publication of cartographic materials about the expeditions of Peter I to the Caspian Sea could be part of his great publishing work of that time.

In the collection of materials on the history of the war between Russia and Persia in 1722-1725 of the Military Topographic Depot, stored in the TsGVIA, under No. 1539, there is another version of the monument, which is compiled as an atlas called "Atlas of the Persian provinces and fortresses conquered at the Caspian Sea by the sovereign emperor Peter the Great from 1722 to 1725, from Astrakhan even to the Mazendorand provinces. Atlas handwritten, painted with watercolors, bound, on 18 sheets with prints of the seal: "Military Topographic Depot", has a full range of poster materials 25 . The transfer of the text "Description of the Caspian Sea" by F. I. Soymonov in the atlas of the Military Topographic Depot was carried out with some change in style and new abbreviations. The plans of the cities and fortresses of the Caspian are made on the pages of the text part of the atlas in the order of describing the expeditions of Peter I. The map of the Caspian Sea is made on a separate sheet, has an indication of its compilation in 1779.

The creation of a monument dedicated to the war between Russia and Persia in the third decade of the 18th century, and the continuation of work on its compilation cannot be considered without taking into account the general work of the Geographical Department and then the Military Topographic Depot in the publication of military historical materials, the need and importance of which were well understood in Russia. These materials were widely distributed at that time, especially in connection with the frequent and large-scale military events. The appearance of the monument proposed for publication could have been put in the queue by the first Russian-Turkish war and the further development of Russian-Turkish relations.

Introduction to the scientific circulation of the monument on the history of the Persian campaign of Peter I is very useful. This issue of the Academy of Sciences will be an additional source on the history of Russian policy in the Caspian Sea and an original monument of military cartography of the 18th century. The entire complex of the issue, as well as its individual parts, is devoted to displaying a specific course of historical events. They show the development of hostilities, the territorial growth of the state, etc. The poster contains interesting cartographic sources, including a map of the Caspian Sea unknown in the literature of the 60s of the 18th century, when the information of the first instrumental surveys of the Caspian Sea, begun under Peter the Great, was supplemented and clarified. I. It is known that materials on the scientific mapping of the Caspian Sea of ​​the 18th century and related expeditions have come down to us not in full the amount of information obtained by Russian researchers 26 . The restoration of the history of the development of cartographic ideas about the Caspian puts forward the task of describing all the maps and archival materials on this issue that have survived to our time. The poster includes the text "Description of the Caspian Sea" by the famous Russian cartographer F. I. Soymonov. The handwritten materials of F. I. Soymonov, which are in various archival funds, are not fully accounted for and deserve to be fully published.

A copy of the monument - poster BAN No. 71/655 was taken for publication. This copy is complete in composition, as mentioned above, exactly dated 1779, is in the collection of the Geographical Department. The text part of the monument is published with the preservation of the punctuation of the source.

DESCRIPTION OF THE CAMPAIGN OF EMPEROR PETER THE GREAT TO THE PERSIAN PROVINCES LAYING NEAR THE CASPIAN SEA

Assigned path on the map

1st. § In the year 1722 Maya, on the 15th of the day, the sovereign emperor set off from Moscow on a journey to see off the empress of his wife, the ride continued along the Moscow and Oka rivers to Nizhnyago Nova-gorod on a moskvoretsky plow called, and then the sovereign on the 27th Maya arrived in Kazan, June 15 in Astrakhan and upon arrival, it was immediately ordered to publish a manifesto in various Asian languages, that is, in Tatar, Turkish and Persian, and send those places to all the surroundings to show the reasons for this military campaign to all peoples.

It lasted more than a month, while preparations were made and an order was made for all the ships that were supposed to go to the Caspian Sea, some writers counted 442 ships, and from the emperor himself in the sent report, the number was supposed to be only 274: maybe because his majesty did not include all the boats in the number sea ​​vessels, of which a considerable amount was used, so that the zechota, artillery, ammunition and the whole military reserve lead by water. The cavalry, on the other hand, was sent from Tsaritsyn by land, and the two corps of the Don and Little Russian Cossacks also went through the steppe and mountains; Sovereign Emperor for himself chose for this campaign a ship boat, which was controlled and with him was Lieutenant Zolotarev.

Admiral-General Count Apraksin commanded the entire fleet, he was assigned a hooker named Princess Anna, with him was Lieutenant Soymonov, and other noble generals had special ships.

On the map, the letter A. On July 18, the entire fleet set off from Astrakhan, and that day, not far away, they could reach as far as Ivanchuk the fish slaughter of the Sergiev Trinity Monastery, which lies 30 miles from Astrakhan, where large ships anchored, and small moored to the shore; July 19th in the morning at the beginning of the 8th hour, given the signal, the packs went further and around noon they passed the last uchug; and from there in the evening to the Yarkovsky mouth, which means the letter B on the map. - letter C.

At this place on the 22nd, the General-Admiral on the hooker in the presence of the Sovereign Emperor had a council, at which the following was determined: 1st If the court smashes the weather, then they will gather to the mouth of the Terek River. 2nd. The Sovereign Emperor is supposed to command the avant-garde on his ship boat, all small oared ships, especially the Moskvoretsky plow and Ostrov boats, follow His Majesty along near the coast. 3rd. All last ships under the command of Captain von Werden go straight to the island of Chechen and wait for the decree there. 4th. Hooker and two shnavs, on whom Count Tolstoy and Dyaz Kaitemir were, ride along the coast as close as the depth will allow. On the same day, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the whole fleet went with a calm north wind further into the sea, a ship boat, on which the sovereign deigned to be present, and the island boats following it were visible at a small distance, in the evening at the end of the 9 o'clock a southwest wind arose and consequently opposing with a variable gust; and for this, the admiral general ordered to give a signal to drop anchors, an hour later the wind became more favorable, a new signal was given to continue the journey, but the island boats did not hear it until the next morning at anchor. During the night, the hooker and the shnavs moved somewhat away from the shore. As soon as the day came on the 22nd, they tried to approach it again, but it was already noon when the imperial boat became in their mind, it was anchored under Cape 12 Kolkov, which means the letter D on the map. At 4 o’clock they approached the boat very close, and the next morning on the 23rd day the sovereign ordered to raise the anchor on his boat, and directed his way to the mouth of the Terek River - letter E, where His Majesty arrived on the same day, but the general admiral and two the shnavs had to be towed first to the circle of the cape of 12 Kolkov, and for this they could not follow the sovereign’s boat so soon, moreover, the imperial boat went faster than their ships, for these reasons they were forced to spend the night near the island of Chechen-litera F, five miles from the mouth of the Terek River, meanwhile, the sovereign emperor rode a boat to the city of Terki, which means on the map the letter G. I found the position of this city in the lowest and swampy place, which is consequently harmful to health for the garrison, the town stood on a small island between the channels of the Terek River and around the onago only reeds grew, for which reason the thoughts of the great monarch were only occupied with changing the position of the city of Terka and troops, where the most capable place will be searched, landed on the shore; for this, the sovereign brought with him two Cossacks from that city, who could show him a convenient place.

