In his fascinating account, Al’brant tells how he was able to overcome numerous difficulties and successfully carry out his demanding task. He emphasizes that his appeals to the Christian feelings and the patriotism of the Russian deserters had a great effect on them. Al’brant acted with initiative and speed; he arrived in Iran in June 1838 and returned to Russia in February 1839. According to Berzhe, Al’brant brought back to Russia 597 deserters, 206 wives and 281 children; a total of 1,084 people. The Emperor ordered the returned deserters to be assigned to service in the battalions located on the borders of Finland and Arkhangel’sk.
Later, . . . according to the Emperor’s order, all the deserters who had families were transferred to the Cossack units, and 30 aged Russian soldiers to their native provinces. As for those who had accepted Islam, they only were ordered to be subjected to the church penance “for [their] apostasy forced by their long stay in Persia and their circumstances.” Samson Khan Makintsev, founder of the Russian Battalion, never returned to Russia: his later life is narrated by Berzhe. One of the effective mechanisms of Russia’s influence in Iran was the Persian Cossack Brigade, founded (in 1879) and led by Russian military officers. A number of Russian travelers to Iran tell the story of the Cossack Brigade’s founding or refer to its activities: these include the fascinating accounts by Lieutenant-Colonel Aleksei Domontovich, founder of the Brigade, and by Colonel V. Kosogovskii, one of its most important commanders. These accounts have been skillfully employed by F. Kazemzadeh as the main sources for his article “The Origin and Early Development of the Persian Cossack Brigade.”
Misl’-Rustem, who spent six years in Iran from 1882 to 1888, devoted a chapter to the Cossack Brigade in his account: he presents information on the Brigade’s formation and development during the late nineteenth century; its arms, uniforms, drills and maneuvers; its funding; its structure and numbers. He also describes the barracks and the infirmary. The author makes an unflattering statement concerning the famous Brigade: “I have to say that there is no discipline in this Brigade, though everybody talks about it,” and he gives an example as proof of his assertion.18 M. Alikhanov-Avarskii, who visited Iran in 1883, also considers that despite the efforts of the Brigade’s Russian commanders in Tehran, there is an absence of discipline: This group, which is in reality a cavalry regiment of militia, has been arbitrarily called a brigade; moreover, a Cossack [brigade]; with the exception of the costume of the Caucasian highlanders, this unit has nothing in common with the Cossacks: neither in their structure, nor in their way of recruitment nor in their service.
Among the Russian travelogues, the account by N. P. Mamontov is particularly fascinating, since it is written by a witness to the incidents in Tehran in June 1908, when the Cossack Brigade, led by Colonel Liakhov, played the major role in dissolving the Majlis and putting an end to the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1905–08. He states that he had no personal interest in the events; therefore, he claims his presentation is objective: “I am not a diplomat, not an officer of the Cossack Brigade of His Majesty the Shah – I am someone who is absolutely uninterested in Persian affairs; an ordinary traveler, one who has personally seen most of the events I describe.” Mamontov informs his readers about the revolutionary movement in Iran and step by step describes “the bloody clashes in the square in front of the Majlis.”
He talks about the Cossack Brigade in the early twentieth century and praises its commander Colonel Liakhov. Mamontov passionately defends Liakhov from the accusation of “illegal actions” and depicts him as a hero who saved the throne of the lawful ruler of Iran, Muzaffar al-Din Shah. He mentions that the Shah was very grateful to the Brigade “for saving [his] shaken throne”: The situation was saved. In spite of the intrigues of the British and the Germans, who supported the revolutionary parties, the Shah’s spirit rose, and leaning on the strong arm of Colonel Liakhov, he temporarily climbed out from the grave which had been dug for him.
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces visits Russian naval activities
