Talysh Khanate

Talysh Khanate
Tolyša xánati (Talysh)
خانات تالش (Persian)
Khanate
Under Iranian suzerainty[1]
1747–1828[2]

Talysh Khanate at its greatest extent (1826–1828)
CapitalLankaran
DemonymTalyshi
GovernmentKhanate
Khan 
• 1747–1787
Qara Khan
• 1787–1814
Mir Mustafa Khan
• 1814–1828
Mir Hassan Khan
Historical eraEarly modern period
• Established
1747
• Disestablished
1828[2]
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Safavid Talish
Namin Khanate
Khanate of Karganrud
Lankaran Uyezd
Today part ofIran
Azerbaijan

The Talysh Khanate or Talish Khanate (Talysh: Tolyša xánati, Persian: خانات تالش, romanizedKhānāt-e Tālesh) was an Iranian khanate of Talysh origin that was established in Afsharid Persia and existed from the middle of the 18th century till the beginning of the 19th century, located in the south-west coast of the Caspian Sea.

It comprised the southeastern part of the modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan and the eastern tip of north-western Iran. The capital of the khanate was its chief city, Lankaran. As a result of the Persian defeat in the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828, the khanate was dissolved and absorbed by the Russian Empire.

The uncertainty surrounding the history of Talysh Khanate is not due only to the paucity of sources, a further problem is the rarity of studies about it. Several studies and short surveys appeared in Russian, Azerbaijani, Turkish, and Persian. Regrettably, some of these studies are tenuous and contain erroneous and biased interpretations.[3]

  1. ^ Bournoutian 2016, p. xvii: "Serious historians and geographers agree that after the fall of the Safavids, and especially from the mid-eighteenth century, the territory of the South Caucasus was composed of the khanates of Ganja, Kuba, Shirvan, Baku, Talesh, Sheki, Karabagh, Nakhichivan and Yerevan, all of which were under Iranian suzerainty."
  2. ^ Tapper 1997, p. 161.
  3. ^ Shahvar & Abramoff 2018, p. 26.