August 23 marks the 131st anniversary of the birth of Jamshid Nakhchivanski, one of the brilliant figures in Azerbaijan’s national military history, an outstanding military commander and brigade commander (brigcom).
Sea-news.az reports that Jamshid Khan Nakhchivanski was born on August 23, 1895, in the city of Nakhchivan, into the family of retired Rittmeister Jafargulikhan Nakhchivanski. He rendered exceptional services to the training of national military personnel during the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and subsequent periods.
After graduating from the Yelizavetgrad Cavalry School, he commanded a Muslim cavalry squadron and participated in breaching the “Brusilov Front.” Wounded three times on the Austro-Romanian front, he was awarded a weapon of valor, the Orders of St. Anna (2nd and 3rd degrees), St. Stanislaus (2nd degree), and St. George (4th degree). On September 15, 1918, alongside the Army of Islam and the Azerbaijani Separate Corps, he participated in the liberation of Baku from Dashnak-Bolshevik and “Centrocaspian Dictatorship” forces. In March 1920, by order of Samad bey Mehmandarov, he was appointed commander of the 2nd Karabakh Cavalry Regiment and led battles against Dashnak forces in Shusha.
Following the establishment of Soviet power in Azerbaijan, he served as the head of the Baku United Command School and commander of the first national infantry division. Together with Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, he published the Hərbi bilik (Military Knowledge) journal. He graduated with honors from the M.V. Frunze Military Academy in Moscow, where he was retained as a faculty member, headed the Department of General Tactics for three years, and was promoted to the rank of brigade commander in 1935.
In the mid-1930s, falling victim to Stalinist repressions, Jamshid Nakhchivanski was wrongfully arrested and later buried at the secret “Kommunarka” mass grave facility near Moscow.
The memory of the commander—awarded the Orders of the Red Banner, the Red Banner of Labour, and the Red Star—is held in high esteem in Azerbaijan. The Jamshid Nakhchivanski Military Lyceum and a street in Baku bear his name, and a memorial museum is located in the city of Nakhchivan.
