The Khanates of the Caucasus, or Azerbaijani khanates or Persian khanates, were various principalities established by Persia (Iran) on their territories in the Caucasus (modern-day Azerbaijan Republic, Armenia, Georgia and Dagestan) from the late Safavid to the Qajar dynasty. The Khanates were mostly ruled by Khans of Turkic (Azeri) origin and were vassals and subjects of the Iranian shah (King). Persia permanently lost a part of these khanates to Russia as a result of the Russo-Persian Wars in the course of the 19th century, while the others were absorbed into Persia.
The khanates ultimately absorbed by the Russian Empire were:
Apart from that some remote parts of Dagestan were governed by largely independent rural communities/federations before the Russian conquest of the area:
From ancient times until the arrival of the Russians most of the above area was part of the Iranian world, and was under a large degree of Persian control (Transcaucasia and parts of Dagestan).