During the wars of Iranian Unification, the world looked at awe on the fragmentation of the Iranian plateau. Agha Mohammad Khan was the main center of the unification effort, taking land after land, and every battle, putting military experience under his belt.
The Russians under Catherine The Great saw the Iranian dysfunction as a way to increase Caspian influence, giving them economic influence in the Caucasus and India, and political influence in Turkestan and Iran.
Catherine sent Count Voinovich on an expedition to set up a base of operations for Russian traders to have less of a burden in trading with the east, and especially, a base of military operations to increase Russian influence in the Caspian, setting up further bases in Persia, and the Caucasus. Having a fort in the general area would be able to protect Russian merchants from Turkic nomads easier, and set up a post to increase business in Bukhara and India.
He arrived at the coast of Gurgan to ask for permission to build a trading post in Behshahr. However, Behshar was a favorite place of Agha Mohammad Khan, especially since he rebuilt it, and declined the offer. However, Voinovich didn't take no for an answer.
Voinovich took his fleet, soldiers, and arms, and proceeded to occupy the Ashoorzadeh island with his arms, and setting up a strongly made fort, with 18 guns, and a recorded number of 650 soldiers in all, and only 50 infantrymen. It may sound like it wasn't as much of a problem, but the fort was only a short 50 miles from Astarabad, very important to the Northern Iranian base, especially since the turmoil in Iran was still many years from ending.
This landing affected the geopolitics of the surrounding areas even not in Iran. The Tekke Turkmens, one of the most powerful Turkman tribes in Turkestan started a slow evacuation of the Caspian, and displaced the other Turkman tribes, as they occupied more cities to the east. While he did host Persians to parties, he alarmed the locals, and he became very unpopular, and rumors spread believing Russia had sent a 60,000 armed force to Dagestan.
Catherine demanded that Voinovich get Agha Mohammad Khan's direct permission to build a fortress as to avoid conflict. However, Agha Mohammad Khan did not want to see a fort constructed near his not even completed domain that could fit "1,000 defenders" He did not want another draining battle while still campaigning, and especially not wanting to aggrovate the Russians into war with a direct battle, and he especially had no fleet to defeat the Russians.
Agha Mohammad Khan then decided to ask to come to the Russian fort to meet and see the fort himself and congratulate them on their architecture. He then invited Voinovich and his higher officers to dine with him at a hunting lodge in the mountains. When all of them arrived, they were surrounded by 600 Persian soldiers, and given the option of either tearing down the fort they built and returning home, or being hung. He decided to take it down knowing Agha Mohammad Khan was a man of his word.
This affected the entire political region of the Caspian, especially because it indirectly helped lead to Agha Mohammad Khan's war against the leader of Gilan because he had friendly relations with them.
Russia then got further involved in the Qajar-Gilan conflict, and in the future, the Russians and Persians would go to full-on war.
HOWEVER, it could have turned out much differently. What if instead, Voinovich and his commanders had stayed, instead of hosting the feast on the fort, and so the Khan cannot pull off the diplomatic success in our timeline, and instead, he must unexpectedly build a large enough fleet and lay siege to the Russian fort of 650 with his army. What would happen? How many troops does Agha need? Can the Russians hold off an advance? How does this affect the relations between the two?
The Russians under Catherine The Great saw the Iranian dysfunction as a way to increase Caspian influence, giving them economic influence in the Caucasus and India, and political influence in Turkestan and Iran.
Catherine sent Count Voinovich on an expedition to set up a base of operations for Russian traders to have less of a burden in trading with the east, and especially, a base of military operations to increase Russian influence in the Caspian, setting up further bases in Persia, and the Caucasus. Having a fort in the general area would be able to protect Russian merchants from Turkic nomads easier, and set up a post to increase business in Bukhara and India.
He arrived at the coast of Gurgan to ask for permission to build a trading post in Behshahr. However, Behshar was a favorite place of Agha Mohammad Khan, especially since he rebuilt it, and declined the offer. However, Voinovich didn't take no for an answer.
Voinovich took his fleet, soldiers, and arms, and proceeded to occupy the Ashoorzadeh island with his arms, and setting up a strongly made fort, with 18 guns, and a recorded number of 650 soldiers in all, and only 50 infantrymen. It may sound like it wasn't as much of a problem, but the fort was only a short 50 miles from Astarabad, very important to the Northern Iranian base, especially since the turmoil in Iran was still many years from ending.
This landing affected the geopolitics of the surrounding areas even not in Iran. The Tekke Turkmens, one of the most powerful Turkman tribes in Turkestan started a slow evacuation of the Caspian, and displaced the other Turkman tribes, as they occupied more cities to the east. While he did host Persians to parties, he alarmed the locals, and he became very unpopular, and rumors spread believing Russia had sent a 60,000 armed force to Dagestan.
Catherine demanded that Voinovich get Agha Mohammad Khan's direct permission to build a fortress as to avoid conflict. However, Agha Mohammad Khan did not want to see a fort constructed near his not even completed domain that could fit "1,000 defenders" He did not want another draining battle while still campaigning, and especially not wanting to aggrovate the Russians into war with a direct battle, and he especially had no fleet to defeat the Russians.
Agha Mohammad Khan then decided to ask to come to the Russian fort to meet and see the fort himself and congratulate them on their architecture. He then invited Voinovich and his higher officers to dine with him at a hunting lodge in the mountains. When all of them arrived, they were surrounded by 600 Persian soldiers, and given the option of either tearing down the fort they built and returning home, or being hung. He decided to take it down knowing Agha Mohammad Khan was a man of his word.
This affected the entire political region of the Caspian, especially because it indirectly helped lead to Agha Mohammad Khan's war against the leader of Gilan because he had friendly relations with them.
Russia then got further involved in the Qajar-Gilan conflict, and in the future, the Russians and Persians would go to full-on war.
HOWEVER, it could have turned out much differently. What if instead, Voinovich and his commanders had stayed, instead of hosting the feast on the fort, and so the Khan cannot pull off the diplomatic success in our timeline, and instead, he must unexpectedly build a large enough fleet and lay siege to the Russian fort of 650 with his army. What would happen? How many troops does Agha need? Can the Russians hold off an advance? How does this affect the relations between the two?