Introduction 5to acquire more territory along the coast and march inland into north-
western Iran to join forces with a Georgian-Armenian army. How-
ever, a critical shortage of supplies, widespread illness (which account-
ed for most of the campaign's 33,000 deaths), and the desire to avoid
a direct confrontation with the Ottomans (who were also moving
into Iranian territory) persuaded him to reduce the scale of his opera-
tions. Two weeks after the surrender of Derbent, he returned to Rus-
sia, leaving behind only a small garrison. Although the Russian army
took the port city of Baku and part of Gilan in the next few months,
Peter himself never returned to the area.
The final stage of Peter's involvement in Iran was the dismember-
ment of the Safavi empire by two treaties, one with the Ottomans,
the other with Shah Tahmasb II, a son of the late shah. By the Russo-
Ottoman Treaty of 1724, Peter recognized Ottoman control over
western Iran exclusive of the Caspian littoral. The Russo-Iranian Treaty
was invalidated by Tahmasb's refusal to make the extensive conces-
sions desired by Peter and agreed to by Tahmasb's negotiator. This
fact was conveniently overlooked by the Russian authorities. The
provisions that so angered Tahmasb called for the cession to Russia
of the western and southern Caspian coast (over which he had no
control at the time). There were also provisions for the encourage-
ment of trade and military cooperation. For its part, Russia did not
cooperate with Tahmasb against the Afghans but did maintain its
garrisons in Derbent, Baku, and Gilan. These territorial gains proved
much less advantageous than the Russians had expected. Silk-rich
Gilan did not provide the desired revenues because there was consid-
erable emigration from the Russian-occupied area and much of. the
province lay outside Russian control. In addition, the occupying
forces at various points along the coast suffered heavy casualties from
disease. About 100,000 Russian soldiers died, almost all from dis-
ease, during the occupation of the coastal provinces. No attempt was
made to garrison the provinces of Mazandaran and Astarabad, which
Russia had also claimed.
After the death of Peter the Great, Russian interest in Iran waned,
while Tahmasb and his able general, the future Nader Shah, began to
reconquer the lost provinces. Finally, Tsaritsa Anna agreed in the
treaties of Rasht (1732) and Ganjeh (1735) to withdraw all Russian
forces stationed in the former Safavi provinces. Russian interest in
Iran remained dormant until the reign of Catherine the Great late
in the eighteenth century.
There are several points of similarity between Peter's and Cather-
ine's Iranian ambitions. Both rulers justified Russian military inter-