186 Important Gramota with attached seal capsule from the period of Empress Catherine the Great for Sergei Lazarevich Lashkariov (23 February 1739 - 6 October 1814).
Important Imperial Decree by Empress Catherine II of the gift of extensive lands with 400 serfs to her eminent diplomat and personal advisor Sergei Lazarevich Lashkariov for his services in negotiating the annexation of the Crimean peninsula to Russia.
Dated 7.12.1787. With original signature of Empress Catherine the Great.
Handwritten calligraphic text on large sheets of parchment. The front with hand-painted Russian double-headed eagle crowned by a portrait medallion of the Empress surrounded by rocailles and surmounted by the Tsar's crown.
The text is written entirely in gold and bordered by gold-rehoused flower garlands with numerous colourfully illuminated coats of arms of the Russian provinces.
The second page handwritten in black ink and also surrounded by magnificent hand-painted gilt frames with floral garlands and richly gilt coats of arms of St. Petersburg, the imperial cipher and the Russian crown insignia.
The last page with similar frame decoration and the original signature of the Empress in black ink.
Secretary's notes 1789 on the verso.
Binding of green silk interwoven with gilt metal threads. Signs of wear commensurate with age.
The imperial wax seal completely intact in a splendid seal case of gilt silver with a hand-chased imperial Russian double-headed eagle of the finest quality. In the bottom master's mark ""NB"" (probably Nils Bergqvist guild master in St. Petersburg, 1712-1792), respectively H.M" (probably assay master Moschtschalkin, Nikifor, St. Petersburg 1772 - 1800) as well as the city mark of St. Petersburg and year mark 1789.
On a cord of gilded metal thread embroidery with large silver embroidered tassels.
Important document of the highest quality. The parchment pages in splendid, fresh condition.
Only very few comparable complete documents are known to exist in private hands today.
Gramota in exquisite quality and of the greatest rarity.
Sergei Lasarevich Lashkariov (23 February 1739 - 6 October 1814) was a Russian major general and secret advisor of Georgian origin. He was described as a skilled diplomat. According to one assessment, he was one of the "remarkable phenomena of Catherine the Great's century".
He was born in Moscow into the family of Georgian Prince Lazar Grigoriovich Lashkarashvili, who had come to Russia from Georgia with Tsar Vakhtang VI.
He was fluent in ten languages: Turkish, Persian, Arabic, Tatar, Georgian, Armenian, ancient and modern Greek, French and Italian. In 1770, he was sent to Constantinople and conducted secret negotiations with the Porte, as a result of which he obtained the right of entry for the Russian fleet into the Dardanelles Strait. When, at the beginning of the First Turkish War (1768-1774), the Russian ambassador Obreskow was placed under arrest, Lashkaryov remained at the embassy to supervise the entourage and protect the commercial interests of the Russian subjects. He looked after all relations between Russia and the Turkish government and, despite the strict surveillance of all persons belonging to the embassy, kept up correspondence, not only with the resident in custody, but also with Count A.G. Orlov, who was in the archipelago with the Russian fleet, and with Count P.A. Rumyantsev. Lashkarev succeeded in concluding the business of all the Russian merchants and sending them from the Turkish borders to Russia by various foreign ships under different false names via Holland; at the same time he supplied important secret information to St. Petersburg and in Vienna to Prince D. M. Golitsyn.
As head of the mission, Lashkarev supported the unrest in Epirus and Greece at that time; more than once he was put in great danger by the Turkish mob, but was always saved by his ingenuity, his knowledge of the Turkish language and his skill in dealing with the Turks. When the Turkish government deemed Lashkarev's further stay in the capital unnecessary, he left for Russia with Obreskov's family in 1771 and arrived in Petersburg in 1772, where he was appointed "translator of the three colleges".
Lashkarev was among those sent to the Foqshan Congress, and from there he was sent to the archipelago, to the island of Negropont, with important secret orders from the commander-in-chief of the army, Rumyantsev.
After the conclusion of the peace of Küçük-Kaynarji, Lashkarov was sent to Constantinople with his chargé d'affaires, Colonel Peterson, to exchange not only Russian prisoners but also other Christians. Before sending the Christian prisoners home, Lashkarov kept their children in his care, as the Turks tried to take advantage of their plight to convert them to Mohammedanism. He then proceeded to the Dardanelles to escort the inhabitants of the various islands of the archipelago in 30 merchant ships. Prince N. V. Repnin instructed Lashkarev, together with officers Sikstel and S. N. Pleshcheyev, to gather the necessary information and make plans with the forts on the coast of the Black and Azov Seas.
Then he received the order to guide five Russian merchant ships through the Dardanelles, which were on Tenedos under the supervision of the military frigate "Northern Eagle". Thanks to Lashkariov's good relations with the Gate government and his personal acquaintance with the commander of the Dardanelles, not only the merchant ships but also a military frigate were allowed through, although this was a violation of the conventions at the time; on 14 November 1776, the Russian frigate was escorted to the anchorage of the English and French cruisers - from then on, Russian ships had the right of passage through the Dardanelles until the middle of the 19th century.
For this significant success, Lashkarev received the rank of collegiate assessor and land in the Slavyansk district of Ekaterinoslav province.
In 1779 he was appointed Consul General in Sinop, and from 1780 to 1782 he was Consul General in Moldavia, Wallachia and Bessarabia, taking an active part in negotiations with Turkey on trade and the admission of migrants. At his request, Turkey instructed the rulers of Moldova not to prevent Russian subjects from returning freely to their homeland. He was instrumental in ensuring that Russian merchant ships were given free access to the Danube and to the ports of Bessarabia.
