The North-Eastern Caucasus as an object of Russian geopolitics (the 17th – 18th centuries)

Abstract

A feature of the geopolitical position of the political entities of the Eastern Caucasus was the constant claims from Persia and, at times, Turkey. Maneuvering between the Safavids, Ottomans, Girays and Ryurikoviches (then Romanovs) often formed the basis of the foreign policy activities of local rulers. The result of such maneuvering was the periodically arising ‘general servitude’ — recognition of subordination to both the Russian tsar and the Persian shah. Only at the beginning of the 19th century, as a result of the victories of the Russian troops, the question arose about the ofϐicial annexation of the Eastern Caucasus to the Russian Empire.