Babak Khorramdin Revolt

The Revolt of Babak Khorramdin (Persian: شورش بابک خرمدين, romanized: Shuresh Bābak Khorramdin ; Arabic: ثَوْرَةُ بَابَكْ الخُرَّمِيِّ, romanized: Thawrat Bābak al-Khurramī) was a series of uprisings by Babak Khorramdin, who led the Khurramite movement from 816 to 837, after Javidhan. It was one of the largest Persian uprisings against the Abbasid Caliphate and occurred during the reigns of Al-Ma'mun and Al-Mu'tasim, lasting for 20 years. The uprising was eventually suppressed and the Abbasids captured and executed Babak.

The Khurramites under Babak's leadership, proclaimed the division and the redistribution of the great estates and the end to the despotic foreign rule. Taking advantage of the turmoil created by the Abbasid Civil War, they began making attacks on Muslim forces in 816 in Iran and Iraq. Babak's rise to the leadership of the Khurramites began when Javidhan ibn Sahl enlisted the help of a young man of illegitimate birth named Babak, appointing him to manage his local estate. The leader of the other Khurramite movement was a certain Abu Imran, who often clashed with Javidhans forces. During one of the clashes, Abu Imran was defeated and killed, whilst Javidhan was mortally wounded, dying three days later. Javidhan was succeeded by Babak, who had already converted to Khurramism under the latters service.^[10] when Babak's master died, he seized control of the Khurramite movement, claiming that Javidhan's spirit had passed to him. It was in 201/816-17 that Babak became the new leader of the Khurramites.^[11] The Khurramites opposed Muslims, particularly Arabs.^[12] Babak's revolt was based in Badhdh, a city located in the mountainous region south of Araxes river, situated between Ardabil and Ahar.^[13] The Khurramites seized control of Azerbaijan and other regions, seeking to restore the faith to Mazdakism. From his mountain fortress capital al-Badhdh (located south of the Aras river in modern Qarāja-dāḡ), Babak sent his forces westward to Armenia, eastward to Khorasan. Northern Azerbaijan was the epicenter of this prolonged rebellion.^[3][14] The Abbasids during the reign of al-Ma'mun and al-Mu'tasim launched a series of campaigns against Babak's rebellion across the mountainous areas of Azerbaijan. These highland areas had remained largely independent from Muslim control until the Abbasid army made a plan to reassert control over the mountain inhabitants.^[15]

When Caliph al-Ma'mun learned that the Byzantine Emperor Michael II had begun seriously assisting Babak Khorramdin with money, weapons, and men, and was allowing Babak's followers to use Byzantine territories as refuge when under pressure from the Abbasid army, he launched a campaign and against the Byzantines to personally investigate the military and political situation in the region. In fact, Caliph al-Ma'mun also exploited the revolt of Thomas the Slav and aided him with Arab volunteers to extend his control over Asia Minor.^[29] The Russian historian Vasiliev points out:

We notice a real alliance between Thomas and the Arabs, for the presence of Arab units in Thomas's army was not a random coincidence, nor was their entry into it driven by a desire for peace and booty, but rather it followed a precisely defined hostile plan against the Romans.^[29]

Byzantine and some Syriac sources such as the history of Michael the Syrian show that an agreement was made between caliph al-Ma'mun and Thomas the Slav, whereby the former recognized Thomas as emperor over the Romans and agreed to support him until he removed his rival from the throne, while the latter agreed to hand over certain border areas and pay an annual tribute. Thomas was crowned by the Patriarch of Antioch. although Thomas gained considerable material strength through his alliance with the Muslims, the Orthodox supporters who initially backed him as a defender of icons later distanced themselves due to his alliance with the Muslims. Thomas's revolt did not last long and the emperor's supporters defeated and captured him, handing him over to Michael II in 823 CE, who executed him.^[30] Thomas's movement had effects on both the Caliphate and Byzantines. For the Byzantines, it devastated the empire's provinces economically. The Abbasid Caliphate was disappointed after Thomas's failure.^[30]

The connection between war with the Byzantines and the continued struggle against the Khurramites is very clear, as the Byzantine emperor spared no effort in helping and protecting the Khurramites, with Armenia and Azerbaijan serving as the theater for Babak Khorramdin's activities. The Byzantine Emperor Theophilos agreed to the refuge of large numbers of Khurramites in the Byzantine territory, so the Byzantine state equipped and armed them to attack the Abbasid army.^[31]

Byzantine sources indicate secret negotiations between Babak and the Byzantines, which appear to have been aimed at securing assistance when necessary. In (216AH/831-832CE), a large contingent of Babak's followers fought alongside the Byzantines. When a detachment of Babak's adherents was defeated in (218AH/833CE), the survivors fled to the Byzantine territories. During Babak's final years, as his situation became increasingly desperate, he persuaded the Byzantine Emperor to launch attacks on the Abbasid frontiers in order to relieve pressure on his own forces. When his armies were decimated and he was forced to flee, he intended to seek refuge in Byzantine lands. Additionally, a portion of his army took sanctuary in Byzantine territories following his defeat.^[32]

