Editor's note: Because of his military knowledge, a deserter became a confidant of a foreign crown prince and rose to prominence from then on. Similar plots may appear frequently in novels. This article tells a similar true historical story that happened in the early 19th century. This story is set in the Caucasus, which has just ended the war, and the overall background of the entire story is the Tsarist-Russian-Persian War.
Origin
Like all major events, "Bahaduran" originated from a trivial matter. One day in 1802, the 21-year-old bugle sergeant Samson Yakovlevich Makintsev (Самсон Яковлевич Макинцев) of the Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment left without saying goodbye. This young man with a fair face, yellowish hair, slightly gray eyes, and a medium build (about 1.62 meters, slightly higher than the average Russian army at that time) grew up in the regiment. He was one of the few who learned to read and write. Russian-speaking soldiers were able to become sergeants at a young age. , the grumbling veterans said that this little guy fled away after stealing the silver bugle. However, considering the Russian army's 6% escape rate in the first half of the 19th century, Makintsev's escape was indeed a common incident. Ordinary little things.
▲A sergeant of the Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment in the early 19th century
However, the Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment was stationed in the Caucasus h On the border of Russia and Persia ( Persia ) in the tml5 region, the ten-year war (1804-1813) between Romanov Russia and Kaiga Persia was about to begin. This made Makintsev inadvertently become a hero under the trend of the times. famous figures from both countries. At that time, the Persian prince Abbas Mirza (meaning Prince Abbas) who ruled Azerbaijan was actively forming a Western-style "new army" (nizam-i jadid). In his view, "The Russians are us war with our neighbors and enemies is inevitable sooner or later, so it would be better for us to familiarize ourselves with Russian training rather than British training." As a result, Makintsev, who took the initiative to surrender, immediately obtained the position of "Nayib" (equivalent to a lieutenant in the Russian army) and took charge of the Yerevan Infantry Regiment - yes, today's Armenian capital was still a major border town in Persia at the time. ——A company of. Afterwards, Makintsev vigorously recruited his old comrades, relying on a company full of Russians to win the admiration of Abbas in the military parade, and was quickly promoted to "Javel" (equivalent to a major in the Russian army), taking charge of half of the regiment. In 1809, the Russian fellows in the regiment took advantage of the crown prince's personal visit to cause trouble. They expressed their dissatisfaction with the current regiment leader and demanded that Makintsev be promoted to the throne of "Sarhang" (roughly equivalent to colonel commander).
▲Abbas Mirza, the father of the new Persian army
▲Persia's "King of Kings" Fateh Ali and Crown Prince Abbas military parade
Abbas was very creative at this time. He simply asked Makintsev to set up a separate battalion to include Russian deserters and various Christians in Persia, etc., and then gave him the Persian name Samson Khan (Russian name Samson (from the legend of the strongman Samson, we later called him by this name), took office as the "Sarhang" of the battalion. Samson Khan focused on finding the Transcaucasian outliers among the Russian officers - that is, Georgians and Armenians . He tried his best to recruit them, and relied on their help to build this battalion into the number one force under Abbas, and even won the They won the honorary title of "Bahaduran" (meaning hero, great warrior) and the status of the Praetorian Guards. Some contemporary European observers simply called them the grenadiers in the new Persian army!
▲The officers and irregular cavalry of the new Persian army around 1810
However, the distinguished status does not mean victorious in every battle. Only one year after the "Bahaduran" army became an army, on the Aras River (the largest river in today's Azerbaijan) ) suffered heavy losses from the Russian army. Most of the 70 "warriors" who participated in the war were killed. Three prisoners whose identities were confirmed by the Russian army were hanged by the Russian side on the grounds of "betrayal of faith and motherland."In October 1812, Abbas intended to lead an army of 20,000 to recapture Baku and Shirvan (roughly equivalent to today's Azerbaijan), and even brought the "Bahaduran" battalion and several British advisers to the battlefield, but he actually At Aslandus, they were successfully attacked at night by the 2,000-horse cavalry of the Russian Major General Kotlyarevsky, and were forced to sign a peace treaty that was humiliating and humiliating the country at the beginning of the next year. The army was defeated like a mountain, and "Bahaduran" was no exception. Many of the fellow villagers bought or tricked by Samson Khan were killed on the spot. 28 of them were lucky enough to be captured and hanged as deserters after being exposed. Others They simply took advantage of the post-war negotiations to negotiate for amnesty and return to the Russian army. Only a few of them became the capital for him to continue to establish a foothold in the Persian army in the future.
