Afschin Haidar

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Afschin Haidar ( listen ? / I , real name Khaydār bin Kāvūs Afschīn PersianAudio file / audio sample افشین, arabized form Haidar bin Kavus ; * 8th century; † 841 in Samarra ) was an Iranian general of the Abbasids and a member of a noble family from the Usruschana area with the capital Bundschikat in Transoxania .

Title and origin

The population of Usrushana was Iranian at the time of the invasion of the first Muslims under Qutaiba ibn Muslim (712-14) and was ruled by a Sogdian aristocratic family who bore the title Afschin. The name Afschin was not a proper name, but the traditional title of the princes of Usrushana. The traditional form Afschin (al-Afschīn) is the Arabized form of the Middle Persian Pischin and the Avestian Pisinah , the etymological origin of which is uncertain. The orientalist Minorsky assumed a Sogdian origin of the word Afschin. There is confusing information about Afschin's ethnic origin in the classic Arabic sources. Some refer to him as an Iranian ( Sogder or Persian ) and others as a Turk . This confusion could stem from the fact that the Arabs referred to all of their military slaves ( Mamluks ) as Turks, although they also got Iranian slaves from the areas of Ferghana , Usrushana and Shah. Despite two classic sources referring to him as a Turk, researchers believe he was Iranian. Representatives of this opinion include Bernard Lewis , Edward Granville Browne , Daniel Pipes and The Cambridge History of Iran.

Early years

The chronicler al-Yaqubi lists the Afshin family among the Iranian and Turkish rulers from Transoxania and Central Asia , who nominally submitted to the third caliph Al-Mahdi (775-85). But it was not until the caliph Hārūn ar-Raschīd that there were campaigns to Transoxania to subdue Afshin's grandfather, named Kharākana. There were other expeditions under al-Ma'mūn when he was governor in Merw and later became caliph. Afschin himself had later after a murder of an opponent after Khorasan flee and went from there to Kalifenhof to Baghdad . Afschin later led the caliph's armies against his father Kawus and thus achieved his father's submission and conversion to Islam . After Kawus' death, his son Haidar became the new Afschin of Usruschana. Afschin made a career in the army and became the second most important in command. He enjoyed Al-Mu'tasim's favor and received high salaries and allowances. In 830 Afshin went to Egypt to Al-Mu'tasim and there successfully fought insurgent Copts and Bedouins .

Afschin and Bābak

Al-Mu'tasim, who later became the caliph appointed Afshin governor of jibal , former media , and sent it in 835 against the rebel Babak Chorramdin , leader of the anti-Islamic and neomazdakitische Khurramites . Bābak was one of several Iranian rebel leaders against foreign Arab rule. After the first fighting, Afshin besieged Bābak in his fortress al-Badd in August 837 . According to al-Yaqubi, Afshin freed 7,600 Arab prisoners and had the fortress razed . Bābak fled to Armenia, but was tortured to death by the Abbasids in 838. The victory over Bābak was the high point of Afschin's career. As a reward, he was appointed governor of the provinces of Sind, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Campaign against Byzantium

Byzantine-Arab campaigns in Anatolia 838.

Afschin fought on Al-Mu'tasim's side in 838 against the Byzantines in Anatolia , advancing to the fortress of Amorion in Phrygia . The attackers attacked with two armies, which were commanded by Afschin and the caliph himself. When these armies entered Byzantine territory, there were about 150 miles between them. The Byzantine Emperor Theophilos Afschin decided to attack before the invaders could unite their armies. The emperor and Afschin met on July 21, 838 in the battle of Anzen between the places Amasya and Tokat . Afschin was the winner. Theophilos fled and Afshin was able to join Ankyra Al-Mu'tasim. Together they marched on Amorion and took the city on September 23, 838 . Al-Mu'tasim had Amorion, the city of birth of the emperor Theophilus, torn down in revenge for the destruction of his own city of birth, Zapetra.

