Persian Cossack Brigade

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Persian Cossack Brigade in Tabriz in 1909

The Persian Cossack Brigade was an elite cavalry unit formed in 1879 in Persia (modern Iran). During much of their history they were the only functional, effective military unit of the Qajar Dynasty. Acting on occasion as kingmakers, this force played a pivotal role in modern Persian history during the Revolution of 1905–1911, the rise of Reza Shah and the formation of the Pahlavi Dynasty.

Origin, purpose and makeup

The İranian Cossack Brigade was formed by Nasir al-Din Shah in 1879 using as a model the Caucasian Cossack regiments of the Imperial Russian Army, which had impressed him when travelling through southern Russia in 1878. Together with a Swedish officered and trained gendarmerie, the Cossack Brigade came to comprise the most effective military force available to the Iranian crown in the years prior to World War I.

In spite of its name the Brigade was never a genuine cossack force. Neither did it have the status of a guard unit. Late nineteenth century photographs show that Russian style uniforms were worn, in contrast to the indigenous dress of other Persian forces at the time. The rank and file of the Brigade were always Persian but until 1917 its commanders were Russian officers who were also employed in the Russian army, such as Vladimir Liakhov. Such secondments were encouraged by the Imperial Russian Government who saw the Cossack Brigade as a means of extending Russian influence in a key area of international rivalry. After the October Revolution in 1917, many of these Russian officers left the country to join the "White" forces. The command of the Persian Cossack Division was subsequently transferred to Iranian officers. Most notable among these officers was General Reza Khan, who started his military career as a private soldier in the Cossack Brigade and rose through its ranks to become a Brigadier General.

Detailed history

At the time of the Persian Cossack Brigade's formation the Shah’s royal cavalry was described as having no training or discipline. The Qajar state at this point was very weak, lacking any professional military forces. In wars against the British and even the Turkoman nomads the Persian forces had been defeated. The Tsar Alexander II approved Russian military advisors travelling to Persia to fulfill the Shah’s request. The brigade was then formed in 1879 by Lieutenant-Colonel Domantovich, a Russian officer.

Early development of the Cossack Brigade

Russian interests and lack of funding slowed the initial development of the brigade into a professional fighting force. The initial strength of the brigade was 400 men drawn from immigrants known as mohajers who were descendents of Transcaucasian Muslims who had migrated to İran to avoid Russian rule. They possessed special privileges as a hereditary military caste. Domantovich made rapid progress with their training and the Shah ordered the strength of the new brigade to be increased to 600 men drawn from the regular army. The rapid progress of the Cossack Brigade caused concern in Russia due to fear that it may become a true fighting force rather than a tool of the Russian government. Domantovich was dismissed as commander in 1881 and replaced by the less effective Colonel Charkovsij, over the protests of the Shah. Charkovsij added four artillery pieces to the arsenal of the Brigade in 1883 but made no other improvements. In 1886 Colonel Karavaev became commander and the Brigade faced with budget cuts had its numbers diminished. In 1890 Colonel Shneur took over and was unable to pay the men. After many desertions, combined with a cholera epidemic, the strength was reduced to 450 men, and eventually cut down to 200. Shneur left in 1893 leaving command to a junior officer. By this time the brigade was rapidly disintegrating and the Shah was under pressure to disband it and give the Germans control over army training. It was further cut to just 150 men with one Russian officer. At this point it seemed that the Brigade would end as a failed experiment and be nothing more than a footnote in Persian history.

Turning point

The Brigade was saved by the arrival of Colonel Kosagoskij who was to become the most effective commanding officer in the Brigade’s history. The biggest problem he faced was the mohajer aristocracy in the Brigade, who considering themselves in a position of privilege often refused to work and reacted poorly to attempts at discipline. This faction mutinied in 1895, dividing the brigade and taking a large portion of its funding, encouraged by the Shah’s son who was Minister of War. Under pressure from Russia the Brigade was reunified under Kosagoskij’s command and the mohajer treated like other regular soldiers. The result was a great improvement in efficiency resulting in a well-organized, well trained, and obedient force.

