[1] Sardar Rafi first came to power in February 1892, when he was succeeded by his father, Lotf Ali Khan Sartip, who ruled the Hezarjarib region and rose to the rank of brigadier general.

[2] In addition to his services to modernize the areas under his rule, he and his nephew, Amir Khan-e Sardar, played an important role in suppressing Turkmen insurgency.

[12] During a trip to St. Petersburg, Sardar Rafie, who was very surprised by the modernity of the city, decided to return and develop the areas under his rule, especially Gorgan.

[17] After the death of Muzaffar al-Din Shah, Mohammad Ali Mirza became king, and in 1908, by bombing the parliament, he started a civil war in Iran between the Authoritarians and the constitutionalists.

For this purpose, after a short time from Tehran, Mohammad Baqer Khan Salar Akram from the Authoritarians faction was ordered to reach Astarabad.

[18][19] However, Sardar Rafie, who had been associated with the constitutionalists from the very beginning, went to Astarabad from his mansion in Hezar Jerib and did not allow its gates to be opened on Salar Akram.

[24] After the conquest of Sari, the rest of the Authoritarians surrendered in Mazandaran, and at this time, Amir Moayed Savadkuhi, who was a constitutionalist, joined Sardar Rafie.

[29] By this time, with this new crisis, the position of Parliament had been shaken and many former constitutionalists and fighters had sought refuge in the British Embassy for fear of their lives.

The two armies fought in Savadkuh, and the crisis ended with the defeat of Muhammad Ali Shah and his return to Russia.

[35] During these three years, Sardar Rafie, who became famous for his victories in the Constitutional Revolution and became a national hero, received large sums of money from the government, which he spent on development and construction.

Sardar Rafi then prevented Russian forces from advancing in a series of guerrilla attacks in Incheh Borun and Khan Bebin.

[42] However, it did not take long for the successful advance of Colonel Lazar Bicherakhov's forces from Manjil to Neginshahr in April 1915 to loosen the resistance in northern Astarabad and for Sardar Rafi to send troops there quickly.

[50] In 1916, General von der Goltz, commander of the Ottoman Sixth Army, telegraphed his support to Sardar Rafie and sent him weapons and artillery.

In March of that year, Mohammad Vali Khan Tonekaboni replaced Farman Farma as Prime Minister and signed an agreement with the Russian and British forces.

In order to implement this agreement, General Baratov went to Astarabad via Kermanshah to open the way for Russia to Iran with the defeat of Sardar Rafie.

[54] Meanwhile, the fall of Astarabad was inevitable, the Sixth Ottoman Army under the command of Mirliva Ali İhsan Sâbis captured Khaneqin and Qasr Shirin in early June, then Kermanshah in July and Hamedan on August 11.

To prevent the advance of the Ottoman forces, General Baratov withdrew half of his army from Astarabad to western Iran.

[57] At the same time, the government of the National Defense Committee, which was formed in Kermanshah in February 1916 with the support of German and Ottoman forces, invited Sardar Rafi to serve as Minister of War in Rezaghi Nizam Al-Saltanah's cabinet.

[63][64] Shortly afterwards, on 5 November, Vosough al-Dawla signed an order expelling Sardar Rafi from the governorship of the province of Astarabad, declaring it an area under British control.

[65] He was placed under house arrest for seven years after British forces took control of Astarabad and ousted Sardar Rafi.

During these years, Sardar Rafi repeatedly asked Ahmad Shah and his various prime ministers for parole, but none of them were accepted.

[67] One of the most important debates in the Fifth National Assembly was a speech by Kaikhosrow Shahrokh, a Zoroastrian representative who had announced that political prisoners such as Sardar Rafi should be released.

Kaykhosrow Shahrokh pointed out in his speech that: The heroes of the Constitutional Revolution have thrown us in house arrests and political prisons.

But Mossadegh and a number of opponents, such as Seyyed Hassan Modarres, demanded that Sardar Rafi come to parliament to speak, to followed by a vote on the bill.

[71] Pirnia agreed to their request, and on April 26, Sardar Rafi was brought to Tehran in a protected manner to address the parliament.