Mazyar

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bust of Mazyar in Sāri , Iran

Mazyar ( Middle Persian language : Māh-Izād ; modern Persian مازیار Mazyār ; * 9th century in Tabaristan ; † 839 in Samarra ) was an Iranian prince of the Qarinid dynasty and feudal ruler of the mountainous region of Tabaristan. For his resistance to the Abbasid caliphate , Mazyar is regarded as a national hero in Iranian nationalist historiography of the 20th century. Its name means "Protected by the yazata of the moon".

Rise to power

Northern Iran in the 8th to 10th centuries

The Iranian Qarinids ruled the central and western parts of Tabaristan and were in competition with the Iranian Bawandids . The Qarinids claimed the succession of the Dabuyids , who ruled Tabaristan as Espahbads of the Sassanid kings, but were later subject to the Islamic Arabs. Mazyar succeeded his father Qarin ibn Vindadh Hurmuzd as ruler around 817. When the Bawandide Shariyar II invaded Mazyar's empire, a battle broke out, as a result of which the defeated Mazyar had to flee. Mazyar initially found refuge with his cousin Vinda-Umid, who handed him over to Shariyar II. But Mazyar escaped and reached the caliph's court of al-Ma'mun in Baghdad. A short time later Mazyar converted to Islam and was given the name Abu'l Hasan Muhammad and the title Mawla Amiri'l-Moominin by the caliph . In 822/23 he was also given two cities in Tabaristan as fiefs. Mazyar now took revenge on the Bawandids and was able to defeat and kill his cousin and the successor of Shariyar. Thus Mazyar united the highlands of Tabaristan under his rule.

Mazyar built mosques in several cities and plundered the lands of the neighboring Justanids in Dailam. Over time, the Muslims and the Bawandids complained about Mazyar's rule to the caliph. But al-Ma'mun stuck to Mazyar and was himself involved in wars with the Byzantines. Mazyar took advantage of the caliph's absence to lock up the Muslim governor in Tabaristan and accuse his rival of the conspiracy. The caliph confirmed Mazyar's rule over Tabaristan. Even when al-Ma'mūn died in 833, his half-brother and successor al-Mu'tasim confirmed bi-'llāh Mazyar.

Soon, however, the Tahirids under Abdullah bin Tahir demanded tributes from Mazyar. As the ruler of the east, Abdullah claimed Tabaristan as his sanctuary and insisted that the tribute Mazyar owed the caliph be passed on through him, albeit remote from Mayzar, who was trying to expand his dominion and insisted on paying the tribute directly to the caliph numbers. As a result, Abdullah bin Tahir Mazyar accused of tyranny and infidelity.

rebellion

Mazyar, feeling threatened by this situation, openly rebelled against the caliphate and received great support from the Zoroastrians in Tabaristan, who plundered Muslim villages and attacked Abbasid areas. Mazyar assured himself the loyalty of the nobility and imprisoned everyone he did not trust. According to the historian Ibn Isfandiyar, Mazyar is said to have said that:

" Afschin Haidar , the son of Kawus', Babak Khorramdin and I have decided on an oath and an alliance that we will take the land away from the Arabs and give the rule and land back to the family of the Kasrawiyan [Sassanids]."

- Said Nafisi, Babak Khorramdin Delawar-e-Azerbaijan (Babak Khorramdin, the brave heat of Azerbaijan), Tabesh Publishers, Teheran 1955, p. 57

Abdullah bin Tahir and al-Mu'tasim dispatched five army units to attack Tabaristan from all sides. Mazyar made his brother Quhyar the defender of the Qarinidischen part and the Bawandid Qarin I. the defender of the eastern Tabaristan. But Tabaristan was quickly captured, some cities were surprisingly and quickly conquered and Qarin I betrayed Mazyar in order to be reinstated as Bawandid ruler by the caliph. The residents of Sari revolted against Mazyar and even his own brother Quhyar betrayed him and handed Mazyar over to the caliph.

Mazyar was taken to Samarra where he was executed. His body was displayed on the gallows next to Babak's body, who was executed after an unsuccessful uprising in 838. Mazyar's brother Quhyar died shortly afterwards because of his betrayal at the hands of his own soldiers. With him the Qarinid dynasty ended and the Tahirids now ruled Tabaristan with the Bawandids as vassals.

literature

  • Wilferd Madelung: The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1975, ISBN 978-0-521-20093-6 , The Minor Dynasties of Northern Iran, pp. 198-249 ( online Google Books).
  • W. Madelung: Āl-e Bavand . In: Ehsan Yarshater (Ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica , as of: July 29, 2011 (English, including references)
  • M. Rekaya: Ḳārinids . In: The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume IV: Iran – Kha . BRILL, Leiden and New York 1997, ISBN 90-04-05745-5 , pp. 644-647 .
  • Roy Mottahedeh: The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1975, ISBN 978-0-521-20093-6 , The ʿAbbāsid Caliphate in Iran, pp. 57-90 ( online Google Books).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Encyclopædia Iranica: Āl-e Bavand
  2. ↑ The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4, pp. 204-205
  3. ↑ The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4, pp. 204-205
  4. ↑ The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4, pp. 204-205
  5. ↑ The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4, pp. 57-90
  6. ↑ The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4, pp. 204-205.
  7. ↑ Encyclopædia Iranica: Āl-e Bavand
  8. ↑ The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4, pp. 205-206
personal data
SURNAME Mazyar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Māh-izād; Abu'l Hasan Muhammad
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Ruler of the Qarinids and vassal of the Abbasids, against whom he later revolted
DATE OF BIRTH 9th century
PLACE OF BIRTH Tabaristan
DATE OF DEATH 839
Place of death Samarra