2nd. On the 24th, 25th and 26th, places were chosen where it would be possible to make a comfortable landing in the Agrakhan Bay, and this was entrusted to Lieutenant Soimonov, and on the 27th the day was a memorable victory won in 1714 at Gangut over the Swedish squadron , on that day the weather was clear with a calm north wind, which the Admiral General ordered to prepare early in the morning to continue the journey, but the sovereign at the same time, having arrived on a boat, ordered to wait for a while to send a thanksgiving prayer service, to which it was chosen for space His Majesty's ship, but how early it was to send a prayer service, meanwhile the sovereign wanted to inspect the shore in the opinion that they were already at the place where it was possible to make a landing, Soymonov was ordered to show the way, but as the sovereign ordered to go straight to the shore, he thought Soimonov that His Majesty's intention was to get out, and for this he was forced to say that the place where you could land a little further ahead, then the sovereign ordered to go near the coast, and Soimonov stood up and the prow of the boat in order to better see the place, and so Soymonov, being in confusion by the very thing of it, could not find out where they should land, because the high reeds, near which they rode very close, blocked the shore, and therefore he followed for good luck. The sovereign could no longer patiently continue this ride, finally a clearing opened up between the reeds and behind it a dry shore, then the landing force was ordered to be here. Not knowing that the real place Soimonov had chosen, as he later found out, stood even more ahead of half a verst, the sovereign emperor leisurely had a desire to go ashore, but due to the shallowness of the water it was not possible to get closer to the shore with a boat, for which his majesty ordered four rowers to carry themselves on the board to the shore, the rowers walked in the water to the waist, and Soimonov walked beside the sovereign, supporting him for better safety, and the rowers had loaded guns, sandy mounds were seen at a distance of 200 to 300 sazhens from the coast, the sovereign climbed one of these, from where the open sea was visible on the other side, the sovereign immediately chose a place where the army would camp, then another boat came with quartermaster Karchmin, who was ordered by the sovereign to follow him to show the place for the camp of the guard, and then the governor of Volynskaya and the cabinet arrived in a special boat - secretary Makarov, for information whether the sovereign had anything to command, meanwhile the rowers found in reeds Tatar boat, in which the mast lay, returning to the shore, the sovereign instructed Lieutenant Soymonov to put this mast on the shore to mark the fleet of this place, and then in the governor's boat to go back to the fleet with an order to the admiral general to send a prayer service and at the end of onago to inflict rapid fire on all ships, and after that go with the whole fleet and anchor at this place, according to this, everything is exactly done. On the same date, the sovereign emperor went ashore, and at this signal, an exit was made from all ships, from large ones they were transported on boats, and the island boats approached the shore as close as possible, through which the reeds were everywhere broken and compared with water and thus the whole coast opened up; Quartermaster General Karchmin showed each regiment a place for a camp and the next day they set up tents. This camp is called the Agrakhan Retrenchment, because the sovereign recognized it as necessary to strengthen it with a rampart so that the troops were safe from an unexpected enemy attack, more than a week passed until the necessary preparations for the enterprise of an intentional campaign were completely made, which is explained below, for which horses were required they waited by land with the cavalry, but this road endured a great need due to a lack of water and fodder in the steppe, and when it entered Dagestan, unexpected resistance happened from the inhabitants of the village of Andreeva, which is described in detail in § 3 and this caused considerable difficulty to the whole campaign.

3rd. § Between this time, the sovereign ordered to send near the lying place to inspect and find a crossing across the Sulak River, as well as to bring the Ostrov small boats to safety so that they could be used on the return journey, at the same time as this was happening, the Terek Cossack came by courier from the brigadier Veteran with the news of the loss suffered near Andreeva, about which the sovereign was all the more sorry that this misconduct was caused by him - the brigadier, he was sent from Major General Kropotov with four regiments of dragoons to take the fortified village of Andreeva, about which the governor of Volynskaya encouraged that the inhabitants they will not resist, but as on July 23 he was walking along a narrow road in the vicinity of the village, then suddenly and accidentally from high places from the forest they met him with arrows and cannonballs so cruelly that several of his troops were beaten, and his offense was still multiplied more than he he hesitated for a long time in the mouth passage and thought of resisting the enemy, in whom all the strength was hidden, but if he had not stopped striving attacked the village, then he would not have suffered such damage, then Colonel Naumov agreed with the other officers himself and the team that hour he took possession of the village and bravely avenged the damage suffered, however, on our side there were no more than 80 dragoons beaten, but noble booty was received and all the village is reduced to ashes. The Sovereign Emperor sent Lieutenant Soimonov with 12 Terek Cossacks to the Sulak River to see if it was possible to search a place somewhere so that through it he would cross on horseback to a ford, Sulak is a branch of the Agrakhani River and flows into the Caspian Sea from the Agrakhan retranjament to the mouth of the Sulak River is considered 20- miles of distance, which is indicated on the map by the letter N. The general remark that rivers at their mouths from alluvial sand from the sea are shallow made the sovereign believe that this could also be near the Sulaka River, and so although it would be necessary to transport troops to However, on the rafts, relief is made for the convoy, this was ordered to Soymonov to examine exactly, he found the mouth really from the shallow banks and the ground was strong, but as he came to the middle of the river, it became so clumsy and viscous that with considerable difficulty the horses could get out and so the hope of obtaining the desired success, and in place of even more diligence, koi rafts are pulled in the usual manner with a rope from coast to coast, the next the next day, all the island boats were launched behind the island of Rakushechna, and the Soymonovs delivered 300 people of Little Russian Cossacks according to the order given by the sovereign , they remained on guard to protect them, meanwhile the cavalry of the dragoons and the Cossacks arrived by land to the Sulak River, and with them the horses for the troops stationed in the retragement, which were sent separately from Astrakhan through the steppe to Terki, and from there they went under the escort of the dragoons, and due to their exhaustion, it was forced to give them rest, for which a good flock was very suitable along the Sulak and Agrakhan rivers, 200 people of the regular army and 1000 Cossacks under the command of Colonel Mas-lov were left in the retranjament for the garrison, all the rest of the army followed the sovereign; when on the 5th he deigned to embark on a campaign near Derbent, the ships in the Agrakhan Bay, standing in the Agrakhan Bay, ordered the sovereign to instruct Lieutenant Soymonov to instruct Lieutenant Soimonov to go with them to the island of Chechenia and there, connecting with the commander of all last ships, Captain von Werden, follow to Derbent, Soymonov and other officers from the fleet saw off several of the general-admiral; in this campaign, the sovereign emperor deigned to ride in front of the guard, the admiral general and the entire general staff also attended near the sovereign, all this happened in the best order; Naval officers, having received leave from the sovereign and an order, went to their ships and, stocking up on the next morning with fresh water, set off on their way, in the evening at 7 o’clock they were near the Chechen Island, Captain von Werden, having taken command over all ships according to the decree received from Lieutenant Soymonov prepared for departure, several days passed in this preparation, with which they succeeded in moving to Derbent as soon as possible, and that’s all

the ships crossed in a day and a half with wind and weather very capable, on August 6th the sovereign arrived with an army to the Sulak River, through which it was necessary to cross on rafts and ferries, the crossing was repaired in the next two days. Sultan Mahmut from Aksai, sent from Shamkhal, Abdul-Gerey from Tarku, the envoy, was presented to the sovereign for solitude, at which his majesty was congratulated on a safe arrival and, at his command, all obedience was promised. Sultan Mahmud presented the sovereign with six hefty Persian horses and one hundred bulls for the maintenance of the army sent from Shamkhal; a saddle overlaid with silver and a bridle decorated with gold. How Sultan and Shamkhal have long been inclined to Russian interest: the first because his land is located in the vicinity of the city of Terki, for which he benefited from the maintenance of friendship, and the other received his princely dignity with the help of the Russian court, and for this, in case of stubbornness, they fear him it was necessary that she not be leshisya.

