Sacred is the memory of diplomats who honestly defended the interests of Russia and died in the line of duty. The most famous of them was also outstanding poet and thinker.

Alexander Griboedov - where does it start? Before us is a classic, bright prodigy. An unusual tenacity of mind manifested itself in him frighteningly early. It is not so important where and what he studied officially - at the Noble Boarding School, and then at Moscow University. It was easy for him to foreign languages and philosophy and mathematics. Poet, musician, politician, warrior - in all his incarnations, he manifested himself brightly. By the age of fifteen, he could safely be considered a man with a university education. Perhaps, early scholarship determined the essence of the most famous Griboedov's creation - "Woe from Wit". It was not easy for him to get rid of the feeling of his own superiority over everyone. It was not easy to adapt both in the service and in the colorful world of art. Alexander Sergeevich was quarrelsome and sharp. By nature - a caustic knight. He participated in the war of 1812, however, by the will of fate on the sidelines, and then he dreamed of writing a tragedy about these heroic events. In the spring of 1816 he left military service without reaching high officials. And in 1817, his brilliant diplomatic career began. On July 16, 1818, Count Karl Nesselrode informed in writing the Commander-in-Chief of the Caucasian Army, General Alexei Yermolov, that “an official Mazarovich is appointed as the Charge d'Affaires of Persia, Griboedov as his secretary, Amburger as a clerk”. Nesselrode loved brevity, but this cursory mention opened a Caucasian chapter in the life of our hero.

At that time, Griboedov was torn between creativity and service, sometimes dreaming of "quitting the diplomatic service and responding from a sad country where, instead of learning something, you forget what you know." He did not like the service in a distant foreign country. But General Ermolov - the wisest of the wise - imbued with deep respect for young talent. It was he - at that time a powerful commander - who rescued Griboyedov from Persia, making him his secretary "for foreign affairs." Loving Griboyedov like a son, according to Denis Davydov, he tried not to load him with daily work. Georgia is not Persia, here Griboyedov breathed freely and wrote to his heart's content.

The diplomat, who was gaining strength, did not forget about literary affairs. Attempts to create an epic drama, a tragedy on a Shakespearean scale remained in sketches. The service distracted Griboedov from creativity, and the mania for perfection prevented him from working quickly. "Woe from Wit" is Griboyedov's only major completed work. The caustic comedy was fully published in the official press several decades after Griboyedov's death. Although by that time she had changed the face of Russian literature, influenced our best writers, caused controversy ... Dozens of witty remarks entered the Russian language, became winged. Even Alexander Pushkin remarked: "Half of the poems should be included in the proverbs." And so it happened. According to Chatsky, Famusov and Molchalin they judged social types. Griboyedov's comedy is perfect. We do not have a more refined poetic play. Comedy was considered intolerably free-thinking, but Griboyedov clearly spoke from a patriotic position. He spared no sarcasm for either Famusov or Skalozub. The first attempt to put "Woe from Wit" on stage was stopped by the capital's Governor-General Mikhail Miloradovich. But in the 1830s, comedy saw a scene in both capitals. This enigmatic work, it will be solved for centuries - and with benefit. satirical comedy and psychological drama in one ball, like a smile and suffering.

December 1825 is another milestone in fate. In the testimony of the Decembrist Sergei Trubetskoy, the name Griboyedov flashed, and he was under investigation. And then Alexey Ermolov took the young employee under his wing. The general benevolently prepared Griboedov for arrest, destroyed all his papers so that they would not fall into the hands of the investigating authorities, and wrote to St. Petersburg: “I have the honor to convey Mr. Griboedov to Your Excellency. He was arrested in such a way that he could not destroy the documents he had with him. But with him there was nothing of the kind, except for the few that I am sending you. He was under investigation until June 2, 1826, steadfastly denied his participation in the conspiracy, and in the end proved that he was not involved in the rebellion. Free! And again, "I'm glad to serve," although "it's sickening to serve."

He was released from arrest with a "cleansing certificate" - and the diplomat again went to Tiflis. General Ivan Paskevich, who replaced Yermolov, also highly appreciated Griboyedov's abilities, and if he sometimes scolded him for his reckless courage, he did not hide his respect. During negotiations with the Persians, Paskevich fully relied on Griboyedov's diplomatic foresight and openly admired him.

Griboyedov's primary political benefit was the Turkmanchay Peace Treaty, which marked the victory over Persia and secured territorial gains. Russian Empire, Russian hegemony in the Caspian Sea and in eastern trade. Contemporaries did not dispute leading role Griboyedov in the development and signing of this breakthrough document. General Paskevich granted Griboyedov the honor of "bringing the treaty" to the emperor. Nikolai Pavlovich granted him the rank of State Councilor, the Order of St. Anna, adorned with diamonds, and four thousand chervonets. Griboedov accepted enthusiastic smiles, but was afraid of the court routine, kept himself independent.

In Tiflis, he was greeted with even greater pomp, even called Griboyedov-Persian. Paskevich arranged a salute in his honor, as was done in St. Petersburg, when all the guns Peter and Paul Fortress fired 201 volleys at the same time. Well, after all, it was he, Griboyedov, who brought Nicholas I the long-awaited and victorious Treaty of Turkmenchay.

It is not surprising that in Persia the same Treaty of Turkmanchay was perceived as a national catastrophe. Russia entered the war with Turkey, and the Persians hoped to evade the implementation of the treaty, taking advantage of the confused international situation. They did not even think of fulfilling many agreements, hoping that the Russian tsar would not start a new war.

A noisy anti-Russian campaign has started in the eastern country. Bazaar speakers kindled fanatical rage among the people, mixed with pseudo-religious yeast. And Griboyedov just had to demand another part of the contribution from the Iranians ... He tried to smooth out the contradiction, urged St. Petersburg to accept silk or jewelry instead of money. However, the emperor's verdict was strict: the contract should be strictly followed. Later it will give a reason evil tongues to reproach the emperor for the deliberate destruction of Griboedov by the hands of the Persian crowd. It is unlikely that such an insidious plan actually existed, but it must be admitted that Nikolai put his diplomat in a deliberately impasse.

The Russian embassy was located not in the capital of Persia, but in Tabriz. In Tehran at the beginning In 1829, Griboyedov stayed temporarily - to introduce himself to the Shah. Of course, the experienced politician felt the nerve of the situation. He asked his wife to leave Tabriz for a while, to return to Georgia, and such a trip was arranged. Griboyedov wrote to his wife every day. “It’s sad without you, as much as possible. Now I truly feel what it means to love ... "- this is the last message of her husband, which she read.

Mujtahids (influential Islamic theologians) convinced the excited people that Griboyedov was the culprit of the introduction of new taxes, an atheist, a conqueror ... Hatred knew no bounds, the Mujtahids aroused the spirit of fanaticism. In addition, Griboyedov was accused of harboring Armenians. He really hid several Armenians on the territory of the embassy in order to smuggle them to Russia. But he acted in accordance with the Turkmanchay Treaty! These hot Persians were ready to abandon their obligations.

Behind these furious speeches was Allayar Khan, the disgraced minister - a politician of an adventurous warehouse, who was trying to regain his lost influence. For the Shah, these disturbances were an unpleasant surprise, a trap from which he tried to extricate himself. Shah tried to avoid new war with Russia, but led precisely to it.

Alexander Griboyedov died in this house

On January 30, 1829, the spiritual authorities declared a holy war on the Russians. The crowd that had gathered at the mosque headed for the house of the Russian mission. A bloody massacre began. On that day, the entire staff of the embassy was destroyed in Tehran, only one senior secretary, Ivan Maltsov, an unusually cautious man, survived. He offered salvation to Griboedov as well. It was only necessary to hide, go into the underground passages ... "The Russian nobleman does not play hide and seek" - that was the answer. His death was proud and bold. With a saber he met uninvited guests, demanded obedience from them. After all, he was in Russia! The guards of the embassy - 35 Cossacks - adequately repelled the attack. Dozens of enraged fanatics remained forever on the pavement, but the Cossacks died one and all. Alexander Sergeevich also died. Having received a blow to the head with a stone, he fell. Immediately, a hail of stones rained down on him, sabers screeched over his body.