Loss of power and indictment

Afshin's star began to decline when he allied himself with Tabaristan's governor Mazyar bin Karin against Abdullah bin Tahir , Governor of Khorasan. Afschin saw Abdullah bin Tahir as a possible rival for power and control in Transoxania early on. Mazyar bin Karin, who was a member of one of the most influential Iranian families and had recently converted to Islam, started an uprising against Abdullah, failed and was defeated in 839. As a result of this defeat and the discovery of letters from Mazyar, Afshin fell out of favor and was arrested.

Afschin has now been charged on several points. According to Abdullah bin Tahir, after his victory over Bābak, he is said to have secretly kept part of his wealth for himself. In addition, his piety was doubted and he was accused of still being a Zoroastrian in secret . Afschin said that the Zoroastrian writings and artifacts found in his house were merely family heirlooms. It was also alleged that in order to maintain peace and interfaith harmony in Usrushana, he should have punished and executed two Muslims who tried to destroy a shrine. Furthermore, Abdullah said that Afshin is traditionally addressed by the inhabitants of his homeland as Lord of Lords and that this does not violate his belief in the one God. Mazyar, who was also present during the negotiations, confirmed that Afshin had allied himself with him against Abdullah bin Tahir. Afshin was condemned as a rebel and an infidel and spent the rest of his life in a minaret-shaped prison in Samarra . The prison was built at the behest of the Caliph Al-Mu'tasim and was named The Pearl . Afschin stayed here for nine months and died in May – June 841. Mazyar was sentenced to death and executed.

bibliography

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kramer, JH "Usrūshana." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, CE Bosworth , E. van Donzel and WP Heinrichs. Brill, 2007
  2. ^ V. Minorsky, Studies in Caucasian history , Cambridge University Press, 1957, (footnote on page 111).
  3. ↑ ʻUthmān Sayyid Aḥmad Ismāʻīl Bīlī: Prelude to the Generals: A Study of Some Aspects of the Regn of the Eighth Abbasid Caliph, Al-Mutasim Bi-Allah . Ithaca, 2001, ISBN 0-86372-277-6 ( information in Google Book Search [accessed August 19, 2010]).
  4. ↑ D. Pipes. Turks in Early Muslim Service - JTS, 1978, 2, 85-96. excerpt: In reference to the first two centuries of Islam, the term “Turk” as used by Arabic and Persian sources presents difficulties. The Muslim authors mean different things by the term, depending on their era, proximity to Inner Asia and knowledge of the region. It can overlap with other ethnic names (eg "Soghdian, Khazar, Farghanian"). "
  5. ↑ D. Pipes. Turks in Early Muslim Service - JTS, 1978, 2, 85-96. excerpt: "Although two classical sources claim him a Turk, he came from Farghana, an Iranian cultural region and was not usually considered Turkish"
  6. ↑ Lewis, Bernard. "The Political Language of Islam", Published by the University of Chicago Press, 1991. Excerpt from p. 482: "Babak's Iranianizing Rebellion in Azerbaijan gave occasion for sentiments at the capital to harden against men who were sympathetic to the more explicitly Iranian tradition. Victor (837) over Babak was al-Afshin, who was the hereditary Persian ruler of a district beyond the Oxus, but also a masterful general for the caliph.
  7. ↑ Mottahedeh, Roy, "The Abbassid Caliphate in Iran," Cambridge History of Iran, IV, ed. RN Frye, 57-89
  8. ^ Edward G. Browne: A Literary History of Persia: From the Earliest Times until Firdawsi . Adamant Media Corporation, 2002, ISBN 1-4021-6045-3 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed August 19, 2010]).
  9. ↑ Encyclopedia Iranica, "Babak Khorrami" by GH Yusofi
  10. ↑ Tabari v. 33, pp. 187f.
personal data
SURNAME Afschin Haidar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Khaydār bin Kāvūs Afschīn; افشین (Persian); Haydar bin Kavus (arabized form)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prince and General under the Abbasids
DATE OF BIRTH 8th century
DATE OF DEATH 841
Place of death Samarra