Document Type : review paper
Abstract
Khanate of Yerevan territory (11601244-Q./17471828-M.), in the thirteenth century AD, witnessed wars and military expeditions in its north and south borders by Tsarist Russia and Qajar Iran. Because of the special geographical situation and being in proximity to the governments of Iran and Ottoman, the Khanate has been of special importance to the Russian government. Russia used the minority group of ethnic Christian Armenians as an excuse to interfere in Yerevan’s issues on the pretext of protecting the Christians at the time of Mohammad Khan Qajar Yerevani (11981220-Q./17841805-M.), in order to elongate the wars between Qajar government and Christian Armenian groups. During these wars Mohammad Khan Yerevani adopted a dual policy, so that both the Russians and the Iranians will establish diplomatic relations. The main question of this article is: why Khan of Yerevan in the first Russo-Iranian war adopted his dual policy and what was the main idea behind establishing relationships with theses governments? The findings of this article show that Khan of Yerevan always endeavored for his own survival, and had to use parallel policy to make friction between Iran and Russia in order to achieve his own political autonomy. Therefore, he was shifted constantly his position by observing the great power and changed regional balance of power between the two governments. Based on a descriptive-analytical method, the aim of this article is to study the roles and positions of Mohammad Khan Yerevani in the first war between Iran and Russia.
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