Mohammad-Taqi Khan Pessian (; 1892 – 3 October 1921), more commonly known as Colonel Pessian, was an Iranian gendarme,

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

and

warlord Warlords are individuals who exercise military, Economy, economic, and Politics, political control over a region, often one State collapse, without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over Militia, local ...

who formed and led the short-lived Autonomous Government of Khorasan in 1921. He was killed in a

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

with forces sent by Ahmad Qavam, the prime minister at the time.Stephanie Cronin, "PESYĀN, MOḤAMMAD-TAQI KHAN" Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2016, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/pesyan-mohammad-taqi-khan (accessed on 16 May 2016).

Biography

Pessian was born into an aristocratic family in

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

. Pessian's family possessed strong military traditions, his uncle General Khan Pessian was a commander in the Persian Cossack Brigade, his cousins Heydar Qoli Khan Pessian – father of Iranian author and journalist, Mahtalat Pessian, – Ali Qoli Khan Pessian, Gholam Reza Khan Pessian and he himself served in

Gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

. In

Mohammad Taqi was educated in sciences, Turkish, Persian,

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and foreign languages. In 1907 he left for

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

to continue his education. After 5 years he took up the rank of second lieutenant in the

, within two years he was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. After that he held a variety of posts such as second commander in a battalion in

Qazvin Qazvin (; ; ) is a city in the Central District (Qazvin County), Central District of Qazvin County, Qazvin province, Qazvin province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the largest city in the provi ...

, served in Hamedan and Yazd and also was an instructor and interpreter at Gendarmerie school in Yusef Abad,

. He was promoted to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

when

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broke out. In November 1915 as commander of the

in Hamedan he launched an attack on the pro-Russian Persian Cossack Brigade at the Battle of Musalla. His gendarmes managed to disarm the Persian Cossacks and Mohammad Taqi managed to convince some of the cossacks to join his forces in a patriotic speech he made to them after their defeat. Mohammad Taqi and Major Azizollah Khan Zarghami as Gendarmerie commanders could not defend Hamedan against an advancing Russian Caucasus Army which was superior in numbers and weapons. The gendarmes retreated to Kermanshah where they were defeated by the Russians, with many fleeing to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. August 1916 saw the return of gendarmes to Kermanshah but again were defeated and this time many went to live in exile in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

while Mohammad Taqi returned to live in exile in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

During his time in

, he was trained as a pilot in the German Airforce and was rewarded with the Eisernes Kreuz Medal for shooting down more than 25 enemy aircraft during World War I. He also translated many works from Persian to/from French, German and English, some of these included Alphonse de Lamartine and

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

. He also wrote two books in Persian, ''Sargozasht-e yek javan-e vatandoust'' and ''Jang-e Moqaddas az Baghdad ta Iran''. In 1920 Mohammad Taqi returned to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and joined the Gendarmerie. In June 1920 he was promoted to the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

and in September 1920 he became commander of

of Khorasan. On 3 April 1921 in a military coup with his small force of only 200 gendarmes, he had Ahmad Qavam, the Governor-general of Khorasan, arrested and sent him to

where he was imprisoned. He then became head of the provincial Autonomous Government of Khorasan. In June, Ahmad Qavam was released from prison and became Premier of Iran. He was determined to take revenge & suppress Pessian. He did so by gaining the approval of Reza Khan & dispatching the Cossack forces to Khorasan. Having previously been the governor of that province, Qavam had developed a strong relationship with the local chieftains and dispatched them to confront Pessian also. Sardar Mo’azez Khan Bojnurdi succeeded in gaining the cooperation of the Shirvan chieftains in mobilizing the kurds in

Quchan Quchan (; ) is a city in the Central District of Quchan County, Razavi Khorasan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. It is approximately 97 km south of the border city of Ashgabat, capital city of ...

. To combat this, Pessian gathered his scant forces to face the insurgency in Ja’farabad (near Quchan). This occurred on 3 October 1921 when Pessian and his small force of 150 gendarmes faced a force of strong 1,000 plus mounted Kurdish tribesmen. In the fight that ensued some of the Gendarmes left the battle field. Many of Pessian's comrades were killed and he was eventually surrounded and beheaded. His head was brought to Tehran to prove that he had been killed. For five continuous years after his death, on 3 October people of Khorasan mourned his death. He is buried in

Mashhad Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...

, Khorasan in the same garden that contains Nader Shah's tomb. The day after the Shah left Iran in February 1979 during the Iranian Revolution, the revolutionary leaders declared Colonel Mohammad Taqi Pessian as the first Martyr of the Revolution although Pessian was a Secularist. Other anti-Pahlavi figures such as Mirza Kuchik Khan and Hassan Modarres were also declared as matyrs.

Achievements in Germany

In Germany, he continued his military training, first in the German air force and then in the infantry. He also engaged in a variety of intellectual, cultural and political activities. He wrote an account of his own life, ''Sargozasht-e Yek Javān-e Vatandust,'' and of his experiences in western during the war, ''Jang-e Moqaddas Az Baghdād Tā Irān''. He translated widely between Persian and various European languages, including German, French and English. His love of poetry, especially that which was politically committed, was particularly evident and his choice of works for translation, for example of Alphonse de Lamartine and

, illustrated his own romantic nationalism. He studied European music, learning to play the piano, and transposed Persian national songs into German. On a more overtly political level he was in contact with the Iranian radicals led by Hassan Taqizadeh and grouped around the periodical '' Kavih,'' for which he occasionally wrote articles.

References

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

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pesian 1892 births 1921 deaths Iranian expatriates in Germany Politicians from Tabriz Luftstreitkräfte personnel German World War I pilots Recipients of the Iron Cross Iranian Gendarmerie personnel Democrat Party (Persia) politicians Iranian flying aces Warlords