French General Leaves Iran

February, 13, 1809 A.D.:
French General Leaves Iran

By: Mir M.Hosseini

General Gardane who was appointed as the chief of the mission to help modernize the Persian army abruptly left Iran. His mission started as part of terms in the treaty of Finckenstein signed between Iran and France. He was cordially received in Tabriz on November, 1, 1807 by the crown prince Abbas Mirza and escorted to Tehran. However they had to prolong their stay in Qazvin for four days as the result of Fathali Shah's superstitious beliefs that their arrival in Tehran must not be on any date than Dec, 4. During their two years of stay in Iran, Gardane's team succeeded in training an army of 4000 based on the Napoleon's model and calling it new military. Another French achievement was producing 20 modern cannons in Isfahan that roared on Aug, 15, 1808 celebrating Napoleon's birthday. The conclusion of a peace treaty between France and Russia in July 1807 somehow rendered the Georgia part of the Finckenstein treaty abortive. After his return, Gardane was given the title count by Napoleon. Iran on the other hand lost all the Transcaucasia territory to Russians learning a good lesson about politics in France.

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KEY TERMS:Abbas Mirza , Fathali Shah , Finckenstein , France , French , Gardan , General Gardane , Georgia , Iran , Isfahan , Mir , Mirza , Napoleon , Persia , Persian , Qazvin , Russia , Russian , Shah , Tabriz , Tehran , Transcaucasia