4th. § On the 11th day of August, the army set out on a campaign from the Sulak River, although many are rivers from the mountains to the seas, however, in some places there is a lack of water, which for the sake of Shamkhal ordered to dig wells there, in which only small and muddy water turned out, on the 12th the front army was approaching the city of Tarka, then Shamkhal himself met the emperor and saw him off in the camp appointed near the city, for three days the whole army gathered to this appointed place to collect, some deputies from Naip or the commandant of the city of Derbent came to Tarka and testified to the sovereign his joy at his arrival and that his majesty has patronage. The Sultan, as the main ruler of the local place and roundabout districts, left Derbent for the great danger from Daud Beg and Surkhay Kazy Kumyk, who in the past 1721 captured the city of Shamakhi and plundered it, and so he needed the protection offered by the sovereign, because he expected there was nothing from the Persian rule from Izpagan, brought in the spring of this 722 year by Mir Mahmud Mir Veska by his son to extreme impotence, the sovereign emperor sent Colonel Naumov to Derbent with one lieutenant and 12 Don Cossacks to confirm Naip in his good opinion and agree with him on receiving His Majesty, Naumov arrived in Derbent at the very time when Captain von Werden appeared before the city with transport and other ships, the danger of more powerful raids from all winds and, moreover, poor ground for anchors were known to naval officers, but he did not know anything about Naumov, and without even expecting an imminent imperial arrival, agreed to go two miles further south to the mouth of the Milukentia River, where the soil for anchors is much better and will remain there until the decree, but then Colonel Naumov sent to the commander of the fleet and ordered him to ask him to his city, because he had to talk with him about necessary matters, von Werden, being then ill, sent Lieutenant Soymonov instead, the need was: Naumov agreed with Naip to put up a Russian guard at two city gates near the northern and sea gates so that the inhabitants, from whom Naip was unsafe, could not prevent the emperor from entering; but since there were few people with him, he wanted several people to come to him from the ships, without whom it was possible to do there, there were two corporals of dragoons on the ships, which immediately came to the city and were placed at the city gates, Imam Kulibeg - this name was Naipa, showed himself very favorable to Naumov and Soymonov; he subdued them superbly and the naval servants were free to come to the city every day and stock up on all sorts of needs, for this, the ships on which they arrived remained at that time near Derbent, but they were lucky that there were no strong winds, no matter how they could be harmed; meanwhile, our army, having set out from Tarku on August 16, suffered some harm from the infidelity of the two local owners Saltan Mahmut from Utemish Nuchmey Khaitaksky, who, although they showed all kindness to the ambassador Volynsky, but when it came to the very thing, they proved the opposite; On August 18, having passed through the province of Bonnac, the sovereign arrived at the place where the land of Utemizh borders on Khaitaki, several Cossacks were sent to inspect and reconnoiter that land, these returned with such news that the inhabitants, although they did not show displeasure from the arrival of Russian troops, however they were not allowed to come close to them, and some shot at them, for this it was determined that on the 19th of the remainder in place and give the horses a rest; On the same day, in the morning, they sent a Cossack Yesaul with three people to the town of Utemizh to take a letter from the Admiral General to the Sultan and to announce to him that he would either be himself or would send deputies to the camp to accept orders from His Imperial Majesty; instead of explaining it, Sultan Mahmud ordered the Yesaul and the Cossacks to be cut down in an inhuman way; he hoped that the troops assembled by him from two regions, consisting of 16,000 people, could quite resist against the Russian army, and more because he had the intention of inadvertently attacking, but could not execute, and at the beginning of the 4th hour in the afternoon, diversion guards they saw them approaching, attacking the Russian troops, they fought passionately and stood in battle for a long time, because at first it was not possible to put a contented force against them, but as soon as it was possible to do this, the enemy completely turned to run, but they were chased 20 miles to the Sultan's residence, which is the same town of Utemizh, and this town of 500 houses, which then consisted of our troops, was plundered and turned into ashes, they also did it with 6 villages, the number of beaten enemies extended to 1000 people, and the resulting booty of livestock up to 7000 bulls and up to 4000 rams. This incident caused that the army could set out on a campaign before the 21st; On the 22nd, they camped at the Darbakh River - letter K on the map, and on the 23rd followed the entry of His Majesty to Derbent - letter L and a special plan under No. 5.

Naip with a great retinue of the most distinguished inhabitants met the sovereign a mile away from the city and, falling on his knees, offered his majesty two silver keys to the city gates; the regular infantry army passing through the city was set up as a camp, and the cavalry, dragoons and Cossacks for the best feed were located at the Milukentia River, 5 miles from its mouth, then Captain von Werden received an order to go with ships to the mouth of the Milukenti River and anchor there, and Lieutenant Lunin was sent on a shnav to Baku to persuade the inhabitants to obedience; meanwhile, unfortunately, considerable damage was done in the unloading of provisions from transport ships, which consisted under the cover of Captain von Werden at the mouth of the Milukentia River, from 12 last ships loaded with flour, from which it was necessary to overload the oven with flour and dry crackers to continue the campaign, over this was entrusted to watch to Brigadier Levashev, who had 4,000 soldiers in his command, but before unloading, a fierce wind arose from the north, from which the flippers began to flow, they held out until noon: they poured water out of them with all their might, finally, as the flow multiplied and to pouring water was no longer strong enough, then there was no other way how to cut off the anchors and go ashore and run the ships aground, one ship followed the other and at two o'clock all 12 ships ran aground, you can easily imagine that there are many the flour got wet and spoiled, although it was easier to unload it because the ships lay near the shore; and after unloading all the provisions, the ships were broken up and firewood was used for baking bread. They were also expecting Captain Wilboa, who was instructed to bring 30 ships loaded with provisions from Astrakhan, but the time at which he was supposed to be had already passed, they thought that he had gone to Nizobat, because maybe he imagined that the army would not stay so long in Derbent or what is more capable of landing in Nizobat, Soimonov was sent by order of the Admiral-General then to visit, in one day he reached Nizobat because this place is only 9 miles away from Derbent; at the same time, news came from Captain Vilboa that he arrived with flippers only in the Gulf of Agrakhan, and he was afraid to go further because the ships were in poor condition and it would be difficult to travel on them on the open sea; this prompted the sovereign to take other measures, by his order a military council was assembled, in which it was argued that the army would not have more provisions for one month, for which reason it was decided to cancel the campaign now and put up a garrison in Derbent and return to Astrakhan.

