Ottoman invasion of Persia (1906)

An Ottoman invasion of Persia took place in 1906 on the orders of the vali of Baghdad.^[1] Persia was then under the rule of the Qajar dynasty.^[2] The invasion of Persia by the Ottoman Empire occurred during the Persian Constitutional Revolution, and the Ottoman troops were driven out by Russian troops prior to the First World War.^[3]

Iran would maintain its neutrality during the First World War, but that did not prevent the state from being of interest to both the British and the Russians and therefore of strategic importance to the Ottoman Empire.^[3] On 23 May, the Ottomans began their occupation of Persia by occupying Behik in Bradest.^[1] By the end of May, Ottoman troops occupied parts of Dasht and Mergaver districts but not the settlement of Mergaver itself.^[1] By 13 June, the Ottomans had occupied Serdasht and Bani.^[1] Citizens of Khanavin were forced to take Ottoman passports and enlist in the Ottoman Army.^[1] Five hundred mounted Ottoman troops marched from Baneh into the Persian Luristan country and the districts of Seifi, Malkhatavi and Baghasi and burned crops along the way.^[1] On 24 August, after protests were given by the Persian government, the Ottoman commander at Ban said he had no order to withdraw, and two days later, the Ottomans were collecting taxes near Urumia.^[1] On 8 September, the Ottomans occupied Gangatchin and the district of Baradosl.^[1] Ottoman troops subsequently occupied a strip of territory extending from a point south-west of Soujboulak to a point west of Khoi.^[4] On 3 August 1907, Mergaver was occupied, and three days later the Ottomans threatened Urmia.^[5]

From 1906 to 1911, the Ottomans, in concert with Kurdish allies, continued their efforts.^[6] Heavy-handed rule by Muzaffereddin Shah weakened Persia internally, and the continued interest from the British encouraged the Ottomans to maintain control of the territory, especially as the British wanted to prevent Russian access to the Mediterranean.^[7] The Ottomans were eventually expelled from Persia by the Imperial Russian Army in 1911.

References

1. Burrell, Robert Michael (1997). Iran: 1906-1907. Archive Editions. pp. 547, 453, 102. ISBN 9781852077105.
2. Tours, Iransafar (2021-11-10). "History of Iran". Iran Safar. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
3. Sarkar, Benoy Kumar (1919). "The Reshaping of the Middle East". The Journal of Race Development. 9 (4): 332–343. doi:10.2307/29738313. ISSN 1068-3380. JSTOR 29738313.
4. Bryce (Viscount), James Bryce; Toynbee, Arnold (2000). The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915-1916: Documents Presented to Viscount Grey of Falloden by Viscount Bryce. Gomidas Institute. ISBN 9780953519156.
5. E G Browne (1910). The Persian Revolution Of 1905-1909. p. 149.
6. Ateş, Sabri, ed. (2013), "Sunnis forthe Sultan: The Ottoman Occupation of Northwestern Iran, 1905–1912", Ottoman-Iranian Borderlands: Making a Boundary, 1843–1914, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 229–283, doi:10.1017/CBO9781139522496.008, ISBN 978-1-107-03365-8, retrieved 2024-04-06
7. "The Constitutional Revolution in Persia – 1906". History of Islam. 2009-12-28. Retrieved 2024-04-06.