Armenians and Russia (1626-1796):
A Documentary Record

George A. Bournoutian,  Armenians and Russia,1626-1796: A Documentary Record. Annotated Translation, Introduction, and Commentary. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Pub., 2001, 511p. Cloth.

This study includes some 400 documents from the archives of Russia, Georgia, and Armenia focusing on Russian political and economic interest in Transcaucasia and northern Iran.  The period begins with the important trading agreements by the Armenian Company of New Julfa with the Russian State in the mid-seventeenth century.  Documents detail the various commercial aspects and the items imported and exported by the Armenians during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries; Peter the Great's invasion of the region during the siege of Isfahan by the Afghans; the Ottoman invasion of eastern Armenia and Georgia; the Russo-Ottoman treaty partitioning Transcaucasia; Empress Anna's agreements with Nader Shah and the withdrawal of Russian troops; the revival of Russian interest in the region during the reign of Catherine the Great; the Russo-Georgian treaty; the Russo-Ottoman wars of the eighteenth century and their effect on the Armenians in the Caucasus and Russia; Aga Mohammad Khan's invasion of the region and the Russian response.  Like its companion, Russia and the Armenians of Transcaucasia, 1797-1889 (Mazda Publishers, 1998), this volume is an important collection of primary sources on a crucial period of Russian, Persian, Ottoman, Armenian, and Georgian history.