Page:Historyofpersiaf00watsrich.djvu/225

CHAPTER VIII.

Vague Terms of Treaty of Gulistan—District of Gokcheh claimed by Russia—It is occupied by that Power—Excitement throughout Persia—War breaks out—Persians at first successful—They advance to the neighbourhood of Tiflis, and are defeated at the Zezam, and again near Genja—Avariciousness of the Shah—Division in his Council—Negotiations for Peace—The Russians checked on the Araxes—Erivan besieged—Siege raised—Abbassabad taken by General Paskiewitch—Defeat of General Karkoffski by Persian Commanders at Asterick—Final Siege and Capture of Erivan—Invasion of Azerbaeejan by Prince Aristoff—Tabreez falls into his Hands—Renewed Negotiations—Treaty of Turkomanchai

FROM the perusal of the preceding chapter it will have been seen that so unsettled was the condition of Persia in the reign of Fetteh Ali Shah, that scarcely a single year elapsed without the occurrence, in one direction or another, of some outbreak in the kingdom or on the frontiers, which called for the armed interference of the king's representatives. Such was the normal state of things, but as these outbreaks for the most part soon subsided, and left Persia in the same condition in which they had found her, they were not looked upon by the Shah's government as being very serious calamities. If they had their darker aspect, they had also a brighter side on which they might be viewed. If they excited discontent amongst the people of the districts ravaged by the insurgents or invaders, they in turn afforded to an unpaid army the opportunity of enriching itself by