'Military report on Tehran and adjacent Provinces of North-West Persia (including the Caspian Littoral)' [‎25v] (55/610)

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Gendarmerie, who plundered the branch of the Imperial Bank,
and the British and Russian colonies made their way to Kazvin.
At Sultanabad the Bank was looted and the British colony
sought refuge at the American Consulate. At Shiraz also, the
centre of Wassmuss’ activities, the Bank- met the same fate
and the British community were arrested under threat of
bombardment. The doubtful attitude of the Bakhtiaris was
also alarming.
The Russians, however, were following up the retreating
pro-Germans. By the 25th of November in view of the
improved situation in Tehran they had withdrawn from Karaj,
but two columns were sent in pursuit without entering the
capital. A column from Karaj went to Robat Karim, where
they drove off a party of Gendarmes and others under Amir
Hashmat, who had come from Zarand. A second column
proceeded from Kazvin via Zahrah and Zarand to.Lalehkan
on the road to Saveh, and encountered a force Of Gendarmerie
and Shahsavans holding the defile of Vardeh. The Persians
were defeated and evacuated Saveh, which was occupied by
the Russians. From Saveh they advanced to Qum by the
direct route and also via Manzariyeh, where they fought with
some Gendarmes. At Qum the Russian force was again
divided, part for Isfahan and part for 1 ’Iraq.
The Persians broke up into several parties, which afterwards
united at Burujird 1 or Kirmanshah, where they joined the
Turkish army and retreated with it to Qasr-i-Shirin, whence
some 400 or 500 returned to Persia and about 1,600 went to
Mesopotamia. 2 ‘
Within 4 months of their exodus from Tehran the Muha-
jirln were disillusioned and realized it had ended in a fiasco and
that they had been the dupes of foreign intrigues. Turko-
German promises of arms and assistance had not been fulfilled
and their relations with the Turks became strained, but they
had burned their boats behind them and could not return to
Tehran or other cities under Russian influence.
Break-up of
Persian Gendar*
merle.
Gendarmerie detachments from Isfahan and elsewhere had
joined up with them, and the Gendarmerie passed out of
existence.
1 Nizam-us-Sultaneh, Governor of Luristan, had received large sums of
money from the Germans to raise levies and openly joined the Turks when
informed of the Shah’s decision to leave Tehran. He left Burujird before most
of thesejjparties arrived there.
" From Mesopotamia they made their way back to P ersia after the Russian
revolution or went to Constantinople.