2009/05/30 by Uzi Rabi, Nugzar Ter-Oganov · 2 citations
Social Sciences · #Islamic Studies and History #Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East #American Constitutional Law and Politics
paper · doi:10.1080/00210860902907396
openalex publication_date 2009/05/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/26
Throughout the nineteenth century, the Qajar dynasty (1797–1925) of Iran engaged in a continuous process to build a regular army under the leadership and tutelage of professional European military missions. These continuous attempts at military reform and Europeanization reached a peak with the creation of the Persian Cossack Brigade (1879–1921) by the Russian military mission. This article focuses on the genesis of the Brigade and the Russian military mission, which followed some of the previously unsuccessful European military missions. The scholarly literature has paid little attention to the fitful beginnings of the Brigade. This article, however, deals with the early challenges faced by the Brigade during the period between 1879 and 1894, at the end of which it was on the verge of dissolution. The article tackles formative issues raised in under-explored Russian archival material and supplemented by Russian-language primary sources, as well as other relevant sources. It attempts to re-evaluate the origins of the Persian Cossack Brigade and provide a well-balanced portrait of the Brigade in light of the changing regional politics of the period.