For the death of Griboyedov and the entire Russian mission, the shah brought an official apology to Emperor Nicholas, to which he attached a unique diamond. The emperor considered it reasonable to be compliant. He accepted the gift and deferred for five years the payment of that same indemnity. On hard days Russian-Turkish war Nicholas did not want to spoil relations with the Persians. He turned a blind eye to the opinion of Paskevich, who spoke of the fatal British influence on the Persian crowd. “I consign to eternal oblivion the ill-fated Tehran incident,” the emperor said. It turned out that the pogromists and provocateurs got their way ...

Diamond "Shah"

“Diamond, according to the Persians, was supposed to atone for the terrible guilt of the murderers of the Russian Minister Griboyedov. The stone replenished the royal collection. The courtiers admired him, and foreign ambassadors asked for the highest permission to look at such a rarity. However, in what carats can the damage inflicted on Russia by the brutal murder of one of its greatest creators be expressed?

He loved Mount Mtatsminda, towering above Tiflis. There, in the monastery of St. David, he bequeathed to bury himself. The Liturgy was officiated by the Exarch of Georgia, Archbishop Moses.

“The more enlightened a person is, the more useful he is to the Fatherland,” said Griboyedov. And I followed this program as best I could. His image has not faded through the ages. But, alas, Griboedov's killers seem to have left the front pages of today's or tomorrow's newspapers - they are alive. Here we are talking, of course, not only about Islamic radicals, although primarily about them. There are great provocations and irresponsible manipulation of the worst instincts everywhere. Terrorists "are blissful in the world." All the more instructive for us is the biography of Griboyedov, a writer and politician who combined a subtle intellect with military courage.

Monument to A.S. Griboyedov in Tehran on the territory of the Russian Embassy

On January 30 (February 11), 1829, the Russian embassy was destroyed in Tehran, which claimed the lives of about 40 of its employees and Cossacks, including the poet and diplomat Alexander Griboedov, who opened a series of tragic deaths of Russian poets. We emphasize right away that the author of “Woe from Wit” actually died on the battlefield, staunchly fighting with weapons in his hands, and thus found himself in a special place among the poet-martyrs of Russia, most of whom died in duels, committed suicide, were killed by no means not in battles or were repressed. However, despite the heroic death, Griboyedov still bears the stigma of an official who allegedly failed in his duties and turned out to be to blame for the tragedy that had unfolded.

The most surprising thing is that the official point of view on the catastrophe in Tehran was established in Russia long before any detailed information about it was received. With regard to the Minister of Foreign Affairs K.V. Nesselrode dated March 16, 1829 to the commander of the Caucasian Corps I.F. It was pointed out to Paskevich: “The terrible incident in Tehran struck us to the bone. the highest degree... At this sad event, His Majesty would be gratified by the confidence that the Shah of Persia and the heir to the throne are alien to vile and inhuman intent and that this incident should be attributed to the reckless impulses of the zeal of the late Griboyedov, who did not understand his behavior with the rude customs and concepts of the Tehran mob. Thus was born and then widely spread the myth of Griboedov's unprofessionalism, who, for his devotion and heroism, eventually received black ingratitude and direct slander from representatives of the supreme power.

the day before

And Griboedov ended up in Persia for the last time in October 1828, after he was appointed on April 25 of the same year as the plenipotentiary envoy of Russia in this country, arrived in Tiflis, where he married Nina Chavchavadze and went with her initially to Tabriz (Tabriz) . After staying there until December 9 and leaving his pregnant wife, Griboyedov left with the embassy for Tehran, where he arrived only on December 30. The entrance of the Russian mission to the capital was very splendidly arranged. The mission was located in a spacious house, the guard of honor and the Shah's guards were assigned to the envoy. Around January 24, 1829, Griboedov wrote his last surviving letter, addressed to to the British ambassador John MacDonald: “Here they gave me a magnificent istinbal (reception. - S.D.)... On the third day, the monarch gave us a solemn and magnificent audience... The next day after the reception at the court, I began to pay return visits... In any case, I am very pleased with such an attitude towards myself. In a week, I expect to leave the capital ... "What happened in the remaining 6 days before the tragedy, because outwardly everything was so well? Let us turn to the accusations that are still heard against Griboedov, who is allegedly guilty of what happened in Tehran.

First accusation the poet is that during the audience with Feth-Ali Shah he expressed obvious disrespect for him, entering the “mirror hall” of the Gulistan Palace in shoes, sat there for too long on an armchair, and then in correspondence called the ruler of Persia simply shah without other titles. Meanwhile, the diplomat acted in strict accordance with the Turkmanchay Treaty, which established a special ceremony for the reception of Russian diplomats, including the right to sit in the presence of the Shah. Second accusation concerns the excessive persistence of the minister-envoy in demanding the payment of the remaining indemnity and the extradition of prisoners driven to Persia. However, according to clause XIII of the treaty, he could take under his protection any prisoners captured since 1795 and even search for them. Let's not forget that it was actually about the liberation of forcibly driven people from slavery. Let us turn to "Reports of incidents that preceded and accompanied the murder of members of the last Russian embassy in Persia." This document, on behalf of a "Persian" who was at the Russian mission, is of Anglo-Iranian origin. It was edited and submitted for publication in a Scottish magazine by the brother of the diplomat Henry Willock, John Willock, and the doctor of the English mission, John McNeill, who was the personal doctor of Feth-Ali Shah, members of the very group that opposed Griboyedov. But even this document did not dispute the right of the Russian envoy to protect the prisoners and testified that he demanded the return of the prisoners only if they agreed to return. Third accusation, attributed to Griboedov, is that in his retinue there were several unscrupulous and unrestrained people who committed lawlessness in Persia, including the head of the servant Rustam-bek. At the same time, it is somehow forgotten that these people helped the envoy in carrying out his impartial actions, and that it was Rustam-bek who captured Allayar Khan, the son-in-law of Feth-Ali Shah, the first minister of Persia, in Tabriz during the Russian-Persian war, one of the initiators of the war against Russia. It is not surprising that the enmity that was kindled towards Rustam-bek had a clear source.

Defeat of the embassy

A few days before Griboyedov's supposed departure from Tehran, the same event took place that became the main reason for the drama that had unfolded. As the first secretary of the Russian mission I.S. Maltsov, who escaped defeat, “a certain Khoja-Mirza-Yakub, who served for more than 15 years in the shah’s harem, came to the envoy in the evening and announced to him a desire to return to Erivan, his fatherland. Griboedov told him that only thieves seek refuge at night ... The next day he again came to the envoy with the same request; the envoy persuaded him to stay in Tehran, represented to him that he was here noble person... but seeing the firm intention of Mirza-Yakub to go to Erivan, he took him to the mission house... The Shah became angry; the whole court cried out, as if the greatest national disaster had happened.

As you can see, Griboyedov acted very carefully. As Maltsov continued, he “made vigilant efforts to free the prisoners who were in Tehran. Two women, captive Armenians, were brought to him from Allayar Khan, Griboedov interrogated them in my presence, and when they announced their desire to go to their homeland, he left them in the mission house ... However, this circumstance is so unimportant that there is nothing to spread about it. Not a word was spoken about these women with the Persian ministry, and only after the assassination of the envoy did they begin to talk about them. The last remark is especially important, because Griboedov's accusations that one of the reasons for the defeat of the mission was some kind of desecration and forcible exclusion from Islam of women from the harem of Allayar Khan are heard in Persia, and even in Russia to this day.

