Siege of Erivan (1804)

For the 1808 battle, see Siege of Erivan (1808).

Siege of Erivan
Part of the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813

Fath-Ali Shah's victory over the Russians at Yerevan. Mirza Baba, Iran, 1804–1810
DateJuly–September 1804
Location
Erivan, Qajar Iran (present-day Yerevan, Armenia)
Result Persian victory
Belligerents

Qajar Iran

Erivan Khanate		 Russia Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Fath-Ali Shah Qajar
Abbas Mirza
Mohammad Khan		 Pavel Tsitsianov
Strength
6,000–7,000 troops inside the citadel[1]
18,000 cavalrymen[2]		 3,000 to 20,000[3][2]
Georgian and Armenian auxiliaries[2]
Casualties and losses
Unknown Heavy[4]

The siege of Erivan (Yerevan, the capital of modern Armenia) took place from July to September 1804, during the Russo-Persian War (1804–1813). After a difficult advance, the Russians under Pavel Tsitsianov besieged Erivan. The Iranian forces inside Erivan's citadel prevented the Russians from making a direct attack, while those outside the citadel surrounded the Russians and cut the invaders' supply lines. Commanded by Crown-Prince Abbas Mirza and King Fath-Ali Shah Qajar himself (r. 1797–1834), the Iranians successfully defended the city and defeated the Russian attack.[5][6] Tsitsianov, in order to save his reputation, shifted the blame on a plethora of people and matters, and deliberately left out his own wrongdoings.

  1. ^ Atkin 1980, p. 120.
  2. ^ a b c Kazemzadeh 1991, p. 332.
  3. ^ Behrooz 2013, pp. 55–56, 67.
  4. ^ Atkin 1980, pp. 120–121.
  5. ^ Atkin 1980, pp. 99, 120.
  6. ^ Kettenhofen, Bournoutian & Hewsen 1998, pp. 542–551.