The Battle of Jafarabad was part of the Simko Shikak revolt, which took place in Khorasan in 1921. Reza Khan sent 150 gendarmerie, led by Colonel Taqi Khan, to defeat Simko's forces. However, the gendarmerie ran out of ammunition and were defeated by Kurdish tribesmen, who killed all the gendarmerie, including Colonel Taqi Khan.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
| Battle of Jafarabad | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Simko Shikak revolt (1918–1922) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Iran Government of Khorasan | Shikak Tribe | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Reza Shah Col. Pessian † |
Simko Shikak Sardar Moazzaz Bojnurdi | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
|
Gendarmerie | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 150 Gendarmerie | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Several Gendarmes escaped, others were killed. | Unknown | ||||||
Before battle
editMohammad Taqi Pessian 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 Tehran 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.
Battle
editSardar Mo’azez Khan Bojnurdi succeeded in gaining the cooperation of the Shirvan chieftains in mobilizing the kurds in Quchan. To combat this, Pessian gathered his scant forces to face the insurgency in Ja’farabad (near Quchan). 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.
Colonel Pessian Death
editWhen the Kurdish tribesmen surrendered Gendarmerie forces, they shot Colonel Pessian in the head and decapitated him to show the government that he had been killed.[1] His head was brought to Tehran to prove that he had been killed.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b "CHRONOLOGY OF IRANIAN HISTORY PART 2".
- ^ a b "PESYĀN, MOḤAMMAD-TAQI KHAN".
- ^ "Colonel Pessian". 19 January 2016.
- ^ Kia, Mehrdad (November 19, 2023). The Clash of Empires and the Rise of Kurdish Proto-Nationalism, 1905–1926. Springer Nature Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783031449734.
- ^ Ward, Steven R. (15 January 2014). Immortal: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces. Georgetown University Press. ISBN 978-1-62616-065-1.
- ^ From Religious Empires to Secular States. Routledge. 2014. ISBN 978-0-415-74351-8.