And then events followed that, if summarized, perfectly show that it was not a spontaneous, uncontrolled mob revolt in Tehran, but a well-planned operation to destroy the Russian mission. The crime, which outwardly looked like a rampage of the elements, was in fact cold-blooded and deliberately prepared. Let us briefly list the most important known facts.

1 . The escalation of tension around the mission has been building for days. According to the story of Ambartsum (Ibrahim-bek), a Russian embassy courier who survived the massacre, “every day in the bazaar we heard how the mullahs in mosques and markets aroused the fanatical people, urging them to take revenge, to protect Islam from defilement by the “kafir” .. We constantly kept our guns and pistols ready, but the ambassador considered it impossible to attack the embassy house, over the roof of which the Russian flag fluttered. The Tehran mujtehid (highest spiritual person) Mirza-Mesih was especially active, saying that Mirza-Yakub betrayed the Muslim faith, and therefore "he is a traitor, unfaithful and guilty of death."

2. Maltsov, in his report, rightly pointed out the peculiarities of local customs: “The Persian government says that it did not participate in the murder of our envoy, that it did not even know anything about the intention of the mullahs and the people; but one has only to visit Persia to be convinced of the absurdity of these words... There are almost no secret affairs in Persia: among the important debates about state affairs, the viziers drink coffee, tea, smoke hookahs, argue loudly with open windows... How could the Persian the government not to know a word about the case in which the whole of Tehran was involved?.. Let's even assume that it was not the Shah, but the mullahs who sent the people to the house of our mission; but even then the shah is to blame: why did he allow this?.. But then Mirza-Yakub would have survived, and this is precisely what Feth-Ali Shah did not want ... The Shah needed to exterminate this man who knew all secret history his home life...” Of course, Maltsov simplifies the causes of the Tehran tragedy, reducing them to the struggle for the return of Mirza Yakub, but he is absolutely right in pointing out the psychology of the conspiracy.

3 . On the day of the tragedy on January 30, 1829, Tehran's bazaar was closed (imagine what it means to close the huge bazaar - the center of the city's life!), and from the very morning people began to gather in the main mosque, where calls were made: "Go to the house of the Russian envoy, take away the prisoners, kill Mirza-Yakub.” There is a direct incitement to the massacre of the spiritual leaders of Tehran, and by no means spontaneous popular anger.

4 . Further, according to the Relation, the following happened: “Four or five hundred people, preceded by shaking sticks and naked sabers, headed from the mosque to the envoy’s dwelling ... The rain of stones was already falling into the courtyards, and the cries of the crowd merged at times into one common cheer .. The excitement increased more and more; Several shots were fired, and soon the people burst into the yards. Unfortunate Yakub... fell, struck by countless dagger blows. The servants of Allayar Khan grabbed the women and dragged them away.

5 . It is significant that the Persian soldiers and officers guarding the mission immediately fled. It would seem that after Mirza-Yakub was killed, and the female captives were taken away from the mission, the rebels did their job. However, here the most incredible thing happens, proving that the main goal of the conspiracy was by no means the return of prisoners: an hour and a half later, the assault began with even greater pressure. According to the Relation, the now larger crowd "has been supplied firearms and soldiers from various military units also joined her.”

6 . The defending members of the Russian mission, almost without exception, including Griboyedov, showed examples of true heroism. Let's hear the testimonies. “The Cossacks fought heroically, gradually moving back to the rooms. When almost everyone was beaten and the crowd approached the rooms, the ambassador with me and together with two Cossacks stood face to face with the crowd ... It turned out that he wounded several from the spot and killed several ... Persians with a gun ”(Ambartzum). “I was thrown back into a room where I saw 17 bodies of my comrades stretched out on the floor. The left side of the messenger's chest was pierced through with a saber, and they showed me a wrestler who was in the service of one of the inhabitants of Tehran, a man of athletic build and great strength, who allegedly struck him this blow "(" Relation "). The death of Griboyedov, who met danger like a soldier, was indeed heroic. As Pushkin wrote, “the very death that befell him in the middle of a bold, unequal battle had nothing terrible for Griboedov, nothing agonizing. She was instant and beautiful."

7. In fairness, it should be said that at the beginning of the indignation, the Shah's envoys made timid attempts to persuade the attackers to stop. Even the princes Ali Shah and Imam Verdi Mirza arrived, but they had to take care of their own safety and hide. And where were the troops of the Shah, who were supposed to protect the mission? They appeared only after everything was over, and they themselves participated in the robbery and looting.

8 . The English embassy was located not far from the Russian mission, and a very revealing incident took place in it. According to the Relation, "the extermination plan was carried out so well that the people broke even into the front yard of the British embassy and slaughtered seven or eight Russian people living at the stables, after which they took possession of all the horses that belonged to the envoy." Is it even possible to imagine that fanatics during the massacre would distinguish between "friendly" - British and "hostile" - Russian, if there were not among them provocateurs with very specific tasks.

9 . Then the orgy continued. The Relation reported this: “Subsequently, I learned from my servants that the mutilated corpse of Mirza-Yakub was dragged around the city and finally thrown into a deep ditch. They did the same with another corpse, which they considered to be the corpse of Griboyedov ... 44 people died from the Russian embassy (according to Maltsov - 37 people. - S.D.). After some searches in front of the window of the room occupied by Griboyedov, his body was also found in a pile of corpses; I noticed with great satisfaction that it had not been defiled.” It turns out that the purpose of the massacre in Tehran was precisely the destruction, and without exception, of all members of the Russian mission. Who was the instigator and screenwriter of such a bloody drama? It seems that we will never know all the details and springs of the tragedy, but it can be said with confidence that the coincidence of anti-Russian interests and tasks among several players in this drama played a fatal role in the tragedy.

First of all, the British diplomats, who, losing their influence in the conditions of the growing power of Russia in the East, tried in every possible way to quarrel Russia and Persia, up to the breaking of existing treaties and even the resumption of hostilities between them. English historians usually deny the involvement of their compatriots in the events, referring to the friendly relations between Griboedov and John MacDonald, as if forgetting about the actions of the group of adventurer Henry Willock and John MacNeill, who represented the interests of the English aristocracy and the East India Company.

At the beginning of 1828, the Duke of Wellington became the new prime minister of Great Britain, who at that time took a course towards confrontation with Russia and demanded that Persia be pitted against Russia again. In the middle of 1828, a real hysteria began in London, connected with the fact that the Russians had already reached the Araks and that they were about to make a throw to the Indus. On October 2, 1828, Wellington wrote in his diary: “We can no longer cooperate with Russia, we will oppose and untie our hands. One way or another... we have to get rid of Russia.” Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal Ellenborough spoke even more frankly: “Our policy both in Europe and in Asia should pursue a single goal - to limit Russian influence in every possible way ... In Persia, as elsewhere, it is necessary to create prerequisites in order to start a broad armed fight against Russia.

One can imagine what instructions such rulers of Great Britain gave to their services, and that in such an ominous game the lives of some Russian diplomats were worth it, especially in the hands of such figures as G. Willock, whom even his boss MacDonald called "an unscrupulous intriguer": “... It is not in his nature to do anything openly and directly, as befits a noble person ... I could publicize such deeds of him here in Persia that he would be cursed until the end of his days ...” It is very important, that these words were written by the English envoy after the death of Griboedov, and do they not contain MacDonald's confession that he knew the truth about Willock's role in the tragedy? Willock was actively assisted by the doctor John McNeil, who, thanks to his connections with the Shah’s court, according to many, “became the most influential person in all of Persia” (it was he who would later be appointed British ambassador to this country, and not as a reward for what he did in 1829 .?).

