Karabakh Khanate

Karabakh Khanate
1748–1822
Map of the Karabakh Khanate
Status	Khanate Under Iranian suzerainty (1748–1813) Disputed between Iran and Russia (1805–1813) Under Russian suzerainty (1813–1822)
Capital	Bayat (1748—c. 1752) Panahabad (later "Shusha") (c. 1752–1822)
Common languages	Persian (administration, judiciary, and literature) Arabic (religious studies) Turkic (locally) Armenian (locally) Kurdish (locally)
Khan
• 1748–1762	Panah Ali Khan (first)
• 1762–1806	Ibrahim Khalil Khan (second)
• 1806–1822	Mehdi Qoli Khan Javanshir (third and last)
History
• Established	1748
• Iran officially cedes Karabakh to the Russian Empire	1813
• Abolished by the Russian Empire	1822
Preceded by Succeeded by Safavid Karabakh Dizak Elisabethpol Governorate
Today part of	Armenia Azerbaijan

The Karabakh Khanate (also spelled Qarabagh; Persian: خانات قره‌باغ, romanized: Khānāt-e Qarabāgh; Russian: Карабахское ханство, romanized: Karabakhskoye khanstvo) was a khanate under Iranian and later Russian suzerainty, which controlled the historical region of Karabakh, now divided between modern-day Armenia and Azerbaijan. In terms of structure, the Karabakh Khanate was a miniature version of Iranian kingship. The administrative and literary language in Karabakh until the end of the 19th century was Persian, with Arabic being used only for religious studies, despite the fact that most of the Muslims in the region spoke a Turkic dialect.

It was governed by members of the Javanshir, a Turkic tribe which lived in the lowlands of the region. In 1747, the Javanshir chieftain Panah Ali Khan capitalized on the turmoil that erupted after the death of the Iranian shah (king) Nader Shah (r. 1736–1747) by seizing most of Karabakh. The following year he declared his allegiance to Nader Shah's son and successor Adel Shah (r. 1747–1748), who officially appointed him khan of Karabakh. Panah Ali Khan's tenure was marked by building activities (such as the castles of Bayat, Shah-Bulaghi, and Panahabad) and the subjugation of four of the melikdoms through the assistance of his new ally, Shahnazar II, the melik (prince) of Varanda.

In 1762, Panah Ali Khan acknowledged the authority of the Zand ruler Karim Khan Zand (r. 1751–1779), who had established his authority in most of Iran. The latter took Panah Ali Khan hostage to Shiraz and appointed his son Ibrahim Khalil Khan as the new khan. Following Karim Khan's death in 1779, Ibrahim Khalil Khan strived to maintain his autonomy by allying himself with the Georgian king Heraclius II and making contact with the Russian Empire, even briefly submitting to the latter. Because of his defiance, he was in 1797 ousted from Karabakh by Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, the new ruler of Iran. Following Agha Mohammad Khan's assassination in Shusha the same year, Ibrahim Khalil Khan restored his authority in Karabakh. He established friendly relations with Agha Mohammad Khan's successor Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (r. 1797–1834), who married his daughter and confirmed him as the khan of Karabakh. In May 1805, he submitted to the Russians, signing the Treaty of Kurekchay, which granted them full authority over Karabakh's external affairs in exchange for a yearly payment.

Soon finding himself in a difficult position, Ibrahim Khalil Khan rejoined the Iranians. However, he was shortly afterwards murdered by a group of Russian soldiers under the instigation of his grandson Ja'far Qoli Agha and the Russian garrison leader. The Russians subsequently confirmed Ibrahim Khalil Khan's son Mehdi Qoli Khan as the khan, although real power was held by the Russians. By signing the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813, Iran officially ceded most of their Caucasian holdings (including Karabakh) to Russia. In 1822, Mehdi Qoli Khan fled to Iran as a result of the attempts by the Russian general Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov to abolish the khanates, which occurred afterwards.