In the late 1920s, in the mountainous Afghanistan near Mazar-i-Sharif, a certain Zelim Khan became famous - the commander of one of the detachments of Amanullah Khan who was overthrown by the rebels. According to sources, Zelim Khan was a daring and desperately brave commander. His detachment of 400 sabers appeared suddenly and inflicted very significant losses on the government troops. Only relatively recently it became clear (until recently, this information was classified) that under this exotic name the commander of the 8th Cavalry Brigade of the Central Asian Military District of the USSR, later General of the Army and Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Petrov, was hiding under this exotic name, who (according to a secret agreement between I. V. Stalin and "Afghan friends") with a detachment of Red Army men took the side of the deposed khan.
The mystery of the name - legends
At first glance, it may seem strange and, at least, incomprehensible, the choice of the name - the legend of the brigade commander Petrov. However, everything falls into place if we recall that it was during these years that a film about the famous Chechen abrek Zelimkhan, directed by O. Frelikh based on the book of the same name by D. Gatuev, was shown on the screens of the Soviet country with a full house.. The role of the famous abrek in this film starred the famous for those times actor Lado Bestaev. This is an outstanding and one of the first actors of the Soviet silent cinema.
A bright acting personality, an Ossetian by nationality Lado Bestaev himself was from Tskhinvali (South Ossetia. When he was a student in Tiflis, a French film group arrived there, which shot the film "Fire Worshipers". Lado was also invited to one of the roles. From this film and In the late 1920s, Bestaev starred in the adventure film Zelimkhan (Vostok-Kino).
This film was held in all countries, throughout Europe, a lot was written about it. Bestaev himself has been compared to the actor Douglas Fernbecks. Moreover, they even wrote that "Douglas Fernbecks is all in training, and Bestaev is nature itself !!!" Even within the framework of the wordless role, Bestaev was able to create an integral, rich image of a highlander, a defender of powerless people. The image of the abrek Zelimkhan, who almost alone once fought against tsarism and the dominance of officials, became the glory of a noble and pious robber like Robin Hood. Here is what the prints of those years wrote about the popularity of this film.
A film about the famous Chechen abrek Zelimkhan.
“In Moscow, Rostov and other cities of the Union, a film about the famous Chechen abrek Zelimkhan is being shown with great success; in Rostov it has been going on for two months … every evening with a huge crowd of spectators … there is a crowd at the theaters, and the seats are taken, as they say, with battle."
(The Revolution and the Highlander: 1929, No. 10, 36, see also No. 9, 76–78).
From all of the above, the motives of the choice are already drawn, and it becomes quite clear for what reasons and why the brigade commander chose this particular image. It was the Chechen abrek Zelimkhan and his legendary image that predetermined the name of the "Afghan field commander"
Below is a short biographical note about General Petrov, a link to a biographical sketch about this outstanding person in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia and one of the publications about the events in Afghanistan at the end of the 1920s, which also mentions Zelim Khan (I, E, Petrov). Naturally, the Afghan events are not mentioned either in the brief biography or in the TSB.
Petrov I. E.
(Great Soviet Encyclopedia)
Petrov Ivan Efimovich - (18 (30).9.1896, Trubchevsk, now the Bryansk region, - 7.4.1958, Moscow), Soviet military leader, army general (1944), Hero of the Soviet Union (1945-29-05). Member of the CPSU since 1918.
In the Red Army since 1918. Member of the Civil War 1918-20. He graduated from advanced training courses for command personnel (1926 and 1931). In 1929, 1931-32 he participated in the fight against the Basmachi (commanded a Caucasian regiment and a rifle division). Since 1933, the head of the United Central Asian Military School (later the Tashkent Military Infantry School). In 1940 he commanded a rifle division, from March 1941 a mechanized corps.
During the Great Patriotic War 1941-45: commander of a rifle division on the Southern Front (July - October 1941), commander of the Primorsky Army (October 1941 - July 1942 and November 1943 - February 1944), 44th Army (August - October 1942), The Black Sea Group of Forces of the Transcaucasian Front (October 1942 - March 1943), the North Caucasian Front (May - November 1943), the 33rd Army of the Western Front (March - April 1944), the 2nd Belorussian Front (April - June 1944), 4 1st Ukrainian Front (August 1944 - March 1945) and Chief of Staff of the 1st Ukrainian Front (April - June 1945). One of the leaders of the defense of Odessa and Sevastopol, took part in the battle for the Caucasus, in the liberation of Belarus, Czechoslovakia, in the Berlin and Prague operations.