Russian writer D.L. Mordovtsev in his novel "Iron and Blood" put forward a very plausible version, according to which "the conspirators, taking advantage of the unfortunate fate of Mirza-Yakub, provoked his departure under the protection of the Russian ambassador in order to put Griboyedov in a hopeless situation and put an end to him." Most likely, Mordovtsev knew the book of the English diplomat J.-E. Alexander's "Journey from India to England", published in London in 1827, even before the death of Griboyedov, which stated that Mirza-Yakub was closely connected with the English residents in Persia. It was he who played the most fatal role in the chain of Tehran events. The motives for this behavior of the eunuch are still unclear: did he act at his own peril and risk? Was he forced to take such a step? did he not voluntarily play out the scenario agreed upon with the British, expecting any benefits in the future? Did the English residents deceive him in the end? The full truth, probably, will never be known to anyone. And, of course, the widespread explanation of the non-involvement of the British in the tragedy in Tehran by the fact that none of the leaders of the British mission was there in those days is highly controversial. Was this absence, on the contrary, unsuccessful attempt create an alibi?

In addition to the British, the Tehran court also tried to observe its interests in the ensuing drama. Feth-Ali Shah himself, in addition to resolving the issue with Mirza Yakub, was extremely beneficial, taking advantage of the situation of the Russian-Turkish war, to try to revise the terms of the Turkmanchay Treaty, stop paying burdensome indemnities and, as if by proxy, take revenge on one of the main actors last war with Russia - Griboyedov. Griboyedov was also opposed by the first minister of Persia, Allayar Khan, and the point here was not only in the desire to return two female captives to the harem and avenge the shame of his captivity, but also in the desire, by removing Griboedov from affairs, thereby weakening Abbas Mirza, heir to the throne, who hoped for the support of Russia in the struggle for the throne. The spiritual Muslim leaders of Persia saw the defeat of the Russian mission real chance ignite anti-Russian sentiments and strengthen its political influence in Tehran in the face of a sharp decline in the authority of the Shah, who, after the lost war with Russia, became the object of criticism. And, finally, the Sultan of Turkey and his henchmen, who also had a certain influence in Tehran, were vitally interested in quarreling Persia and Russia during the next Russian-Turkish war.

...and consequences

Having learned about the tragedy in Tehran, the tsarist government, then engaged in a war with Turkey, considered it possible to reduce the events to an accident and demanded from Persia only an apology letter from the Shah to the emperor, punishment of the guilty and the redemptive mission of one of the "princes of the blood" - the sons of Abbas Mirza . His seventh son, sixteen-year-old Khosrov-Mirza, was sent to St. Petersburg. On August 12, 1829, the expiatory mission was received by the emperor in the Winter Palace. Khosrov-Mirza read out the message of the Shah, and subsequently handed over his gifts, including the famous diamond "Shah" (88 1/2 carats), which was presented not as a gift for the poet's head, but as an excuse to alleviate the financial burden of the Shah. The emperor eventually forgave the 9th kurur and spread the payment of the 10th over five years, although in reality it was never paid at all. It turns out that the shah achieved, albeit partially, what he wanted - a reduction in payments. Referring to the hostilities with Turkey, Nicholas I also made no claims against the British government for the provocative actions of its representatives in Tehran.

In a letter to the emperor, the shah complained about the suddenness of the mob rebellion, "non-compliance with the customs of which on the part of the embassy retinue caused indignation", reported that he ordered everyone seen in the pogrom to be executed, the governor of Tehran for not taking proper measures "to be removed from the service", and who became the head rebellion of the Supreme Mullah of Tehran Mirza-Mesih "exile to one of the remote cities." Allayar Khan was beaten with sticks on the heels. In fact, the shah admitted the guilt of his dignitaries for the tragedy, but this did not change anything. Nicholas I told the prince: “I consign to eternal oblivion the ill-fated Tehran incident”... However, some supreme court nevertheless intervened in the fate of the rulers of the Qajar dynasty, who were guilty in one way or another, directly or indirectly, in the defeat of the Russian mission. In the autumn of 1833, Abbas-Mirza died, and a year later his father, Feth-Ali-Shah, died. As a result of a fierce struggle for the throne, the eldest son of Abbas-Mirza from his first wife Mamed-Mirza won, who ordered to blind his father's two sons from another wife - Jehangir and Khosrov-Mirza, who lived blind in exile for 40 years. These are the morals demonstrated in those years by the rulers of Persia, who considered themselves “not guilty” of the cruelties of the Tehran defeat ...

Paskevich, perhaps the only one of the high-ranking figures of that time, stood up for the memory of Griboyedov. He most of all doubted the absence of an English trace in the tragic events and wrote to Nesselrode: "if the Persian ministers knew about the impending indignation, then, undoubtedly, the British embassy, ​​who had all of Tehran at the mercy of him, also knew about it." Nesselrode asked Paskevich to behave with restraint, "to take care of the English and not give faith to the rumors that are being spread about them." Paskevich also demanded to send 10 thousand soldiers to Astrakhan to put pressure on Persia, and insisted on her entry into the war against Turkey. And it was his sharp letter-threat to Abbas-Mirza that ultimately had an effect on Feth-Ali Shah, who punished, albeit very gently, those responsible for the rout.

In Russia, besides Paskevich, there were many other people who did not believe in official version events and stood up for the blessed memory of the minister-poet. Let us quote the words about Griboedov of his colleague, and later the governor of the Caucasus, N.N. Muravyov-Karsky: “Griboedov in Persia was completely in his place ... he replaced a twenty-thousandth army with his single person there, and there may not be a person in Russia so capable of taking his place. He was persistent, he knew the manners that one had to have with the Persians... His trip to Tehran to meet with the Shah led him to wrestling with the entire Persian kingdom. If he returned safely to Tabriz, then our influence in Persia would be established for a long time ... And no one recognized either his merits, or devotion to his duties, or complete and profound knowledge your business!"

In art, it is always that which is connected with the creator himself that always touches and makes him suffer, therefore in the works of Griboyedov the main character is the poet himself, who has risen above the prose of life. 185 years have passed since the battle ended the life of the great poet and diplomat. And how sad that is still hidden even from our compatriots all the truth about the life feat of this man and he has not yet been given due honors. And in Tehran, behind the high fences of the Russian embassy, ​​away from the eyes of the townsfolk, a bronze monument to the minister-poet seems to be embarrassingly hidden. The only calming thing is the realization that the death of the “Persian wanderer” was not at all in vain: after the Tehran tragedy of 1829, the peoples of Russia and Persia actually never fought each other again and, on the contrary, more than once acted as allies. In recent years, I have been fortunate enough to visit Iran three times, having traveled the very roads that led Griboyedov there. Unfortunately, the volume of this article does not allow revealing many new details and facets of the unfinished topic “Griboyedov and Persia”, which I managed to discover during my travels. I hope that in the near future I will be able to do this in my book “Persian Melodies. From Griboyedov and Pushkin to Yesenin and the 21st century...

Was Griboyedov killed because he left the Persian Shah's wives at the Russian embassy for the night?

In the seventies of the last century, from a conversation with an Iranian who studied in Leningrad, I was surprised to learn that everyone in Tehran knows and has no doubts: Griboedov was killed not at all because of a wild outburst of rage of the Islamic crowd (as textbooks of Russian literature teach), but because of -for the fact that, being a big naughty, he left two wives of the Iranian Shah at the embassy for the night: a Georgian and an Armenian. Whose nationality did not matter to the Iranians, it was important that the wives of the Shah. Which, according to Islamic views, was a terrible blasphemy. And (according to popular Iranian rumor) Griboyedov, as well as other employees of the Russian Embassy in Persia, treated the Shah's wives, to put it mildly ... in violation of etiquette. But is it? In recent years, several articles have appeared on the Internet shedding New World to this thorny question. We present them without cuts and censorship. And what are these versions: are they anti-Russian fabrications or are they based on real facts let the readers judge.

