The Jangal (Jungle) Movement (Persian: جنبش جنگل), in

Gilan Gilan Province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, in the northwest of the country and southwest of the Caspian Sea. Its capital is the city of Rasht. The province lies along the Caspian Sea, in Iran's Region 3, west of the province of ...

, was a rebellion against the monarchist rule of the central government of the Sublime State of Iran, which lasted from 1915 to 1921.

History of the movement

In 1915, Mirza Kuchik Khan, an experienced activist in the Constitutional Revolution, launched the Jangal movement, which was religiously

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, in the forests of

, demanding autonomous status for the province, an end to central government corruption, an end to foreign interference in affairs of local peoples, and land reform. Basically, even though the movement was not "separatist", "bourgeois nationalist", or

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

, its main ideas were rooted in ridding the country of government corruption, "foreign imperial domination," and opposition to the country's existing monarchy. With such goals, it is no surprise that the movement enjoyed strong support of the

peasantry A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

, and poor population within Iran. Even so, Hooshang Amirahmadi describes the movement's leaders as "merchants and landlords" and Mirza as part of the "democratic wing" of the Iranian

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...

. In years that followed, the movement's guerrillas, Jangalis, fought against foreign invaders. While they were described as "small landowners in Gilan" that advocated armed insurgency, they were strong enough to resist the advances of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, leading the British to become the major military presence in the region instead. After the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

in 1917, Marxists within Iran became more organized and began collaborating with the Jangal movement, with many of these new revolutionaries directly influenced by the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

. Later, these Marxists would end up forming the communist

Tudeh Party The Tudeh Party of Iran is an Iranian communist party. Formed in 1941, with Soleiman Mirza Eskandari as its head, it had considerable influence in its early years and played an important role during Mohammad Mosaddegh's campaign to nationalize ...

. Even so, there were undoubtedly differences since Mirza supported land reforms but not land redistribution. Near the end of 1917, the Jangalis organized a "Unity of Islam" committee, since they were affiliated with the Union of Islam movement, which was "bourgeois-nationalist" with democratic elements, with members on the committee mainly comprising landlords and merchants. Still, they drew up a proposed constitution which accepted "private property in land" with certain limitations but also called for

equality Equality generally refers to the fact of being equal, of having the same value. In specific contexts, equality may refer to: Society * Egalitarianism, a trend of thought that favors equality for all people ** Political egalitarianism, in which ...

majority rule In social choice theory, the majority rule (MR) is a social choice rule which says that, when comparing two options (such as bills or candidates), the option preferred by more than half of the voters (a ''majority'') should win. In political ...

, and

freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

. Even with this, the Jangalis failed to change relations between landlords and peasants, but they did continue to hold an anti- absolutist,

anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is opposition to imperialism or neocolonialism. Anti-imperialist sentiment typically manifests as a political principle in independence struggles against intervention or influenc ...

, and

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

position displayed in their newspaper, ''Jangal'', launched in 1917. In years that followed, it was clear that the movement was gaining strength as disorder and insecurity swept the country. By 1920, the Jangalis, who were broadly

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

Muslims, engaged in an uprising in which they demanded regional autonomy and national reforms. There was a turning point in the movement after the Red Army came into the Iranian port of Enzali. As a result, the Red Army and Jangalis agreed on the establishment of the

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

democratic and anti-British/anti-imperialist government in

, while Mirza began secret negotiations with the central government to eliminate communists, leading to a coup in the Gilan government and later peace between the two forces. After this, the Jangalis were a key part of maintaining Socialist Soviet Republic of Gilan, showing that Marxists and Muslims could work together in a common cause. John Foran describes this collaboration:

The Communist Party of Iran, led by Haydar Khan Amoughlu, and the Jungle Movement, led by Mirza Kuchak Khan, had formed an alliance to build a soviet socialist republic. In addition, they sent a letter to Lenin asking for assistance in 'freeing us and all of the oppressed from the chain of Iranian and British oppressors.' They also sent a letter to Tehran proclaiming the monarch government illegitimate.

This Soviet republic would last close to two years before its leaders were killed and imprisoned. While the Soviet role in Iran was not clear, with questions on whether they were helping Iranians or helping establish a Soviet Republic in the country, there is no doubt that "Marxist-Muslim cooperation" as part of the Soviet Republic had a long-standing legacy on political and

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

organizing in the country, with one group of students organizing against the Shah in the 1960s called the "Jangal Group."

Further analysis

Initially, when commencing the movement, Mirza and his allies formed a union called ''Ettehad-e-Islam'' (The Islamic Union). Although in the beginning, they were in conformity over the aims of the movement, eventually the movement began witnessing considerable friction as some members had diverging tendencies toward

Ahmad Shah Qajar Ahmad Shah Qajar (‎; 21 January 1898 – 21 February 1930) was the List of monarchs of Iran, shah of Iran (Name of Iran, Persia) from 16 July 1909 to 15 December 1925, and the seventh and final ruling member of the Qajar dynasty. Ahmad Shah ...

while others such as Mirza specifically called for an Iranian "Republic." Not only did Mirza specifically use the term "Republic of Iran," as can be seen in his letters, but he had also declared his interest in a "Republic" before the advent of the Communist Party of Iran. In fact Mirza was removed from his posts in the Persian Socialist Soviet Republic only 17 days after the party's formation. Mirza did not seem to agree with

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

ideology, being a devout man of faith, even though many of his allies until the end were members of the Communist Party. The British did not take Mirza's successes lightly, and sent intelligence agent Edward Noel to assassinate Mirza. Noel was arrested before he could take any such action. Colonel Stokes and General

Lionel Dunsterville Major General Lionel Charles Dunsterville (9 November 1865 – 18 March 1946) was a British Army officer, who led Dunsterforce across present-day Iraq and Iran towards the Caucasus and Baku during the First World War. Early life Lionel Charle ...

(whose troops were lightly referred to as

Dunsterforce Dunsterforce was an Allied military force, established in December 1917 and named after its commander, Major-General Lionel Dunsterville. The force comprised fewer than 350 Australian, New Zealand, British and Canadian officers and NCOs, ...

) were further agitated by Mirza's refusal to let British forces pass through Gilan on their way up north, while Mirza had approved and guaranteed Russian troops returning north safe passage. British forces attacked Rasht as a result, and even bombed Mirza's residence using airplanes. An ultimatum was issued to Mirza by the British to surrender. The Russians joined the British and sent in 20,000 troops to capture Mirza. Many prominent members of the movement such as Haj Ahmad Kasmai and Dr Talequani Heshmat surrendered, with 270 troops, and the latter was executed by the Qajar government despite the immunity that he was granted. In 1922, the Soviets came to an agreement with the Iranian government to withdraw their troops, especially those assisting the Gilan Republic, and soon after the British declared they would be withdrawing their troops. Ultimately, the Soviets told Mirza that the Soviet Republic, due to changed circumstances, was compromised. As a result, there was an internal conflict in which the leader of the communists, Heidar Amou Oqli, was killed, the "Revolutionary Committee" of the Soviet Republic fell apart, the Jangalis were defeated by

Reza Khan Reza Shah Pahlavi born Reza Khan (15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was shah of Iran from 1925 to 1941 and founder of the roughly 53 years old Pahlavi dynasty. Originally a military officer, he became a politician, serving as minister of war an ...

and Mirza, along with his German companion, froze to death as they tried to escape Khan's men.

References

Bibliography

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History of the movement

Further analysis

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading