Fath Ali Shah Qajar at the Battle of Iravan (Erivan)

by Mahir Khalifa-zadeh

Created: 12 April, 2026

Azeri Turk Fath Ali Shah Qajar's victory over the Russians at the fortress of Iravan

(city-fortress of Iravan, Qajar's Azerbaijani Iravan Khanate, now Yerevan, Armenia)

Qajar-era Royal court painter Mirza Baba's depiction of Fath Ali Shah's victory over the Russians at Iravan
(First Siege of Erivan), First Russo-Iranian War of 1804–1813, painting, National Museum of Iran, Tehran

Portrait of Azeri Turk Fath Ali Shah Qajar, painting by Azeri Turk Mirza Qadim Iravani,
paper, watercolor, 1825-1875, National Museum of Art, Baku, Azerbaijan
http://www.visions.az/en/news/493/5ee054d8/

Azeri Turk Fath Ali Shah Qajar in full regals and
Crown Prince Abbas Mirza Qajar (at the shah's left hand side in a blue dress person),
painting, National Museum of Iran, Tehran 

Azeri Turk Crown Prince Abbas Mirza Qajar was a Commander of the Azerbaijani Army in the Caucasian front, First Russo-Iranian War 1804-1813.

Abbas Mirza (8 years old boy) accompanied his great-uncle Aga Muhammad Shah Qajar in his campaign to Shusha, Qarabagh khanate, present-day Azerbaijan. 

Azeri Turk Aga Muhammad Shah Qajar proclaimed Abbas Mirza as the official heir of the Qajar throne. 

Crown Prince Abbas Mirza's headquarter and his army's arsenal were in Tabriz, Azerbaijan, Qajar Empire. 

Abbas Mirza was only 15 years old when he was appointed as a commander of Azerbaijan's Army to fight the Russians. He was in charge of the defense of Azerbaijan and Caucasia's Azerbaijani khanates.

Notwithstanding his young age, Abbas Mirza demonstrated bravery and commanding skills. In the first siege of Iravan on 7 July 1804,  he, leading 10,000 man cavalry, attacked the Russian army's center and forced them to retreat. 

Crown Prince Abbas Mirza Qajar's portrait (1789-1833), 

Islamic Arts Museum, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;my;Mus21;2;en  

Later, on 10 July 1804, the freshly arrived troops under the personal command of Fath Ali Shah Qajar pushed the Russians from Iravan back to the previously stormed and occupied fortress of Ganjeh/Ganja, present-day Azerbaijan.

In 1805, the Crown Prince initiated a military reform (Nezam-e Jadid) in his army of Azerbaijan to bring it to the merit of the European discipline and military tactics.

Qajar's Azerbaijani fortress of Iravan (now Yerevan, Armenia),
completely destroyed by Russians/Soviets and Armenians
https://qerbiazerbaycan.com/en/sardars-fortress/

Palace (left upper corner) of Azeri Turk Hosein Qoli Khan Qajar,* Sardar of Iravan
and ruins of Iravan fortress, photo, 19th century (now Yerevan, Armenia),
palace and fortress demolished by Russians/Soviets and Armenians
https://irs-az.com/en/journal/no-52-2022/429

According to the Treaty of  Finckenstein of 1807 between Napoleon Bonaparte of France and Fath Ali Shah Qajar of Iran, French engineers upgraded the fortifications of Iravan, as well as the forts of Sardarabad and Urdubad (now Ordubad) in Nakhcivan, and built a new fort of Abbasabad (named in honor of Abbas Mirza, Crown Prince) on the bank of Aras river, present-day Azerbaijan.

In interlude between First and Second Russo-Iranian wars, the prince regent Abbas Mirza sent most talented students, as a part of establishing modern Nezam forces' program, to study modern military, weapons production, engineering, technology, languages and medicine abroad, in Britain particularly. He planned to establish a military college in Tabriz.

* In 1806-1828, Azeri Turk Hosein Qoli Khan Qajar, a close relative to Fath Ali Shah Qajar and one of the best commanders of the Shah's army, was a governor/ khan of Iravan khanate and held the title "Sardar Iravani". The regular garrison of Iravan fortress was about 3,000 men under Sardar Irevani command and 11 artillery pieces under Sardar Iravani's younger brother Azeri Turk Sari Aslan command.

Sources:

Maziar Behrooz, "Iran at War", 2023, London, I.B.TAURUS, 213.

National Museum of Iran, Tehran, available at: www.irannationalmuseum.ir

National Museum of Art, Baku, Azerbaijan, available at: https://nationalartmuseum.az/  

Virtual Western Azerbaijan, Baku, available at: https://qerbiazerbaycan.com/en/

Huseynov Rizvan, "Destroyed Iravan Fortress: Brief Overview of Historical Site in Yerevan", IRS-HERITAGE, 2022, Vol 52, p. 22-29, available at: 

https://irs-az.com/sites/default/files/2022-09/Heritage_52_2022%20small%20%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80.%2022%20-%2029.pdf

Tase Peter, "Abbasabad Fortress: Capturing the historical essence of Azerbaijan," Foreign Policy News, August 16, 2015, available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20170912003412/http://foreignpolicynews.org/2015/08/16/abbasabad-fortress-capturing-the-historical-essence-of-azerbaijan/

Portrait of Abbas Mirza Qajar, Islamic Art Museum, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, available at: https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;my;Mus21;2;en