From the memoirs of Count I.O. Simonovich:

In a previous remark I said that this catastrophe should not be attributed to political causes. The persons of the various parties and various creeds, whom I questioned, all unanimously agreed on one very important circumstance, namely, that my unfortunate friend, the late Griboyedov, in relation to the shah, took an arrogant tone, reaching recklessness. Feth-Ali Shah, after each audience he gave him, left so irritated that it was very easy to foresee any misfortune. Often, in front of his courtiers, he would cry out: “Who will deliver me from this Christian dog?” Mirza-Abul-Ghassan-Khan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the main figure in every case, when anything concerned the Europeans, for there was no one at the court of the Shah who knew our customs - one spoke of us with some experience, as a man who had been several times envoy in St. Petersburg, Vienna, Paris and London. So, Abul-Ghassan-khan one evening at Emin-ed-Dovlet, in the presence of a large society, where they talked about the day's events and talked about the most convenient means for ridding the shah of such an annoying guest, proposed to form a kind of indignation: "We will make the people shout loudly - he said, - and after that we will write to Petersburg: you sent us a man who does not know how to behave with us - look what he adheres to, no matter how great misfortune happens! Revoke it if you wish to maintain good harmony between the two countries. Believe me,” he added, “I know Europe and especially Russia: he will be recalled.” Advice,
207 proposed by Abul-Ghassan-Khan had no immediate consequences, but the idea was given, and the numerous servants, always present at all meetings of the Persian nobility, heard everything.

There comes the case of two women, whose extradition was demanded by the Russian envoy as our subjects and prisoners of war, although they converted to Islamism and were in the harem of Asif-ed-Dovlet. It was too strong a blow to Mohammedan fanaticism and respect for a powerful personality. Despite this, he achieved what he demanded. But even here Griboedov made a great imprudence, forcing these women to be transferred to his house, where there was no one except men. They should have been placed, before leaving for Georgia, in some Armenian and, even better, in a Muslim house, and in any case in a different place, but not at home. This created a huge scandal, and it must be confessed that it would have been the same everywhere in another country, for morality does not allow young women to live under the same roof with a bunch of young people. In Tehran, religion also intervened and a completely fair Poor reputation Christians who were servants of the envoy.

The excitement was strong among the population, and throughout the city they only talked about the shame of seeing Muslim women who had passed into the hands of vile Russians. Griboyedov, apparently, did not know what was happening, blinded by fate or an excess of pride. In this state of affairs, he gave shelter to one Shah eunuch, who, using his origin from Erivan, fled from the Shah's harem and asked to return to his homeland. When one knows the holiness of the harem, the kind of reverence with which the Persians surround it, the shame with which they express themselves when speaking about this place, it is easy for him to understand how Feth Ali Shah was greatly offended in the rank of an unlimited monarch and a jealous husband. But they will ask, perhaps, could the Russian minister violate his duty by refusing asylum to a subject of his sovereign? Of course not, if this person came suddenly, wanting to spontaneously become under his protection; but there were preliminary intrigues, negotiations
208 between the eunuch and the Armenians surrounding the envoy. Griboyedov had time to realize what a humiliation he was preparing for the shah by encouraging the man's undertakings. The Russian envoy should also have known that since in the course of two years Persia and its monarch endured many trials, as a result of our victories and peace treatises imposed on them by us, the victorious state should yield more glory to the defeated one in his petty selfish interests. He would have to offer the eunuch Mirza Yakub to postpone his assumption of escape for some time, especially since it is not known whether he had the right to be considered among the Russian subjects, for he was taken into the service of the Shah and adopted the Muslim religion in a distant era, when Erivan belonged to Persia. Be that as it may, Feth-Ali Shah did not yet let his anger run wild, he tried to negotiate and sought, under various pretexts, to extradite the fugitive. Griboyedov stood his ground, for which he can be praised, for, having decided to take him to himself, he could not return him back to the Persians without shame.

An almost open hostile position between the Russian minister and the court; a party of clergy who were irritated to the extreme by the removal of two women; Asif's party, which, for the same reason, was looking only for a chance of vengeance; finally, the servants of the court, who tried to please the hatred of the shah; this servant of the nobles, who remembered the advice of Mirza-Abul-Ghassan-khan, all of this suddenly rose up together, whether by the prompting of the court, or Asif-ed-Dovlet, or mushtand, anyway, a push was given, and the crowd rushed and surrounded the house occupied by Russian imperial mission. At first there were only shouts and a repetition of the demand for the extradition of a eunuch and two women. I am deeply convinced that if the late Griboyedov had had enough patience and composure to leave the noise to increase and spread in the air; if he had kept all his houses, not allowing them to appear either outside or at the windows, I, as I said, am deeply convinced that this crowd would have dispersed by evening on its own, not daring to violate the inviolability of the embassy house, even if this crowd was not dispersed by the troops, which the shah would finally send. - I am convinced of this, knowing well the character
209 Persians on completely similar cases that I saw, even on a completely similar case that happened in our embassy in Tabriz about 20 years ago. But predestination, as it were, pushed Griboedov: he ordered the Cossacks to shoot at the people, blood was shed, one inhabitant was killed. His body was taken to the mosque. Mushtaid, from the height of the pulpit, ordered the people to go and take revenge with blood - with blood. The following result is known.

Ours, crushed by their numbers, after a heroic defense, fell, forcing them to pay dearly for their lives. Sarbazes (regular infantry), sent from Orek by Zeli Sultan to disperse the gatherings, arrived when it was all over. This delay, which they wanted to explain by the complicity of the court, is explained much more simply, precisely by what we have just talked about. When the shah learned about the movement, he did not want to stop him, because he thought to teach the envoy a lesson. Knowing his people, he never thought of a catastrophe that might happen. He could not foresee that the envoy would be so careless that he would decide to attack the whole population with his Cossacks. - The embarrassment of Feth Ali Shah and his court was great after the incident. The shah gathered a council of his ministers and great dignitaries, and I know from an eyewitness that in the first minutes the meeting looked very sad. The monarch and each of those present felt burdened with the responsibility that hung over them; they believed that Russia would take advantage of this opportunity for a brilliant revenge, where they would be the first victim. Finally, Feth-Ali-Shah began his speech and after exclamations: “Jo-Allah! Yo-Ali! he said: “What is done cannot be redone. It was pleasing to God. Now we have only to prepare for war, and prepare to win or die. In order for all my people to rise up, I myself will become their leader, I will take with me my treasures and all that I have. The Lord will be our judge." Then he ordered the bodies to be buried, entrusting the execution of this to the Armenians, ordering that the body of the minister be laid separately, as if he foresaw that he would be called.

The old Armenian, who was then in charge of the funeral, told me that forty bodies were buried by him. The Persians never wanted to admit how many people they had lost. Of ours, by the way, was Prince Melikov from Tiflis, who did not belong to the embassy. He was the nephew of Manuchar Khan, who sent him to warn Griboyedov of the impending unrest. The unfortunate man did not have time to return to his uncle. A Catholic priest from the Isfahan mission, who was then in Tehran, told me that a Muslim who lived in the neighborhood of our minister's house also warned him, even offering asylum at his place; according to the priest, the helpful harbinger was shamefully expelled from the embassy's house. Incomprehensible fate!

http://feb-web.ru/fe...29/simon_29.htm
Edited by Dismiss, 10 February 2006 - 18:22.

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On January 30 (February 11), 1829, an excited mob of Persian fanatics defeated and plundered the Russian mission in Tehran. All employees of the diplomatic corps, 37 people, were brutally destroyed - only one person miraculously escaped.

The “detonator” for the crowd was the fact that two Christian women, a Georgian and an Armenian, asked for asylum within the walls of the Russian mission. "The Russian flag will protect you," Ambassador Alexander Griboedov, 34, told them. He put on his ceremonial uniform with orders and went out to the crowd: "Come to your senses, to whom you raise your hand, in front of you is Russia." But they threw stones at him and knocked him down.