prosperity
Even so, the "Bahaduran" battalion with Russian deserters as its core still stood out among the Persian army, and Samson Khan attracted a steady stream of new soldiers with land, women and wine. A Russian report at the time pointed out: "Samson now had the absolute trust of Abbas Mirza. He tried his best to expand the number of Russian deserters, sent people to deceive our soldiers, and drank wine when they were far away from the team (author's note) (Persian wine, although contrary to the teachings, has always been popular) seduced and then kidnapped. Our soldiers knew how much Abbas Mirza trusted Samson, knew that this man had received the general's epaulettes, and knew that he had escaped. How many benefits does he have? , sometimes he would happily go..." Russian diplomat Griboyedov is worthy of being the author of "Smart Mistakes", and his words hit the mark, "How could the soldiers at that time resist the temptation of Persians ? of Boring and heavy work, there is lovely freedom and enough wives over there!" In order to solve the problem once and for all, in 1817, Yermolov, who was so powerful in the Caucasus that even the Chechens were frightened, went to Persia, and his attendant Mullavi Joff ( This man was later called Muravyov-Karski after conquering the important Turkish town of Kars. He had the same name and surname as Muravyov-Amursky, who occupied the northeastern part of our country, but they were not the same person.) Captain discovered, " The battalion is made up of big men, the officers are (original) Russian soldiers, all wearing Persian coats, long hair, and high woolen fur hats... These guys are handsome, neat, mature... These guys have fought with us...and now we I hope to repatriate them all."
▲The new Persian army
observed by the Yermolov mission forced the Persians to play a double trick and secretly moved Samson Khan's camp to Tabriz. At the barracks outside the city, he deceived Yermolov, saying that this battalion had just been sent out to suppress the commotion of Kurdish people. But Yermolov had already sent Muravyov and others to find out, so how could he be deceived? He had a big quarrel with Abbas and even announced that he would not recognize his status as crown prince, scaring the latter into immediately handing over 40 deserters. But Yermolov took it one step further and demanded that the culprit Makintsev be hanged, who is now Samson Khan. Even though Abbas was a clay figure, he was still angry, so he naturally broke up unhappy. In any case, the two-way "flow of talents" on the Russian-Polish border is still emerging in endlessly. Moreover, since most of Poland was included under the rule of the Russian Tsar after the Napoleonic War, the increasing number of Polish soldiers in the Caucasus also created a new situation for Samson Khan. source of deserters. As of 1831, the four infantry companies of the entire battalion were already composed of two Russians, two Poles, and two each. Interestingly, although Samson Khan himself changed his Persian name, he did not convert to Christianity. Most of the officers and soldiers in the battalion only converted in name, and even made the sign of the cross when praying. But Abbas still had great trust in them and entrusted his own safety to this battalion. It was around the disastrous defeat of Aslandus in 1812 that he learned about the power of the mother country's army. Samson Khan himself, who still maintained his identity as an Orthodox Christian, once openly declared: "I will never fight people of the same faith." Although Abbas still fought in 1826- They were brought to the battlefield in the Russo-Persian War in 1828, but they still had no outstanding performance. However, if they need to deal with Türkiye, Afghanistan, local rebels, or even get involved in a palace civil war, this force will not show mercy.
▲ "Conqueror of the Caucasus" Yermolov, the background of the portrait is the Caucasus mountains
During the Polish-Turkish War from 1821 to 1823, "Bahaduran" was in the battles of Van City, Toprakkale and other battles Destroyed the Ottoman Turks. From 1830 to 1832, "Bahaduran" participated in the Khorasan expedition to conquer the local Kurdish forces. These Kurds were descendants of the border guards who were moved from western Persia to the northeastern border by the Safavid dynasty two hundred years ago. The fierce Kurdish mountain people are not afraid of ordinary Persian troops, but they are extremely afraid of these well-trained Russians and Poles. For example, the fierce firepower of "Bahaduran" using rifles resulted in the following bizarre incident. Legend has it that there are bullets hidden in every finger of the Russians and they cannot be fired at all times! During a certain siege, several "Bahaduran" fell under the city wall, but the Kurds surrounding them dared to touch the bodies only after carefully "dousing" their fingers with water. Once the Persian army forced the defenders into the castle where the Holy Tomb was located, "Bahaduran" with weak faith was more suitable to play a role. After several battles, the locals initially looked at the "towering, colorful feathers on the Russian battalion hats" and thought "those were donkey tails ", but soon they became afraid of these "donkey tails" and ran away. Got it!
