Battle of Ushno

Last updated
Battle of Ushno (1918)
Part of Persian campaign (World War I)
Date8-13 April, 1918
Location
Result Assyrian victory
Belligerents
Flag of the Assyrian Volunteers.svg Assyrian volunteers

Flag of Turkey.svg Ottoman Empire

Commanders and leaders
Flag of the Assyrian Volunteers.svg Agha Petros
Flag of the Assyrian Volunteers.svg Malik Khoshaba
Flag of the Assyrian Volunteers.svg Raphael Khan
Unknown
Strength
1,500+ 2,000-9,000 troops
and heavy cannons
Casualties and losses
Low

Heavy [1]

The Battle of Ushno (8-13 April 1918) was a military engagement near present-day Oshnavieh, in the West Azerbaijan province of Iran, fought between the Assyrian volunteers led by Agha Petros and the Ottoman Empire, reinforced by local Persian and Kurdish troops. [2] [3] [4] [5] This battle is a part of the broader Ottoman invasion of Iranian Azerbaijan, with the goal of subduing the Assyrian Christian authority over the region, and to finally enter the city of Urmia.

Contents

Background

On April 8, 1918, Ottoman Turkish forces advanced and took up positions on the outskirts of the village of Qasim Lui, next to Urmia and located in a valley near Ushno. The Assyrian guards on the southern side of Urmia informed Agha Petros of the approaching Turkish forces. Agha Petros dispatched a force to the village of Seray and another to the villages of the Barandouz River. The Assyrians gathered at the command center to listen to Commander Agha Petros's speech. Agha Petros said:

I suppose the name of the Turkish forces carries weight with you, but I tell you, they have no experience in these regions, and all they possess are photographs. As for us, we surpass them with our knowledge and expertise of this land, and we have maneuvers across its geography that would never occur to the enemy. So, rejoin your units and let the enemy advance, for no blame shall fall upon you. I will join you in two days, and on the third day the fighting with the Turks will begin and will end no later than the fourth day. By the sixth day, a decisive victory will be achieved, and we shall return triumphant, driving before us the enemy’s captives and seizing his military equipment.

Agha Petros [6]

Prior to this, the Assyrian force had fought against Persian Cossack troops in Urmia and Dilman, after the Iranian government had sent them to disarm the Assyrians. The Persian Cossacks initially failed, and the Assyrians continued to carry their arms and to maintain their military organization. [7]

Battle

The Assyrian force confronted the Turks in the vicinity of Ushno, and faced a superior force numbering between 2,000 to 9,000 men, accompanied by Persian Cossack and Kurdish troops, armed with heavy cannons. [8] [9] [10] [11] Agha Petros and Malik Khoshaba set out with 1,500 fighters and two cannons toward Qasim Lui, where the Turkish forces were encamped on the opposite bank of the river. 50 Assyrian fighters advanced two miles ahead of the army, but the Turks opened fire on them, killing 8 of them. The rest withdrew and reported the incident to Agha Petros, informing him that Turkish fighters, along with Iranians known as the “Black Caps,” had joined the Turks in preparation for an attack on Urmia. [11]

Agha Petros ordered his forces to retreat four miles until they reached a hill near the village of Balanush. There, the fighters’ morale began to weaken, and signs of withdrawal appeared. Agha Petros stood among them and said:

O sons of the tribes... I want to tell you two things:

First: The Turks fought you and drove you out of your homes in Hakkâri, so you sought refuge in Urmia under Russian protection. If you flee now, where will you go? Who will protect you? If the enemy gains control of Urmia, he will either kill us all or force us into Islam.

Second: These forces once terrified you because they carried cannons and Mauser rifles, while you fought them with old 'sheshkhana' guns. But now we are their equals in weaponry: we possess artillery, machine guns, and Mauser rifles, while they have been exhausted by four years of war. It is an honor for me to fight here and die, rather than be slain before my family.

