ერეკლე II-ის ურთიერთობა მუსლიმურ სახანოებთან 1783-1786 წლებში RELATIONS OF EREKLE II WITH THE MUSLIM KHANATES IN 1783-1786

Abstract

The influence of the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti, as it is known, extended to the neighboring Muslim Khanates. As for the khanates south of the Araks River, the details of the Georgian kingdom’s ties with them have not been fully studied. It has been emphasized only that the rulers of Tabriz, Urmia, Khoi, Karadagh often sent special gifts to the king Erekle II of Kartli-Kakheti as a sign of respect. Among the so-called khanates of northern Iran in the 1780s was the Khoi Khanate, whose ruler, Ahmed Khan, invaded the Khanate of Urmia in the first half of 1783, together with the Khan of Tabriz, and strengthened his influence there. For its part, from an economic point of view, the most prominent city in the region was Tabriz, which for a long time was ruled by Marand and Marāgha. Archival data are interesting for studying the relations of the Georgian king with the mentioned khanates. Historical documents confirm that Karabagh’s khan Ibrahim and Erekle arrested Karadagh’s khan. In 1783, Ahmed Khan, the ruler of Khoi, intended to capture Tabriz, for which he appealed to Erekle for help. In exchange for the aid, Ahmed Khan off ered the Georgian king a lump sum of 17,000 tumans, and promised to pay 8,000 tumans a year in tribute after the conquest of Tabriz. For his part, the rather weak khan of Ardabil was in close contact with Ibrahim Khan, Erekle’s ally and ruler of Karabakh. At the same time, from the spring of 1783, the Russian government intended, with the help of Erekle II, to take over the Khanates of northern Iran. Of course, Russian policy was in conflict with the interests of Erekle II. Accordingly, the Georgian king acted cautiously and delayed the arrival of letters sent by the offi cials of the Russian Empire to the “Khans of Ardibezhan”. In the autumn of 1783, the commander-in-chief of the Caucasus Line, Pavel Potyomkin, openly rebuked the Georgian king, who was silent on the “case of the Ardibezhan Khans.” The archival material also confirms that despite the initial restraint, from January 1784 Erekle II began to act in favor of Russia. On his advice the khans of Karabakh and Khoy sent their representatives to Russia and asked to be received under the patronage of the emperor. It was this political activism that particularly alarmed the Ottoman government. Consequently, the Ottomans, on the one hand, began to lure the named Khans, and on the other hand, to increase the pressure on the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti. As a result, in 1785- 1786, Erekle II not only lost influence over the Muslim khanates, but the state of the kingdom became extremely complicated. Pasha of Kars, close to Erekle, advised the Georgian king to abandon the benefi cial policies of the Russian Empire in the region. In particular, Erekle should have made a commitment not to send additional Russian troops to Georgia, to use the two battalions here only for defensive purposes, and not to attack the Russian army “for the time of Ardibejan.” According to Kars Pasha, in this case it was possible to conclude a peace agreement with the Turkish side. Due to the difficult situation, in September 1786 Erekle II agreed to the Ottoman conditions and signed an agreement with Pasha of Akhaltsikhe. As a result of this agreement, Erekle II actually refused to pursue a Russian policy towards the “Ardibezhan Khans”.