A review of the book "From the Pavilion to the Trench"

Memoirs of Abbas Ali Dargahi

Fereydoun Heydari Molkmian
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2021-12-21


On the cover of [the book] "From the Pavilion to the Trench" is a contemplative image of an engraved warrior prostrating outside the trench under the protection of his God, and on the back [cover] of the book is a multi-line narrative of the great victory: "The fighting forces, seeing the destruction of the Iraqi tanks, rushed towards the Iraqis from the trench with shouts of God Almighty, and at four o'clock in the morning, they informed us by radio that the advance of Ali Akbar Battalion and Meysam Battalion and other battalions under siege by Iraqi forces were liberated, and the fire of enemy artillery and tanks was reduced."

After the introduction page of the book, there is a page decorated with the handwriting of Abbas Ali Dargahi, which describes in a romantic tone a special moment of the advance of their battalion forces, and the final part is on the back cover. Then there are the list and introduction of the Sacred Defense Documentation Organization. The book consists of thirteen chapters that include the memories of Abbas Ali Dargahi in the form of questions and answers. Of course, as a result of possible inadvertence, two separate chapters are considered "Chapter 10" and unusually in the series of oral history books of the Foundation for the Preservation of Relics and Publication of Sacred Defense Values, the last chapter is dedicated to documents (10 pages) and images (2 pages). The last page of the book, of course, contains sources and references.

The first chapter is a short biography in which Dargahi, while introducing himself and his paternal family, refers to the Moghanlu nomadic tribe and the small family. After the death of their parents, he and a sibling were forced to leave the Sabalan summer area in 1973 to sell their sheep, camels, and pastures and move to Ardabil. In the neighborhood of Khatam al-Nabi'in (where the people were all kind to each other and most of them were from the mosque and the pulpit) they bought a small house and settled there. From then on, only the summers when the nomads lived in summer went to them to rent their lands. Abbas Ali works in a carpet weaving workshop to help his life in Ardabil. He works during the day and studies at night, but due to financial problems, he only continues his education until the fifth grade.

The second chapter refers to the Islamic Revolution. After the first private whispers among his teachers in the primary school, the narrator says of his first encounter with revolutionary scenes: We went to Topkhaneh Square and after having lunch, we passed the underpass on Amirkabir Street towards Topkhaneh Square, where we noticed a large number of revolutionary people. They were shrouded and passed quickly, and the Shah's agents used tear gas to disperse them and hurled them at the revolutionaries. But the people shouted "Ya Hussein" loudly and went to Lalehzar Street. During this period, he stayed in Tehran for three months, working in a Kabab store, and saw other scenes of demonstrations and the presence of revolutionary shroud-dressed people. In chapter, he also talks about the victory of the revolution and his entry into the Revolutionary Guards.

The third chapter deals with his membership in the IRGC(Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) and passing military training and sending him to the villages of the country's northern regions and confronting the gangs. This mission took about three months. After returning to Ardabil, he was ordered by the IRGC to join the Khalkhal IRGC. There, for four months, he was one of the security forces of the Revolutionary Court, in charge of the security issues of the court, until he was assigned to collect tribal aid to the battlefields at the IRGC support headquarters.

The fourth chapter begins with the IRGC forces looking for someone who was a child of the nomads and whom the nomads trust. That is, he was introduced to be responsible for collecting sheep. Because there were profiteers among the nomads who went and lied and came from government officials to collect sheep and send them to the warriors and the fronts. They had collected about 231 sheep that no one knew about. They tried to discredit the officials of the system among the people and to spread distrust among the tribes and the officials.

For the first time, he went among the nomads of his tribe (Moghanloo) to collect sheep. He held a meeting with the elders of the tribe and explained to them that the IRGC is in charge of collecting sheep for the fronts. Even a representative of Islamic propaganda accompanied him and spoke about the importance and reward of kindness and charity for the nomads, which had a great impact on gaining the trust of the nomads and the number of sheep they donated. When the sheep were collected, they were transported by truck to the Bakhtaran Support Headquarters. Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 deal with the Giglu, Ajirlu, Demirchilo, Qortlar, Qarajaloo, and Hossein Hajilu tribes, respectively, and examine the details and relationships of collecting donated sheep and transferring them to the fronts in these tribes.

Chapter 11, mistakenly called chapter 10, refers to how nomadic mobilization was formed. After the establishment of the nomadic base in the winter region of Jaloo, those who registered in the nomadic mobilization were supposed to receive military training for 23 days. Those who did not have guns were given guns, and those who had guns brought their guns. In addition, they obtained licenses for their weapons so that in addition to being members of the nomadic mobilization, they could use their weapons to protect their property and lives against wild animals in nomadic areas.

The twelfth chapter (originally: the eleventh chapter) and the thirteenth chapter (originally: the twelfth chapter) is also dedicated to the presence of Abbas Ali Dargahi in the Khyber operation and the Valfajr operation, respectively.

Mr. Dargahi refers to himself as an auxiliary force that had been sent to the Majnoon Islands since the beginning of the Khyber operation. It was the first time he had been sent to the front, and Khyber was the first to take part in the operation. He had a special feeling:" For a long time, I wished to be sent to the front and, together with my fighting brothers, to defend the land, honor, country and the holy ideals of the system and the Islamic Revolution, against the aggression of foreign forces, and in this holy way to be martyred."

He was chemically treated during Operation Valfajr 8 and was hospitalized in Imam Hosseinۥs (PBUH) Hospital in Dezful for about two months. After a partial recovery, he returned to the Al-Faw region to witness the victory of his comrades: "In this proud operation, our fighters were able to liberate the port city of Al-Faw, its pier, and its oil facilities north and west of the city, the Salt factory.

The book "From the Pavilion to the Trench "is another work of oral history, which was prepared by Javad Movasegh and interviewed by Mirsaleh Hosseini and its first edition was published in 2018 by Savalan Egidleri Publishing House for the General Directorate of Preservation of Relics and Publication of Sacred Defense Values of Ardabil Province in 179 pages and 1000 copies with Medium octavo format and has been sent to the book store.

 



 
Number of Visits: 2051


Comments

 
Full Name:
Email:
Comment:
 
Book Review

Kak-e Khak

The book “Kak-e Khak” is the narration of Mohammad Reza Ahmadi (Haj Habib), a commander in Kurdistan fronts. It has been published by Sarv-e Sorkh Publications in 500 copies in spring of 1400 (2022) and in 574 pages. Fatemeh Ghanbari has edited the book and the interview was conducted with the cooperation of Hossein Zahmatkesh.

Is oral history the words of people who have not been seen?

Some are of the view that oral history is useful because it is the words of people who have not been seen. It is meant by people who have not been seen, those who have not had any title or position. If we look at oral history from this point of view, it will be objected why the oral memories of famous people such as revolutionary leaders or war commanders are compiled.

Daily Notes of a Mother

Memories of Ashraf-al Sadat Sistani
They bring Javad's body in front of the house. His mother comes forward and says to lay him down and recite Ziarat Warith. His uncle recites Ziarat and then tells take him to the mosque which is in the middle of the street and pray the funeral prayer (Ṣalāt al-Janāzah) so that those who do not know what the funeral prayer is to learn it.

A Critique on Oral history of War Commanders

“Answering Historical Questions and Ambiguities Instead of Individual-Organizational Identification”
“Oral history of Commanders” is reviewed with the assumption that in the field of war historiography, applying this method is narrated in an advancing “new” way, with the aim of war historiography, emphasizing role of commanders in creation of its situations and details.