5th. § In preparation for the return trip, Captain Lieutenant Bernard was sent on a shnav, and the next day, Lieutenant Soimonov, on his ordinary hooker, met Captain Vilbov to notify him of this intention, then it was no longer necessary for Wilboa to go to sea with thin ships, moreover , if he had already begun the ride, then he was ordered to return to the Agrakhan retrangement so that the army there on its return journey could stock up on provisions from him, meanwhile Villeboa was afraid that the army in Derbent would not suffer a lack of provisions for that he wanted to test whether he would bring him there last ships, but as soon as he set out on the open sea, a fierce assault arose from the south, from which all ships with provisions began to flow, and they could no longer resist the multitude of flowing water, and there was no other way how to run the ships aground, and this happened at the very end of the Cape Agrakhan, in such a state Bernard and Soymonov found this squadron, it is easy to imagine that from that double oh, the damage was done, but there was still enough provisions left so that the troops for the return campaign, the garrisons stationed in those places, were satisfied. As far as these garrisons are concerned, the first was placed in Derbent, over which Colonel Junger was entrusted with the command, then on the return trip the sovereign emperor deigned at the Sulak River 20 miles from the mouth of the ony, in the place where the Agrakhan river separates from the ony, to lay a new fortress of the S-th Cross called, there remained under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Leonty Soymonov several infantry dragoons and with a corps of Cossacks, who, after the departure of his majesty, completed the fortifications, the intention was that this fortress instead of the city of Terki for the bad situation envisaged by the emperor himself this place was covered by the Russian borders: its position was between the two rivers Sulak and Agrakhan, which had already served to strengthen it for several years, the ramparts seemed more important than required in the reasoning of the Asian enemy, it is designated on the map by the letters M, and a special plan under No. 3, however, the local place had many advantages in its fertility, then a decree was issued so that to settle there 1000 families of Cossacks from the Don River, from which came along the Agrakhan River various fortified villages called towns, the Cossacks from the word family were renamed family.

In the abandonment of this fortress that followed in 1736, these Cossacks were transferred to the Terek River, where they live between the Kizlyar fortress and the Grebensky Cossacks in the same towns and the Grebensky Cossacks have an even location.

6th. § At the time when the sovereign was practicing in laying the fortress of the Holy Cross, then he ordered to attack the ataman Krasnoshchoky with 1000 Don Cossacks and 400 Kalmyks on the dwellings of Usmey Utemishsky Sultan Mahmut, in order to force him to leave his stubbornness, on September 25th Krasnoshchoka went on a campaign and on the 26th day in the morning reached the enemy dwellings, where he found what was left of the previous action or again the inhabitants brought it to a state and ruined everything, many of the enemies were chopped down, 350 people were taken in full, 11000 tons of cattle were received in booty, except that the Cossacks got all sorts of things and jewelry; On September 30, this party arrived back to the army at that very time, the sovereign emperor, having reached the mouth of the Agrakhan river with infantry, sent the foreman Prince Baryatinsky with 4000 people in front to the ships to make them, and when everything was ready for departure, then arriving at Agrakhansky retranchament, sent light troops by land, and the sovereign himself deigned to sit on his former boat and directed his way to Astrakhan, where he arrived safely on October 4, but the admiral general and all the ships and boats with him, setting off three days after the sovereign, suffered a terrible four-day assault, which is why there were dangerous rumors that disturbed the sovereign a lot, but this ended in a happy ending to the returning troops, not attributing to this the damage that had previously occurred from various cases that followed in the army, but this does not make it extraordinary in discussing the transportation of troops across the sea and difficulties hiking in the land under a hot climate, where there is only an abundance of local fruits for their unusual use He can inflict great destruction on the army.

The Sovereign Emperor was poisoned from Astrakhan on November 7, and on December 13 he had a solemn entry into Moscow, on the triumphal gates above the avenue of the city of Derbent was next to Alexander the Great, like the imaginary builder of the city, and the year 1722, containing an inscription.

EXPEDITION FOR TRANSPORT OF AUXILIARY TROOP TO GILAN, 1722

Assigned path on the map

The army assigned to Gilyan consisted of only two infantry battalions, over which the sovereign appointed Colonel Shilov as commander, Lieutenant Commander Soimonov received a decree to find such vessels with the shipmaster Palchikov that would be convenient for only late driving across the sea and ordered diligence to prepare them to have three major generals and two brigadiers, and named: Matyushkin, Prince Yury Trubetskoy, Dmitriev Mamonov, Levashev and Prince Baratinsky, who, moreover, acted so zealously as they could only wish in five days, and this was on November 6, ships were made to departure; the sovereign deigned to arrive at the hooker accompanied by General-Admiral Privy Councilor Count Tolstoy and Major-General and Guards-Major Dimitriev-Mamonov, at the same hour His Majesty Soymonov ordered to give a signal about the campaign, as everything was already in motion, then the sovereign returned to city.

The real sea trip began on November 14 from Four Hills, straight to the Apsheron Peninsula, and nothing more memorable happened, as partly the cruel north wind contributed to the speedy ride, and partly the strong current in the sea added more ships than they thought to the western coast and on the very course attracted them very strongly to the south. First: they noticed on the 16th when they saw the city of Derbent at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, when, according to the reckoning, it should still be six miles from it, and have a cape near the Samura River, but the distance from Derbent was found no more than one mile to the west and the cape near the Samura River, they saw it in the southwestern side. Second: it was reported the next day, when they had already approached the Absheron Peninsula, according to the reckoning they moved four miles at one hour and therefore they thought that Cape Barmak was still ahead and in the southwestern side, but beyond expectations they saw it behind them in the north western side , because they concluded that last night they moved more than 6 miles in one hour, which also happened from a strong current in the sea. As it calmed down completely around noon on November 18, Soymonov became anchored not far from the shore at a depth of 28 fathoms. Then he entered the Apsheron Strait: it would have been possible to go straight to Gilyan, but since the inspection of the mouth of the river was entrusted to him by the sovereign Soymonov, then passing by he did not want to miss a convenient opportunity for that, on November 28, he arrived at the mouth, and On the 29th he entered the river with all the ships. From the Kura River the ride to Gilan left, which was completed in a short time without any problems.

