Amanullah Mirza Qajar

Amanullah Mirza Qajar Аманулла Мирза Каджар امان الله میرزا قاجار
Born	(1857-01-08)8 January 1857 Shusha, Russian Empire
Died	1937 Tehran, Iran
Allegiance	Russian Empire ADR Persia
Service / branch	Infantry
Years of service	1879—1920
Rank	Major General
Battles / wars	Russo-Japanese War First World War Armenian-Azerbaijani War

Amanullah Mirza Qajar (Russian: Аманулла Мирза Каджар; Persian: امان الله میرزا قاجار; b. 1857 - d. 1937), was a prince of Persia's Qajar dynasty and an Imperial Russian and Azerbaijani military commander, having the rank of Major General.

Service in the Russian army

Amanullah Mirza Qajar was born on January 8, 1857 in Shusha in the Russian Empire (nowadays Republic of Azerbaijan). He was the 17th son of Prince Bahman Mirza Qajar of Persia by one of the latter's junior wives. Therefore derives his Russian family name Persidskii (lit. "of Persia"). Amanullah Mirza entered military service on July 19, 1879 in the 164th Infantry Regiment Zagatala. In 1883 he got promoted to Second Lieutenant. On November 20, 1886 he got transferred to the 2nd Battalion plastun of the Kuban Cossacks. On May 9, 1902 Amanullah Mirza got promoted to yesaul for his splendid actions and service. On April 16, 1909, he became the army yesaul - commander of the 9th Battalion of the Kuban plastun.

The First World War

During World War I, Amanullah Mirza Qajar fought at the Austrian front. For his service, he was awarded the Order of St. Anne 2nd Class with swords, the Order St. Vladimir 3rd Class with swords, and the Order St. Stanislaus 3rd Class. On April 25, 1915, he was promoted to the rank of colonel. Because of a severe wound in his leg, Amanullah was temporarily sent for treatment to the rear. In 1916, he returned to the front. Fortifying with his battalion the battles near the village of Marhonovka, Amanullah captured the enemy trenches and destroyed the enemy's manpower. During the operations on November 5, 1916, he was awarded the Georgievsky weapons. For exemplary service in 1917, Amanullah Mirza Qajar received the rank of Major General. After the February Revolution, he lived in Tiflis and Shusha for some time.

Service in ADR and emigration

After the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (also abbreviated as ADR) created its first army as a newly established state, Amanullah Mirza filed a report on December 1, 1918 to the newly established Ministry of War with a request of admission to the armed forces of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. In March 1919 as part of the emergency diplomatic mission of the Republic of Azerbaijan together with he participated with the Persian government in Tehran. He also served as chairman of the central military service presence. On January 27, 1920, Major General Amanullah Mirza Qajar was appointed as deputy chief of the 1st Infantry Division of the ADR and head of the garrisons in Khankendi and Shusha. Amanullah Mirza also participated in repelling the attacks of the Armenian armed forces on the military units of the ADR on the night of the 22nd on the 23rd March 1920.

After the fall of the ADR in connection with the repression of the Bolsheviks Amanullah Mirza Qajar was forced to leave for Iran. Living in Tehran, Amanullah Mirza Qajar taught at the military school, and participated in the formation of the regular Iranian army. He was a deputy of the Majlis (Parliament) of Iran, and the chairman of the society of the Iranian-Soviet friendship. Amanullah Mirza Qajar died in 1937 in Tehran.

Sources

• Назирли Шамистан (2006) [Güllələnmiş Azərbaycan Generalları]. Расстрелянные генералы Азербайджана (2-е изд ed.). М. Баку. pp. 79–80.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Азербайджанская Демократическая Республика (1918—1920). Армия. (Документы и материалы). — Баку, 1998
• Азербайджанская Демократическая Республика (1918—1920). Внешняя политика. (Документы и материалы). — Баку, 1998