ration dynasty as governor and the extension or Georgia s boundaries
to include territory it had ruled in earlier times when it was stronger.
He submitted a plan based on these concepts to Paul, who endorsed
it, although unforseen events later caused the tsar to curtail the role
of the Bagrations.
Another, less prominent official who played an important role in
informing Paul was the consul Skibinevskii who had first been appoint-
ed by Catherine in 1793 to promote Russia's commercial interests in
the Iranian port of Anzali. He continued to serve in that capacity,
although the deterioration in Russo-Iranian relations had forced him
to move to other Caspian ports. One example of the way ideas were
transmitted from Catherine's reign to Paul's can be found in Skibi-
nevskii's report on Aqa Mohammad's seizure of Anzali in 1786, an
act that increased significantly the hostility between Russia and the
Qajar leader. The two consuls who had been directly involved in that
event were no longer in a position to influence their superiors. Tu-
manovskii was dead and Skilichii was in disfavor because of his inef-
fectiveness after the conquest of Anzali. However, the former con-
suls' self-serving distortion of events was accepted by Skibinevskii
and, through him, found acceptance in St. Petersburg. The State
Council did not doubt Skibinevskii's report that the former consuls
were the innocent victims of Aqa Mohammad's unprincipled rapacity.
The rest of Skibinevskii's report set forth the attitudes toward Iran-
ian trade that had developed during Catherine's reign: that Russia
could derive great economic benefit from such trade and that Russia
ought to establish its own "factory" at Anzali in imitation of the
commercial "factories" of various European countries in several parts
of Asia. The State Council agreed with all the main points of the
memorandum, as did Paul, who tried to revive Russo-Iranian trade by
sending Skibinevskii back to Anzali in 1800.^2
Two of the people who were particularly influential in transmitting
ideas about Asia from Catherine's reign were the Zubov brothers,
Platon and Valerian. Their comeback began with Paul's general am-
nesty of November 1800, but Alexander was the one who particular-
ly valued their advice. Both brothers championed the argument for
extensive Russian involvement in the Caucasus and Iran to Alexander
and the State Council. The tsar put great trust in Platon Zubov's opin-
ions about Caucasian affairs. P was Platon who wrote the manifesto,
issued in Alexander's name, announcing the incorporation of Georgia
into the Russian Empire. The tsar also chose him to help devise an
administrative system for that new province. Until Platen's death in
1822, he continued to argue in favor of Russian expansion in the
48 Russian Policy: Questions and Continuity