As they went to the sea bay, or Lake Zinzilia, then Colonel Shipov sent Captain Yazykov to Ryashch to inform the local Vizer and Consul Avramov of their arrival and demand that horses be sent to him in Perebazaar-under lit. N, for transporting burdens through 8 miles to Ryasch. After this, he hurried with the ships to enter the mouth of the Perebazar River and occupy a place of the same name lying several miles upstream of it, and they had to warn the vizier, who also intended to sit in Perebazar, because it was impossible to land anywhere in India for low and swampy places, from all On the sides of Lake Zinzilia surrounding and everywhere overgrown with reeds, only there is a capable and habitable place Perebazar. If the vizier had occupied the front with his troops, for a haven it was necessary to use force against him, which would be obscene to do to an auxiliary army, and now, if he wanted to have this place in his power, he would not know whether enemy actions would begin or not; and so the ships anchored at the mouth of the river Perebazar, and two companies of soldiers went in boats and boats to this place; and as people, provisions, weapons, ammunition and cannons were still needed, everything was transferred to the Perebazaar on a hooker and on a large ship's boat, although it was very difficult to pull ships over many reeds against the water. However, they unloaded several guns ashore and made a trench - under the letter Q, and then it was all over in two days; at the same time, they maintained uninterrupted communication with those at the mouth of the Sulak River: the vizier, having heard this, ordered in Ryashcha, to whom a special plan under lit. R, prepare a few guns, which he wanted to use to defend himself and the city. But soon he changed his mind and wanted to know: “Is the colonel really sent from the emperor himself and if his majesty himself had a decree on his entry to protect Gilan from the rebels, for if this is true, on such a basis, then it will be easier for him to answer to his sovereign in that that he let the Russian army into Ryashcha. As the colonel was informed of this through the consul, there was no longer any need to call the vizier to Perebazaar to assure him; he arrived in a magnificent statute, consisting of 200 people of his retinue, the colonel supposedly told him about his arrival by imperial decree, and he himself showed that decree to the vizier, who, having accepted him, kissed him with great reverence and raised him above his head. Then they agreed on the colonel's entry into Ryashch. In Ryashche there was a stone quadrangular Caravanserai or Russian trading house, which in terms of it is designated as a special lit. Q. The Russians usually lived there and sold their goods, it had two gates and a well in the middle of the courtyard. This trading house stood at the end of the city, on the city side there was a wide square in front of it, and another large meadow. This Caravanserai was like a castle and could be conveniently fortified without long-term difficulty. In this place, the colonel with his army was assigned an apartment, which he could not have wished better for his safety; he went there with five companies, and Lieutenant Colonel Kolyubakin remained in Perebazar with two companies. Countless people looked at our soldiers walking in perfect order and playing music, on the contrary, ours were surprised at the size of the city, which stretched along and across for 5 miles by measure, and was not surrounded by any fortifications. Therefore, the last circumstance, some doubted whether to call Ryashch a city. It must be admitted that many misadventures and that the inhabitants had previously suffered ruin from the Don Cossacks twice. At the time of the rebel Stenka Razin, upon the entry of the troops into the apartments, at first everything was calm, and then it began to turn out to be more signs of an evil vizier's intent, because armed Persians multiplied daily in Ryashche, whose intentions tended to nothing more than to force the Russian army to come out from there. It was impossible to honor these Persians for a trained gun as a military people, because there were no real troops in Gilan below in the neighboring provinces, but there was only a landminitia armed with sabers, and many also had guns, but only without locks, which were lit by wicks. For each such gun they did not have more than two or three cane-wrapped cartridges, but a lot of them gave the colonel doubts about his safety; however, he did not make any objections to the vizier, because there was no obvious enemy reason for this: then, a few weeks later, through Armenian and Georgian merchants, they were notified that up to 15,000 Persians had already gathered, and two viziers, Keskerskaya and Astara. Then the colonel ordered at the corners of his Caravanserai to immediately fill in two earthen bolters and bring them in profile. The vizier told him to ask the reason, to which the colonel replied: "that the European military rules require such a precaution, although there is no obvious danger." From that time on, the colonel no longer sent to ask the vizier for horses to transport the necessary shells and provisions from Perebazar, but carried everything needed on hired horses or dragged it by soldiers; at the end of February, three viziers sent a messenger to the colonel and ordered him to announce by common name: “that they can no longer endure his stay with the army in their land, but are able to defend themselves from their enemies, for that sake, and would go out himself while he they will not force him to do that, to which they demanded an answer from him. And since this enemy demand was made not beyond expectation, then the following answer was given for that hour: “It’s not our fault, the colonel announced that they came here. The vizier and the inhabitants of the city of Ryashch called us for their protection, and I don’t think I would have done or allowed anything that my and the troops entrusted to me could be disgusting to the local people. The Great Sovereign, the Emperor of All Russia, by sending us to you, through this very thing, clearly testified to his friendliness to the Shah and the Persian state; then I have no doubt that he will call us back when it is presented to him that our stay in this side is no longer necessary, but without the decree of His Imperial Majesty, I cannot move from my place and the impossibility of this fulfillment of what they demand is obvious to that two ships with ambassador Ishmael Beg have departed from here, which should be expected to return, so that all the people who are with me can suddenly leave. If I wanted to do something without the decree of my most merciful sovereign, in the hope that the changed circumstances will justify my offense and the sovereign emperor, in his wise reasoning, will not consider this to be my fault: however, I could not do anything more than to first send all the hardships to Derbent, and upon the return of the ships, go myself with the army. This only prudent answer calmed the Persians for a while, in the expectation that the burdens, and especially the artillery, which most feared them, would be loaded onto the ships. But the colonel did not even think that there would be a remnant without them; however, in the meantime, ships were being prepared for departure, because it was necessary for Lieutenant-Captain Soimonov to complete the description of the places at the mouth of the Kura River and from there go to Astrakhan; at the beginning of March, they began to manufacture ships on which Soymonov went to sea, these were the 8th, because according to the instructions given by Colonel Shipov, several ships were to be left to protect the harbor. Thus, under the command of Captain-Lieutenant Zolotarev, a hooker, a larger ship boat and Evers remained in the strait, of which the first two were equipped with artillery. On the 17th of March, Soimonov went to sea. As soon as he drove off, the Persians, having heard that there was no burden, and more like artillery on the ships were not lucky, they repeated their previous demands and advanced on Colonel Shipov so that he would immediately set out from Ryasch. But the colonel, despite the multiplication of the Persian troops, having fortified his apartment due to the obscurity, remained in place, the Persians many times threatened to expel him by force, but he only decided to defend himself, with the intention that if the viziers would start enemy actions on their part, then they have to answer in all the consequences of the war, which cannot come from it. However, the enemy was emboldened by their great number and the smallness of our troops to make an attack, that the next day they began enemy operations with four cannon shots, and, moreover, they fired at Caravanserai from a small gun, from which one captain Rezin from the Russian army was killed, and the rest remained safe , the rest of the day was calm, but the colonel only expected the night, when the Persians, for their part, would remain careless, and having made a disposition, he first ordered Captain Shiling with a granoder company to go out to the rear gates of the Caravanserai in the field and went around further to attack the enemy from the rear, and as soon as they reached the appointed post, the colonel then ordered two companies to come out at the front gate against their faces and sound the alarm. The enemies, seeing that an attack was suddenly being made on them from two sides, did not know from which side they would resist and more than 1000 people were in confusion, partly beaten on the spot in front of the Caravanserai, partly beaten on the run, and after a few minutes the battle was cleared, and behind the fleeing a chase was made along all the streets of the city, and when the Persians evacuated the Caravanserai, they thought to destroy the military ships in the Zinzili Strait, making a battery of wattle covered with earth in the night and placing four cast-iron 6-pound cannons on it. At dawn, they began to shoot from cannons: there were no more than a hundred people on our ships, on the contrary, the number of Persians extended up to 5000 people, and in this case the ships had to move away from the battery, but Lieutenant Commander Zolotarev accepted his last intention and went against the fire . The ships ordered to pull the cart to the battery in this case, although it was not without damage, because the enemy small gun reached the people at the delivery of the former, but how they became opposite it in size and from all ships, both from a gun and from cannons they committed strong fire, then in a quarter of an hour not a single enemy was left at the battery and on the run they caught several small Persian boats that were on sandals, they wanted to get some utti through Lake Zinzilinskoe, and after this unsuccessful attack and night defeat, the Persians left our army alone, and then the surplus regiments had already arrived, as will be described below, then they remained completely safe; and meanwhile, while this was happening in Ryashche, Soimonov came to the Kura River and examined the larger western branch of this river, he also found a place where, if needed, the city could also be founded, and when Soimonov, at the end of the sea ride, entered the Volga, where he met him captain-lieutenant Myatlev, who on three evers had all the provisions and other needs for the troops in Gilyan, brigadier Levashev was left for that in Astrakhan with 4 infantry battalions, which were assigned to Gilyan for transportation, and those who came from Soymonov and some other ships in Astrakhan, on which the army was sent, but the most noble expedition to conquer the city of Baku remained for the next summer of 1723.

