Derbend-nämeh or the History of Derbend. 603 
third and the Persians on the fourth, continually disturbed the inhabitants of Shamäkhu, PBa- 
bul- Abwäb, and other towns of the ancient Shirwän. During the establishment of the power of 
the Djenghizides in Persia and subsequent to ït all these quarters (especially Derbend) were 
subject to frequent inundations of tribes and races of mankind. More than once, the Mongolian troops 
visited Derbend during the times of Djenghiz,.Tulé, Heläki, Berkeh,. Mengou, Abagka, Uzbeck 
and other Khans; more than once Derbend saluted the banners of 7ägktamish and of Timour. 
After the establishment of Sheikh-Ibrähim and his descendants in Shirwän, Derbend was for 
the most part considered a district of that temporary kiugdom, but it nevertheless continued to 
suffer from the hands of the ambitious. The kingdom of Shirwân having fallen into the hands 
of Zahimäsb, this town among ; others, shared: the same fate. Not long after that, all this quarter 
became an object of dispute between the court of Persia and. the Ottoman Porte. Atthe close 
of the X century of the Hijret (966 H. and 1578 A.D.) the whole province of Shir-wân fell 
under the power of Sultan Murdd III. and Derbend. was. visited by the Ottoman ‘troops ” 
Some years after, Shirwän and Derbend were restored to Persia! and since that time, though 
the Khans and Sultans of those quarters were considered to have been tributaries of that 
kingdom, yet Derbend has, more, than once, been the scene of slaughter. and bloodshed till the 
very close of the last century. During the Jast years of the reign of the Sefevides, when the impor- 
tance and dignity of Persia declined, when disasters and calamities in tkat kingdom prepared 
new awful pages for history, Daghistan was wholly left to its fate, Derbend at that time was 
governed by. a certain /mam-Ghouli the Gkourchi, who was appointed there by the unhappy 
Hosein. When this town was conquered by Peter the Great in 1722, the said Governor, Imam- 
Gkouli was honoured by the favour of that Emperor and retained his former authority as a 
subject of His Majesty and as a wise administralor. He was raised to the dignity of a Khan by 
His Majesty. — MNädir-Shak’s. rise and progress wholly changed the fate of the country: the 
inhabitants of Daghistan in their turn aiso: suffered from the tyranny of that ambitious monter: 
Every where new governors were appointed by that usurper jand'Derbénd was put under the 
government of a certain Feridoun-Sultan. After the -assassination:; 6f Nâditdiowever the: inha- 
bitants of Derbend refused to submit to the authority of that, governor, and in consequence 
Muhammed - Hesan- Khan, the son of the former /m4am-Gkuli- Khan was elected as the lawfu] 
Khan of the province. 
In 1766. Derbend was conquered by Fath- Ali Khan of Kubbeh, whose name: is till this 
day on the lips of all the, inhabitants of Daghistan. After the death of:this illustrious Khan; 
there arose a quarrel between his:sons and the Princes of SAeki and Shirwäân, which subjected 
the whole country to great calamity, and of which the favorable result was, that by degrees: it 
was wholly subjugated to the power of Russia. — 
M Our readers may find some thing of Ofhman-Pasha's expedition to Derbend &c,.in the Appendix, in 
‘the extract made by me from the work of Dehdeh Afendi. 
