An Analysis of the Shiite Clergie's Role in the Second Period of Iran-Russia Wars

From the later part of Safawid government on, the Russians would think of annexing the Caucasia to their realm, and their wish was somehow realized through the Golestan treaty. The Russians’ attempt to extend their frontiers to Aras River, the effort of a group of courtiers around Abbas Mirza for retaking the lost regions, and the fruitless negotiations prepared the ground for the second period of Iran-Russia wars. To deactivate the group objecting to the war, the proponents of Abbas Mirza tried to give a religious tint to their actions through the clergy. The Shiite clergy who regarded defending Islam and the Shiite king against the infidels as their duty came to the scene, proclaiming war against the Russians and actively taking part in the battlefields. At first, with the Russians’ being rushed and the dominance of Jihadi spirit, Iranians became victorious temporally. But gradually with the Russians’ marshaling, the outbreak of disagreement between the clergy and Abbas Mirza, and the commanders’ laxity in the battlefield, the Iranian army was defeated in different fronts. With the advance of Russian forces to Tabriz, some of the city’s elites headed by Mir Fatah, the prominent clergyman of the city, who were dissenting Qajar yielded the city to the Russians with no resistance. Using the analytical-historical method, the present article states the role of the clerics in starting the war with Russians, their presence in the battlefield, and their function in yielding Tabriz as well as the related consequences.