ABOUT THE EXPEDITION TO BAKU IN 1723

Assigned path on the map

When the sovereign emperor deigned to go from Astrakhan to Moscow, then ordered his majesty in Kazan and in Nizhny Novgorod, with all haste, to build thirty large heckboats, which would sail to Astrakhan after the opening of the rivers, but in order to extract everything more regularly, then the majors of the guard Rumyantsev were left for supervision in Kazan, and Prince Yusupov in Nizhny Novgorod, the distant distribution of the sovereign consisted in the instructions given to Major General Matyushkin, in which these brief but important words were written, as usual for His Majesty: when 15 heckboats arrive from Kazan in the spring, then with four regiments on these go to Baku and take it, for this Matyushkin remained in Astrakhan with part of the army that was with the sovereign in the Derbent campaign, and as soon as the gekbots arrived in Astrakhan, they armed themselves with great haste, and besides, five more galliots and several beads were added, and according to the construction, the ships were divided into three parts.

On June 20 of that year, 1723, they set off from Astrakhan and on July 6 arrived at Baku, where they anchored in the middle of the bay. Major General Matyushkin took with him from Astrakhan a letter from the Persian ambassador Ishmael Beg to the Sultan (chief chief) to the city of Baku, in which the ambassador tried to persuade the Sultan to give the city of Russian troops to the leader. And the letter was sent by Matyushkin with Major Nechaev to the city and, moreover, ordered to say: “That he came by the great emperor of the All-Russian decree to take the city in defense against the rebels, for the sake of it, he hopes that the sultan will not interfere with this intention to fulfill, but rather act according to the advice offered by Ishmael Beg.

But the people of Baku remained in their inescapable stubbornness, they didn’t let the major into the city, having delayed two hours on the pier, and sent him back with the following verbal answer: no matter how strong they are, they are not afraid of that, and for that the troops do not want to have a single person and provisions to help themselves, not a single batman, as for the letter from the embassy, ​​it is written in Russia and, moreover, they are not obliged to follow the advice of Ishmael Beg below to accept orders from him. According to that answer, Matyushkin ordered at that hour to make real preparations for the attack, first two colonels were sent: Ostafyev and Bezobrazov with four battalions to go ashore, and artillery Major Gerber received an order to keep two bombardment heckboats and 5 others in readiness, which were 18-pounder copper guns.

On July 21, at 7 o'clock in the morning, they began to transport sent soldiers ashore on boats and boats under the cover of one large boat and some beads, this happened without any insanity and a considerable part of the soldiers went ashore and swept with slingshots, but then appeared a strong cavalry force from the city, in the hope that they could deal with the Russians, and until they transported more cannons to the shore, they were deceived in that. Major Gerber in command of artillery already had two field guns in readiness, and from which, as he began to fire quickly, everyone immediately ran back to the city, at the same time, the 7th heckboats, two bombardment and the remaining five to shoot a breach at this major general Matyushkin's disposition, having come closer to the city with a half-circle, they anchored under the lit. R. The besieged thought to prevent the ships by firing from their cannons and it would really not be without damage to people while the ships were going to the prescribed places, but as soon as the cannons began to operate from the ships, they could not stand the Persian for an hour, ran away from their cannons, and could no longer fire ; the mortars also had their effect, and from the third bomb, the art of the bayonet Chirkov set off a great fire in the city, that day, until the evening, 94 bombs were thrown into the city. On the shore they made a battery near the camp of two remembered battalions and put 4 howitzers on it. Both from these and from the ships day and night they shot at the breach, so as not to allow the besieged to repair time and broken places.

On July 25, it was decided to take the city by attack, and the major general made the following order: on the shore at night, set off an alarm in the camp, supposedly from there there will be an attack, when the besieged turn all their strength there, then the army on the ships will make a landing into a broken place, but this could not be done, because that night a strong wind rose from the shore, which moved the ships from their place, so that it was not possible to continue shooting, this case was used by the besieged in their favor and that same night they repaired breaks, so that as the day came no harm was noticeable on the walls. And the next morning, that is, on the 26th, they took a Persian who was going to the city with watermelons, brought him to Major General Matyushkin, but as it was impossible to get any information from him due to ignorance, the Major General reasoned to send him to the city with a letter in which, in an obscene way, about their stubbornness, he reprimanded the victors with threats, appointing a term so that they surrender to discretion, and when they do this, he reassures them with the highest imperial mercy; after receiving this letter, not even one hour had passed, when the besieged put up white banners on the coastal embankment towers, but, moreover, they gave signs from their side so that someone from the shore was sent to them to inform about their intention, the major general sent two officers with officers armed boats with which four deputies came from the city announcing that the inhabitants wished to build the city and in disgusted opposition ask for forgiveness, in the presence of these deputies General Matyushkin wrote contractual clauses and sent them to the city with them. The deputies asked for several hours of time for the building of the city in order to open the gates, which were covered with earth at the beginning of the siege; meanwhile, although the strong wind had diminished from the previous night, it had not subsided at all and the excitement was not small, for the sake of which it was not without difficulty that Major General Matyushkin was transferred to the shore, because he was extremely afraid to ride a boat, but he definitely had to be on the shore to take the city at his command, finally they transported him on a large boat, the battalions located on the shore were put into operation, and almost all Baku residents went out of the city without weapons, notifying the major general that everything was ready for the entry of the Russians. The procession to the city took place in the best order, and as the gates through which they entered, so in other places the Russian troops were immediately occupied (80 copper and cast iron cannons and two large howitzers without machine tools were found in the city, there was very little gunpowder and other ammunition, and especially there were no cannonballs for howitzers, which the Persians collected from our 18-pounder cannons and put three and four in a howitzer when they were fired, then they realized the reason why the cannonballs always carried through the courts, because they could not turn the howitzers and aim without gun carriages.The garrison in the city consisted of 700 Persian soldiers under the command of one Yus Vashi, that is, Colonel Deria Kuli Beg, who were accepted into service, and how Yus Basha denounced the sultan and the sultan was taken under guard and sent to Russia, this is described at length in monthly writings in October 1760. (Note by F.I. Soymonov)).

