Mohammad Khan Qajar of Erivan

Although Mohammad Khan was not noted for being courageous, he was skilled in politics and maintained contact with the Russians and Ottomans, while also guaranteeing Iran his allegiance.

[3][4] He installed Knorring as the governor of Georgia,[5] and instructed him to persuade various khanates that Fath-Ali Shah's authority had not yet been established in—such as Erivan, Ganja, Shakki, Shirvan, and Baku—to request Russian protection.

[7] In January 1802, rumours circulated that Fath-Ali Shah had sent one of his commander to Tabriz to prepare for an invasion of Nakhichevan and the removal of Kalb-Ali Khan from his post.

None of these rumours turned out be true, as other events had caught the attention of the shah; the Wahhabi sack of Karbala, the third campaign in Khorasan, and the murder of the Iranian envoy Hajji Khalil Khan in Bombay (now Mumbai).

During this period Mohammad Khan of Erivan had remained in his fortress, whilst sending contradictory messages to the shah and Lazarev, declaring his allegiance to both.