Russian Expansion under Catherine the Great 29the eighteenth century were covered by two anonymous and subse-
quently forgotten French works. Travel accounts of two German nat-
uralists, Gmelin and Guldenstadt, were also published in Russia, al-
though Giildenstadt's work was published posthumously and suffered
from many inaccuracies.^13
Russia's leaders relied less on books than on the information pro-
vided by contemporaries who had some direct contact with the
provinces in which Russia was interested. Russian officials, such as
General Ivan Gudovich of the Caucasian Line (who thought the dif-
ferences between Sunni and Shii Islam were minor) or semiofficial
agents, such as the adventurer Reineggs (who urged Potemkin to
conquer the Caucasus) were unperceptive observers who reported their
illusions with firm conviction. Armenians and Georgians were more
knowledgable, of course, but their communications with the Russian
authorities were often colored by the hope of obtaining aid from that
country that would strengthen the position of Caucasian Christendom.
One of the Caucasians who was most active in counseling the Rus-
sians was an Armenian archbishop, Joseph Argutinskii-Dolgorukov,
who lived in Russia. He was a fervent advocate of the Russian take-
over of his homeland and argued that the security of the proposed
Christian protectorate in that quarter necessitated the acquisition of
all the khanates north of the Aras River, even those with few Chris-
tian inhabitants. This was a point of view Catherine and Potemkin
shared, although with all the archbishop's advice it is difficult to tell
how much he guided official opinion and how much he confirmed
opinions arrived at by other means. Catherine and Potemkin both re-
lied on him in a host of ways when major undertakings in the eastern
Caucasus were planned. Potemkin ordered the publication of the
archbishop's history of Russo-Armenian relations during the reign of
Peter the Great.
14
The archbishop had the only Armenian and Persian
type fonts anywhere in Russia at his Astrakhan press. Therefore,
Catherine had him print her manifesto announcing the 1796 campaign
to the Caucasian and Iranian peoples. He accompanied the campaign,
vociferously proclaiming Russia's intent to deliver the Armenians
from Muslim rule and serving as hostage for the safe return of a khan
who went to negotiate at the Russian camp. When the head of the
Armenian Church, the Catholicos of Echmiadzin, died in 1799, Russia
obtained the office for Argutinskii Dolgorukov, who held it until his
death in 1801.
King Erekle of Georgia also influenced Russian policy. From the
1770s on, he urged Catherine to take control of all of the territory
between Georgia and the Caspian and argued that Muslims as well as