Role following assassination of Nasir-ed-Din Shah

The first major event involving the Brigade arose from the assassination of Nasir-ed-Din Shah on May 1, 1896. Chaos broke loose as different factions sought to take power, and mobs rampaged in the streets. The police were unable to control them and the regular army could not be relied upon to do so. Kosagovskij was given free rein by Amin Os-Saltean the Prime Minister to “Act in accordance with your own understanding and wisdom.” Kosagovskij quickly mobilized the brigade and had them occupy the whole of Tehran in order to keep order in the city. The Brigade also became involved in intrigues between different factions of the Persian government. Nayeb os-Saltenah, the local commander of the forces in Tehran was likely to seize power from the legitimate heir, Muzaffar din Shah, who was in Tabriz. Kosagovski,j backed by the Brigade and the Russian and British, warned Saltenah that only Muzaffar din Shah would be recognized as the legitimate heir. On June 7, 1896 the Muzzafar din Shah escorted by the Cossacks entered Tehran. The Brigade on this date established themselves as kingmakers and in the future would serve as important tools for both the Russians and the Shah in maintaining control of Persia. The Russian influence inside Persia expanded tremendously as the Brigade was able to exert massive control in internal Persian politics and intrigues.

Role during the Revolution of 1905-1911

The second major event the Cossack Brigade played a role in was the 1906 Constitutional Revolution as a result of intense political pressure and rebellion Muzaffar-din-Shah gave in to the rebels, and died shortly after signing the Constitution. It was the Persian Cossack Brigade that helped keep his son Muhammad Ali Shah on the throne. As a consequence however he was considered to be a Russian puppet. He later attempted to overthrow the government established by the Constitution using the Persian Cossack Brigade in January 1907. It surrounded the Majlies and fired on the building with artillery. He was briefly successful and with the help of Colonel Liakhov, the Brigade commander, he governed Tehran for a year acting as a military dictator. Liakhov was appointed military governor of Tehran. In the ensuing civil strife forces from Azerbaijan led by Sattar Khan and Yeprem Khan retook, Tehran from the Cossack Brigade, forcing the Shah to abdicate. Here the Brigade failed in ensuring the power of the Shah. Nonetheless the Brigade retained a great deal of importance as a tool for both the Russians and the Shah. Furthermore Russian influence greatly expanded during this time period with Russian forces occupying several part of Iran and the country divided into spheres of influence between the Russians and the British in the Anglo-Russian Agreement signed in August 1907.

Role in World War I

During World War I the war spilled over into Persian territory as Ottoman, Russian, and British forces entered Persia. The Russian Command in 1916 expanded the Cossack Brigade to full division strength of roughly 8,000 men. The Brigade engaged in combat against Ottoman forces and helped secure Russian interests in northern Persia. The British-created South Persia Rifles performed the same function in southern Iran for the British. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917 the British took over the Cossack Brigade and removed Russian officers and replaced them with British and Iranian ones. This was an important transition point in the history of the Brigade as it now came under complete British and Iranian control and was effectively purged of Russian influence. Following the war Persia found itself devastated and divided as various regions of the country had broken away. In the 1920s, in order to re-exert central control the Shah deployed the Cossack Brigade to crush the Azadistan movement in Tabriz. It was successful though it failed to be as effective in putting down another rebellion movement called the Janglis.

Role in the rise of Reza Shah

It is in this context of fragmentation and disorder that Reza Khan, an officer from the Cossack Brigade, rose to power as Iran’s “man on horseback” who would save the country from chaos. Reza Khan had joined the Brigade when he was sixteen years old and became the first Persian to be appointed as Brigadier-General of the Brigade. He had risen rapidly through the ranks of the Brigade following the British purge though he had learned much from the previous Russian officers. With Iran in chaos and facing fragmentation there was a political vacuum in Tehran, which had no functioning government. Sensing an opportunity Reza Khan led his 3,000-4,000 strong detachment of the Cossack Brigade based in Qazvin and Hamadan to Tehran in 1921 and seized the capital.

