was little reason for Rtishchev to feel inclined to make concessions.
Even more than the victories at Aslanduz and Lankaran, early news
of Napoleon's expulsion from Russia filled him with patriotic fervor.
He hoped that the news would impress the Iranians. In fact, that was
not the case.
Ouseley persuaded himself and the shah that Iran would gain terri-
tory after the provisional treaty. As a further reassurance, Ouseley
promised the shah that, if Russia did not make adequate territorial
concessions, the subsidy payments would continue. Ouseley foresaw
no difficulty since he would be the judge of what was adequate. That
hope and Ouseley's threat to cut off the subsidy led Fath 'Ali to
agree to end the war.^28
Peace talks were held at Golestan, a village in northern Qarabagh.
Rtishchev represented the Russian government. Iran was represented
by Mirza Abu'l-Hasan, a nephew of the late grand vizier Haji Ebrahim.
After his uncle's execution, the mirza spent two years in India, where
he learned something of British ways. He later returned to favor in
Iran and served in the administration while receiving a regular stipend
from the East India Company. He had been sent as ambassador to
Britain for the ratification of the preliminary treaty of 1809. Then
Ouseley secured his appointment as Iranian representative at the peace
talks to ensure British influence on the outcome. The mirza made a
favorable impression on Rtishchev, causing Rtishchev to be somewhat
more conciliatory than he or his colleagues had been in other negotia-
tions—for example, when he consented to wait while the mirza sent
the separate article about territorial concessions to Tehran for ap-
proval, instead of demanding immediate acquiescence. There were no
substantial negotiations in the drafting of the treaty. Rtishchev essen-
tially dictated the terms but yielded in part to Abu'l-Hasan's requests
for modification of certain points that were peripheral to Russia's
interests. Thus, Russia's intention to state its formal recognition of
Fath 'Ali as shah was discarded in response to the mirza's objection
that it was demeaning—Fath 'Ali was the acknowledged shah and did
not need Russia's endorsement. It was sufficient that the treaty re-
ferred to the shah by his proper name and title. Another proposal to
include Russian support for 'Abbas's succession was also rejected on
the grounds that Fath 'Ali did not want to provoke his other sons
by an open reference to 'Abbas as the heir designate. Therefore, the
article was revised to state Russia's support for the shah's chosen suc-
cessor without mentioning 'Abbas's name. The border between Rus-
sia and Iran was based on the current disposition of each side's forces,
although the precise manner in which the border was described in the
France and Britain in Iran 143