Mohammad Taqi-Khan Pesyan

Mohammad Taqi-Khan Pesyan ( Persian محمدتقی پسیان; * 1892 in Tabriz ; † October 3, 1921 ) also Pesian , Pessian or Pesseyan was an Iranian military commander.

Life

Colonel Pesyan comes from a prominent family from Azerbaijan who emigrated to Iran after the defeat of Persia in the Russo-Persian War, which ended with the Treaty of Turkmanchai in 1882 . Military service was a tradition in Pesyan's family. His uncle General Hamzeh Khan Pesyan was a commander in the Persian Cossack Brigade , his cousins ​​Heydar Qoli Khan Pesyan, Ali Qoli Khan Pesyan, Gholam Reza Khan Pesyan and he himself served in the Persian gendarmerie .

In Tabriz , Mohammad Taqi received extensive training in the natural sciences, Persian and Arabic as well as several European foreign languages. In 1907 he went to Tehran to attend the military college. After five years he was promoted to lieutenant in the gendarmerie . Only two years later he held the rank of captain . As a battalion commander, he served in Qazvin , Hamadan and Yazd . In addition, he worked as a lecturer and interpreter in the training facility of the gendarmerie in Yusef Abad in Tehran. At the beginning of the First World War he was promoted to major .

First World War and exile in Germany

In November 1915, as commander of the Hamadan gendarmerie, he attacked the pro-Russian Cossack brigade at the Battle of Musalla. He managed to overpower and disarm the Cossacks. With a patriotic address he convinced many soldiers of the Cossack Brigade to continue fighting on his side. In the end, however, he had to admit defeat to the Russian Caucasus Army, which was advancing on Hamadan, superior in numbers and armament. The remnants of Pesyan's troops withdrew to Kermanshah , where they were finally defeated by the pursuing Russians. Those who could fled to the Ottoman Empire . In August 1916, Pesyan attempted to retake Kermanshah. But even this time he was unable to defeat the superior Russian forces. Many of his soldiers went into exile in Istanbul . Pesyan himself went into exile in Berlin to continue fighting on the side of the Germans on the western front in the ongoing First World War .

During his time in Berlin, he completed pilot training with the German Air Force. In several combat missions, Pesyan managed to shoot down 25 enemy aircraft. In recognition of his military services, he was awarded the Iron Cross .

During his stay in Germany, Pesyan translated several books from French and German into Persian. He also wrote Sargozascht-e yek dschavan-e vatandust (The Life of a Young Patriot) and Dschang-e Moqaddas az Baghdad ta Iran (The Holy War from Baghdad to Iran) .

Return to Iran

Pesyan Tomb

After the end of the First World War, Pesyan returned to Iran in 1920 and rejoined the gendarmerie. In June 1920 he was promoted to colonel ( colonel ), and in September 1920 he was commander of the gendarmerie in Khorasan . Following the violent overthrow of the Mirza Hassan Khan government, Colonel Pesyan arrested the then governor of Khorasan Ahmad Qavam on instructions from Prime Minister Seyyed Zia al Din Tabatabai and sent him to prison in Tehran. Seyyed Zia appointed him military governor of Khorasan Province. Pesyan proclaimed the Khorasan Autonomous Government on April 2, 1921 . He also took over the administration of the grave of Imam Reza in Mashhad , one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Iran. At the end of June 1921, however, Ahmad Qavam was released and appointed Prime Minister of Iran by Ahmad Shah Kajar . Qavam immediately arrested Pesyan and put an end to the Khorasan Autonomous Government on October 6, 1921. Pesyan had holed up in Quchan with 150 gendarmes and was hopelessly inferior to Reza Khan, who was advancing with over 1,000 Cossacks . Pesyan was executed on October 3, 1921. His head was brought to Tehran as evidence of his death.

Pesyan's death came as a shock to the people of Khorasan. They revered Pesyan as a freedom fighter. Memorial services were held for five years on October 3, the day of his execution. After Reza Khan was crowned Shah on December 12, 1925, however, he stopped the funeral ceremonies.

Pesyan is buried in Mashhad in Khorasan in the same garden as Nadir Shah .

literature

• A. Azari: Qiyam-e Colonel Mohammad Taqi Khan-e Pesyan dar Khorasan. (The uprising of Colonel Mohammad Taqi Khan Pesyan in Khorasan). Safialishah, Tehran 1989.
• Stephanie Cronin: An Experiment in Revolutionary Nationalism: The Rebellion of Colonel Muhammad Taqi Khan Pasyan in Mashhad, April-October 1921. In: Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. Vol. 33, No. October 4, 1997, pp. 693-750.
• Institute of Iranian Contemporary Historical Studies : qatl-e Mohammad Taqi Khan Pesyan. Niloufar Kasra.
• Institute of Iranian Contemporary Historical Studies : Colonel Pesyan Photos. Mehdi Jangravi.
• faceofiran.com

See also

• On the subject of Germany and the Middle East in World War I: News center for the Orient and World War I in Persia