Thread by @historyarmenia

#OTD Mar 21 1828, the #Armenia'n Oblast (province) was created out of the territories of the former Erivan & Nakhchivan khanates, which were ceded to #Russia by Qajar #Iran under the Treaty of Turkmenchay after the Russo-Iranian War of 1826-1828. #History

The Armenian Oblast was a province of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire that existed from 1828-40. It corresponded to most of present-day central Armenia, the Iğdır Province of Turkey, the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan. Its administrative center was Yerevan.

Ivan Paskevich, the Ukrainian-born military leader & hero of the war, was made "Count of Erivan". The creation of Armenian Oblast was encouraged by Russian officials with pro-Armenian tendencies who wanted to reward Armenians who supported the Russian cause in Russo-Iranian Wars.

In 1829,German explorer Friedrich Parrot of University of Dorpat traveled to the oblast as part of his expedition to climb Mount Ararat. Accompanied by Armenian writer Khachatur Abovian, Parrot made the 1st ascent of Ararat in recorded history from monastery of St Hakob in Akhuri

The Russians also believed that Christian Georgians & Armenians "preferred Russian rule" and would back Russian control over the large number of Muslims of the Caucasus. Armenian volunteers from Georgia and Karabakh had also joined the Russian forces during the Russo-Iranian war.

During the peace negotiations between the Russians and Iranians, article XV was added to the Treaty of Turkmenchay by the Russians in order to facilitate the creation of a reliable "Christian defensive line" on the existing Russo-Ottoman border in the Caucasus.

Another reason for the inclusion of the article was to comply with the yearnings of Armenians & those within the Russian ranks who supported them. According to article XV, any Iranian subject who inhabited the Azerbaijan Province was allowed to freely migrate into Russian Empire.

According to the historian George Bournoutian, the article XV of the Turkmenchay Treaty was intended solely for the repatriation of those Armenians whose ancestors had been forcibly relocated to Iran proper in the early 17th century during the Safavid period.

Two centuries after their forced relocation by Safavid Shah Abbas the Great (r. 1588-1629), Armenians "had only achieved parity with the Muslims in part of their historical homeland".

Some Armenians, complaining about their life under Russian rule, later decided to leave their homeland and returned to Iran, where they were welcomed in Tabriz by crown prince Abbas Mirza and his successors.