How a failed merchant protection scheme led Peter the Great to invade Safavid Iran
In 1722, Peter the Great launched a massive military campaign against a crumbling Safavid Empire, citing the murder of Russian merchants as his justification. While the Tsar successfully seized Caspian territories, the occupation proved a deadly, costly endeavor that ultimately saw Russia retreat to its original borders just over a decade later.
The Russo-Persian War of 1722–1723 was driven by Russia's ambition to expand its influence in the Caucasus and Caspian regions while preventing Ottoman territorial gains. The formal pretext for the invasion was the 1721 looting of Shamakhi, where rebellious Lezgins killed several Russian merchants. Ambassador Artemy Volynsky reported this as a violation of the 1717 trade treaty, urging Peter the Great to intervene under the guise of restoring order for the Safavid king.
Peter assembled a formidable force of over 100,000 men, including infantry, dragoons, and Cossacks, supported by a newly created Caspian Flotilla. Despite initial military successes, including the capture of Derbent and Baku, the campaign was plagued by logistical failures and disease. The Russian military lost 6,531 soldiers during the campaign and an additional 36,000 during the subsequent occupation. The occupation also devastated local industries, such as sericulture in Gilan, as many inhabitants fled the Russian presence.
The conflict concluded with the 1723 Treaty of Saint Petersburg, which ceded various Iranian provinces to Russia. However, the gains were short-lived. By the 1732 Treaty of Resht and the 1735 Treaty of Ganja, Russia returned all annexed territories to Iran to secure an alliance against the Ottoman Empire. The war left few long-term territorial changes, but it established a historical consciousness in Russia that its armies had once successfully marched beyond the Caucasus to the southern shores of the Caspian Sea.
Source: Russo-Persian War (1722–1723)
