The Iranian Cossack brigade is the main achievement of the military reform of the late Qajar dynasty, and at the same time became the focus of the struggle and game of various forces inside and outside Iran, as well as the concentrated reflection of the Iranian national and social contradictions in this period, which has a special position in the political structure of the late Qaija dynasty and profoundly affects the political process of the Qajar dynasty during this period.
In general, the Iranian Cossack Brigade from its inception in 1879 to its abolition in 1921 was roughly divided into two phases, namely the establishment and early development stage, or modernization, and the stage of political participation and nationalist struggle, which were bounded by the assassination of King Nasserdin of Qajar in 1896, forming two significantly different development directions before and after.
In 1878, King Naserdinšh made his second visit to Europe, via Transcaucasia, just after the tsarist army's battle with the Turks.
In order to show his majesty and military strength, Tsar Alexander II received the Shah of Iran in Baku.
The bright and neat uniforms, superb riding skills, and well-trained military appearance of the Russian Cossack cavalry impressed King Nasserdin.
He then revealed to Mikhail Nikolaevich, the newly inaugurated governor-general of the Caucasus in Tsarist Russia, his desire to create such an army in his country.
The Shah's will immediately reached the ears of the Tsar himself, and with the consent of Tsar Alexander II, General Pavlov, chief of staff of the Tbilisi Military District of Tsarist Russia, appointed Lieutenant Colonel Aleksei Ivanovich Domantovich as the head of the preparation of the Iranian Cossack Brigade.
Thus, Domantovich became the first commander of the Iranian Cossack Brigade, and preparations for the establishment of the Iranian Cossack Brigade officially began.
It is divided into three phases in chronological order.
The first stage, from 1879 to 1881, was the reign of Domantovich, the first commander of the Iranian Cossack Brigade, and the initial stage of the Iranian Cossack Brigade.
In February 1879, Domantovich accepted General Pavlov's order to go to Tehran for the first expedition with sufficient funds and a Persian interpreter.
Shah Nasserdin of Iran personally held a grand welcoming parade, but after witnessing the parade and the actual visit that followed, the Russian commander came to a completely negative conclusion about the current situation of the Iranian army.
First of all, military discipline is not in order, and there is a lack of minimum training.
In addition, the tsarist commander witnessed the backward equipment and military conditions of the Iranian army, and corruption at all levels of the army, and the king's relatives, like other officials, withheld a limited amount of military pay to enrich their own pockets.
After two months of practical investigation, after signing the relevant agreement with Iran, Domantovich led three Iranian officers and five soldiers appointed by the Kingdom of Iran back to Petersburg in April 1879 to further consult with the Russian side on the issue of command and training of the King's Royal Guard and the remuneration of Iranian military commanders, but finally reached a deadlock, because the King did not agree to hand over the training and command of the Royal Guard, and was even more unwilling to guarantee a fixed military budget for newly recruited soldiers.
In the end, the king agreed to transfer 400 men from the royal guard to be trained by Domantovich, and all new recruits were agreed on the condition that the king himself approve it alone, and Domantovich returned to Tehran after three months in the country.
This cavalry corps, initially numbered 400 with the approval of the Shah himself, became the first recruits of the Iranian Cossack Brigade, which later grew and had a major impact on Iranian political life.
By July 1879, Domantovich decided to submit the highly trained 400 cavalry to the Shah's personal review in a new military posture, and the Shah of Iran was so satisfied with the results of the Russian commander's work that he immediately decided to increase the number of cavalry to 600.
However, the first Cossacks, selected by the Iranian Royal Cavalry Guard, had a lifestyle that was completely alien to modern soldiers.
The soldiers of the Royal Guard came mainly from Muslim noble families in the Caucasus and held the title "Mohajal", which symbolized the privileges of the military, and Mohajar served the royal family for generations and had certain characteristics of a hereditary military nobility.
These soldiers, who considered themselves noble, regarded the hard-working qualities that a new soldier must possess as inferior, hired special servants to feed their horses, were unwilling to accept any manual labor in the barracks, were arrogant, and often ignored the orders of Russian commanders.
These mohajels, who were not accustomed to obedience, became one of the tsarist commanders' most difficult problems.
The strict, rigid, almost ruthless training style of Russian commanders soon spread in society, and there were even rumors that Russian commanders forced Cossack recruits to accept Christianity, and some soldiers fled from Cossack barracks to a nearby mosque called Shahzadeh Abdol-Azim to seek religious protection.
The traditional practice of recruiting new recruits from Mohajar had to be changed, and eventually the tsarist commander had to supplement the Cossack forces by publicly selecting and recruiting 200 young people who volunteered to enlist as soldiers by posting recruitment notices everywhere.
