[1] Major General Sultanov was born on 10 May 1879 in Kürdhacı settlement of the Zangezur uezd of the Elizavetpol Governorate (present-day Lachin, Azerbaijan).

[11][12] Sultanov, however, was a widely hated figure by the Armenians of Karabakh, objected to his threats to compel them to fully submit to Azerbaijani rule.

Conflicting reasons are given for this: the Azerbaijani government insisted that they had recalled him for consultations; the British command in Tiflis announced that he had been deprived of his position and was facing charges; while American reports stated that he had been arrested and imprisoned.

Shuttleworth, Thomson's successor; seeing that further resistance was futile, the Karabakh Armenians agreed to submit to provisional Azerbaijani rule in the region in exchange for their cultural and civic rights.

Among other things, the compact stipulated that Sultanov establish a joint Armeno-Muslim administrative council which would limit the movement of the Azerbaijani forces in the region.

Although relations started to normalize, enmity between the communities remained with Armenian nationalist resentment towards the Karabakh leadership and Azerbaijani desire for permanent rule rising.

[21] Despite the agreement, Sultanov almost immediately violated all these terms; he increased the sizes of Azerbaijani garrisons in Shusha and Khankendi and moved his forces without the council's approval.

[22] In the beginning of 1920, Sultanov intensified his efforts to bring control of the region under Azerbaijani rule by issuing an ultimatum to the Armenian National Council.

[23] But since the conference had ended without issuing a conclusive decision on Karabakh, Sultanov advocated for a local solution, one which demanded that the region be incorporated into Azerbaijan.

[24] Ethnic tension in Karabakh heightened once more, as Azerbaijani troops lynched and killed several Armenians in Khankendi and pillaged the surrounding areas in February of that year.

Upon hearing this, Sultanov abandoned his loyalty to the Musavat Party, declared himself the chairman of the "Karabagh Revolutionary Committee" and extended felicitations to the Azerbaijani Revkom leader Nariman Narimanov in Baku.