Battle of Ganja (1804)
| Russo Persian War (1804–1813) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Russo-Persian Wars | |||||||||
 A part of Ganja fortress |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Russian Empire
|
|||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Paul Tsitsianov
|
 Javad Khan Ziyad oghlu Qajar †
|
||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Six battalions of infantry: 2 battalions of Sevastopol Musketeer Regiment 3 battalions of the 17th Jaeger Regiment One Battalion from Grenadier Regiment of the Caucasus, a regiment (3 squadrons) of Narva Dragoons 165 Cossacks 700 Tatar horsemen 12 guns. |
4 guns, and about 1700 soldiers | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| about 380 killed and wounded (17 officers and 227 of the lower ranks of Russian Army) | 3,000 - 7,000 inhabitants of Ganja (executed) 1,700 soldiers(killed in fighting and executed) |
||||||||
| Silver medal Awarded to Russian soldiers participating in the capture of Ganja Fortress. | |
 Silver medal of Alexander I Awarded to Russian soldiers participating in the capture of Ganja Fortress , 1804
|
The siege of Ganja and storming its citadel (Azerbaijani: Gəncə qalasının işğalı,گنجه قلعهسینین ایشغالی Persian: اشغال قلعه گنجه) was the result of a Russian offensive in the South Caucasus intended to conquer the Ganja Khanate, which contributed to the escalation of the Russo-Persian War (1804–1813).
After decision of Tsar Paul to annex Georgia (December 1800) and, after Paul’s assassination (11 March 1801), the activist policy followed by his successor, Alexander I, aimed at establishing Russian control over the khanates of the eastern Caucasus. In 1803, the newly appointed commander of Russian forces in the Caucasus, Paul Tsitsianov, attacked Ganja. After Mohammad Khan Qajar invasion of Tbilisi, which Javad Khan fought alongside Agha Muḥammad Khān, Tsitsianov wrote a letter to Javad Khan, demanding a voluntary surrender:
Javad Khan answered:
...You also wrote, six years ago, I gave away the fort of Ganja to the ruler of Russia. This is true, at that time, your ruler wrote letters to all the provinces of Iran and also to us and we accepted the letter and gave the fort. Whenever the king[of Russia] wrote us a decree with regards to Ganja, then make that decree clear so that we may observe that decree and apply it. And you wrote to us "We were a client of Georgia", then know it that right now the letter of your king [the king of Russia] is in our hands and in that letter, you can see that our title was Beglarbegi of Ganja and not a client of Georgia and thus your words are in contradiction with your [own] decree. And the other thing that when we get under the rule of the Russian king, the Iranian king were to Khorasan and we could not reach him, and due to that [fact] the king of Russia is also great, we accepted his obedience, but now, thanks to god, the Iranian king is near and his servant general has come to us and also his army, and more of them will come [to help us]...
...
Wikipedia