Dabuyids
 
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Some important cities from the history of the Dabuyids |
The dabuyid dynasty were a zoroastisch -iranische local dynasty, about 100 years until they are disposed of in 761 Tabaristan the Caspian Sea prevailed. They held the title of Espahbad .
The main source about the Dabuyids comes from Ibn Isfandiyar, a historian of the 12th / 13th centuries. Century, whose accounts of the beginnings of the dynasty are not entirely trustworthy. After him, the Dabuyids claimed descent from the Sassanid royal family. A grandson of King Zamasp (ruled 496–499) named Firuz conquered the Gilan region on the Caspian Sea and had a son named Gilanshah with a local princess. His son Gavbara conquered Dailam and is said to be from King Yazdegerd III. (ruled 632-51) received the title of Gilan Farschvadgarschah (Lord of Gilan and Tabaristan). Gavbara's son and namesake of the Dabuya dynasty continued to reside in Gilan, while his son Farruchan moved the seat of power to Sari in Tabaristan and fortified it against Turkish and Dailamite raids. He had his private residence built near Esfabodan, which was between Sari and Amol . Farruchan extended his area briefly to Nishapur in Khorasan and received from the Great King Yazdegerd III. the title of the Espahbad of Khorasan. When the Sassanids lost important battles (of Qadisiya and Nehawend ) against the expanding Arabs , Farruchan offered the fleeing Yazdegerd III. Protection. But he fled further to the east, where he was killed in 651 near Merw .
Although the Dabuyids were nominally the rulers of Tabaristan, the real power lay with the tribal leaders and local lords of the Bawandids and the Qarenwandids. The Dabuyids ruled directly over the Ruyan region and the lowlands of Tabaristan as far as Tamish in the east. The Gorgan still further east was administered by a Marzban .
Fight against the arabs
After the Sassanid king was defeated, the new rulers set out to subjugate the entire empire or at least make it subject to tribute. The mountainous terrain of Tabaristan made invasion difficult. The first incursions occurred in 650/51 under the leadership of the Arab administrator of Kufa and reached Tamisch and Namia. However, the Arabs did not meet the Dabuyids. In 674 an Arab force advanced as far as Royan, where they were attacked and destroyed by men of the Dabuyid people. The Arabs appointed Mohammad bin Aschat Kendi as governor for Tabaristan, who demanded tributes from the Dabuyids against peace. When the tributes failed to materialize, he attacked the Dabuyids, but lost his son in the process. Further attacks followed over the next few years, but they did not lead to the desired success. For example, Ziyād ibn Abī Sufyān was commissioned with an invasion in 695 by the Iraqi governor al-Hajjaj ibn Yūsuf . But instead of against Tabaristan, he had to attack the Kharijites , a religious and political opposition movement of early Islam. Another army from Kufa was sent out in 696 or 698 to prevent part of the Kharijites - the Azraqites - from taking shelter with the Dabuyids. The Kharijites were defeated and the Arabs stayed in Tabaristan until 701, but could not subdue it.
In 716, the successor of al-Hajjaj, Yazīd ibn al-Muhallab , set out with a large army to subdue the Dabuyids. He captured Dehestan and Gorgan and won the first battle against the Dabuyids. But their rulers, with reinforcements from the Dalaimites and Gilaker, were able to beat the Arabs and get Gorgan to rebel against the Arab soldiers who remained behind. The defeated Yazīd was able to oblige the Dabuyids to pay tribute through a diplomatic ruse and then withdrew his army. In the following year Yazīd was deposed by the caliph Omar II .
It is not always clear which Dabuyid rulers the Arabs fought against, as the Dabuyids are mentioned in the Arabic sources with their title Espahbad.
The end
A few years later, the Abbasids - rivals of the Umayyads for the dignity of the caliphate - organized themselves and started an armed uprising. The uprising broke out in Khorasan in 747 under the leadership of Abu Muslim and the Dabuyids pledged their allegiance to Abu Muslim. But when Abū Muslim was executed by the new Abbasid rulers in 755, his followers rose up under the Zoroastrian Sunbādh in Nishapur. The Dabuyid Khorshid supported him and gave him refuge after defeat. Sunbādh was later killed by a cousin Chorschid because he is said to have shown no respect. The caliph al-Mansūr tried to out-boat Chorschid by appointing a rival Chorschids to Espahbad. This maneuver failed, however, and so al-Mansūr Khorshid sent a crown to achieve his submission. In return, Khorshid sent the caliph brilliant and rich gifts that aroused the caliph's greed. In 758/59 the Caliph attacked Tabaristan and managed to conquer the area within two years. Khorshid fled to Dailam, but when his wife and children were captured in 761, he poisoned himself. What happened to his male descendants and relatives after 761 is unknown. Two of his daughters married al-Mansūr and his brother.
chronology
Due to the few sources, attempts were made to reconstruct the order of the Dabuyid rulers using coins. The first tangible ruler was Farruchan the Great, who repulsed the attacks of Yazīd ibn al-Muhallab. Farruchan died in 728 and was succeeded by his son Dadhburzmihr, about whose rule little is known. When Dadhburzmihr died in 740/41, he left behind his six-year-old son Chorschid, who was brought up by his uncle Farruchan the little one. The rule was also exercised by Farruchan the Little. Chorschid himself later ruled a prosperous empire and often tried to get rid of the supremacy of the caliphate completely.
Ruler list
- Gil Gavbara / Gāvbāra (640-660)
- Dabuya / Dābūyā / Dābōē (660-676)
- ...
- Farruchan the Great / Farroḵān / Farḵān (712–728)
- Dadhburzmihr / Dātborzmehr / Dāḏmehr (728–740 / 41)
- Farruchan the Little (740 / 41–747 / 48) as regent for Chorschid
- Chorschid / Ḵᵛoršīd (741–761)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Farschvadgar is the old name of the mountains of Tabaristan
Sources and literature
- Wilfred Madelung: Dabuyiden . In: Ehsan Yarshater (ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica . Volume VI (5), as of December 15, 1993 (English, including references)