Page 10 - Azərbaycan xalçaları

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Fatali khan took the initiative by using the attack of Russian troops (March
1775) led by General I.F. de Medem as a pretext for punishing Gaytak usmi. How-
ever, due to the death of academic S.M. Gmelin, who had reconnoitred for Russia,
Guba was saved.
Fatali khan sent a messenger to the Russian palace in 1775 under the guidance
of Mirzabay Farhadbayov, governor of Darband. However, Catherine II refused
to accept his offer to transfer the Guba khanate to Russia, which allowed Guba
to remain independent.
In 1782, a commercial contract was signed between the Guba khanate and
Russia. Fatali khan began the struggle against the Karabakh khanate in 1780-
1781. In southern Azerbaijan, the policy was more successful: Ardabil and
Meshkin were occupied (1784). Catherine II required him to leave the occupied
lands, as she was afraid of strengthening the Guba khanate. Fatali khan applied
a second time to be under the guidance of Russia in 1787. Russia did not accept
the offer at this time either due to the concurrent war Russia was fighting with
Turkey (1787-1791).
Fatali khan concluded an alliance with Irakli II, the Georgian tsar, in 1787.
In 1789, the situation changed after the death of Fatali khan and Guba khanate
became independent.
During the short reign of Ahmad khan, the son of Fatali khan who came to
power after him, only the Darband khanate was under subordination. Russians
occupied Darband in 1796, but after the death of Catherine II, they were forced
to leave. The Russian Empire once again occupied Azerbaijani lands at the be-
ginning of the nineteenth century.
During the period of the khanate, the base of economic life in Guba was ag-
riculture and handicrafts. One of the main fields of handicraft production was
carpet weaving.
The beginning of the 19th-20th centuries. The Russian Empire occupied the Guba
khanate in 1806 and the khanate became a province. The province was ruled
Kaspi region emblem of Guba district. Kaspi region. 1840.
Gravestone. 1795. Guba.