83. The Sacking of Shamakhi

The city of Shamakhi in present-day Azerbaijan was a Shia-majority city as part of the Safavid Empire. In 1721, as the Safavid Empire was declining, the city was attacked by a group called the Lezgins, who were a Caucasian ethnic group from southern Dagestan, Russia and northeastern Azerbijan following Sunni Islam.

Around 17,000 Lezgins attacked the city of Shamakhi and massacred the Shia residents and merely plundered Christians and other groups.

According to several accounts, between 4,000-5,000 Shia were killed in the attack due to their faith. This is considered one of the most prominent cases of Shia persecution in the 18th century.