After occupying the city of Baku, everything belonging to the supply of the city from the flotilla, that is, artillery, provisions, ammunition, was unloaded ashore and brought into the city, Major General Matyushkin and Major General Prince Trubetskoy went back to Astrakhan, and the commander was left in the city by sovereign by decree of the Brigadier Prince Baryatinsky. Matyushkin, by His Imperial Majesty, both for the previous and for this important service, was granted the lieutenant general, and, moreover, the sovereign, for the best instruction on future enterprises, should come to Moscow with him and take Lieutenant Soymonov with him, before leaving Astrakhan, sent General Matyushkin from myself a warrant to Prince Baratinsky in Baku in such force as to send a satisfied team to the Kura River in order to take possession of that country according to the instructions given to him. Soon afterwards, Captain Netisov was sent to the sovereign with the news that something had been done, and that Lieutenant Colonel Zin-bulatov, with a battalion of dragoons, had captured the province of Siluan. Matyushkin and Soimonov, with difficulty overcoming the bad ride and variable weather, came to the sovereign in Moscow, and Matyushkin became very ill from these difficulties and, being in that illness, he was repeatedly visited by the sovereign, and during his visits, Captain Netisov arrived from Baku by courier, the sovereign deigned to ask: “During in many numbers a team was sent to Salian, to which it was reported: that with one battalion (to which the sovereign deigned to say very little), because that Salaian princess Khanuma was a great varovka and it was dangerous that nothing bad be done, and, moreover, he ordered to be assigned to the foreman Baritinsky warrant so that people could be added here, and that they should have every caution from that princess, and the sovereign prophetically suggested what would soon follow in Salian, for Lieutenant Colonel Zin-bulatov and all the officers, being invited to visit by the aforementioned princess, were killed. The sovereign, discussing such circumstances and other needs, ordered Lieutenant-General Matyushkin to build a fortress in that country of Sallian and go there himself, and then take the main command over the army in Gilan of Kazan Tatars, Cheremis and Chuvash, 5,000 people were appointed to build new fortresses .

"1724th year".

Maya on the 27th day of that 1724, General Matyushkin and with him Captain Soymonov set off from Moscow and arrived in Astrakhan on the 15th of August, upon arrival there they received confirmation of the above incident with Lieutenant Colonel Zinbulatov, then Matyushkin arrived from Astrakhan introducing him to Imperial Majesty about some difficulties that it was impossible for him to go to Derbent that autumn, but he received a strict decree, according to which on November 9 he set off and arrived that same night to the Yarkovsky mouth, where Soimonov was already; from there on the 10th they went back to sea, and after repeated voyages on the 24th they arrived in Derbent, then Colonel Junger commanded there, where they stayed until the 30th, and on December 3rd they went to the Apsheron Bay, in which they spent three days , from there they went to Baku, where they also stayed for several days, Colonel Ostafyev was the commander there, being in this place they were informed in detail what happened to Lieutenant Colonel Zinbulatov and the officers who were with him, then General Matyushkin went to the mouth of the Kura River and from there to Gilyan, all along the banks of the Kura River, nothing more followed, as the general examined the places there; General Matyushkin arrived in Zinzilinskaya harbor on the 22nd, and in Ryashche on December 24, 1724, the corps was then in a dangerous state from the nearby Persian army of 20,000 thousand people under the leader of the Keskers vizier, so an attack was expected daily, and brigadier Levashov (who at the same time was promoted to major general) had under command six battalions of infantry, 500 dragoons and several companies of light troops from Armenians, Georgians and Don Cossacks, and although several troops arrived with Matyushkin, however, all there was little in comparison with the number of enemy forces; but this shortcoming was rewarded by the courage of the soldiers and the skill of their leaders; artillery, although it consisted of a few field cannons, was very useful because the artillerymen knew how to use it much more skillfully than the Persians, finally, our troops had two fortresses to defend theirs, of which one has already been described by us under the name of a fortified caravan yard, and the other in western side of the city, which means on the plan lit. S; in the past year 1723, a regular one was again laid down, which was written in a special paragraph in the instructions given to Colonel Shipov, therefore Shipov exactly fulfilled it, laid by him in a certain place, and Levashov, this perfect fortress consisted of an earthen rampart with five bastions and served as a citadel, protecting the city from the western side, as well as from the eastern side of the old Caravanserai, the city defended.

The city of Ryashch lies under 36 degrees 40 minutes of the pole's height, in the middle of Gilyan, ten or twelve versts from the Caspian Sea, by a river that would flow into the Perebazar River, if it does not dry up in many places in summer, for which the inhabitants are forced to make wells, laying out these bricks and get for the most part water from them, as such are found in all villages, and even where there is enough river water, because the Persians represent well water for the purity of its river water and in the said city the houses are all stone and decently built mostly covered with tiles. Although the city occupies a space of five square versts, there are still many empty places, and besides, gardens and markets, and especially more than 50 caravan yards occupying a lot of space. These prove the great auctions that were there before, and the auctions consisted more in raw silk, which, before the Russian conquest, or better to say before the Persian rebellions, was not so abundant anywhere as in Gilan, and these auctions attracted great wealth.

"1725"

From the beginning of this year, enemy actions were completely opened, the day before, news was received through Armenian and Persian merchants that a strong attack would be launched the next morning, but from which side they could not say, because it was not possible to defend all sides with a small number of troops; however, they prepared according to the position of the place to meet the enemy and set up guards with such an order, the troops established that everyone, according to the given signals, would turn around where the enemy seemed stronger, they probably concluded that the attack would be made on one of the two fortresses, but maybe the new fortress seemed more important to the enemy ion did not want to test his happiness before her at first, or the road from there to the mountains lying did not promise them sufficient safety in their retreat in case of defeat, and so he passed along another road lying from the rivers Fuza and Sebdura and marching in different columns came at dawn, all united in a large meadow in front of the fortified caravan yard, for which reason our troops for the most part were brought to that place, however, due to propriety, without exposing other posts, the enemy stood or lined up in order, and then the enemy cavalry jumped out with a great greyhound and a cry or driving in all directions diligently observed, so as not to get very close to our troops m, then their foot army came and took a place between the roads and near the horsemen along the edge of the forest, and they did not dare to come close. They fired through the bow, but at such a long distance, not only with one shot, but even with three bullets they could not reach them. But on the contrary, as soon as from our side they began to throw grenades from small mortars at the enemy cavalry, then at that hour it all crumbled, which, however, soon gathered up showed its former courage, and our troops waited a few more time, and whether the enemies would make a formal attack, but nothing else happened but their empty anxiety; finally, the general ordered them to be driven from the field, which was done by one battalion of infantry, followed by three companies of dragoons; then he ordered from the regimental cannons to drive away their cavalry with rapid-fire fire, which immediately turned on the run, so often our troops had no obstacles in their movement, in the middle of that meadow there was a small river knee-deep in depth, as the soldiers approached it, then from the Persians great shooting began and then our bullets already got them, through which they were even more encouraged. Of our troops, the front ones soon crossed the river, several companies lined up that hour, but a certain number of paki cavalry galloped up with an amazing cry and with the same haste, and as soon as a volley was fired at them, they turned back, seeing this, the Persian infantry also hit the run, after which dragoons three companies five miles pursued and beat them in great numbers. After three days, an attack was also made a second time from them, and then not a single week passed in which the enemies did not make similar experiments, but always in the same way as before they were defeated and driven back every time, before that news came or to their intention of a threat, if it was done terribly the next day, this lasted two months, and finally their empty anxiety was considered so small that more than one or two companies were not sent against them, and then only, as it were, for one fun; the small river was always the boundary between the two warring parties, and the Persians were precisely watching not to cross it, on the contrary, when ours crossed, they thought it was time to save their lives. Only one misfortune happened to the Georgian captain, whose ear and skin were cut off from all over his cheek, this happened because he left far in advance, without waiting for the infantry company following him, whom the enemies were very afraid of, and no matter how small the danger from the enemies was, however the Persian ambassador Ishmael Beg, who was then in Ryashcha, was always in great fear and despair, every attack drove him beside himself, but it would have been very badly dealt with him if he had fallen into the hands of his countrymen; after that they took him back to Astrakhan, where he lived for more than 20 years. As everyone calmed down again, I heard the reason for these useless and only often repeated attacks. The vizier profited from this, because after each attack he took new taxes for new weapons throughout the land, which for the most part went into his own pocket, he should have thought, and feared that the Persians at the same time would not attack the standing in the Zinzilin Strait of the court. But these not only attacks, but also did not see any sign of the enemy, on the contrary, they treated those who brought food, cattle and game for sale to them on friendly terms. In the month of March, although the Persians no longer did anything against the garrison located in Ryashche, however, they sometimes still disturbed the transports following from Perebazaar; there is not a wide, but a deep and fast river, and the road lay beside it itself, and on the other side of that river, in some places, enemies settled in the forest and fired at our troops passing along that road, which is why people passing through were not without damage. no way was found to get rid of this, and for this it was forced to send a party to disperse the nesting Persians, and at the instigation of this, the forest was cut down; then a vizier from Astara came to Ryashcha with a surplus army, about whom they said: that he would act much more bravely than the previous vizier, became a camp near this fast river, which we have now talked about, and wanted to cross it, but how three battalions of infantry were sent to meet him and a few cavalry; then he showed no desire to give battles with them, some of the people had already crossed the river, and for the most part they were beaten, and the rest were dispersed, and those who wanted to return across the river drowned. It also happened that an officer with a small team sent to a nearby village to bring the inhabitants into obedience was beaten off by a great number of enemies. The Persians were forced to endure a siege in that village for some time, another team went to his aid, as they walked along the Us road, on which barely six people could stand in a row, then a great many enemies attacked them, but they had one small cannon , from which, as soon as they started shooting, all the Persians suddenly fled. We escaped in this way, and our party, located in the village, which, having heard the shooting, could unite with its own without difficulty and return to Ryashch, for all that, almost no damage occurred, only one bayonet Lvov, whom he knew only skillfully to use a cannon, was in the chest shot.

