Izydor Borowski ( 1770 – 24 June 1838; fa, ایزیدر بروسکی, translit=Ayzydr Brvsky), also spelled Isidor Borowski, was a general in
Qajar Iran
Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...
of
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
origin. He is noted for his instrumental role in the modernization of the army.
Early life
Borowski was born in Wilno (present-day
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
,
Lithuania) in the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...
, at the time a shadow of its former self. According to the ''
Jewish Encyclopedia'', Borowski gave varying accounts of his parentage, professing to be the illegitimate son of Prince Radziwill and a Jewish woman, or the son of a Jewish mother and a Polish nobleman. There is a possibility that his brother was the literary historian
Leon Borowski (1784-1846). Sources on his early life are inconsistent. According to
Encyclopædia Iranica
''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times.
Scope
The ''Encyc ...
, he had to flee to England either "presumably" during the
Third Partition of Poland
The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polis ...
(1795), or that he departed from Poland in 1793, which however is inconsistent with ''Alma Mater'', an academic publication produced by
Jagiellonian University, which states that he participated in the
Kościuszko Uprising of 1794, afterwards returning home.
Military career
According to Encyclopædia Iranica, after arriving in England, he later served abroad in South Africa and British India.
According to ''Alma Mater,'' which does not contain any reference to his travels to England, Africa or India, in 1797 he joined the
Polish Legions in Italy, and was part of the Polish contingent sent to quell the
Haitian Revolution in 1802. Like many Poles who disliked quelling an independence movement, he then deserted the French side, and he himself joined the buccaneer organization
Brethren of the Coast
The Brethren or Brethren of the Coast were a loose coalition of pirates and privateers commonly known as buccaneers that were active in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico.
They we ...
. Around 1805–1806 he joined a group of South American freedom fighters under
Francisco de Miranda
Sebastián Francisco de Miranda y Rodríguez de Espinoza (28 March 1750 – 14 July 1816), commonly known as Francisco de Miranda (), was a Venezuelan military leader and revolutionary. Although his own plans for the independence of the Spani ...
, and around 1810 he became one of the trusted lieutenants and later an adiutant of
Simón Bolívar. He was one of Bolivar's commanders during the
campaign to liberate New Granada of 1819–1820, distinguishing himself in the
Crossing of the Andes
The Crossing of the Andes ( es, Cruce de los Andes) was one of the most important feats in the Argentine and Chilean wars of independence, in which a combined army of Argentine soldiers and Chilean exiles invaded Chile crossing the Andes r ...
and the
Battle of Boyacá, and in 1821, at the
Battle of Carabobo. Following the establishment of
Gran Colombia
Gran Colombia (, "Great Colombia"), or Greater Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish language, Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central Ameri ...
, he lived in
Bogotá for at least two years, but political intrigues resulted in his decision to leave South America. He visited the United States and then traveled to the Middle East, where he worked for
Muhammad Ali of Egypt
Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha, also known as Muhammad Ali of Egypt and the Sudan ( sq, Mehmet Ali Pasha, ar, محمد علي باشا, ; ota, محمد علی پاشا المسعود بن آغا; ; 4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849), was ...
and taught mathematics and English.
Encyclopædia Iranica states that at an unspecified time he moved to Iran on the request of then-crown prince
Abbas Mirza
Abbas Mirza ( fa, عباس میرزا; August 26, 1789October 25, 1833) was a Qajar crown prince of Iran. He developed a reputation as a military commander during the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813 and the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828, as ...
, and entered Iranian service. According to ''Alma Mater'' he advocated Iranian intervention in the
November Uprising (1830-1831).
He quickly became on good terms with both the incumbent king
Fath Ali Shah Qajar
Fath-Ali Shah Qajar ( fa, فتحعلىشاه قاجار, Fatḥ-ʻAli Šâh Qâjâr; May 1769 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah (king) of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irr ...
(r. 1797-1834), as well as the crown prince himself. He successfully climbed the ranks and played a pivotal role in the modernization of the Iranian army. Later on, he was promoted to the rank of general. According to ''Alma Mater'' he received positions, titles or functions of a
Vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...
and
Emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...
.
Borowski was then assigned to Abbas Mirza's son, Mohammad Mirza (later known by his regal name of
Mohammad Shah Qajar), who was the commander-in-chief of the Iranian forces besieging Herat in 1833. Upon Abbas Mirza's death in late 1833, and that of his father Fath Ali Shah a year after, Borowski remained loyal to Mohammad Mirza, and joined him in the ensuing war of succession. Some time after, Borowski, Qahreman Mirza (another son of Abbas Mirza) and Masoud Mirza managed to defeat the
Uzbek incursions as well as the rebelling
Turkmens
Turkmens ( tk, , , , ; historically "the Turkmen"), sometimes referred to as Turkmen Turks ( tk, , ), are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern regions of Iran and north-weste ...
, both in
Khorasan.
Death and legacy
Borowski then served in the second
siege of Herat (1837/38). According to ''Alma Mater'', he was the commander-in-chief of the Iranian forces.
Since the Iranian commanders were quarrelling among themselves and the Iranian army had low morale, Borowski took the lead in the field himself.
This siege would be his last, for he was mortally wounded by a bullet to the abdomen, while personally leading an assault on the enemy fortifications.
He died not long afterwards.
He was buried in the
Armenian cemetery in New Julfa (the Armenian quarter of
Isfahan). The French inscription on his grave gives 24 June 1838 as his date of death.
After his death, a friend of Borowski in the Iranian army, an Italian named Barthelemy Semino, married his widow (an
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
woman from New Julfa), and he reportedly took care of his children as well. According to the sources, Borowski is said to have made a "considerable" amount of wealth in the years he served in Iran. However, most of it apparently had gone missing around the time his
testament was to be invoked, that testament being in the possession of
Aleksander Chodźko
Aleksander Borejko Chodźko (30 August 1804 – 27 December 1891) was a Polish poet, Slavist, and Iranologist.
Early life
He was born in Krzywicze, in the Minsk Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Belarus) and attended the Imperial U ...
, a "compatriot" of Borowski and Russian consul in
Rasht
Rasht ( fa, رشت, Rašt ; glk, Rəšt, script=Latn; also romanized as Resht and Rast, and often spelt ''Recht'' in French and older German manuscripts) is the capital city of Gilan Province, Iran. Also known as the "City of Rain" (, ''Ŝahre B ...
.
According to Encyclopædia Iranica, Borowski was survived by his two sons. The first one, Stanislaw, would become a teacher at the
Dar ul-Fonun school. He died in
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
in 1898. Borowski's second son would enter the service of the Iranian government as well, but he committed suicide not long after. ''Alma Mater'', however, mentions only
Antoni Radziwiłł-Borowski, who also became a general in the Iranian service, and took part in
Siege of Herat (1856).
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Borowski, Izydor
1770s births
1838 deaths
Military personnel from Vilnius
Polish expatriates in England
Polish emigrants to Iran
Polish pirates
Iranian generals
Military personnel of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
People of Qajar Iran
Burials in Iran
Polish generals in other armies