The most sophisticated desecration was perpetrated on the body of the ambassador. The corpse was dragged along the pavements, and the mutilated remains were thrown into the trash and covered with lime. Griboyedov was barely identified by the finger shot in the duel, RIA Novosti reports.

After this incident, the Persian Shah sent to St. Petersburg, together with his son, a gift to Tsar Nicholas I, as a "payoff" for the assassination of the ambassador, the legendary Shah diamond. This is a stone of rare beauty that has walked the hands of many kings for more than a thousand years, as evidenced by the inscriptions on the faces. 90 carats, 18 grams in weight, 3 cm long, yellow color, extremely transparent. Today, the precious nugget is kept in the Diamond Fund of Russia, located in the Kremlin.

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Griboedov was killed because of the wives of the Persian Shah

On the occasion of the anniversary of Griboedov's death, a correspondent of the Speed-Info newspaper went to Iran, where he managed to find out unknown details in which the Russian writer and diplomat died.

In the city of Yazd, the reporter met a 65-year-old Iranian named Parviz Husseini-Barari, who claims to be a descendant (great-great-grandson) of Alexander Griboyedov. Parviz, who speaks Russian, has written a book about his great ancestor, which should be published in Iran soon.

According to him, great-great-grandfather was a "big rascal." In Persia, he continued to "play pranks", spat on customs, did not take off his galoshes in the Shah's palace, and frankly used women, says Parviz.

In the book, Parviz describes an episode with his great-great-grandmother, Nilufar, the Shah's wife, who, he claims, had an affair with Griboyedov. Parviz says Fath Ali Shah sought to appease the ambassador and gave him "nights of love."

"On October 15, 1828, Alexander Sergeevich came to an audience with the Shah. But Fath Ali smiled: would you like to relax? In the chambers on the carpets, the thin concubine Nilufar vibrated her hips, smoothly bending her hips. Bracelets rattled on her ankles to the beat of the music. Alexander did not notice when the shah left. The girl painfully resembled his wife Nina: the same black eyes, thin eyebrows. Even her age is 16. Only the pregnant Nina remained in the border Tabriz. Come, dear ... - Alexander touched Nilufar's waist, similar to a stalk esfanda. The girl, bending over, knelt down, and very close by he saw her baby neck with a beating blue vein and tender breasts. And the servants kept bringing dishes with baklava, fruits, melons ... "

In his work, Parviz describes the not entirely personal details of the life of Russian representatives in Tehran: "Griboyedov's dairy brother Alexander Dmitriev and servant Rustam-bek started drunken fights in the bazaars, staged orgies at the embassy, ​​grabbed girls, decent Persians and raped them. In addition, the ambassadors drank well. Somehow, tipsy, Griboedov pressed Nilufar to himself: - Do you want to leave the harem?

About the tragic events that preceded the death of Griboedov, Parviz narrates as follows:

"On January 1, 1829, there was a knock on the door of the Russian mission in Tehran: I am Mirza-Yakub, an Armenian. Many years ago they castrated me, sent me to the shah's harem. I want to return to my homeland. I will be useful, I know many secrets. Pale Nilufar stood nearby : Oh, please, my lord, Mariam, Shirin, Elnaz are still with us... Griboedov understood that taking with him such a spy as Mirza-Yakub was a gift to Nicholas I himself. But the main thing... Nilufar! Leave! Leave everyone at the embassy! he commanded. In the morning the women were taken to the bathhouse. While Nilufar basked in Griboyedov's bedchamber, Sashka and Rustam-bek filled up the Shah's wives right on the hot benches. The news that the wives of Fath Ali Shah were dishonored in the Russian embassy instantly spread around Tehran, and an envoy from the palace appeared to Griboyedov: "Mr. Ambassador, you are obliged to return the women. They are his wives. That means - property. Like the eunuch Mirza-Yakub!"

Griboyedov responded to the demand of the envoy with a sharp refusal, and on January 30 (February 11) a crowd of enraged Muslims broke into the embassy and beat off the women.

As for Nilufar, according to Parviz, she fled from the harem. She wandered around the villages and then gave birth to a son from Griboedov - Reza.

Parviz regrets that it is not possible to conduct a genetic examination. The fact is that the remains of Griboyedov were buried in Tbilisi in the monastery of St. David and there can be no talk of exhumation.

"In Russia, they did not understand why they dealt with the envoy," says Parviz. "Everything was blamed on politics. And what does it have to do with it? Look for a woman!", he concludes.

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Curriculum vitae

Alexander Griboyedov was born in 1795, in Moscow, in an old noble family zealously preserving the patriarchal spirit. Having received a good education at home, the gifted young man first entered the Noble Boarding School at Moscow University, and soon became his student, studying at once at three faculties - verbal, legal and physical and mathematical. In that educational institution always reigned the spirit of free thinking and new ideals, consonant with the nature of Griboyedov. He turned to literature, began to compose poetry, write comedies, sharp journalistic articles. But everything was just a test of the pen. The first dramatic experience - the comedy "Young Spouses", was unsuccessful and left no trace.

Having received a PhD in Literature after graduating from the university, knowing six languages, Griboedov intended to continue his career as a scientist, but life turned differently, and he entered the service of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs. The young diplomat was sent to Persia, to Tabriz, as secretary of the Russian Mission under the Shah. It was there that he began to write "Woe from Wit". In 1824, when the work was completed, read in the salons, and distributed in manuscripts, its author became unusually famous.

In 1828 he played big role in the preparation and conclusion of the Turkmenchay peace with Persia, which is beneficial for Russia. The king appreciated this and awarded him the title of Minister Plenipotentiary in Persia.

33-year-old Griboedov fell passionately in love with 15-year-old Nina, the daughter of his Tiflis acquaintance, the Georgian writer Prince Alexander Chavchavadze. With a young wife expecting a child, Griboyedov went to work. For a while, he left Nina in the border Tabriz, and he went to Tehran, where she was waiting for him. terrible death. Nina, shocked by the terrible news, went into premature labor. The newborn boy on the same day was christened and named after his father, Alexander. But the premature baby did not survive and went after his father.

The 16-year-old widow, whose beauty was compared to that of Natalya Pushkina, never remarried and mourned her grief all her life. She lived for 53 years and every day she made a difficult journey from home to Mount Mtatsminda, where her husband and child were buried in the pantheon near the Church of St. David. Nina put a chapel on the grave, and in it - a monument on which she depicted herself crying. Nearby is the inscription: "Your mind and deeds are immortal in Russian memory; but why did my love survive you? .."

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So what actually happened at the Russian Embassy in Persia in 1929? Is the version presented in the textbooks of Russian literature true: Griboyedov was killed as a result of an unreasonable outburst of fury of the Islamic crowd (which, as we know from recent events, actually happens)? Or the stories that the reason for the indignation of the inhabitants of Tehran was that the Russian Ambassador and his comrades " In the morning the women were taken to the bathhouse. While Nilufar basked in Griboyedov's bedchamber, Sashka and Rustam-bek filled up the Shah's wives right on the hot benches. "? Let's assume that the version of the murder of the Russian Ambassador to Persia, Griboyedov, which is considered generally accepted in Iran, has a basis. In this case, the events described can be the basis of a novel and a film doomed to mega-success. Let's state a brief obvious content that corresponds to historical truth - not as she appears from Mother Russia, but as she appears from Tehran. Russia wins military victories over Persia. The capture of Tehran seems quite real. Under these conditions, the Russian ambassador, writer and playwright Griboyedov, behaves defiantly. Enters in the mosque and the palace of the Shah, defiantly not taking off his galoshes, hides in the Russian embassy several wives of the Shah, where he and his entourage amuse themselves with super beauties. ) is resting in comparison with such an erotic series.