This ended all enemy actions, at least for such a time while the lieutenant general was in Gilan, and moreover, this is even more important that a change of government in Spain followed and Sultan Yershek was enthroned on April 22 in place of the ending Mir Mahmud forced him to accept other measures, Matyushkin wanted to build next summer a city appointed by the emperor at the mouth of the Kura River, for which 5,000 thousand people of Kazan Tatars, Cheremiz and Chuvash, partly in Ryashcha, partly in Baku, were ready, and the ships were already equipped; but on holy week the sad news came about the death of the sovereign emperor Peter the Great and prompted to postpone this intention until a confirmatory decree was received, other circumstances required that the lieutenant general go to the fortress of the S-th Cross. Why did he go there with Soimonov in June and on his travel route he was in Baku for 7 days, and in Derbent for 4 days, in the Agrakhan Bay, having arrived, Matyushkin went on a boat to Sulak to the aforementioned fortress, and Soymonov continued his journey to Astrakhan , where there was provisions for the garrison crepe. From the th-Cross appointed, which was supposed to be transferred there that same autumn. Soymonov transported it in October to the Agrakhan retranjament, meanwhile, Lieutenant General Matyushkin, having finished his business in the fortress of St. Peter, used this opportunity to return to Astrakhan, on November 6 they arrived in Astrakhan and thereby concluded not only a sea trip , but all during the life of the Emperor Peter the Great in 1725.

As a result of the victory in the Northern War of 1700 - 1721. Russia gained access to the Baltic Sea. Thus, the transit route from Iran (Persia) through the Caspian and Volga to the Baltic turned out to be almost entirely on the territory of Russia. Continuing the mercantilist policy of his predecessors, Tsar Peter I Alekseevich was interested in intensifying transit through Russian territory. However, trade relations with Iran, secured by the agreement concluded in 1718, did not develop properly due to the inability of the Iranian side to control its Caspian provinces. Therefore, Tsar Peter decided to annex Iranian possessions on the Caspian Sea to Russia and thereby take control of the entire transit route between Iran and Northwestern Europe.

Reason for war

The uprising of Sunni Muslims in the Caspian provinces of Shiite Iran and territories dependent on it (Dagestan) and the invasion of Iran by Afghan tribes that violated the movement along the transit route Iran - North-Western Europe.

In 1721, during the capture of Shamakhi by a Sunni army led by the Kazikumukh Khan Cholak-Surkhay, all Russian merchants died, and their warehouses with goods worth 4 million rubles were looted. Sunni rebels sought patronage from Turkey, which also showed interest in the region. In the case of a new Russian-Turkish war Russia would not only lose the most important trade route, but also get a new front of hostilities aimed at the insufficiently protected southeastern flank of the Russian border. In March 1722, the Afghans laid siege to Isfahan.

Russia's goals

The capture of Iranian provinces and territories dependent on Iran on the western and southern coasts of the Caspian Sea, the restoration of stability in them, which ensured the uninterrupted operation of the Iran-North-Western Europe transit route.

Command of the Russian army

Tsar Peter I Alekseevich, Admiral General Fyodor Matveyevich Apraksin, Major General Mikhail Afanasevich Matyushkin, Brigadier Vasily Yakovlevich Levashov, Colonel Nikolai Mikhailovich Shipov.

Command of the Kartli army

King Vakhtang VI.

Command of the Iranian Forces

The commandant of Baku, colonel (yuz-bashi) Mahmud-Dargha-Kuli, naib Salyan Hussein-bek.

Sunni rebel command

Karakaytag Utsmi Ahmed Khan, Utemish Sultan Mahmud.

Territory of hostilities

Dagestan, southwestern and southern coasts of the Caspian Sea (Shirvan, Karabakh, Gilan, Mazanderan, Gilan, Astrabad (Gurgan).

Periodization of the Persian campaign 1722 - 1723

Campaign of 1722 The Russian army, in cooperation with the flotilla, having defeated the detachments of the Sunni rebels, occupied the Caspian coast of Dagestan and the city of Derbent. Russian troops captured the city of Rasht in the Iranian province of Gilan.

Campaign of 1723 The Russian army, supported by a flotilla in Shirvan, besieged and took the cities of Baku and Salyan.

The end of the Persian campaign 1722 - 1723

On September 12, 1723, a Russian-Iranian treaty was signed in St. Petersburg, according to which the cities of Derbent, Baku and Rasht, as well as the former Iranian provinces of Shirvan, Gilan, Mazanderan and Astrabad (Gurgan) were ceded to Russia.

On June 12, 1724, an agreement was concluded between Turkey and Russia in Istanbul, which divided Transcaucasia into zones of influence - Turkish (Kartli, Kakheti, Eastern Armenia, Karabakh) and Russian (Dagestan, Shirvan, Gilan, Mazanderan and Astrabad).

Due to the difficult climate and the ongoing "small war" in the territories annexed to Russia, Russian troops constantly suffered significant losses - for 1722 - 1735. up to 130,000 people.

Preparing for a war with Turkey, Empress Anna I Ioannovna decided to get rid of burdensome acquisitions during the Persian campaign of 1722-1723. According to the Resht Treaty with Iran dated February 1, 1732, Russia returned to it the provinces of Gilan, Mazanderan and Astrabad (Gurgan), gaining the right to duty-free trade. Then, according to the Ganja Treaty with Iran of March 10, 1735, Russia returned Shirvan and Dagestan to it, restoring the situation for 1722.