Colonel Kazem Khan Sayyah

Assieh Ale Ahmad

Son of Reza, Kazem Khan Sayyah was born in Tehran, 1895. He completed his higher education in the military school of Constantinople with the rank of artillery officer. Upon the beginning of the first world war, and disregarding Iran’s neutrality by the Allies, the Ottoman troops entered Iran through Azerbaijan to support Iran. Kazem Khan attended the troops in a colonel’s rank.

Following the advancement of Allies troops, the Ottomans drew back and accepted the defeat. At this time, Kazem Khan was the commandant of a group of Ottoman troops in Mesopotamia who was arrested and sent to India where he was put on trial. At first, he received death sentence, but the sentence was changed and after a short while he was released from prison.

His friendship with Seyyed Zia goes back to the time when Kazem Khan’s brother, Dr. Sohrab Khan was a friend of Yeprem Khan and lost his life with Yeprem in a fight against Salaroddowleh. He had entrusted his brothers, Ali and Kazem to Seyyed Zia. Seyyed Zia socialized with Sayyah’s family. When Kazem Khan’s sister heard of her brother’s detainment, he referred to Vossouqoddowleh to help him.

Subsequent to his release, Kazem Khan returned to Tehran and was employed in Gendarmerie. In 1919, he was commissioned with some other officers to arrest Mashallah Khan, which he accomplished with success. In the autumn of the same year, he went to Caucasus as a military attaché to a mission led by Seyyed Zia’addin Tabatabai.

Upon the removal of Staroselsky from the commanding of Cossack house, Kazem Khan Sayyah was commissioned to train the Cossack forces of Qazvin. In the course of coup, these two forces coordinated to launch the coup. He was involved in 1921 coup and when Reza Khan was leading the Cossack forces from Qazvin to Tehran, he was the head of the column staff.

Following the conquest of Tehran, Reza khan issued an announcement and appointed Kazem Khan Sayyah as the military governor of Tehran. He was in this rank that attempted to disarm the police headquarters, and arrested some of the leading figures of the country by the orders of Seyyed Zia. In 25th March 1921, he was appointed to the head of regiment number one of Yusefabad gendarmerie, and in a month’s time he became the head of army staff.

Following the removal of Seyyed Zia’addin, Sayyah accompanied him to Berlin via Iraq, and lived there for a while. Subsequent to the exile of Reza Shah, he became the director of Isfahan arts and crafts department. In the course of nationalization of oil industry, he acted against Dr. Mossaddeq and formed a secret committee called Sayyah of which not much information is available. Colonel Kazem Khan Sayyah died in 1970 died due to some illness.
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