Colonel Pesian - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Colonel Mohammad Taqi-Khan Pessian (1892 - 3 October 1921) (also Colonel Pessian or Pesyan "Pesseyan"), born into an aristocratic family in Tabriz

Tabriz

Tabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...

, was a popular military leader of Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

and became a national hero after his assassination. He is also famously known as being the first Iranian

Iran

to successfully pilot an aircraft.

He was born into a prominent family originating in the Caucasus

Caucasus

The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...

. His family immigrated to Iran

Iran

after Persia's defeat to the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

in the war which ended with the Treaty of Turkomanchai in 1828. Pessian's family possessed strong military traditions, his uncle General Hamzeh Khan Pessian was a commander in the Persian Cossack Brigade

Persian Cossack Brigade

The Persian Cossack Brigade was an elite cavalry unit formed in 1879 in Iran. During much of their history they were the only functional, effective military unit of the Qajar Dynasty...

, his cousins
Heydar Qoli Khan Pessian, grandfather of the British author, Cherry Mosteshar, Ali Qoli Khan Pessian, Gholam Reza Khan Pessian and himself served in Gendarmerie

Gendarmerie

A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...

.

In Tabriz

Tabriz

Mohammad Taqi was educated in Sciences, Persian

Persian language

Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

, Arabic and foreign languages. In 1907 he left for Tehran

Tehran

Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...

to continue his education and entered Military College in Germany where he became one of the first Iranians to learn to fly. After 5 years he took up the rank of Second Lieutenant

Second Lieutenant

Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...

in the Gendarmerie

Gendarmerie

, within two years he was promoted to Captain. After that he held a variety of posts such as Second Commander in a battalion in Qazvin

Qazvin

Qazvin is the largest city and capital of the Province of Qazvin in Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 349,821, in 96,420 families....

, served in Hamedan and Yazd

Yazd

Yazd is the capital of Yazd Province in Iran, and a centre of Zoroastrian culture. The city is located some 175 miles southeast of Isfahan. At the 2006 census, the population was 423,006, in 114,716 families....

and also was an instructor and interpreter at Gendarmerie school in Yusef Abad

Yusef Abad

Yusef Abad is a locality of Tehran, consisting of an area developed through parallel streets called Yusef Abad, Ebn e Sina , Jahan Ara, Modabber and Mostowfi; the latter being the most beautiful and consequently the most expensive part of it...

, Tehran

Tehran

. He was promoted to Major

Major

Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

when World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

broke out.

In November 1915 as commander of Gendarmerie

Gendarmerie

in Hamedan he launched an attack on the pro-Russian Persian Cossack Brigade

Persian Cossack Brigade

The Persian Cossack Brigade was an elite cavalry unit formed in 1879 in Iran. During much of their history they were the only functional, effective military unit of the Qajar Dynasty...

at the Battle of Musalla. His gendarmes managed to disarm the Persian Cossacks and Mohammad Taqi managed to win 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. Gendarmes retreated to Kermanshah

Kermanshah

Kermanshah is a city in and the capital of Kermanshah Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 784,602, in 198,117 families.The overwhelming majority of Kermanshahi people are Shi'a Muslims...

where again were defeated by the Russians, then many fled to Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

. August 1916 saw the return of gendarmes to Kermanshah

Kermanshah

but again were defeated and this time many went to live in exile in Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

while Mohammad Taqi went to live in exile in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

.
During his time in Berlin

Berlin

, 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

Persian language

to/from French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

and English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, some of these included Alphone de Lamartine and Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...

. He also wrote two books in Persian

Persian language

, Sargozasht-e yek javan-e vatandoust and Jang-e Moqaddas az Baghdad ta Iran.

In 1920 Mohammad Taqi returned to Iran

Iran

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

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

and in September 1920 he became commander of Gendarmerie

Gendarmerie

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

Tehran

where he was imprisoned. He then became head of the provincial Autonomous Government of Khorasan

Autonomous Government of Khorasan

The Autonomous Government of Khorasan was a military state set up in modern day Iran. It was formally established on the April 2, 1921 however the state collapsed just a few months later, on October 6, 1921...

. In June, when Ahmad Qavam was released from prison and became Premier of Iran, he tried to take revenge on Pessian and together with Reza Khan

Reza Shah

Rezā Shāh, also known as Rezā Shāh Pahlavi and Rezā Shāh Kabir , , was the Shah of the Imperial State of Iran from December 15, 1925, until he was forced to abdicate by the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran on September 16, 1941.In 1925, Reza Shah overthrew Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last Shah of the Qajar...

who was Minister of War ordered that Pessian should be beheaded, this in fact happened in 3 October 1921 when Pessian and his small force of 150 gendarmes were circled by a force of strong 1,000 plus mounted Kurdish tribesmen in a battle fought near Quchan

Quchan

Quchan is a city in and capital of Quchan County, in Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. It is located due south of the border city of Ashgabat. At the 2006 census, its population was 96,953, in 25,066 families.-Population:...

, 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. However, when Reza Shah

Reza Shah

came to power, any mourning for Pessian was banned. The Pessian family had been rivals to Reza Khan and had opposed the British plan to install him as Shah.

He is buried in Mashhad

Mashhad

Mashhad , is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia Muslim world. It is also the only major Iranian city with an Arabic name. It is located east of Tehran, at the center of the Razavi Khorasan Province close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Its...

, Khorasan

Razavi Khorasan Province

Razavi Khorasan Province is a province located in northeastern Iran. Mashhad is the centre and capital of the province.Other cities and townships are Ghouchan, Dargaz, Chenaran, Sarakhs, Fariman, Torbat-e Heydarieh, Torbat-e Jam, Taybad, Khaf, Roshtkhar, Kashmar, Bardaskan, Nishapur, Sabzevar,...

in the same garden that contains Nader Shah

Nader Shah

Nāder Shāh Afshār ruled as Shah of Iran and was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty. Because of his military genius, some historians have described him as the Napoleon of Persia or the Second Alexander...

's tomb.

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