Haji Chalabi Khan (; 1703 1755), was a statesman, warlord, ruler and founder of Shaki Khanate.

Origin

Born to a certain landlord Gurban beg during the reign of Sultan Husayn in 1703, he was of noble birth. Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary cites a legend calling him the grandson of an Armenian priest who converted to Islam. Biographer Haji Seyid Abdulhamid mentions him as a 7th generation descendant of Darvish Mohammad Khan, last khan of Shaki before Safavid Invasion of

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 ...

. Petrushevsky also thought of him being either

Udi Udi may refer to: Places * Udi, Enugu, a local government areas and city in Nigeria * Udi, a place in the Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh, India People * Udi Gal (born 1979), Israeli Olympic sailor * Udi Vaks (born 1979), Israeli Olympic judoka ...

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

origin. There are also some indications that he may have been descended from

Shirvanshahs ''Shirvanshah'' ( fa, شروانشاه), also spelled as ''Shīrwān Shāh'' or ''Sharwān Shāh'', was the title of the rulers of Shirvan from the mid-9th century to the early 16th century. The title remained in a single family, the Yazidids, ...

Rebellion against Nader Shah

He was supported by locals in opposition to corrupt Afsharid appointed viceroy Malik Najaf. His name was frequently mentioned in annals regarding to

Nader's Dagestan campaign Nader's Dagestan campaign, refers to the campaigns conducted by the Persian Empire (under the Safavid and Afsharid dynasty) under the ruling king Nader Shah between the years 1741 and 1743 in order to fully subjugate the Dagestan region in the No ...

. He was confirmed by Nader as an overseer to check corruption of Malik Najaf. However viceroy protested against it, causing locals to rebel. In course of rebellion, despite losing 500 families to Nader, Chalabi managed to murder Malik Najaf in 1743. To punish disobedience,

Nader Nader is a masculine given name and surname of Arabic origin ( ''Nādir'', meaning "rare", "unique") and may refer to: Persons Given name * Nader Shah, former Shah of Iran (Persia) * Nader Ahmadi (born 1986), Iranian football player * Nader ...

attacked Shaki in 1744 and sieged the Galarsan-Gorarsan fortress where Haji Chalabi took refuge. The name of the fortress ''Gələrsən Görərsən'' which means in Azerbaijani language "Come and see" derives from the historic episode related to the siege. When Nader Shah sent an ultimatum to surrender, Chalabi sent a response letter saying "Come and see". Outraged shah ordered to destroy the rest of the town. He successfully defended against a second attack from Nader in February 1745. However he submitted to Nader in March 1746, asking for forgiveness. Nader approved his submission and forgave him, appointing Malik Najaf's nephew Malik Jafar as new governor and Haji Chalabi as his overseer.

Reign

He declared his independence as the khan when Nader was murdered in 1747. Using power vacuum, Chalabi raided south as far as

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 ...

and became a major power in the region with strong army. His first target was

Karabakh Karabakh ( az, Qarabağ ; hy, Ղարաբաղ, Ġarabaġ ) is a geographic region in present-day southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and ...

in 1748, where he made an alliance of

Melikdoms of Karabakh The Five Melikdoms of Karabakh, also known as Khamsa Melikdoms (), were Armenian feudal entities on the territory of modern Nagorno-Karabakh and neighboring lands, from the dissolution of the Principality of Khachen in the 15th century to the ...

and rival branches of Javanshir clan, although nothing came out of it. Alarmed local rulers, namely Panah khan of

, Heydargulu khan of Nakhchivan,

Shahverdi khan of Ganja Shahverdi Khan Ziyadoghlu () (d. 1768) was the beylerbey of Karabakh from 1740 to 1743 and first khan of Ganja from 1747 to 1760. He was from the Ziyadoglu branch of the Qajar clan who ruled the Beylerbeylik of Karabakh as hereditary governors. ...

, Kazim khan of Karadagh concluded alliance against Shaki Khanate. They were invited by Teimuraz II who wished to join their alliance, but in fact capturing them as hostages, demanding tributes. Having received the news, Chalabi khan and his army rushed to the aid of their former enemies. His forces prevailed in the battle against Georgian prince Heraclius in June 1752 near Aghstafa river and routed them to

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

. Chalabi khan appointed his son Aghakishi beg as viceroy to newly conquered territories of Ganja, Kazakh and Borchali. Subsequently, in 1755, in an attempt to establish his hegemony over the

Shirvan Khanate Shirvan Khanate ( fa, خانات شیروان, Khānāt-e Shirvan) was a Caucasian khanate under Iranian suzerainty, which controlled the Shirvan region from 1761 to 1820. Background Under the Safavid dynasty of Iran, Shirvan was a leading silk ...

, Haji Chalabi was defeated by Huseynali khan of

Quba Quba () is a city and the administrative centre of the Quba District of Azerbaijan. The city lies on the north-eastern slopes of Shahdag mountain, at an altitude of 600 metres above sea level, on the right bank of the Kudyal river. It has a po ...

and the result of this defeat was the decline of the power of Sheki Khanate. Chalabi died same year from an illness.

Religious policy

He was a zealous ruler and known to be imposed a double tax on Udi population called "din ipəyi". Gilahli Mosque was built on the order of Haji Chalabi in 1749.

Family

He had four sons: * Hasan agha - died in battle against Amir Aslan khan of Afsharid army * Aghakishi beg - viceroy of Ganja and next khan of Shaki. * Abdulgadir khan * Jafar agha

Origin

Rebellion against Nader Shah

Reign

Religious policy

Family

References

See also