The Treaty of Gulistan (1813)

Russia's capture of Ganja in 1804 started a nine-year war between the Qajar state and Russia. Crown Prince Abbas Mirza tried to rebuild the army on new lines, but after heavy defeats at Aslanduz in October 1812 and Lankaran in January 1813, Fath-Ali Shah agreed to make peace.

The treaty was signed on 24 October 1813 in the village of Gulistan in Karabakh (today's Goranboy district). General Nikolai Rtishchev signed for Russia and Mirza Abolhasan Khan for the Qajars, and the text was drafted by the British envoy Sir Gore Ouseley, who acted as mediator. The khanates of Ganja, Karabakh, Shaki, Shirvan, Quba, Baku and Derbent, the northern part of the Talysh khanate, as well as eastern Georgia and Dagestan, passed to Russia. Only Russia was given the right to keep a navy on the Caspian Sea.

The Treaty of Gulistan was the first stage in the division of Azerbaijani lands between two states. Unclear borders led to a new war in 1826, which ended with the Treaty of Turkmenchay.