| Conventional Long Name: | Autonomous State of Khorasan |
| Common Name: | Khorasan |
| Status: | Unrecognized |
| Year Start: | 1921 |
| Date Start: | April |
| Date End: | November |
| P1: | Qajar dynasty |
| Flag P1: | State flag of Iran (1907-1933).svg |
| S1: | Qajar dynasty |
| Flag S1: | State flag of Iran (1907-1933).svg |
| Capital: | Mashhad |
| Government Type: | Military dictatorship |
| Title Leader: | President |
| Leader1: | Mohammad Taqi Pessian |
| Year Leader1: | 2 Apr - 3 Oct 1921 |
| Title Representative: | Governor-General |
| Representative1: | Mahmoud Khan Nowzari |
| Representative2: | Ismail Khan Bahador |
| Year Representative2: | 16 Nov 1921 |
The Autonomous Government of Khorasan was a short-lived military state set up in Iran. It was formally established on the April 2, 1921, and collapsed a few months later, on October 6, 1921. Their capital was Mashhad.
| Official post | Name | Party affiliation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commander of Armed Forces | NCK | ||
| Senior Gendarmerie Commander | NCK | ||
| Director of Revenues | none | ||
| Revenue Accountant and Chief of Policea | NCK | ||
| Chief of Policeb | none | ||
| Mutavallibashi of the Shrine | NCK | ||
| Kargozar | NCK | ||
| Owner of Tus Press | NCK | ||
| Chief Editor of Bahar Newspaper | NCK | ||
| Founder of Democratic Party of Khorasan | DPK, NCK | ||
| Poet | NCK | ||
| Mojtahed | Mohammad Najafi Khorasanic | none | |
| Machine-gun Instructor |  A German national | none | |
| Chief of Excise Department | NCK | ||
| Chief of Post Office | NCK | ||
| Chief of Telegraph Office | NCK | ||
| Director of Education | NCK | ||
| Chief of Customs Department | NCK | ||
| Chief of Justice Department | NCK |
| Chief | Location | Name | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ordu-ye Mashhad | |||
| Major Mahmoud Nowzari | Ordu-ye Naderi | ||
| Major Ismail Bahador | Ordu-ye Qader | ||
| Captain Mohammad Taqi Kavoussi | Ordu-ye Kaveh | ||
| Captain Alireza Shamshir | Ordu-ye Shamshir | ||
| Captain Abdolrazaq Sepehri | Ordu-ye Barq |
| Administrator/Tribal Chief | Region Capital | Tribe/clan Ethnicity | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Khozaima tribe Arab | |||
| Baluch | |||
| Torbat-e Heydarieh | Baluch | ||
| Torbat-e Heydarieh | Qaraei tribe Qaraei | ||
| Barbari tribe Barbari | |||
| Barbari tribe Barbari | |||
| Teymouri tribe Aimak | |||
| Hazara tribe Hazara | |||
| Taj Mohammad Khan | Quchan capital Quchan | Za'faranlu tribe | |
| Quchan capital Quchan | Qaramanlu clan Kurdish |
On April 2, 1921, Colonel Pesyan, Chief of Gendarmerie of Khorasan, along with his cousin General Heydargholli Pesyan, a commander of the Iranian Cossack Brigade, had Ahmad Qavam, the Governor-general of Khorasan, removed in a military coup. He was arrested and sent to Tehran. Qavam and several other dominant figures in Khorasan were charged with tax evasion charges, the evidence for which were provided to Pesyan by a Belgian named Dubois who was Director of Revenue in Khorasan.
While Qavam was in prison in Tehran, Pesyan was declared Governor-general of Khorasan and ruled Khorasan autonomously even though he was a supporter of Seyyed Zia'eddin Tabatabaee, then the Prime Minister of Persia.
In May 1921, Qavam was freed from prison and Tabatabaee was no longer Prime Minister. Qavam became Prime Minister and planned to take revenge on Pesyan. As of May 30, 1921, Pesyan declared that Khorasan was fully Autonomous and he established the National Committee of Khorasan or Komitey-e Melli-e Khorasan in Persian. The committee started a program of plans and reforms, but faced some fierce opposition by some tribal and religious leaders.
Commenced between 2 April to 25 May
Commenced between 26 May to 6 Oct
Several tribal leaders who had lost most of their wealth and belongings due to Pesyan's reform programs were supported by Qavam's government. Therefore, on August 11, 1921, the first battle took place between a detachment of Gendarmes in a village near Kariz on Afghanistan border and forces of Hazara chief Shuja al-Mulk. Gendarmes defeated and fled to Mashhad. This defeat results in appointment of Shawkat al-Dowlah a rival of Shuja al-Mulk as Governor of Torbat-e-Jam with a task to deal with disturbances and a sending of strong numerous gendarme forces on August 20, 1921.
In September, 1921 Gendarme forces from Kariz, Torbat-e-Jam, Torbat-e Heydarieh defeated the strong tribal confederatory force of Hazara, Baluch, Barbari and Qarai Turks, whose leaders were Shuja al-Mulk, Seyed Heydar Barbari, Salar Khan Baluch, Mir Ali Ahmad Barbari, Ibrahim Khan Baluch and Jafar Khan Qaraei in a battle which took place in Bakharz. Shuja fled to Afghanistan and the tribal disturbances in the south-east were stopped.
On October 3, 1921, Pesyan himself took to battle, personally leading his 150 Gendarmes to fight a Kurdish coalition tribal force which had more than 1,000 men, led by Sardar of Bojnurd and Taj Mohammad Khan of Quchan, who were also financially and militarily aided by the British and the Persian government of Ahmad Qavam. Pesyan fought bravely with only 60 bullets, however he and his small force were circled by the Kurds and massacred. Pesyan's head was cut off as proof of his death and sent to Qavam.
After Pesyan's death, the committee was no longer united. A new rivalry started between Nowzari and Ismail Khan Bahador, who were Pesyan's partisans. Nowzari managed to take charge of Khorasan and he surrendered to Persia's government. In November, 1921 a strong military force of Gendarmes and Cossacks arrived in Mashhad and handed the administrative duties to the newly appointed Governor-General of the province.