Aqa Mohammad Khan Qajar's Caucasian Campaigns and Iran-Ottoman Relations (1795-1797)

In this study Aqa Mohammad Khan’s Caucasian campaign and Iran-Ottoman relations (1795-1797) are studied based on Ottoman sources. Ottoman’s policy towards Aqa Mohammad Khan’s Caucasian campaigns is the main research focus of this study. It goes without saying that the author has been sympathetic to the Ottoman, thus, rendering a belligerent image of Aqa Mohammad Khan and the Qajar state portraying the Qajar campaigns as ambitious strides towards restoring the Safavid borders. However, Iranian sources suggest otherwise and hold Ottoman’s encroachments at Iranian borders during the weaker years of the Zand dynasty responsible for Aqa Mohammad Khan’s measures to stabilize the country.