 After Brigadier-General Reza Khan deposed the Qajars in an 1921 coup, he defeated Simko Shikak as well as several prominent rebel commanders such as Kuchik Khan and Colonel Pessian during the Iranian events of 1921.The Shikak rebellion resulted in some 5,000 killed, including many Assyrian civilians, who were massacred by Simko's forces.In March 1918, under the pretext of meeting for the purpose of cooperation, Simko arranged the assassination of the Assyrian Church of the East patriarch, Mar Shimun XIX Benyamin, ambushing him and his 150 guards, as Mar Shimun was entering his carriage.