Treaties of Erzurum

The Treaties of Erzurum were two treaties of 1823 and 1847 that settled boundary disputes between the Ottoman Empire and Persia.[1]

First Treaty

Although the Treaty of Zuhab in 1639 had established the boundary between Ottoman Empire and Persia, the border in the mountainous Zuhab region remained a site of intermittent conflict in the subsequent two centuries. Tensions between the two empires had been rising due to the Ottoman Empire's harboring of rebellious tribesmen from Persian Azerbaijan. Although secretly, the Russian Empire was attempting to put pressure on the Ottoman Empire, which was at war with the Greeks, who were receiving arms from Russia.[2] Crown Prince Abbas Mirza of Persia, at the instigation of the Russian Empire, invaded Kurdistan and the areas surrounding Persian Azerbaijan.[3] After the 1821 Battle of Erzurum, both empires signed the first Treaty of Erzurum in July 1823, which confirmed the 1639 border. Also included in the treaty, was the guaranteed access for Persian pilgrims to visit holy sites within the Ottoman Empire.[4] The treaty regulated the taxes concerning the pilgrims and for the nomadic tribes pasturing their livestock in the borderlands.[5] It was also agreed upon, that the every three years, Persia, as well as the Ottomans would send an envoy to the other country, therefore establishing diplomatic relations with each other.[5]

Second Treaty

A series of border incidents in the 1830s again brought Persia and the Ottoman Empire to the brink of war. Britain and Russia offered to mediate, and a second Treaty of Erzurum was signed on 31 May 1847.[6] This treaty divided the disputed region between the two parties and provided for a boundary commission to delimit the entire border. The boundary commission's work encountered several political setbacks but finally completed its task in 1914.

References

1. Bruce Masters (1991), "The Treaties of Erzurum (1823 and 1848) and the Changing Status of Iranians in the Ottoman Empire", Iranian Studies 24 (1): 3–15.
2. A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle, Vol.III, ed. Spencer C. Tucker, (ABC-CLIO, 2010), 1140.
3. A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle, Vol.III, ed. Spencer C. Tucker, 1140.
4. A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle, Vol.III, ed. Spencer C. Tucker, 1140.
5. Ateş, Sabri (2013). Ottoman-Iranian Borderlands: Making a Boundary, 1843-1914. Cambridge University Press. pp. 55–56. ISBN 978-1-107-03365-8.
6. Victor Prescott and Gillian D. Triggs, International Frontiers and Boundaries: Law, Politics and Geography (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2008: ISBN 90-04-16785-4), p. 6.

Bibliography

• Lambton, Ann K. S. "The Qajar Dynasty." In Qājār Persia: Eleven Studies, edited by Ann K. S. Lambton. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1987.