DOI: https://doi.org/10.36719/2789-6919/49/9-15
Elshan Aslanov
Baku State University
PhD in History
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3823-4350
elshanaslanov@bsu.edu.az
Analysis of the Historical Geography of Garabagh in the Treaty of Kurakchay
Abstract
The treaty of Kurakchay, signed in May 1805 between the khan of Shusha and Garabagh, Ibrahim khan, and General Pavel Sisianov of the Russian Empire, abolished the independence of the Garabaghkhanate and transformed its historical geography from an independent state to a dependent territory. This is important for the study and scientific analysis of the issue. Our aim in examining this topic is to analyze various articles of the Kurakchay treaty to reveal its colonial character and its impact on the fundamental changes in the political and economic geography of Garabagh.
The first article of the treaty stated that Garabagh khan Ibrahim Khalil khan "officially renounced all dependence on Iran or any other state," while the phrase "any state" actually refers to the Ottoman Empire, one of the region's major powers. The phrase "I do not recognize the authority of any state except His Majesty the Great Emperor of All Russia and his high heirs and successors" indicates that the khanate was a "vassal" possession of Russia. While this article did not change the Garabagh khanate's political borders, it completely limited its political sphere of activity. This political border meant that the Garabagh khanate, remaining within the sphere of influence of the Russian Empire, could not establish independent relations with neighboring states.
Reflecting the fundamental characteristics of colonial policy, the terms of the Kurakchay treaty rendered the Garabagh khanate deprived of its economic independence, becoming an integral part of a system operating in the interests of the Russian Empire. Some aspects of Karabakh's economic geography are explained in the fifth and sixth articles of the treaty. Our study examines these and other issues, as well as the impact of the Kurakchay treaty on the historical geography of Garabagh through toponymic, topographic, spatial-temporal, and ecological-economic analyses.
Keywords: Kurakchay treaty, Garabagh khanate, Russian Empire, historical geography, colonial policy