The rumor that the Shah's wives were dishonored by the Russian Ambassador instantly flies around the capital of Persia. Crowds of angry Muslims flock to the embassy. Griboedov orders to open fire on the crowd. There are many killed among the inhabitants of the capital of Persia. But all the employees of the embassy (except one, who told the details) were torn to pieces. Griboyedov's corpse was identified only by the little finger shot through in a duel (a wonderful cinematic detail!) Shah of Persia in horror: debauchery with debauchery and dishonor with dishonor, but as a punishment, Russia can go to war and conquer Persia with European weapons, which Persia does not have. Was the defiant behavior of the Russian Ambassador a deliberate provocation to start a war - like the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, which started the First World War, and a provocation to seize a Polish radio station by the Nazis dressed in Polish uniforms, who started the Second World War?! Is not the price too high for dishonor: the annexation of Persia to Russia? Maybe pretend that there was no humiliation, and wipe himself away, saving his life and the state? The Shah sends an embassy to St. Petersburg with rich gifts led by his son. As a gift to Tsar Nicholas I, as a "payoff" for the murder of the Russian ambassador Griboyedov, the legendary Shah diamond is presented. This is a stone of rare beauty that has walked the hands of many kings for more than a thousand years, as evidenced by the inscriptions on the faces. 90 carats, 18 grams in weight, 3 cm long. Nikolay "generously" (with quotation marks or generously without quotation marks) agrees to forget the incident. Although who should have shown generosity: the Shah, whose wives were blasphemously dishonored by the Russians, or the Russian Tsar - looking at the backfill from a two-century distance. Maybe Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov was right, maybe it’s necessary with them "savages", maybe you know ours? Or was Russian Ambassador Griboyedov Alexander Sergeevich, having allowed the embassy staff (and, perhaps, having fun himself) to have fun with the wives of the Shah of Iran, was still a little wrong? The question, the answer to which is beyond the scope of the novel and the movie.

Let's just say, to this day there is interested people, who firmly hold on to the English trail in the murder of Griboyedov. The version appeared in the Moskovskie Vedomosti in 1829. This is understandable, since in Persia then there were only Russian and British diplomatic missions and the king, who received the unique Shah diamond as a token of forgiveness for the death of the envoy, was more convenient to find a switchman on the side of Foggy Albion. Yuri Tynyanov gave a second life to this version. In 1929, on the 100th anniversary of tragic death Russian envoy in Tehran, Tynyanov's novel "The Death of Vazir-Mukhtar" appeared.

The political situation, when diplomatic relations between Bolshevik Russia and England were actually severed, suggested to Yu. Tynyanov an actual interpretation. As a result, according to the novel version, the English diplomatic corps in Persia was guilty of Griboyedov's death.

According to Griboedov himself, he was not a key figure in Russian-Persian relations, which would make it reasonable for a rival state to kill him.

On December 9, 1827, Griboyedov himself in a letter to K.K. Rodofinikin from Tabriz wrote that he would not have much to do in Tehran, since Abbas-Mirza in Tabriz decides all matters with Russia. He also reports that he considers it necessary to invite Abbas-Mirza to St. Petersburg. He asks General Paskevich for rewards for the British embassy. Griboyedov was a man of fanatical honesty. In any case, this is how General Yermolov characterized him. And a person of such a warehouse would not stand up for the awarding of the British diplomatic corps if there were serious intrigues and hostility. And finally, it was just beneficial for England that Russia gutted a twenty-million indemnity from Persia and thereby forced the country to get hooked on the needle of British financial injections.

The trouble is that fanatical honesty and the gullibility resulting from this quality made him a victim of the environment imposed on him.

trusting mind

Apparently, due to his phenomenal decency, Alexander Griboedov took for truth the stories of his insidious entourage about the "historical homeland of the Armenians in the Caucasus." Under the pressure of Armenian lies, the poet erroneously believed that the Armenians were autochthons in the South Caucasus and had once been forcibly expelled from there to Persia. The main evidence for him was the churches that he saw on the territory of the Azerbaijani khanates. Apparently, he received a lot of impressive lies during his stay in the Etchmiadzin Monastery and conversations with the patriarch in January 1820 and June 1827.

Most likely, he did not even imagine that it was possible to appropriate the churches of another nation, as the Armenians did with the Albanian churches. He also did not know that he himself was a victim of falsifications, with which the Armenian environment methodically fed him.

On July 19, 1827, Count I. Paskevich, the husband of Griboyedov's cousin, instructed him to write a draft of a truce between Russia and Persia.

On November 11, 1827, at the second meeting of the conference, at which the conditions presented by Paskevich to the Persian government were discussed, it was on the initiative of Griboyedov that the main issues related to Armenian people. As is known, the poet achieved the inclusion of a special 15th article in the Turkmanchay Treaty, which became the legal basis for the mass resettlement of Armenians from Persia to the original Azerbaijani lands. It should be noted that after that the project of the Russian government on the resettlement of 80 thousand Cossacks to the lands along the Iranian border became invalid.

Capture of Erivan

We add to this that it was Griboyedov who sharply outlined the issue of the need to capture the Erivan fortress, which ultimately provided the Armenians with territory to create a state where they had never existed before. This was his report to Paskevich on July 30, 1827, after negotiations with the Persian crown prince Abbas-Mirza from the camp near the village of Kara-Baba.

Along with the political interests of Russia, Griboyedov was guided by the desire to help the Armenian people return to their "historical homeland." He took care of them even after moving to the Caucasus. From the “Notes on the resettlement of Armenians from Persia to our regions” we learn that Griboyedov proposed to transfer the 30,000th livestock of the Erivan Sardar not to the army and not to the treasury, but to the newly arrived Armenians in order to replenish their economy.

In the circle of Armenians

Since 1819, the poet's assistant was the Armenian Shamir Melik-Beglyarov, who worked in the diplomatic office of the commander-in-chief in the Caucasus. Over time, Griboedov began to blindly trust this man. His epistolary heritage contains enough letters in which he intercedes for Shamir, writes how he misses him and is waiting for him to return.

Information has been preserved that it was Shamir, who in 1847 rose to the rank of colonel and holder of the Order of St. George IV class, was one of the drafters of the new project of the Armenian state on the original Azerbaijani lands.

Under his influence, Griboyedov did not like the ruler of the civil office, General Yermolov P.I. Mogilevsky, who helped the beks of the Erivan Khanate (since 1828 - the Armenian region) to receive Russian ranks and titles.

On the urgent advice of Shamir, Griboyedov often attended the Tiflis Armenian School, periodically met with trained Armenians, who attracted him to read skillfully falsified "fundamental" works on the history of Armenia.

A letter to Paskevich from Tabriz dated October 30, 1828 shows the degree of Griboyedov's confidence in the pro-Armenian forger. The poet asks the count “A.G. Chavchavadze send oriental manuscripts to the Academy of Sciences O.I. Senkovsky, and not to the Public Library. (PSSG. III, 227.) It's about about Osip Senkovsky, who spoke in support of Armenian falsifications under the literary mask of "Baron Brambeus". It was him that V. Velichko called "the first Armenian mercenary in Russian literature."

In Tabriz, almost all employees in his embassy mission were Armenians: clerk Rustam Bensanyan, personal translator Melik Shakhnazar, Yakub Markharyan (Mirza-Yakub), treasurer Vasily Dadashyan (Dadash-bek), couriers Isaak Sarkisov, Khachatur Shakhnazarov.

In the archive of researcher N.K. Piksanov, documents have been preserved that testify to the poet's caring attitude towards these people. Among them is relation No. 1402 dated August 14, 1827 of the Asiatic Department of Griboedov, which approves his choice of lieutenant Shakhnazarov and collegiate registrar V. Dadashev as translators. Along with Shamir, the Armenian Dadashev also kept the young diplomat under his influence.

