Persian Expedition of 1796

Part of Russo-Persian Wars

Date	1796
Location	North Caucasus, South Caucasus
Result	Russian defeat

Belligerents

Russian Empire

Persian Empire

Commanders and leaders

Catherine the Great

Valerian Zubov

Agha Mohammad Khan

Strength

50,000 (other estimates suggest 30,000-40,000)

Tofangchi Musketeers
Royal Regiment of Mohammad Khan
Northern Town Watch

Casualties and losses

2,150 men

unknown

The Persian Expedition of Catherine the Great, alongside the Persian Expedition of Peter the Great, was one of the Russo-Persian Wars of the 18th century which did not entail any lasting consequences for either belligerent.

The last decades of the 18th century were marked by continual strife between rival claimants to the Peacock Throne. Catherine the Great of Russia took advantage of the disorder to consolidate her control over the weak polities of the Caucasus, which was, for swaths of it, an integral Persian domain. The kingdom of Georgia, a subject of the Persians for many centuries, became a Russian protectorate in 1783, when Erekle II signed the Treaty of Georgievsk, whereby the Empress promised to defend him in case of the Iranian attack. The shamkhals of Tarki followed the lead and accepted Russian protection three years later.

With the enthronement of Agha Mohammad Khan as Shah of Persia in 1794 the political climate changed. He put an end to the period of dynastic strife and proceeded to re-strengthen the hold of the Caucasus by re-garrisoning the Iranian territories and cities in what is modern-day Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, as well as ravaging and recapturing Georgia and reducing its capital Tbilisi to a pile of ashes in 1795. Belatedly, Catherine II was determined to mount a punitive expedition against the Shah. The ultimate goal for the Russian government was to topple the anti-Russian shah, and to replace him with a half-brother of Agha Muhammad Khan, namely Morteza Qoli Khan, who had defected to Russia, and was therefore pro-Russian.

...
Wikipedia