the disasters of the second war with Russia. Trends that would even-
tually produce change were set in motion, but the results would not
be noticeable for many years to come.^16
The most conspicuous results of the years of struggle for the Cau-
casus were the decline of the Qajar government and the simultaneous
increase in foreign (that is, Russian and British) intervention in Iran-
ian affairs. Fath 'Ali became less and less concerned with the affairs
of state during the remaining six years of his life. His own ineffective-
ness and the loss to Russia stimulated a number of provincial rebellions,
as well as a general increase in provincial disregard for the authority
of the central government. 'Abbas, who as a young man hoped to be-
come a great ruler (either in the traditional Islamic sense of the strong
warrior who is solicitous of his subjects' well-being or in the mold of
Peter the Great, with whose role as a reformer he was acquainted)
found his military reputation tarnished, the task of reform far more
difficult that expected, and his very succession to the throne imperiled.
In the years after 1828, he sought new, less formidable targets for his
military operations, first provincial rebels and then the Salor Turco-
mans, who conducted frequent, devastating raids across Iran's north-
eastern border. He was on his way to attempting the conquest of Herat
when he died in 1833. A very reluctant Fath 'Ali was eventually per-
suaded by Russia and Britain to name 'Abbas's eldest son, Mohammad,
as heir to the throne. Mohammad, having been raised in Tabriz, where
he had contact with Russian agents and their Iranian supporters, was
generally perceived as being under Russian influence. Such influence
at 'Abbas's court and in northern Iran generally increased greatly in
the years after 1828. The popular anti-Russian feeling that was de-
monstrated grimly in the murder of Ambassador Griboedov and mem-
bers of his entourage in 1829 did not influence the attitude of the
elite. Russia was important because of its guarantee of the succession,
the reparations issue, and the strenuous activities of its diplomatic
agents and because it had demonstrated its military superiority over
Iran. Russia's position was enhanced by another victory over the Otto-
man Empire in 1829. Then there was no countervailing force to rely
upon since Britain continued to limit the scale of its involvement in
that quarter. The only factor that prevented Russia from exerting
even greater influence for the next generation was its preoccupation
with more urgent matters elsewhere: the war in the high Caucasus
and the growing rivalry in the Ottoman Empire which culminated in
the Crimean war. When Fath 'Ali died in 1834, Mohammad was not
160 The Consequences of the Struggle