Karabakh Khanate

Karabakh Khanate
1750–1822
Map of Karabakh Khanate according to a 1902 Russian map.
Capital		Shusha
Languages		Persian (official),Azerbaijani Armenian
Government		Absolute monarchy
History
•	Established	1750
•	Disestablished	1822
Preceded by Succeeded by Karabakh Beylerbeylik Principality of Khachen Elisabethpol Governorate

The Karabakh Khanate (Persian: خانات قره‌باغ‎‎ – Xānāt e Qarebāq, Azerbaijani: Qarabağ xanlığı) was a semi-independent Turkic khanate on the territories of modern Azerbaijan established in about 1750 under Iranian suzerainty in Karabakh and adjacent areas. The Karabakh khanate existed until 1806, when the Russian Empire gained control over it from Iran. The Russian annexation of Karabakh was not formalized until the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813, when, as a result of Russo-Persian War (1804-1813), Fath-Ali Shah of Iran officially ceded Karabakh to Tsar Alexander I of Russia. The khanate was abolished in 1822, after a few years of Russian tolerance towards its Muslim rulers, and a province, with a military administration, was formed.

On May 14, 1805 amidst the still ongoing Russo-Persian War of 1804-1813, Ibrahim Khalil Khan and the Russian general Pavel Tsitsianov signed an agreement transferring the Karabakh khanate under Russian dominion. However, the agreement was of little value, as the borders were changing constantly up to the end of the war in 1813. Following the Russian violation of the agreement that recognized Ibrahim Khalil Khan and his descendants as rulers of Karabakh in perpetuity, by abolishing the khanate in 1822, a military administration had been formed. Russian control was decisively confirmed with Iran by the Treaty of Turkmenchay of 1828.

The precursor of the Karabakh khanate, Karabakh beylerbeylik (province) was one of the 4th provinces established in Northern part of Safavid Empire. The Safavid shah of Iran Tahmasp I granted the governance of province to Qajar-related Ziyadoglu family in 1540, was initially founded in the lowland part of Karabakh ("Karabakh Steppe"), away from the lands currently known as Nagorno-Karabakh. According to prominent historian of Karabakh Khanate - Mirza Adigozal bey "The power of the Karabakh beylerbeylik covered a vast territory – from the Georgian border near “Sinig Korpu” Bridge (currently “red Bridge”) to Khudafarin Bridge on the Araz river. However, following the collapse of Safavid dynasty and the death of Nadir Shah Afshar in 1747, Safavid domain split into several independent khanates. During this period, Panah-Ali khan Javanshir of Karabakh consolidated his local power by establishing a de facto independent khanate and subordinating the five Armenian meliks (princes) in the region, which were referred to as Khamsa (five in Arabic), with support of the Armenian prince Melik Shahnazar II Shahnazarian of Varanda, who first accepted Panah-Ali Khan's suzerainty.