The main territories disputed were Aran (modern day Republic of Azerbaijan), Georgia and Armenia, as well as much of Dagestan – generally referred to as Transcaucasia[1] – and considered part of the Safavid Iran prior to the Russo-Persian Wars.

The earliest records of official relations between Russia and Persia show that in 1521, Shah Ismail I of the Safavid dynasty sent a diplomatic envoy to Tsar Vasili III of Muscovy.

[3] Shah Mohammed Khodabanda promised to cede Derbent and Baku to Russia following the liberation of these cities from the Ottoman Empire.

[3] In 1604, Shah Abbas I resettled a significant population of Armenians from Julfa to his newly established capital, Isfahan, giving them commercial rights.

[4] Throughout the sixteenth century, Persian diplomatic relations were often accompanied by commercial envoys, sending silk and metal wares to Russia.

[2] In fact, velvet, taffeta and silk from Kashan, Isfahan and Yazd made up over seventy percent of the goods transported to Russia in the sixteenth century.

[2][12] The breakdown of Muscovy in the Time of Troubles preceding the Romanov family’s accession to the Russian throne in 1613[6] weakened Russia such that Persia turned its foreign policy focus to Western Europe for an anti-Ottoman coalition.

[12] In the late sixteenth century Russia began a campaign against the Shamkhalate of Tarki, which ruled northern Dagestan and was a nominal vassal of Persia.

[3] Trading in Shamakhi decreased sharply following the signature of this treaty, as the Safavid victory over Ottomans in 1618 negated the need for Russian assistance.

[2] He threatened to confiscate the goods of Russian merchants in Shamakhi, the capital of the Shirvan province, and to pursue military action against the Cossacks.

[10] In 1653, the shah ordered the governors of Ardabil, Erivan, Karabakh, Astarabad and parts of Azerbaijan to send troops to the aid of Khosrow Khan.

[10] That same year, an envoy led by Prince Ivan Lobanov-Rostovsky of Russia travelled to Persia[7] to request that the governor of Shamakhi not meddle in Dagestani affairs, that compensation be given for the losses suffered, and that all Russian merchants be released.

[3] Artemy Petrovich Volynsky was sent as an envoy to Isfahan to conclude a commercial treaty[10][4] that would give Russia a monopoly on the Persian silk trade.

[14] The Persians became hostile to the envoy party when a Russian expedition led by Prince Bekovich-Cherkassky landed on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea[14] at Khiva.

[15][17] Daud Khan, the Sunni Muslim chieftain of the Lezgin tribe, had been detained in Derbent for inciting rebellion, but was released in August 1721[18] following the initial attack by the Afghans[14] in the hope that he would raise an army to support the shah.

[14] Vakhtang VI, ruler of the Persian vassal state and East Georgian kingdom of Khartli-Kakheti, contacted Peter to give his support for Russian advances into the Caucasian territories.

[14] Peter proposed to render aid in subduing the Afghans and the Lezgin rebellion, and to ensure that the Ottoman Empire did not take advantage of the situation and invade.

[14] On 28 March 1723, a company of Russian troops escaped the siege and the Persians besieging the barracks were attacked from both sides, with over 1,000 men killed.

[18] The Ottoman Empire was ceded Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia under the terms of the treaty,[23] and Russia was permitted to retain Mazandaran, Gilan and Astarabad.

[6] In 1781, a Russian commander, Count Voinovich, led a flotilla[20] intended to wrest the islands and port city of the Astarabad province from Agha Mohammed Khan and the Persians.

[16] Agha Mohammed Khan viewed the Treaty of Georgievsk as defiance on the part of Erekle II and Khartli-Kakheti and moved toward Tiflis in 1795[6][26] in an attempt to restore Persian dominion.

[18][21][29] In 1804, following civil unrest, Fath Ali Shah had new silver and gold coins minted in Erivan, Ganja and Nukha to show proof of suzerainty over these provinces.

[26] From 1802 to 1804, Russian forces captured and subdued the Georgian kingdom of Imereti, an Ottoman vassal state, in addition to Mingrelia, Guria, and many of the khanates surrounding Georgia.

[21] Persia considered the khanates surrounding Georgia to be its vassal states, and Fath Ali Shah took the Russian progression into these territories as justification for the declaration of war.

[6] On 12 August 1812, 20,000 Persian men captured the fortress of Lankaran in the Talesh province and proceeded to the Aras River, attacking Russian troops positioned there in October.

[24] Persia ceded all territories north of the Aras River,[32] including Dagestan, Mingrelia, Abkhazia, Derbent, Baku,[33]: 274  Shaki, Quba, Talesh, Shirvan, Karabakh and Ganja.

[21][30] The death of Tsar Alexander in 1825 led to the false belief in Persia that civil war had broken out in Russia and that the Caucasian kingdoms and tribes had rebelled.

[18][21] In July 1826, Abbas Mirza ordered an attack on Russian territories in the Caucasus, besieging Shusha and Ganja (renamed Elisavetpol by Russia[20]), and proceeding toward Tiflis.

[6] The treaty continued to allow Russia an exclusive right to a naval presence on the Caspian Sea and exempted Russian subjects from Persian jurisdiction.

[26] Over the course of the 19th century, Qajar Persia largely fell into the sphere of influence of Russia, who jostled control over Iran and Afghanistan with Britain during the Great Game.