The Battles of Aslanduz and Ganja (1812, 1826)

In the early 19th century the Russian Empire was taking the Azerbaijani khanates of the South Caucasus one by one, while the Qajar state tried to hold them. In the war of 1804-1813 the Qajar army was led by Crown Prince Abbas Mirza. On the night of 31 October to 1 November 1812, General Kotlyarevsky made a surprise attack on the Qajar camp at the Aslanduz ford on the Aras, and Abbas Mirza's army was badly defeated.

Early in 1813 the Russians also took Lankaran, and that year the Treaty of Gulistan handed the khanates of Karabakh, Ganja, Shirvan, Shaki, Quba, Baku and Talysh to Russia. In 1826 Abbas Mirza began a new war and at first won back part of the lost lands, but on 25 September 1826 General Paskevich defeated his army near Ganja and the Qajar troops withdrew across the Aras.

The war ended in 1828 with the Treaty of Turkmenchay: the khanates of Irevan and Nakhchivan also passed to Russia, and the Aras became the border between the two states. The Azerbaijani people were thus divided in two, and these two battles are among the most painful turning points in Azerbaijan's history.