Fath-Ali Khan of Quba
According to the 19th-century military historian Isgandar bey Hajinski (1809–1878), he had no special education and "spent his youth just as sons of other khans, i.e. in idleness.
Just seven days after his father's death, the brother of Aghasi Khan of Shirvan, Agharazi beg, invaded the Barmak Mahal of Quba and carried off 200 families.
In response, Fatali Khan set out to Shirvan and captured about 400 families and settled them onto his possessions, killing Agharazi in a battle near Old Shamakhi.
Later in 1765, Fatali Khan annexed all of Derbent Khanate[4] with the help of Tarki Shamkhalate, Kaitag Utsmiate, and the Principality of Tabasaran.
[11] Derbent's ruler Muhammad Hussein Khan was blinded and sent with his five-year-old son Ali beg to Quba, and then to Baku, where he was kept until he died in 1768.
[13] Control over the ports of Baku, Derbent, and Salyan, as well as their Caspian commerce in salt and crude oil, provided Khan money and reputation.
[4] Disgruntled over the marriage refusal, Amir Hamza captured Derbent and held it for 3 days with the excuse of visiting his sister.
[14] Beginning from 1768, in official Russian documents and titular appeals, Fatali was named "high-degree and highly respected Khan of Derbent, Quba and Shamakhi".
"[14] Meanwhile, the blinded ex-ruler of Shamakhi, Aghasi Khan, escaped and urged Shaki to attack Fatali to retake Shirvan.
Muhammad the Toothless of the Dagestani forces perished during the battle; Eldar-beg, Fatali's viceroy in Derbent, and Maysum Shaykh-Ali of Tabasaran were killed on the Quba side.
Tuti, according to legend, ordered the city’s defenders to open fire, which forced Amir Hamza to retreat to Mushkur.
[19] While in a difficult situation, Fatali sent his envoy Mirza Bey Bayat from Salyan to Petersburg with a letter in which he appealed to Empress Catherine II for help, offering vassalage to Russian Empire[18] in return.
[23] The anti-Quba coalition asked for peace and offered hostages, but also demanded Fatali to vacate Derbent,[24] a condition which Russian command rejected.
[22] He also granted Amir Hamza's nephew Muhammad beg 100 families from Quba and founded the eponymous village of Mamedkala for him.
Fatali then detained Ali Qoli in Derbent and exiled him to Salyan, and installed Muhammad Husayn beg as new prince.
[28] Kizlyar's Russian commandant wrote to the government that Fatali was more powerful now that he could attack Kaitag Utsmi with help from Tabasaran.
A contemporary Russian report said that "Recently, Turks sent some officers to the Khan of Quba, who rules Derbent, and he will persuade lezgis to arm against Russia in favor of the Porte".
[33] Despite Fatali's repeated requests for official protection from the Russian government, the latter didn not want to complicate relations with Persia and the Ottoman Empire, nor to change the order of political forces in the South Caucasus.
[35] In September 1775, Catherine II ordered the President of the College of War Grigory Potemkin to give the keys of Derbent back following the Turkish pressure.
[38][39] Fatali sent an army of 9,000 to Gilan in alliance with Tarki Shamkhalate and Kaitag Utsmiate; the general command was carried out by the Nāẓir Mirza bey Bayat.
He invaded Karabakh Khanate in 1780[42] by crossing the Kura River, but the Georgian king Erekle II helped Ibrahim Khalil Khan by sending him a detachment under the command of princes George and David.
Fatali's harboring of a potential rival to the Georgian throne was one of the factors that forced Heraclius II to seek Russian protection.
However, Fatali was forced to enter into negotiations with Umma Khan, betrothed him his daughter as a future wife (this marriage never took place), and handed over the revenues of Salyan and 200,000 rubles of indemnity.
In March 1787, Fatali Khan signed an agreement with Heraclius II of Kartli-Kakheti, which established a balance in the South Caucasus and strengthened Russia's position in the region.
[49] According to Isgandar bey Hajinsky, Fatali's goal for this agreement was to secure peace to his west and prepare for the conquest of Tabriz Khanate.
[7] During the negotiations, Prince Georgi Tsitsishvili and Gurgen bek Enikolopashvili were Georgian ambassadors to Quba, while Mirza Rahim, Fatali's envoy Haji, was sent to Tiflis.
This arrangement made it possible for Heraclius not only to strengthen his rear but also to have an ally in the fight against the Karabakh Khan, who dominated Ganja Khanate.
The allies worked out a plan of coordinated actions against Karabakh Khanate and divided the spheres of influence: Heraclius took the entire South Caucasus, while Fatali was to control Iranian Azerbaijan.
Heraclius II and Fatali agreed to actively fight against the newly rising threat of Agha Muhammad Khan Qajar and "act ... under the auspices of Russia," according to contemporary historian Abbasqulu Bakikhanov.
[7] Immediately after the meeting, Fatali Khan fell ill, left for Baku to stay with his sister, and died there on 2 April [O.S.