After the war, from July 1945, commander of the troops of the Turkestan Military District, from July 1952, 1st Deputy Chief Inspector of the Soviet Army. From April 1953 he was the chief of the Main Directorate of Combat and Physical Training, from March 1955 he was the 1st Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, from January 1956 the chief inspector of the USSR Ministry of Defense, from June 1957 the chief scientific consultant under the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th convocations. He was awarded 5 Orders of Lenin, 4 Orders of the Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov 1st Class, Kutuzov 1st Class, Red Banner of Labor, Red Star, Orders of the Red Banner of the Turkmen SSR and Uzbek SSR, medals, as well as several foreign orders.
First invasion of Afghan …
(Vladimir Verzhbovsky. "Soldiers of the Fatherland", No. 11 (14))
74 years ago, on April 15, 1929, Soviet troops, though dressed in Afghan uniforms, crossed the Afghan border. It happened in almost the same place as half a century later - in the area of Tajik Termez. A group of two thousand "Afghan" horsemen carried 4 mountain guns, 12 easel and the same number of light machine guns. At the head of the troops was Vitaly Markovich Primakov (Soviet military attaché in Afghanistan since 1927). Although everyone called him "Turkish officer Ragib-bey." The headquarters was headed by Afghan officer Ghulam Haydar.
The prehistory of the invasion is as follows. A month before the events, the Afghan Ambassador to the USSR, General Gulam Nabi-Khan Charkhi, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Gulam Sidiq-Khan, in a secret atmosphere, met with the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) I. Stalin. Afghan "comrades" asked the USSR for military assistance for Amanullah Khan, who was overthrown by the rebels. In fairness, it should be noted that in accordance with the 1921 treaty, there was such an opportunity. Therefore, in Tashkent, on an emergency basis, a special detachment of carefully selected people was formed.
The first clash took place on the day of the border crossing. The Soviet detachment attacked the border post of Pata Kisar. Of the 50 soldiers defending it, only two survived. A little later, the reinforcements coming to the rescue from the neighboring post of Siyah-Gerd were defeated. On April 16, the troops of Ragib-bey are already at the city of Kelif. Several cannon shots were sufficient to capture it. Untrained irregular Afghans retreated in panic. The next day, the Primakovites occupied the city of Khanabad without a fight. Mazar-i-Sharif lay ahead.
On April 29, battles for Mazar-i-Sharif began. Parts of the Soviet detachment managed to break into the outskirts, but met stubborn resistance. Only in the evening, using the advantage in machine guns and guns, Primakov's soldiers captured the city. A message was sent to Tashkent and Moscow: "Mazar is occupied by Vitmar's detachment" (Vitaly Markovich). However, it became clear to everyone that the idea of a world revolution did not touch anyone here. The overwhelming majority of the population was hostile to outsiders.
A day later, the garrison of neighboring Deidadi tried to recapture Mazar-i-Sharif. With fanatical tenacity, despite the huge losses from artillery and machine-gun fire, the Afghans launched attack after attack. The radio operator of the Soviet detachment was forced to request assistance in a coded message. The squadron sent to the rescue with machine guns could not break through to the connection, meeting the superior Afghan forces. On April 26 alone, red-star airplanes delivered 10 machine guns and 200 shells to Mazar.
On May 6, Soviet aviation began bombing Afghan positions near Mazar-i-Sharif. Another detachment of 400 Red Army men broke through the border. It was commanded by Zelim Khan. According to some reports, Ivan Petrov, the commander of the 8th Cavalry Brigade of the Central Asian Military District, later an army general, a hero of the Soviet Union, was hiding under this name. With a simultaneous blow, together with the besieged Primakovites, the Soviet troops managed to push the Afghans back and drove them into the Deidadi fortress. …
On May 25, after the bombing, the Red Army soldiers broke into the city. On the streets themselves, the fighting continued for two more days. As a result, the Afghans retreated. But Cherepanov's artillery was left without shells, almost all machine guns were out of order. The detachment lost 10 killed and 30 wounded Red Army soldiers. And then the overthrown Amanullah Khan, taking the treasury, fled to the west. The continuation of the expedition became meaningless, Stalin ordered to recall the detachment of Ali Avzal Khan.
Despite this aggression with the Afghan government, the USSR maintained good-neighborly relations until December 1979, when the 40th Army crossed the border of a sovereign state, where it was drawn into civil and interethnic war. But that's a completely different story.