Agha Petros [11]

When the fighters heard this speech, enthusiasm spread among them, and they rushed into battle. Agha Petros then dispatched a force led by Raphael Khan, along with an Armenian unit led by Baron Arsen, to cut off the Suldouze road and block enemy reinforcements. He then divided his remaining forces into two parts:

The first, led by Malik Khoshaba, to take position on one side of the Qasim Lui River.

The second, a thousand fighters under his own command, marched by night through the Kurdish villages to encircle the enemy from Mount Qasim Lui. [11]

The plan was for the forces stationed by the river to begin their attack upon hearing Agha Petros’ gunfire as a signal, after which the mountain forces would launch a second assault, catching the Turks off guard. On the following morning, while the enemy was still deep in sleep, the Assyrian fighters struck from every direction, and chaos spread throughout the Turkish ranks. [11]

Aftermath

The Turkish force of 9,000 soldiers was heavily defeated, creating a seemingly striking victory for the Assyrian forces. [12] The Assyrians returned to Urmia with 325-500 prisoners of war, largely Kurds, and 24 of them being officers. [2] [13] [14] Agha Petros treated them kindly, taking them to the bathhouse and providing them with clothes, which was weird considering that the Turks had previously terrorized Assyrian villages. [2] [14] Petros told the prisoners:

You are not prisoners; you are our brothers. Your rulers send you to die and take money for it. I am ready to release anyone who wishes to return, so that he may tell his commanders not to fight and lose their lives.

Agha Petros [14]

Only three of the prisoners asked to return. On April 13, Agha Petros returned to Urmia, victorious, where he was received with widespread popular celebration, after defeating the Turkish Forces who tried to eliminate the Assyrians. [14]

See also

References

  1. Wigram, William Ainger (1920). Our Smallest Ally: A Brief Account of the Assyrian Nation in the Great War. p. 45.
  2. 1 2 3 Austin, H. H. (1920). The Baqubah Refugee Camp: An Account of Work on Behalf of the Persecuted Assyrian Christians. Faith Press. p. 27.
  3. Allen, E.T (1918). OUTLINE OF EVENTS IN THE DISTRICT OF URUMIA AND THE SYRIAN CONNECTION THEREWITH, - SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR (PDF). p. 6.
  4. Wigram, William Ainger (1920). Our Smallest Ally: A Brief Account of the Assyrian Nation in the Great War. p. 45.
  5. "كتاب; آغا بطرس – سنحاريب القرن العشرين / (ايضاح وتعليق) | Nala4U.com | صفحة 2" (in Arabic). pp. 126–128. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  6. "كتاب; آغا بطرس – سنحاريب القرن العشرين / (ايضاح وتعليق) | Nala4U.com | صفحة 2" (in Arabic). pp. 126–128. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  7. Majd, Mohammad Gholi (2003). Persia in World War I and Its Conquest by Great Britain. University Press of America. p. 210. ISBN   978-0-7618-2678-1.
  8. Allen, E.T (1918). OUTLINE OF EVENTS IN THE DISTRICT OF URUMIA AND THE SYRIAN CONNECTION THEREWITH, - SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR (PDF). p. 6.
  9. Majd, Mohammad Gholi (2003). Persia in World War I and Its Conquest by Great Britain. University Press of America. p. 210. ISBN   978-0-7618-2678-1.
  10. Wigram, William Ainger (1920). Our Smallest Ally: A Brief Account of the Assyrian Nation in the Great War. p. 45.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "كتاب; آغا بطرس – سنحاريب القرن العشرين / (ايضاح وتعليق) | Nala4U.com | صفحة 2" (in Arabic). pp. 126–128. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  12. Donabed, Sargon (2015-02-01). Reforging a Forgotten History: Iraq and the Assyrians in the Twentieth Century. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN   978-0-7486-8605-6.
  13. Wigram, William Ainger (1920). Our Smallest Ally: A Brief Account of the Assyrian Nation in the Great War. p. 45.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "كتاب; آغا بطرس – سنحاريب القرن العشرين / (ايضاح وتعليق) | Nala4U.com | صفحة 2" (in Arabic). pp. 126–128. Retrieved 2025-09-08.