The Treaty of Constantinople (russian: Константинопольский договор,) Russo-Ottoman Treaty or Treaty of the Partition of Persia (''Iran Mukasemenamesi'') was a treaty concluded on 24 June 1724 between the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

and the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, dividing large portions of the territory of mutually neighbouring Safavid Iran between them. The Russians and the Ottomans were engaged in a race to occupy more Iranian territories and were about to engage in a war over the occupation of Gandjeh when France intervened. In the

Russo-Persian War (1722-1723) The Russo-Persian Wars or Russo-Iranian Wars were a series of conflicts between 1651 and 1828, concerning Persia (Iran) and the Russian Empire. Russia and Persia fought these wars over disputed governance of territories and countries in the Cau ...

, Russia had managed to conquer swaths of Safavid Iran's territories in the North Caucasus, Transcaucasia, and northern mainland Iran, while the Ottoman Turks had invaded and conquered all Iranian territories in the west, most notably

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

. Still, the news of a Russo-Iranian accord that would settle the 1722-1723 Russo-Iranian War precipitated a crisis between Imperial Russia and Ottoman Turkey, who openly stated that it would not permit any other power to establish itself on the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

. As the Ottomans and Russians both neighboured each other as well as Iran for centuries, and all three were geo-political rivals of each other, the matter was taken into the highest regard. With France as intermediary, the two governments of the Ottoman Empire and Russia eventually signed a treaty in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

on 12 June 1724, dividing a large portion of Iran between them. Thus, the annexed Iranian lands located on the east of the conjunction of the rivers Kurosh (Kur) and Aras were given to the Russians. These comprised the provinces in northern mainland Iran ( Gilan, Mazandaran and

Astrabad Gorgan ( fa, گرگان ; also romanized as ''Gorgān'', ''Gurgān'', and ''Gurgan''), formerly Esterabad ( ; also romanized as ''Astarābād'', ''Asterabad'', and ''Esterābād''), is the capital city of Golestan Province, Iran. It lies appro ...

), the territories in Dagestan (amongst which

Derbent Derbent (russian: Дербе́нт; lez, Кьвевар, Цал; az, Дәрбәнд, italic=no, Dərbənd; av, Дербенд; fa, دربند), formerly romanized as Derbend, is a city in Dagestan, Russia, located on the Caspian Sea. It i ...

), as well as Baku and the territory surrounding it in the

Shirvan Shirvan (from fa, شروان, translit=Shirvān; az, Şirvan; Tat: ''Şirvan''), also spelled as Sharvān, Shirwan, Shervan, Sherwan and Šervān, is a historical Iranian region in the eastern Caucasus, known by this name in both pre-Islam ...

province. The lands on the west went to the Ottomans, comprising large parts of Iranian Azerbaijan (incl.

Ardabil Ardabil (, fa, اردبیل, Ardabīl or ''Ardebīl'') is a city in northwestern Iran, and the capital of Ardabil Province. As of the 2022 census, Ardabil's population was 588,000. The dominant majority in the city are ethnic Iranian Azerbaija ...

and

Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...

Hamadan Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') (Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ham ...

Kermanshah Kermanshah ( fa, کرمانشاه, Kermânšâh ), also known as Kermashan (; romanized: Kirmaşan), is the capital of Kermanshah Province, located from Tehran in the western part of Iran. According to the 2016 census, its population is 946,68 ...

, and much of the rest of Iranian-ruled

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

(encompassing modern-day

and

). The treaty furthermore specified that if Safavid Iran, at that time led by the regime of king

Tahmasp II Tahmasp II ( fa, طهماسب, translit=Ṭahmāsb or ; 1704? – 11 February 1740) was one of the last Safavid rulers of Persia (Iran). Name "Tahmasp" ( fa, طهماسب, translit=Ṭahmāsb) is a New Persian name, ultimately derived from Ol ...

, would refuse to accept the treaty both Imperial Russia and the

Porte Porte may refer to: *Sublime Porte, the central government of the Ottoman empire *Porte, Piedmont, a municipality in the Piedmont region of Italy *John Cyril Porte, British/Irish aviator *Richie Porte, Australian professional cyclist who competes ...

would take common action against Iran and install a

puppet ruler A puppet ruler is a person who has a title indicating possession of political power, but who, in reality, is either loyal to or controlled by outside individuals or forces. Such outside power can be exercised by a foreign government, in which case ...

.Alexander Mikaberidze
"Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia"
ABC-CLIO 2011. p 726 However, the gains for both Russia and Ottoman Turkey proved to be very brief, for the 1732

Treaty of Resht The Treaty of Resht was signed between the Russian Empire and Safavid Empire at Rasht on 21 January 1732. According to this treaty Russia waived its claim to any territory south of the Kura River. This included return of the provinces of Gilan, ...

and 1735

Treaty of Ganja The Treaty of Ganja was concluded between the Russian Empire and Safavids on 10 March 1735 during the Persian Siege of Ganja (1734) near the city of Ganja in present-day Azerbaijan. The treaty established a defensive alliance against the Ottoman Em ...

returned all territories taken by Russia back to Iran, while the Ottoman–Persian War (1730–35) decisively returned all Ottoman annexed territories back to Iran.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Treaty of Constantinople 1724 Constantinople 1724

18th century in Istanbul Constantinople 1724 Constantinople 1724 1724 in law 1724 in the Russian Empire 1724 in Iran History of East Azerbaijan Province History of West Azerbaijan Province History of Tabriz History of Gilan History of Ardabil 18th century in Georgia (country) 18th century in Azerbaijan 18th century in Armenia 1724 in the Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire–Russia treaties

See also

References