Russians retake Tabriz

On 30 January 1915 Russian troops entered Tabriz, the capital of Persian Azerbaijan, once again. Less than four weeks earlier they had left the city, and on 8 January it had been taken by Kurds and Turks. After the victory at Sarikamish the Russians were able to turn their attention to northern Persia again.

At the head of the troops that set off for Tabriz was General Fyodor Chernozubov, commander of the so-called Azerbaijan Detachment. He knew Persia well, because years earlier, in 1902–1906, he had trained the cavalry of the Persian Cossack Brigade. His detachment, made up of Cossack cavalry, infantry and artillery, approached from the direction of Julfa through Marand. At Sufian, north-west of Tabriz, Kurdish and Turkish units barred its way. According to Russian studies, the fighting lasted three days, from 26 to 28 January, and ended with the enemy’s retreat.

The road to the city lay open. The Russians entered Tabriz on 30 January, that is 17 January in the Julian calendar then used in Russia. Some studies give 31 January or, more generally, the beginning of February. The Kurds and Turks withdrew south, towards Lake Urmia, without having had time to plunder the city in their retreat.

The return to Tabriz did not end the fighting in Persian Azerbaijan. Turkish and Kurdish units held on in Urmia and around the lake, and the Christian villages there continued to fall victim to raids and massacres. The Russians, on the other hand, held Khoy, which in the end they did not evacuate. In the spring of 1915 the Turks launched a new offensive in the area, and control of the lands around the lake was fought over until late spring. Tabriz remained in Russian hands until early 1918, when after the revolution the disintegrating Russian army left Persia.