The Reflection of the Events of the Gilan Revolution in the Works of Velimir Khlebnikov

The Gilan Revolutionary Movement (1915-1921) is one of the most important movements in the contemporary history of Iran. It has been constantly discussed by the experts from political and historical perspectives. Over the years, several historical studies have been done on this movement in the form of books, articles, artworks, and literary works by Iranian and non-Iranian writers and researchers. Each of these works contains important points about the emergence of this movement, the causes of its failure, and its leaders’ thoughts and actions, in particular Mirza Kuchik Khan. “Iranian poetry,” or according to Russian Literature researchers “Iranian cycle,” of Velimir Khlebnikov, a prominent twentieth-century poet of Russian literature, are among the works which have been influenced by the Gilan Revolution. The remarkable feature of these poems is that the poet himself was a member of a group of Russian revolutionary speakers and artists who entered Gilan from Baku with Red Army troops and witnessed some of the events of the last years of the Jungle Movement. This article aims to acquaint Iranian audiences with the views of contemporary Russian intellectuals and elites of the Russian Revolution of October of 1917 on this important event in the contemporary history of Iran, the Gilan Revolution, which is said to have been influenced by the Russian Revolution.