 Under the rule of the Persian Afsharid dynasty over Eastern Armenia, copper mining became popular in the region of Lori, especially during the second half of the 18th century, as many Greek miners from Gyumushkhane migrated to the area and built a copper factory in 1770, thus stimulating the gradual development of the whole region and setting the ground for the foundation of Shamlugh in the 1770s, settled originally by ethnic Greeks.In 1801, together with the Georgian provinces of Kartli and Kakheti, Lori was annexed by the Russian Empire to become part of the Georgia Governorate.The region became officially part of the Russian Empire as per the Treaty of Gulistan signed on 1 January 1813 between Imperial Russia and the Qajar dynasty.