Battle of Robat Karim

The Battle of Robat Karim (, December 27, 1915) was fought by the Iranian people, around Robat Karim (near Tehran, Iran) during the First World War under the command of Heydar Latifiyan against the occupation of Iran by Russian forces. Although the result of this battle was the victory of the Russians, but in the larger goal, Iran was preserved during the First World War and never became a colony of any country.

Before World War I
The Persian campaign or invasion of Iran was a series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire, British Empire and Russian Empire in various areas of what was then neutral Qajar Iran, beginning in December 1914 as part of the Middle Eastern Theatre of World War I.

Persia declared its neutrality during the outbreak of the First World War. Despite this, the country quickly became affected by the pre-war rivalry between the Allies and the Central Powers. Foreign interests in Persia were primarily based on the country's strategic location between British India, Imperial Russia, Afghanistan and the Ottoman Empire, as well as the country's oil reserves, which were first discovered on 26 May 1908.

In the Anglo-Russian Treaty of 1907, the Russian and British governments agreed to divide Persia into three regions, with the Russians laying claim to northern Persia, the part adjacent to their previously conquered territories in the Transcaucasia, and the British claimed the south which bordered British India (a third region was left as a buffer zone). The 1907 treaty capped off several decades of the Great Game between the Russians and the British. The treaty was signed at a time when German imperial expansion into the region was underway and the agreement served both Russia and Britain by providing a counterweight to increasing German regional influence and potential future expansion into the region.

Beginning of Persian campaign
Russia was Iran's northern neighbor at that time and had many wars with Iran during the Qajar period. The British forces in the south and southeast of Iran had caused dissatisfaction among the Iranians by occupying parts of the Iranian soil under the pretext of protecting the interests of the Iranians.

During the First World War, despite the official announcement of Iran's neutrality, two countries, England and Russia, violated territorial sovereignty due to lack of trust.

When the Russian forces were advancing towards Tehran after signing the secret agreement of 1915 with England under the pretext of protecting the security of the embassy during Muharram, Mustofi al-Mamalek was under the influence of some of the million and following the democratic lawyers and distinguished men such as the late Modares believed that in order to eradicate Russian and British influence and get rid of their influence, Ottomans and Germany should be resorted to in the middle of the war because they have less history of colonialism in Iran. At the same time, they were considered the final victors of the war.

Persian forces
The Persian forces were established around certain districts, and not one single force. Each district furnished its own battalion and each province had several battalions. Each district depending on the tribal grouping furnished one or sometimes two battalions usually under their own chiefs. The strength of the battalions was from 600 to 800. They had artillery batteries whose strength ranged from four to eight guns. Irregular troops amounted to about 50,000 in each district, with ranks composed of tribal horsemen and an uncertain number of footmen, all poorly armed. It was not uncommon of the chiefs, who controlled the battalions, to change sides. Some of these forces were Qashqai Tribesmen, Tangistani Tribesmen, Laristani Tribesmen, and Khamseh tribesmen. The Persian central government also had the Persian Central Government Gendarmerie, which had Swedish officers and consisted of about 6,000 troops. Only 2,000 of the 6,000 were mounted. They were in six regiments, each of nine battalions, and their armament included Mauser rifles, twelve machine guns, and four mountain guns. The Persian forces were dispersed at Tehran, Kazvin (Ghazvin), and Hamadan with the objective of keeping the country's main roads, which covered an estimated distance of 930 miles, under Persian control.

Russia Forces
Russia had long since established forces in the region. The Persian Cossack Brigade and a small contingent of the Russian Caucasus Army under the Armenian General Tovmas Nazarbekian was stationed there. The Cossack Brigade consisted of eight squadrons, a small battalion of infantry and a horse battery of six Krupp guns; their total strength did not exceed 2,000. Besides this force, in 1912 Russia obtained the formal consent of the Persian government to the formation of a similar Cossack Brigade at Tabriz under Russian officers. The consent of the government was given as a condition for the withdrawal of Russian troops in Iranian Azerbaijan which, at the onset of the Great War, Russia did not. The Russians also moved one detachment of Armenian volunteer units under the command of Andranik Ozanian to this region.

Rulers of battle
🇮🇷 Iran
 * Qajar Iran
 * The imperial emperor of Iran
 * Head of the Qajar dynasty
 * Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Forces

🇷🇺 Russia
 * Russian Empire
 * Emperor of Russia
 * King of Poland
 * Grand Duke of Finland

Senior commanders
🇮🇷 Iran
 * People's forces of Iran
 * The chief commander of the popular forces
 * Member of the Immigrant Government Committee

🇷🇺 Russia
 * Russian Empire
 * Russian general in World War I

Battle zone
Robat Karim is a city in the Central District of Robat Karim County, Tehran province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district.

One of the main reasons for the formation of the battle of Rabat Karim, the location of this city on the Silk Road and Khorasan pilgrimage route to Baghdad can be mentioned, and on the other hand, after Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar chose Tehran as the capital and he encouraged its construction and settlement. Tehran became the center of governmental and governmental affairs, the commuting of people to Tehran to meet their needs and perform administrative work from different parts of the country increased, and people from the southern regions of Iran, caravans, merchants and military units had to go from Rabat Karim, which is on the Saveh road to Tehran. It was true that they were passing through, which gradually attracted immigrants from various cities to Rabat Karim.

Last fight
The Russian army from one side reaches the village of Kolmeh, which is located between the Robat Karim road and Tehran, and the local fighters are surrounded from three sides. The Russians start bombarding the area from almost a mile, until in the evening, the strongholds of the local Batop fighters are bombarded, everyone survives. But in the evening, the infantry riders of the Russian army came closer and the war with swords started and after a bloody clash, seventy people were killed.

Heyder Latifiyan, the senior commander, was killed in this battle.

Result
If Tehran (the royal capital of Iran) was captured by the Russian army, Iran would become one of the permanent colonies of Tsarist Russia. Due to popular resistance in the Battle of Robat Karim (although Iranian people were killed and Russia won), time was provided to separate the capital of the state and the capital of the monarchy, and thus Iran was saved from the danger of complete collapse. Although the result of this battle was the victory of the Russians, but in the larger goal, Iran was preserved during the First World War and never became a colony of any country.

Aftermath
Ahmad Matin-Daftari (later Prime Minister of Iran) mentions the tragic fate and death of these resistance forces in his memoirs.

After the defeat of Robat Karim's popular resistance and his death, Abdul Hossein Farmanfarma expressed his regret through a telegram sent to Isfahan and told the National Defense Committee that: In addition to the 7-8-year exams and the Saveh and Rabat Karim exams, I will sit for one more exam in Isfahan and forcefully invite the foreign army to the middle of Iran, which is Isfahan..."