The Battle of Ganja or Elisavetpol (also Elizabethpol, Yelisavetpol, &c.) took place on 25 September 1826^NS/13 September 1826^OS, during the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828. Crown prince and commander-in-chief

Abbas Mirza Abbas Mirza (; 26 August 1789 – 25 October 1833) was the Qajar dynasty, Qajar crown prince of Qajar Iran, Iran during the reign of his father Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (). As governor of the vulnerable Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan province, he played ...

had launched a successful campaign in the summer of 1826, which resulted in the recapture of many of the territories that were lost to the Russians by virtue of the

Treaty of Gulistan The Treaty of Gulistan (also spelled Golestan: ; ) was a peace treaty concluded between the Russian Empire and Qajar Iran on 24 October 1813 in the village of Gülüstan, Goranboy, Gulistan (now in Goranboy District, the Goranboy District of Azerb ...

(1813). Noticing the approach of the Iranian army, many of the locals that had recently come under formal Russian jurisdiction, quickly switched sides. Amongst the swiftly recaptured territories by the Iranians were the important cities of

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

Lankaran Lankaran (, ) or Lánkon () is a city in Azerbaijan, on the coast of the Caspian Sea, near the southern border with Iran. As of 2021, the city had a population of 89,300. It is next to, but independent of, Lankaran District. The city forms a disti ...

and

Quba Quba () is a city and the administrative centre of the Quba District (Azerbaijan), Quba District of Azerbaijan. The city lies on the north-eastern slopes of Mount Shahdagh, Shahdag mountain, at an altitude of 600 metres above sea level, on the ...

. Then Russian commander-in-chief in the Caucasus,

Aleksey Yermolov Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov (, ; – ) was a Russian general of the 19th century who commanded Russian troops in the Caucasian War. He served in all the Russian campaigns against the French, except for the 1799 campaigns of Alexander Suvo ...

, convinced that he had insufficient resources to battle the Iranians, ordered for the withdrawal from Elisavetpol (

Ganja ''Ganja'' (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for cannabis flower, specifically marijuana or hashish. Its usage in English dates to before 1689. Etymology ''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi (, IPA: �aːɲd͡ʒa� ...

), which was thus retaken as well. Yermolov's replacement, Ivan Paskevich, now with additional resources, started the counteroffensive. At Ganja, in late September 1826, the Iranian and Russian armies met, and Abbas Mirza and his men were defeated. As a result, the Iranian army was forced to retreat across the

Aras river The Aras is a transboundary river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan, between Iran and both Azerbaijan and Armenia, and, fin ...

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ganja, Battle of Ganja 1826 Battles involving Qajar Iran Conflicts in 1826 19th century in Azerbaijan 1826 in the Russian Empire Battles of the Russo-Persian Wars 1820s in Iran 1826 in Asia History of Ganja, Azerbaijan September 1826