With this coup Reza Khan established himself as the most powerful person in Iran. The coup was largely bloodless and faced little resistance. Reza Khan's later modernization and enlargement of the army would utilise the Cossack Brigade as its core. Prior to World War I the Cossack Brigade had, together with the Swedish trained gendarmerie, constituted the only truly professional military forces in Iran.

With his expanded forces and the Cossack Brigade Reza Khan launched military actions to eliminate separatist and dissident movements in Tabriz, Mashhad, and the Janglis in Gilan, Simko and the Kurds. The Brigade, with a strength of 7,000-8,000 men at the time, was merged with the gendarmerie and other forces to form the new Iranian Army of 40,000 which would be led by Iranian officers, many of them friends and cronies of Reza Khan from his days as an officer in the Cossack Brigade. These officers from the Cossack brigade received appointments and patronage in key positions in the new government and military. Using the Cossack Brigade as a springboard Reza Shah was able to place himself in a position of power, centralize the country, remove the Shah and crown himself Shah, thus establishing the Pahlavi Dynasty. He was then called Reza Shah.

Legacy

The Cossack Brigade had helped establish the first centralized Iranian state since the time of the Safavids. While the history of the Cossack Brigade as a distinct entity ended with the rise of Reza Shah their influence on Iran has endured. The foundation of the centralized state established by Reza Shah persists to the present day.

Commanders

Name Period
Russia Lieutenant-Colonel A. I. Domantovich April 1879 - ?
Russia Colonel V. A. Kossogovsky May 1895 - 1903
Russia Colonel Chernozoubov 1903–1906
Russia Colonel Vladimir Platonovich Liakhov 1906 - November 1909
Russia Colonel Prince Vadbolsky Nov 1909 - 1914
Russia Colonel Prozorkievitch 1914 - August 1915
Russia General Baron von Maydell August 1915 - February 1917
Russia Colonel Clergi February 1917 - early 1918
Russia Colonel Vsevolod Staroselsky early 1918 - October 1920
Iran Brigadier-General Reza Khan October 1920 - December 1921

Notable senior officers

Stations

Major

Minor

Military ranks and non-military titles

  • Commandant
  • Second-in-Command
  • Chief of Staff
  • Intendant
  • Atriyad Commander
  • General (regimental commander)
  • Major (battalion commander)
  • Captain (company commander)
  • Lieutenant
  • Second Lieutenant
  • Sergeant-major
  • Platoon Sergeant
  • Section Sergeant
  • Corporal
  • Drummer, Trumpeter, Cossack
  • Medical Officer, Accountant, Assistant Accountant, Clerk, Armourer

Footnotes

    References

    • Keegan, John. World Armies. Macmillan Press, 1979. ISBN 0-333-17236-1
    • Atkin, Muriel Cossack Brigade Iranica
    • Cronin, Stephanie. The Army and the creation of the Pahlavi State in Iran, 1910-1926, Tauris Academic Studies, 1997. ISBN 1-86064-105-9
    • Abrahamian, Ervand. A History of Modern Iran. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Print.
    • Hambly, Gavin R.G. . "The Pahlavi Autocracy: Riza Shah." The Cambridge History of Iran. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991. 6. Print.
    • Kazemzadeh, F.. "The Origin and Early Development of the Persian Cossack Brigade." American Slavic and East European Review 15 (1956): 351-363.
    • Kazemzadeh, F.. "Iranian Relations with Russia and the Soviet Union, to 1921." The Cambridge History of Iran. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991. 9. Print.
    • Savory, R. M. "Modern Persia." Cambridge Histories Online. Cambridge University Press. (1970) 595-626.
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