off the Russian yoke, unless they could obtain the armed support either of Persia or of Turkey. Alexander accordingly tried to enlist both of those powers in his favour; but the Turkish Government was occupied in watching the progress of Napoleon, and Fetteh Ali was not at that time disposed to draw down upon himself the antagonism of his powerful northern neighbour. Alexander was, however, hospitably received by the chief of the Avars and by the Khan of Karabagh, both of whom agreed to join him in an attempt to expel the Russians from Georgia. But these schemes became known at Tiflis in time to admit of measures being concerted to thwart them; and General Lazeroff, by the aid of his superior artillery, gained on the banks of the Lora a decisive victory over the hardy followers of the Georgian prince. The Russian commander of the troops in the Caucasus attacked the town of Genja, the modern Elisabetpol, and the severity with which he treated the inhabitants was meant to be a warning of what those had to expect who should resume to withstand the power of the Czar. From Genja, General Seeseeanoff dvanced to Erivan, being led on by a promise of the governor of that fortress that he would yield it to the Russian commander.
The court of Persia was with reason alarmed at these proceedings, and the crown-prince was instructed to take the field and to march on Erivan, while the Shah himself, in order to be near to the scene of operations, encamped upon the plain of Oojan. The crown-prince sent one of his officers, Mehdi Kuli Khan, with six thousand horsemen, to the Turkish frontier for the purpose of bringing back some wandering tribes of the
