Khaloo Ghorban Harsini: From the Jungle Movement up to Turmoil of Simco

At the end of the Qajar period, important events such as Jungle (Forest) Movement and Turmoil of Simco were formed in Gilan and Azerbaijan and put the central government in crisis. Khaloo Ghorban Harsini could be considered as one of the main actors in these two events. After joining the Jungle Movement alongside Mirza Kochak Khan and Ehsanallah Khan Dostdar, he fought as the military arm of the movement against the central government and added to his power every day. The unity of the Jungle leaders collapsed very soon due to the conflict of interests and at the same time, the advent of Reza Khan had led to the defeat of the movement. With the defeat of the Jungle Movement and reconciliation of Khaloo Ghorban with the Reza Khan, this Harsini fighter was sent to Azerbaijan by a new title of honor given by the central government to fight against Simco. Khaloo Ghorban was killed in an ambiguous battle with Simco while commanding a multi-degree force and sometime later, several of his companions were also executed for treason. Khaloo Ghorban has been introduced as a negative person by historians due to confrontation with Mirza Kochak Khan and compromise with Reza Khan. Accordingly, this research tries to examine the role of the Khaloo Ghorban Harsini in the context of the Forest movement in the wake of a fair look, using the newly-documented records.