▲The officers and soldiers of the "Bahaduran" battalion in the 1830s
1 In the late autumn of 1833, the Persian Crown Prince Abbas died of illness in Khorasan, and "Bahaduran" returned to Tabriz with the army. In the late autumn of the following year, the "King of Kings" Fateh Ali also died suddenly, and the Qajar dynasty subsequently fell into a succession crisis. Faced with the threat of seizing the throne, Abbas's son Muhammad commanded the new army inherited from his father to kill the capital Tehran and successfully forced the rebels to surrender. Subsequently, "Bahaduran" who had repeatedly made military exploits naturally became the palace guard in Tehran. In 1835, Persia once again sent out a large army to conquer the Uzbek , Turkmen invaders and Kurdish "rebels" in the Khorasan region. According to the recollections of an Italian military doctor, although the Persian army penetrated deep into the mountains where the Kurds were entrenched, it was difficult to find the enemy. One day, they suddenly saw countless sheep grazing on the hillside. All of a sudden, they went up the mountain to plunder. Only about 250 "Bahaduran" remained at the bottom of the valley as a reserve force. Obviously, this was a common ambush tactic used by shepherds. When the Kurds suddenly broke out, the Persian army collapsed. The soldiers not only threw away their trophies and ran down the mountain, but even rushed away the officers. The horrified military doctor found that only "Bahaduran" remained calm in the face of danger, formed a hollow square formation, and rushed in to save his life. Of course the Kurds wanted to kill them all, but a round of volleys from "Bahaduran" made them realize that this was by no means a soft persimmon like the average Persian army. The small phalanx fought and retreated, marching slowly, and the Kurds had no choice but to "see off guests" along the way, and finally went back to the mountain to collect the sheep in desperation. That night, the military doctor followed "Bahaduran" back to the camp and found the army commander lying lazily on the luxurious carpet and smoking a hookah. After seeing the doctor, he immediately exclaimed: "Hey... now I know why these Russian pagans are invincible. They do not have what we Persians are best at: they will not run when attacked by the enemy. Instead, it stood like a wall. "
Death
However, in the decaying Qajja dynasty army, "Bahaduran" could not survive alone. In June 1838, the Persian army stormed the Herat fortress guarded by the Afghan army. Nearly 600 "Bahaduran" served as the spearhead of the attack. However, because the superior commander was shot down by the Afghans, the Persian "comrades" unexpectedly They retreated again, leaving "Bahaduran" alone to face the enemy's counterattack. After a bitter battle, although the "Bahaduran" battalion finally escaped, it also paid a heavy price with 54 people killed, more than 200 wounded, and nearly half of the troops lost.
▲The "Bahaduran" camp in the Battle of Herat
After the disastrous defeat in Herat, the "Bahaduran" military morale was already weak. The news that Tsar Nicholas I issued an amnesty to them was even more... It makes these people lively. After all, although many of these Russians and Poles have already started families and established businesses in Persia, they are still unable to integrate into the mainstream local society. Even if they can gain the trust of the monarch, public opinion still often regards them as potential threats, and even regards Aslan Dushi as a potential threat. The reason for the failure of the battle was attributed to someone in "Bahaduran" colluding with the Russian army. In terms of family life, including Samson Khan himself, their marriage partners were often Armenians, Georgians and even Nestorians under Persian rule. In addition, many people are acclimated to the Persian climate, which is very different from Eastern Europe. When Nicholas's messenger brought good news, even Samson Khan himself, who knew that as the "chief culprit", could not start over again, had to let his subordinates choose a way out. As a result, only one company of Poles resisted repatriation, and most of the "Bahaduran", including Samson Khan's son-in-law and military heir, were determined to return to Russia after all. Later, as the Russian envoys used various means to quell the Polish mutiny, the "Bahaduran" battalion came to an end. On February 23, 1839, 597 original "Bahaduran", 206 women and 281 children left Persia and entered Russia. Fortunately, Tsar Nicholas basically kept his promise: the married "Bahaduran" was incorporated into the Caucasus Cossack Army and settled in a Cossack village, and the unmarried ones were incorporated into the Finnish Battalion and Archangel Garrison Camp (and in Years of service in the Persian army were also included in the total years of service), and 30 old, weak and unreliable Polish officers were sent directly back to their hometowns.
▲ "Bahaduran" camp left Tabriz
Ten years after leaving the country, Samson Khan was buried in the Orthodox Church of Tabriz. He was already heavily in debt during his lifetime, and he was even less able to protect his family after his death. Real estate, the sad and deplorable history of "Bahaduran" has come to an end.
This article is an original manuscript from the Cold Weapon Research Institute. The editor-in-chief and the author Wu Tian , may not be reproduced by any media or public account without written authorization. Violators will be held legally responsible. Some pictures come from the Internet. If there are any copyright issues, please contact us.
