BUSHEHR, Aug. 25 (MNA) – Iran's southern port city of Bushehr has for long kept bodies of British officers and soldiers who died during Iranian resistance against British invasion and also during WWI.


A cemetery called 'English graveyard' in Bushehr is a site where the English Army officers and soldiers, who were killed during the invasion of 1856 and World War I, are buried.

For many years, people of Bushehr have installed a sign on the top of English graveyard which reads “the graveyard of English invaders.” It in fact reminds the days of English colonialism as well as the brave people of Bushehr. The information provided for the historical site explains that, "British soldiers who were killed mainly in fight against 'Colonel Baqer Khan Tangestani' and 'Rais Ali Delvari' in nineteenth century."

The graveyard was registered in national monument list by Cultural Heritage and Tourism organization in Bushehr though it is gradually turning to a residential area. The old photos show that there were large crosses on top of the tombs no trace of which can be found currently. The only things that can be seen today are pieces of rubbles covered by brushwood, trash and corpses of animals and birds.



Who is Rais Ali Delvari?

Rais Ali Delvari, son of Rais Mohammad was born in 1882 in a village in Bushehr. Following the British occupation of Bushehr, Rais Ali and his men courageously resisted the invaders. The British Forces then decided to take over Delvar, the place the British troops had earlier invaded for several times and experienced heavy defeat each time.

Rais Ali and his companions fought the occupiers and routed them who were nearly 5,000 people. The uprising of people of Tangestan prolonged nearly 7 years during which Daliran Tangestan (the Bravemen of Tangestan) pursued two goals: Defending Bushehr, Dashtestan and Tangestan as their home town and preventing the foreign forces from infiltrating into the country and securing the independence and sovereignty of the country.



The resistance of Rais Ali Delvari and his men against the British troops which is known as 'Battle of the Bravemen of Tangestan' lasted for 7 years whereas the invaders were unable to defeat them. Rais Ali Delvari was finally assassinated at the age of 33 by a traitor who shot him point-blank from behind in 1915. In recent years, his martyrdom anniversary on September 3 has been marked as the Day of Fight Against British Colonialism in Iranian Calendar.

By Mehr News Agency