Pavel Tsitsianov

Pavel Tsitsianov
Born	September 19, 1754 Moscow, Russian Empire
Died	February 20, 1806(1806-02-20) (aged 51) Baku Governorate, Russian Empire
Buried	Sioni Cathedral, Tbilisi, Georgia
Allegiance	Russian Empire
Years of service	1772–1806
Rank	General of the Infantry
Battles / wars	Kościuszko Uprising, Russo-Turkish War (1787–92), Russo-Persian War (1804–13)

Prince Pavel Dmitriyevich Tsitsianov (Georgian: პავლე ციციშვილი, Pavle Dimitris dze Tsitsishvili; Template:Lang-ru; 19 September [O.S. 8 September] 1754—20 February [O.S. 8 February] 1806) was a Georgian nobleman and one of the most successful generals of pre-Napolenic Imperial Russia. Responsible for bringing much of present-day Georgia under Russian Imperial rule, General Tsitsianov became the first and one of only two Georgians to serve as the Viceroy (Governor General) of the Caucasus.

Family and origin

Tsitsianov was born in the noble Georgian family of Tsitsishvili to Dimitri Pavles dze Tsitsishvili and his wife Elizabeth Bagration-Davitashvili. His grandfather, Paata, is thought to have moved to Russia in 1720s as part of a group of Georgian emigrés accompanying the troubled Georgian monarch Vakhtang VI.

Tsitsianov began his career at the elite Preobrazhensky Regiment of the Imperial Guard (Russia) in 1772. In 1786 he was appointed Colonel of a Grenadier regiment and it was in this capacity that he began his distinguished career during the Russo-Turkish War (1787–92) under Catherine the Great. In 1796 the Empress scrambled to belatedly punish Persia for its invasion of Georgia, sending-off Tsitsianov as part of the Persian Expedition of 1796 under the command of Count Valerian Zubov. Following the mixed results of the mission, as well as the death of the Empress and the subsequent disorder associated with the reign of Emperor Paul I, Tsitsianov temporarily retired from service but returned to work after the enthronement of Alexander I.

Georgia and the conquest of the Caucasus

Tsitsianov's fiery character was used as a symbol of Russian Imperial power in Pushkin's romantic poem Captive of the Caucasus

In 1802 Tsitsianov was appinted the Governor General of newly-annexed Georgia, where his rule was characterized by uncompromising policies towards the locals, including the exile of the remaining members of Georgia's formerly ruling dynasty to Russia. It is with this firmness that Tsitsianov successfully carried out highly important projects, such as upgrading the Georgian Military Road, conquering Ganja and subduing Shirvan. Though many resented his policies, Tsitsianov's rule brought some of the much needed stability for Georgians, particularly in terms of keeping at bay the previously rampant incursions and marauding by Lezgian mountaineers.

Despite these successes Tsitsianov was not happy with the continuing threat posed by Persia and under the orders of Emperor Alexander I led the Russian armies into the new Russo-Persian War.

Death and the surrounding myths

In 1806 he rode up to the walls of Baku, with characteristic bravado, to partake in the ceremony of transferring the city to Russian rule after a successful siege. When the general was about to receive the keys to the city, troops loyal to the Khan of Baku unexpectedly shot him and his fellow Georgian aide-de-camp Elisbar Eristov, with Tsitsianov's head and both hands cut off. The third member of the small mission escaped to relate the gruesome tale. His head was sent to Fat′h-Ali Shah Qajar in Tehran.

In relation to this episode, it is noteworthy that in 1806, Mirza Mohammad Akhbari, a teacher of Akhbari school of Fiqh (Islamic Law) in Tehran, allegedly promised Fat′h-Ali Shah Qajar to secure the death of Tsitsianov by supernatural means. Retreating for a period of forty days to the shrine at Shah-Abdol-Azim, he began to engage in certain magical practices, such as beheading wax figures representing Tsitsianov. After the general was in fact assassinated, his severed head (or, according to some accounts, hand) arrived in Tehran just before the forty days were up. Because Fat′h-Ali Shah feared that the supernatural powers of Mirza might be turned against him, he exiled him to Arab Iraq.

In popular culture

And I sing to that glorious hour,
When sensing a battle bloody
Over indignant Caucasus
Rose our two-headed eagle;
When on the grey Terek
First came the battle's thunder
And the roar of Russian drums,
And in the battle, with a daring frown
Appeared fiery Tsitsianov

— Pushkin, Captive of the Caucasus

In Iranian literature, the name of Tsitsianov is most mentioned as ESHPOKHTOR (from the French word inspector) . There is a proverb in Persian language "Bringing the severed head of the EŠPOKHTOR" that means to do an impossible task and refers to Mirza Mohammad Akhbari's promise to the Fat′h-Ali Shah.