[2] The most important of these were the Shamkhal of Kumukh at the Terek River, and the ruler of the Kara Qaytaq styled with the hereditary title of Utsmi, located on the Caspian littoral.

[5] During the Russo-Persian War of 1651-1653, the successful Safavid offensive resulted in the destruction of the Russian fortress on the Iranian side of the Terek and its garrison being expelled.

[9] In 1659, a Safavid army which included 2,000 musketeers (tofangchis), artillery-men (tupchis), their artillery battery (tup-khaneh) led by Aliqoli Beg the tupchi-bashi-ye jolo, was dispatched to the Daghestan province.

[13] When the Shamkhal of Tarki then requested government troops against Russian aggression, the Safavid king promised him "a token sum of 1,000 tomans".

[13] The order, which came after the fall of grand vizier Fath-Ali Khan Daghestani, was made at the instigation of the eunuch faction within the royal court, who had persuaded the shah that a successful end of the campaign would do the Safavid realm more harm than good.

[13] With the threat then left unchecked, Shamakhi, the capital of the Shirvan province, was taken by 15,000 Lezgin tribesmen aided by Shamkhal Sorkhay Khan, its Shia population massacred, and the city ransacked.

In 1722, the Russian Empire capitalized on the eruption of chaos and instability, and annexed the maritime areas of the province, including Derbent, from the Safavids.

[16] He also conducted military campaigns in Daghestan which re-subjected the Daghestani tribes, and defeated Shamkhal Sorkhay Khan, who had rebelled earlier against the Safavid hegemony.