20 Iranian Empire and Caucasian BorderlandsQobbeh's motives are less clear, but the ruling dynasty had tradition-
ally allied itself with strong Iranian governments and Sheikh 'Ali Khan
had recently been involved in some commercial disputes with the
Russians. The khans of Yerevan and Shirvan resisted for a time but
then submitted to superior military force. The allies Georgia and Qara-
bagh refused to submit and particularly bloody warfare resulted. Faced
with Qarabaghi opposition, Aqa Mohammad plundered the country-
side and left part of his forces to besiege the capital, Shusha, while he
proceeded to Georgia. After fierce fighting in an unequal contest, Aqa
Mohammad entered Tbilisi, the capital, which his men plundered for
nearly two weeks. The approach of winter signaled the end of the
traditional campaigning season, so he left the region without fully
consolidating his position there.
The 1975 campaign had a serious disruptive effect on various as-
pects of Caucasian life. One of the major results was the further de-
population of a region that was already underpopulated. In addition
to battle casualties, there were wholesale massacres of anti-Qajar ele-
ments in Georgia and Qarabagh. Many survivors in both principalities,
soldiers as well as civilians, were carried off as slaves. An official Iran-
ian source claimed that 500 Qarabaghi boys were enslaved. In Georgia,
the losses were even greater, involving perhaps 10,000 to 15,000 wo-
men and children.^5 The number of people under the jurisdiction of
established authorities was further reduced by the flight of sedentary
farmers as well as nomads to remote areas, where they hoped to find
shelter. This problem was particularly acute in Qarabagh and Shirvan.
The economic life of the principalities suffered as a result of the Qajar
army living off the land, plundering herds of animals and objects of
value, and destroying crops as a military tactic. Tbilisi and New
Shemakhi, the capital of Shirvan, suffered especially severe damage
from the Qajars' scorched earth policy. Moreover, the Qajar army re-
mained in the Caucasus during the harvest season and must have in-
terfered with the gathering of crops and seeds for the next planting.
All these setbacks came on top of an existing famine in Qarabagh
and Ganjeh, not to mention the raids, local wars, and outbreaks of
plague that had caused so much suffering in the recent past.
None of the rulers of the eastern Caucasus survived 1795 unscathed.
After years of pursuing their own aggrandizement and endeavoring
to throw off any master, they were subjected to extreme pressure to
acknowledge Aqa Mohammad as their suzerain. Those who attempted
to resist did so at considerable cost. Those who submitted were bur-
dened with tribute payments at a time when their revenue was re-