From the 18th century, Russia began to expand into the Transcaucasian region and intervene in the affairs of the Caucasus. After years of conquest, Russia annexed the Georgian kingdom of Katli-Kakheti in 1801, Megliglia in 1803, and Imereti and Gulia in 1804. In 1813 and 1826, two wars between Russia and Persia resulted in the defeat of Persia.
Through the Treaty of Gulistan, Russia acquired the lands of Karabakh, Zhanja, Sheki, Shirvan, Derbint, Kuba, Baku and Talysh. In 1828, Russia and Poland signed the Treaty of Turkmenchai, which not only further confirmed the validity of the Treaty of Gulistan, but also stipulated that Persia would forever renounce territorial sovereignty over the area north of the Arax River, and the Arax River became the dividing line between Russia and Poland; Persia paid 20 million rubles in war reparations, and until Persia paid the reparations, Russian troops were stationed in the territory south of the Araks River occupied during the war; Nationals of both countries are allowed to freely change their place of residence within one year.
According to the treaty, the inhabitants of the lands of the former Nakhichevan and Yerevan Khanates automatically became residents of Russia. Through the Treaty of Turkmenchay, Russia acquired the khanates of Yerevan and Nakhichevan and eventually occupied the Eastern Armenian region under Persian rule and established Eastern Armenia under Russian rule. The 1829 Russian-Austrian Treaty of Andrianburg stipulated that the Ottoman Empire assigned Akhalkalaki, Akhalzikh, and the port of Podi on the west coast of the Caucasus to Russia.
By the early 30s of the 19th century, the overall geopolitical situation in the Caucasus had undergone fundamental changes, Russia had gained a vital geostrategic foothold in the South Caucasus, there was no buffer zone between Russia and the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Empire, and there was no natural barrier such as the Caucasus Mountains, the three great powers were directly confronted, and the former Christian alliance forces were under Russian control.
In the conquest of the Caucasus, Armenians and Georgians played an important role. Especially in the war with Persia, Christian Armenians supported the Russians of the same faith, and the defeat of Persia caused Armenians fearing reprisals from the Persian government to flee and migrate to Russia. How to maintain the alliance between Russia and the Christian forces in the Caucasus and play its role in stabilizing Russia's southern frontier became Russia's strategic center of gravity. The Russian government believed that only the import and dissemination of Christian ideas could expand the base of Russian rule in the region, and only by strengthening the Christian forces in the Caucasus could the Muslim rebellion in the southern territory be eased and resolved, and thus finally achieve the strategic goal of confronting the Persian and Ottoman empires.
Russia's conquest of the South Caucasus will surely reshape the "civilized" order in the region. The idea of a "civilized" mission at this stage dominated Russia's policy toward the region. In the eyes of the Russian government, the indigenous peoples of the Caucasus are an uncivilized and civic-minded group. For this reason, on the one hand, the Russian government forcibly integrated it into the empire directly through violent measures; On the other hand, through peaceful means, that is, to civilize the indigenous people, gradually free them from their primitive backwardness, recognize the benefits of Russian rule, promote local economic development, and finally make the population, administrative institutions, and laws of the border areas in the interests of imperial rule.
Therefore, how to get Muslims out of their original backward state and move towards farming and labor has become the focus of Russia's Caucasian policy. In addition to the government's policy of nomadism to farming, the Russian government believes that the relocation of trusted groups with indirect influence on Muslims can contribute significantly to this goal. Attracting Christian immigration to the Caucasus would not only reshape the civilized order in the region, but would also be an important means of projecting influence to neighboring countries. As the largest pagan group in the territory of the Ottoman and Persian empires, Christians were an important source of human resources and taxes for the rivalry between empires. Influenced by the mission of spreading the Orthodox Church, Russia worked to "liberate" Christians in the region from the "heretical" rule of the Persian and Ottoman empires.