In December 1828, Griboyedov sent a letter to Paskevich with a request to announce to the translator Shakhnazarov the approved rank of staff captain and give him an annual salary for his work.

Thus, it becomes clear how and under what influence the sympathetic attitude of the young diplomat towards the Armenians was formed, whom he did not like at all at first.

Along with this, today the degree of guilt of the Armenian entourage of Griboedov to his death is being clarified. Rustam Bensanyan, aka Rustam-bek, was the main muleta, raising the fury of the Persians against the Russian envoy. Although some sources claim that Griboedov irritated the Shah and his court with his impudence, the fact that he entered the Shah's chambers in shoes, this version rests on weak props. Contemporaries note Griboedov's special courtesy and courtesy in address. As for walking on carpets in shoes, the shah and his entourage were certainly loyal to this, since a protocol on the embassy ceremony was signed in Turkmanchay, according to which Russian diplomats were allowed to be in European clothes at the reception of the shah and, therefore, not to take off their shoes.

So it was not Griboyedov, as has been suggested for over 100 years, but the Armenians who caused dissatisfaction with the Russian diplomatic corps in Persia. Always drunk, Rustambek and his friends started fights in the bazaars, ran through the streets with a naked saber and threatened the Persians. He was the main instigator who forced Griboyedov to hide in the embassy two Armenian women from the harem of the influential nobleman Allayar Khan.

Murder

Griboyedov treated the dignitary with hostility, but what was the reason for the diplomat's personal hostility to this person and was it by chance that Rustam-bek demanded to hide his concubines in the embassy? By the way, we note that the women did not ask to go to Russia at all, they were taken by force, referring to the 13th article of the Turkmanchay Treaty, regardless of the fact that they had already converted to Islam and had children from Allayar Khan.

The further development of actions in itself foreshadowed tragic ending. On the night of January 21, 1829, Mirza-Yakub Markaryan knocked on the door of the Russian embassy and declared that he wanted to use the prisoner's right to return to his homeland. Griboyedov refused to admit him at such a late hour. But Markaryan returned in the morning and insisted on his own. This was a eunuch who made a brilliant career as treasurer of the inner chambers of the Shah's palace in 15 years, was a confidant who knew the secrets of the Tehran elite.

The Shah's emissaries were never able to explain to Griboedov that by taking away the eunuch, he actually encroaches on the Shah's honor. Meanwhile, the concubines of Allayar Khan raised a loud scandal that, at the instigation of Mirza Yakub, he raped them step-brother Griboedova Dmitriev. On the same day, Rustam-bek started another fight in the market square. In a word, the Armenians skillfully played out the scenario and brought the events to a climax. The Persians, who regarded the actions of Griboyedov and his entourage as an insult to the dignity of the entire people, defeated the embassy and killed the diplomat. So Griboyedov became a victim of lies and treachery.

Consequences

However, the conflicts and wars in Transcaucasia did not end with the death of the poet, but, on the contrary, a new knot of contradictions was tied - the so-called Karabakh conflict.

History repeated itself 160 years later. As you know, under the leadership of Griboyedov, Armenians were resettled in Erivan, Nakhichevan and Karabakh. Armenia was proclaimed in Erivan in 1918, and the Azerbaijanis presented them with the city of Erivan and 9,000 square kilometers of territory, which Soviet years rose to 30,000. And from 1988 to this day, Armenians have been demanding the separation of the mountainous part of Karabakh from Azerbaijan.

Our reference

From the depths of vile nationalism, new mutants-destroyers appeared who did not even leave the memory of Griboyedov to their descendants - the Palace of the Sardar of the Erivan Khanate, in which in the winter of 1828 the exiled Decembrists showed the only lifetime production of "Woe from Wit" in the presence of the author.

But the Armenians could, out of respect for the memory of Griboyedov, leave the palace and install a memorial plaque testifying to an important fact of Russian history and culture. After this performance, the House of the Sardar became a fact of Russian culture, a kind of temple in which the many millions of peoples of the Soviet and post-Soviet space could feel the atmosphere of high spiritual heritage the poet, the exiled Decembrists who staged this comedy. But this priceless masterpiece of medieval Azerbaijani architecture, this enduring memory of Griboyedov, have been wiped off the face of the earth.

Back in 1927, a hundred years after the capture of Erivan by Russia, the palace in all its bright glory was a place of tourist pilgrimage. But this did not stop the Armenian vandals. In 1964, there will no longer be a palace on this site. Only a few stone blocks will remain of it.

In October 1828, at the height of the Russian-Turkish war, Emperor Nicholas I, through his Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Karl Nesselrode, ordered the Russian ambassador to Iran, A. Griboedov, to collect another installment from Iran on account of indemnity, rejecting Griboedov’s advice to conduct a more flexible policy in Iran. politics. Griboyedov, seeing the plight of Iran, tried to persuade Russian government accept instead of money cotton, silk, livestock, jewelry, but the chancellor Russian emperor ordered to strictly fulfill the conditions of the Turkmanchay Treaty and gave him royal instructions that prescribed a tough position on the timing of the payment of indemnities and in the implementation of patronage to former captives who wanted to return to their homeland. In the conditions of the war between Russia and Turkey, such an instruction put Griboyedov in a difficult position.

Iranian Shah Fath-Ali hoped that Russia would get bogged down in a war with Turkey for a long time. The Iranian government violated the deadlines for the payment of indemnities and prevented the extradition of prisoners. New taxes were introduced in the country, which were justified by the need to pay Russia's debts. Numerous rallies were held in the mosques and bazaars of the Iranian capital, at which anti-Russian speeches were heard. The victim of such sentiments in Iranian society was Russian ambassador Alexander Griboedov, who at the beginning of 1829 left Tabriz (where his mission was located) for Tehran to settle disputes with the Shah of Iran. Here a fierce campaign was unleashed against him. The adherents of Allayar Khan, the disgraced Shah's minister, were especially active. Griboyedov was portrayed as the culprit of the introduction of new taxes intended for the payment of indemnities, he was accused of harboring Armenians.

Griboyedov indeed provided asylum in the building of the Russian mission in Tehran to three Armenians who turned to him, in accordance with Article 13 of the Turkmanchay Treaty, with a request to send them to the northern part of Armenia, located on the territory of Russia. Among these Armenians was the eunuch Mirza-Yakub, who previously served as the chief custodian of the Shah's diamonds and knew all the secrets of the Shah's treasury.

On February 11, 1829, when Griboyedov, having received a farewell audience with Shah Fath-Ali, was about to leave Tehran, a large crowd gathered near the large Tehran mosque. The chief mujtehid (representative of the higher clergy) appealed to the crowd to start a holy war against the "infidels". The angry crowd rushed to the building of the Russian mission, brutally cracked down on A.S. Griboedov (cutting him into pieces) and his staff. Only the secretary of the mission managed to escape. And all this happened with the full connivance of the Shah's authorities.

Reporting this tragic event to St. Petersburg, General I. Paskevich noted that "the British were not at all alien to participating in the indignation." But Nicholas I preferred to accept the official Iranian version that "the incident should be attributed to the reckless impulses of the zeal of the late Griboyedov." Not wanting to complicate relations with Iran at a tense moment in the Russian-Turkish war, when popular uprisings broke out in the territories of Transcaucasia annexed to Russia, the Russian government was satisfied with the Shah's official apology. The tsar graciously accepted from the Shah-Fath-Ali's envoy of the Shah's blood, Khozrev-Mirza, a valuable Nadir-Shah diamond as a gift, satisfied with the formal apologies of the Iranian prince and his statements of discontent towards the late Griboyedov. Nicholas I delayed Iran for several years the next payment of indemnity.

In Iran, the struggle for influence between Russia and Great Britain continued, which resulted in the Herat conflict of 1837.