republic · Mesopotamia and Iran

Persian Socialist Soviet Republic

1920 CE – 1921 CE · capital Rasht

A short-lived Soviet republic in the Caspian province of Gilan, born from an alliance between the Jangali rebels of Mirza Kuchik Khan and the Bolsheviks.

Origins

From 1915 Mirza Kuchik Khan led the Jangali ('forest') movement in Gilan against foreign intervention and the weak Qajar government. In May 1920 a Bolshevik fleet landed at Anzali in pursuit of White Russian ships. With Soviet support, Kuchik Khan proclaimed the Persian Socialist Soviet Republic at Rasht in June 1920.

Rule and society

The republic was a fragile coalition of Kuchik Khan's nationalist and religious followers, radical leftists under Ehsanollah Khan and the new Communist Party of Iran, backed by Soviet troops. Disputes over land reform and religion split the leadership within weeks; Kuchik Khan withdrew to the forests, and the communists took over Rasht. A later reconciliation brought in Haydar Khan Amu-oghli, who was killed in renewed infighting in 1921.

Decline and legacy

Under the Soviet-Persian Treaty of February 1921, Soviet Russia withdrew its forces. Reza Khan's Cossack troops crushed the republic in late 1921, and Kuchik Khan died of exposure in the mountains that December; he is remembered in Iran as a national hero.

Lineage

Qajar Iran 1789 CE – 1925 CEPersian Socialist Soviet Republic

More states of Mesopotamia and Iran →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Persian Socialist Soviet Republic. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/persian-socialist-soviet-republic
MLA
“Persian Socialist Soviet Republic.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/persian-socialist-soviet-republic. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Persian Socialist Soviet Republic.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/persian-socialist-soviet-republic.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Persian Socialist Soviet Republic’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/persian-socialist-soviet-republic (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