Babak was eventually seized by Al-Afshin and handed over to the Abbasid Caliph on 3 January 838 in Samarra. Before his execution, he was paraded through Baghdad on an elephant decorated with ornate coverings, wearing ceremonial clothing consisting of a short silk jacket and sable fur hat, with a placard listing his crimes displayed for all to see. He was led between military formations along the main thoroughfare, observed by onlookers, until reaching the palace's public reception chamber where the caliph awaited. In an ironic turn, the caliph ordered that Babak's own former executioner, called Nudnud, should carry out the execution. This man had apparently also been captured. After calls for "Where is Nudnud?" the executioner appeared and performed his gruesome work on his former employer. During the execution, the Caliph's henchmen first cut off Babak's legs and hands to convey a devastating message to his followers, followed by disembowelment.^[6][33] He was then gibbeted alive whilst sewn into a cow's skin with horns at ear level to gradually crush his head as it dried.^[3] Babak's severed head was dispatched to Khorasan while his corpse remained on permanent display at what became known as "Babak's Execution Site".^[33] Babak's brother Abdullah was executed and displayed in Baghdad the same year under the supervision of Ishaq, who also gibbeted his corpse in Baghdad.^[24][34]

Shortly after, Minkajur al-Ushrusani, whom al-Afshin had appointed as governor of Adharbayjan after the defeat of the Khurramites, rose in revolt, either because he had been involved in financial irregularities, or because he had been a co-conspirator of al-Afshin's. Bugha the Elder marched against him, forcing him to capitulate and receive a safe-passage to Samarra in 840.^[35][36]

بعد ذلك، شنّ المعتصم حملته الثانية ضد مازيار ، حاكم طبرستان القرينيّ المستقل . ^{[ 37 ]} كان مازيار أحد حلفاء بابك، وقد ثار في طبرستان ضد الخلافة، وكان من دوافعه نشر الزرادشتية ، إلا أن العباسيين قمعوا تمرده وأعدموه، وصلبوه بجوار بابك عام 840 ميلادي. ^{[ 26 ]} أسر إسحاق بن إبراهيم مازيار، وأمر بنقله على فيل واصطحبه إلى الخليفة في سامراء. وفي العام نفسه، كان إسحاق عضوًا في المحكمة التي حاكمت القائد المطرود الأفشين ، والتي انتهت بإدانة الأفشين بتهمة الردة وسجنه. ^{[ 38 ]} وفي وقت لاحق، في نفس موقع "إعدام بابك"، صُلب جثمان الأفشين (الذي أُهين وأُعدم) للعرض العام، ثم أُحرق، ونُثر رماده في نهر دجلة. ^{[ 39 ]}

ظهر متمرد آخر يُعرف باسم سمبات الثامن باغراتوني ، ومثله مثل الأمراء الأرمن الآخرين، استطاع سمبات استغلال انشغال الخلافة بثورة الخراميين بقيادة بابك خرمدين لتحقيق قدر كبير من الاستقلال الذاتي خلال تلك الفترة. ^{[ 40 ]} كان سمبات، الذي قضى فترة في بلاط الخلافة كرهينة، أكثر حذرًا من أخيه في تحدي السلطة العربية علنًا، لكن كلاهما كانا في نهاية المطاف أضعف من أن يُهددا هيمنة العباسيين تهديدًا جديًا في الوقت الراهن. ^{[ 41 ]} عندما عُيّن خالد بن يزيد الشيباني ، الذي كان قد اكتسب شعبية مكروهة للغاية بين الأمراء المسيحيين والعرب في البلاد خلال فترات ولايته السابقة، واليًا على البلاد عام 841، قاد سمبات ردة الفعل ضده. نجح الثوار في استدعاء الخليفة وتعيين علي بن الحسين، الأضعف والأكثر طاعة، خلفًا له، والذي لم يكتفِ الأرمن برفض دفع الضرائب المتوقعة، بل حاصروه فورًا في عاصمته برداء . ^{[ 42 ] [ 43 ]} وعندما أعاد الخليفة الواثق ( حكم من 842 إلى 847 ) تعيين خالد واليًا، كان سمبات مجددًا في طليعة ثورة ضده، إلى جانب الثائر المسلم سوادة بن عبد الحميد الجحافي وسحاق، أمير سيونيك . إلا أن الثوار مُنيوا بهزيمة ساحقة في معركة كواكيرت. ^{[ 44 ]} ومثل جميع النخارار البارزين ، وقع أسيرًا في يد بوغا الكبير عندما غزا أرمينيا في الفترة ما بين 853 و855. ^{[ 45 ]}

After the Execution of Babak, Khurramites were left leaderless and they converted to Islam.^[46] According to Dionysius, in 227/842, four years after Babak's brutal execution, the Khurramites rebelled at the mountainous region of Beth Qardu, led by a man named Müsa. It was said that Persian forces were dispatched against them, but they were ineffective, rather than engaging in combat, the soldiers were housed in village homes where they lived off local provisions without accomplishing their military objectives. 15,000 soldiers lost their lives during a severe cold. According to some Muslim sources, there was another major uprising, under the leadership of a Kurd named Jafar ibn Mihrijīsh/Faharjish in 227/841. This occurred in the same mountainous region of Mosul (Beth Qardu) and was supposedly part of the same uprising, although Jafar wasn't identified as a Khurramite. The Khurramites organized another uprising in Isfahan during 227-32/841-7, launching raids on Karaj, the uprisings of the Isfahan region continued until 300/912. The Khurramites had a new leader named Bāryazdshah (or the like) who entrenched himself in the mountains near Isfahan, raiding rural settlements and intercepting trade routes. Bāryazdshah was described like Babak as bloodthirsty, killing children and the elderly. He and his followers lasted for 30 years. He was captured and his head was mounted for public display in Isfahan in 321/933, when Ali ibn Buya assaulted some Khurramite Strongholds in Karaj, marking the end of the Khurramite series of uprisings.^[47]

• Rezakhani, Khodadad (2018). "The Rebellion of Babak and the Historiography of the Southern Caucasus". Reflections of Armenian Identity in History and Historiography. pp. 55–69.