munities) were next to fall to the Russian troops in 1803. In early 1804,

the Czarist Army managed to drown in blood the desperate resis-

tance of Ganja defenders led by local Javad-Khan and his son. So the

outnumbering Russian troops gained control over the town bringing

the Khanate of Ganja to its end and renaming the place into

Elisavet-

pol

. Along with Ganja Khanate, the Russian troops overtook Samukh

Sultanate as well.

Conquests by the Russian Empire could not help warning Iran,

so the war between the two states broke out in 1804. Defeat of the

Iranian Shah in the hostilities determined the fate of Baku and Guba

Khanates. However, Guba’s takeover in September 1806 did not im-

ply a complete subjugation of the area to the Russian rule. On the

contrary, this launched a 13-year-long resistance movement of local

residents led by Sheikhali-Khan supported by the Caucasian highlan-

ders. It was only in August 1819 when largely outnumbering Russian

troops could finally overcome resistance of Guba residents. This put

the end to both the Khanate of Guba and its ruling dynasty.

In 1812, benefiting from the Napoleonic war against Russia, the

Iranian Shah decided to regain control over the Azerbaijani territo-

ries overtaken by the Russians. A 20-thousand-strong army attacked

Garabagh. However, pushed back by the Russian troops, the Iranian

military failed to access other areas of Azerbaijan. The peace treaty

signed on October 13, 1813 near Gulistan village in Garabagh upheld

the Russian control over all Azerbaijani Khanates, except for Erivan

and Nakhchivan.

The second Russo-Persian War 13 years later also ended up

with the Russian victory. The Russian troops entered Tabriz, and faced

with their further advance Fatali-Khan Gajar was forced not only to

withdraw any claims towards the lands conceded to Russia pursu-

ant to the Gulistan Treaty but also to give up Erivan and Nakhchivan

Khanates as well. This new conditions were stipulated in the Treaty of

Turkmanchay signed near Tabriz on February 10, 1828.

The Gulistan

and Turkmanchay Peace Treaties

concluded the Russo-Persian Wars

of 1804-1813 and 1826-1828 respectively and specified the final sta-

tus of the 13 Azerbaijani Khanates, the Khanate of Guba among them,

as part of the Russian Empire.

A totally new administrative system was introduced by the

Russian authorities in the newly-acquired territories with the khans

Events of 1918 in Guba in the Context of Plans for Mass Extermination

of Azerbaijan’s Muslim Population