Baku, Shirvan, and Derbent-Qobbeh all offered to submit to Russia
in return for Russian support for their territorial ambitions and their
struggles with rivals for power. Hosein Qoli Khan of Baku sought
Russian backing against the revived strength of Derbent-Qobbeh.
Mostafa Khan hoped Russia would recognize his authority over a
Shirvan enlarged to the dimensions of the bygone domain of the
Shirvanshahs. When Mostafa objected to Tsitsianov's terms, the general
contemplated replacing him with the khan's younger brother, who
was very enthusiastic about the idea. Tsitsianov lost all interest in the
plan once Mostafa submitted. Sheikh 'Ali Khan of Derbent-Qobbeh
wanted an ally to defeat the coalition between his younger brother
and Daghestani opponents, which had almost succeeded in overthrow-
ing him, and also wanted Russia to support his reconquest of Saleyan,
then under Shirvani control. Since Tsitsianov lacked the means to
compel Sheikh 'Ali and Hosein Qoli to submit when they balked at
his demands, no agreement was concluded. After Tsitsianov's death,
Hosein Qoli and Sheikh 'Ali fled as new Russian forces approached
their khanates. Baku and Qobbeh were annexed outright; in Derbent,
all real power was in Russia's hands, although there was a figurehead
khan.^41
Whatever punishment the Russians would have liked to inflict on
Hosein Qoli, they never captured him. Alexander Tormasov's plan
to kill Sheikh 'Ali, who continued to fight the Russians for several
years after the loss of his domains, came to nought. After Javad,
the only khan killed by the Russians was Ebrahim Khalil of Qarabagh.
There was no plan to eliminate rule by khan there, and the vitriolic
Tsitsianov had died five months before the conquest of the khanate.
Ebrahim KhaliPs death was the product of his own weak position
and the Russians'. In 1804 and 1805, the khan took a pro-Russian
stance and signed a treaty of submission in May of 1805. However,
Russia's military weakness, especially after the death of Tsitsianov,
left Qarabagh vulnerable to repeated, devastating raids by Iranian
troops and by the son he had sent to be the shah's hostage in 1798.
It was clear that his subjects were disgruntled with the khan's anti-
Iranian stance. In June of 1806, he again submitted to the shah, who
sent troops to expel the Russians from Qarabagh. The Russian offi-
cers were angry and bitter over the military embarrassments they had
not anticipated, as well as over the killing of their chief. Among
those whose morale was particularly affected was the commandant
in Shusha, Major D. T. Lisanevich, whom Tsitsianov had made a
scapegoat for the Russian forces' poor showing in Qarabagh in 1805.
Lisanevich was a brave and arrogant man who did not bear the abuse
Russia's Conquest of the Eastern Caucasus 87