Battle of Krtsanisi
The Battle of Krtsanisi (Georgian: კრწანისის ბრძოლა, romanized: k'rts'anisis brdzola, Persian: نبرد کرتسانیسی) was fought between the army of Qajar Iran (Persia) and the Georgian armies of the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti and Kingdom of Imereti at the place of Krtsanisi near Tbilisi, Georgia, from September 8 to September 11, 1795, as part of Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar's war in response to King Heraclius II of Georgia’s alliance with the Russian Empire. The battle resulted in the decisive defeat of the Georgians, capture, and complete destruction of their capital Tbilisi, as well as the temporary absorption of eastern parts of Georgia into the Iranian empire.
| Battle of Krtsanisi | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Persian invasions of Georgia | |||||||||
Battle of Krtsanisi by Valerian Sidamon-Eristavi | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
|
Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti Kingdom of Imereti |
Qajar Iran | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Heraclius II Solomon II | Agha Mohammad Khan | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
3,000 per Persian sources 10,000 | 35,000 or 40,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
4,000 troops killed. Unknown number of wounded or captured. 15,000 captives (civilians) moved to mainland Persia. | 13,000 killed. Unknown number of wounded or captured. | ||||||||
Although the Russian Empire had officially declared in the Treaty of Georgievsk of 1783 that it would protect Heraclius's kingdom against any new Iranian attempts to re-subjugate Georgia, Russia did not intervene to protect its ally. Subsequently, in order to restore Russian prestige, Catherine the Great launched a punitive campaign against Iran in 1796, but it was soon recalled after Catherine's death the same year. The reestablishment of Iranian rule over Georgia did not last long, for the shah was assassinated in 1797 in Shusha, and the Georgian king died the year after. With Georgia laying in ruins and the central authorities in Iran occupied with the question of succession, the way was opened for Georgia's annexation by Russia several years later by Tsar Paul.
As Iran could not allow the cession of Transcaucasia and Dagestan, which were integral parts of Iran for centuries, the Battle of Krtsanisi directly led to two bitter Russo-Persian wars in 1804–1813 and 1826–1828, in which Fath Ali Shah, Agha Mohammad Khan's successor, unsuccessfully attempted to reverse Russian military advances and restore Iranian authority north of the Aras and Kura rivers. After these wars, Iran ceded Transcaucasia and Dagestan to imperial Russia per the Treaty of Gulistan (1813) and the Treaty of Turkmenchay (1828).