After the successful conclusion of the negotiations, Lashkarev was honoured with the highest distinction and raised to the rank of court councillor on 12 October 1782.
On 25 October 1782, Lashkarev was appointed Resident under the last Crimean Khan Shagin-Girey. In St. Petersburg he was given the task of dealing with the question of the annexation of the Crimea to Russia. On 31 January 1783 he travelled to the Crimea. The task assigned to Lashkarev was mainly to persuade Shagin-Girey to give up Turkey's patronage and agree to leave Crimea and move to Russia - thus achieving the final incorporation of Crimea. Within three months, Lashkarev succeeded in winning the Khan's unreserved trust and respect. He succeeded in persuading the Khan to ask for the protection of Empress Catherine the Great and permission to move to Russia (in return, on 28 June of the same year, Lashkarev received the rank of Chancellor, an inherited estate and 400 souls in the province of Belarus; in addition, the Empress paid his debts of 12,000 roubles and gave him a diamond ring from her own casket).
For his work in the annexation of the Crimea, Lashkarev was awarded the Order of Vladimir 4th Class on 22 September 1780 and, not unlike others, received permission to come to court and "join the cavalry guard", indicating a special monarchical disposition.
On 18 June 1784 Potemkin sent Lashkarev a medal awarded to him by Catherine II on the occasion of the accession of the Taurica region to Russia, as a man who had done much work in this case.
On 2 March 1786 Lashkarev was appointed plenipotentiary for affairs with Persia and received a dispatch, but G. A. Potemkin kept him with him for special duties in Asiatic affairs.
As early as 21 December 1782, the Georgian King Irakli II appealed to Catherine II for Georgia's admission under Russian patronage. "With all our courage we dare to ask," Irakli II wrote, "that we and our regions be protected by Her Majesty's patronage."
At the end of 1786, Lashkarev travelled to Constantinople to negotiate with the Porte over the expressed wish of the princes of Georgia and Imeretia to come under Russian patronage; on his return from Constantinople, Lashkarev stayed with Potemkin, who was in the Crimea at the time, and was in the entourage of the Empress Catherine II on a tour of the Taurian region. He remained with Potemkin during the Russo-Turkish War until the latter's death. On 16 December 1784 Lashkariov was granted land in the province of Poltava, and on 22 November 1788 he was granted 4000 dessiatinas of land and a garden in the Sudak valley in the Crimea. At the same time, Lashkariov was appointed a state councillor and, after the conquest of Ochakov, accompanied the captivity of the Pasha of Ochakov to St. Petersburg. After his return from St. Petersburg, Lashkarev governed the Principality of Moldavia and sat on the Divan. During the Russo-Turkish War he was sent several times by Potemkin and later by Repnin to Shumla to the Grand Vizier for peace negotiations. On 20 April 1791 Lashkariov received a letter from the Cardinal of Toledo in Rome thanking him for looking after the fate of the Catholics in Moldavia during the peace negotiations.
Lashkariov was appointed the third peace plenipotentiary, attended all 13 conferences held in Lasi from 10 November to 29 December 1791, and signed the peace treaty.
The Treaty of Jassy states that for the decision, conclusion and signing of the peace treaty, on the Russian side, Sergei Lashkarev, State Councillor, Alexander Samoilov, Lieutenant General, Active Chamberlain and Joseph De Ribas, Major General, Commander of the Rudder Fleet were chosen. On the Turkish side were Yesseid Abdullag Biri, Yesseid Ibraim Ismet and Yevwel Mugamed Durri.
After the conclusion of peace, he was appointed a member of the College of Foreign Affairs and entrusted with the administration of Asian affairs, with the right to report personally to Catherine II.
Catherine II always held Lashkariov in high esteem, as did Emperor Paul I. He appointed Lashkariov head of the Asian Department of the State College of Foreign Affairs and granted him land in the province of Lithuania. On 23 February 1799 Lashkarev was promoted to the rank of Privy Councillor, and from then on Lashkarev came every week with a personal report to Paul I. In addition to the White Russian, Ekaterinoslav and Crimean estates given to him in Russia, in 1798 the Georgian Prince gave Lashkarev an estate in the Gori district. In honour of his special services in eastern politics, Paul I designed an intricate coat of arms for the Lashkarev family.
In 1800, as an assistant to Count F.I. Rostopchin, Lashkarev took an active part in correspondence with Turkey and Georgia on the occasion of the country's accession to Russia. He was in charge of Georgian affairs under Alexander I. The final annexation of Georgia to Russia took place with his assistance.
He retired on 4 January 1804, was awarded a diamond snuffbox with an imperial monogram and retired to his country estate. In March 1807 Lashkarev was appointed to Tilsit and from there sent to Iasi and Bucharest to govern Moldavia and Wallachia, receiving the rank of president of both diwans (28 June 1807). He went to the Turkish camp to negotiate peace with the Grand Vizier and was received with respect. For unknown reasons, Lashkarev signed an agreement that was clearly against the interests of the Russian side. In particular, the agreement provided for the return of the ships captured in the battle to the Turkish side and the withdrawal of the Russian troops across the Dniester. Alexander I asked Lashkariov to resign and he returned to his estates in Vitebsk province, where he lived almost continuously until his death.
Lashkarev is buried on one of his estates in Vitebsk province.
Lashkarev enjoyed the special favour and trust of Prince Potemkin, who gave him his personal Order of St Andrew - -diamond star and presented him with a ring with his relief image on a blue stone as a sign of his special favour two years before his death. Lashkarev passed this ring on to his eldest son Major General Pavel Sergeevich. It is also said that Lashkarev was "on a first-name basis" with Vice-Chancellor A.A. Bezborodko and corresponded with A.V. Suvorov and enjoyed his great respect.