Battle of Aslanduz

The Battle of Aslanduz took place on 31 October and 1 November 1812 between the Russian Empire and Qajar Iran during the Russo-Persian War (1804-1813).

Background
In March 1812, the British ambassador to Persia signed a peace treaty, according to which England actually acted as an ally of Persia. In the same year, Napoleon's troops invaded Russia. In connection with the war with the French Empire, the Russian Empire tried to make peace with Persia. During the negotiations, the parties could not come to a common agreement.

Battle
The Persian commander Fath Ali Shah stationed his forces, led by his two heirs, Abbas Mirza and Dowlatshah, in Aslanduz. Russian forces under the command of Major General Pyotr Kotlyarevsky launched a surprise night attack and routed the Persians, who were still sleeping. Kotlyarevsky then quickly moved on to storm Lankaran successfully in early 1813 which ended any Persian hope of continuing the war or settling on a stalemate for both parties.

The Persian casualties numbered around 2,000 killed and 500 captured. The Russians lost 38 men with 99 wounded. Among those killed during the battle was Charles Christie, a British officer in the service of Iran.