Babak was a 6th-century

Sasanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

officeholder known for his major role in the reformation of the Sasanian military during

Khosrow I Khosrow I (also spelled Khosrau, Khusro or Chosroes; ), traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan ("the Immortal Soul"), was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 531 to 579. He was the son and successor of Kavad I (). Inheriting a rei ...

's reign.

Name

His name has been recorded as "Babak, son of ʾlbyrwʾn ()" by

al-Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...

. This Arabic corruption is reconstructed as ''Bērawān'' by

Theodor Nöldeke Theodor Nöldeke (; born 2 March 1836 – 25 December 1930) was a German orientalist and scholar, originally a student of Heinrich Ewald. He is one of the founders of the field of Quranic studies, especially through his foundational work titled ...

and ''Behruwān'' () by Ahmad Tafazzoli.

Mohammad-Taqi Bahar Mohammad-Taqi Bahar (; also romanised as Mohammad-Taqī Bahār; 10 December 1886 in Mashhad – 22 April 1951 in Tehran), widely known as Malek osh-Sho'arā () and Malek osh-Sho'arā Bahār ("poet laureate," literally: ''the king of poets''), w ...

explains it as "Babak, son of Bīrū ()", which could be an alternative form of ''Wīrū'' (), a Persian male given name mentioned in '' Vis o Ramin''. The final ''-ān'' would be the suffix meaning "son of". '' Bābak'' is the Arabic and New Persian form of the

Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...

''Pābag''.

Career

Al-Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...

describes Babak as "a man of noble birth known for his magnanimous qualities and capability". He is mentioned as a secretary, but according to the ''

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...

'', Babak was a priest (''

mowbed A mobed, mowbed, or mobad (Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭢𐭥𐭯𐭲) is a Zoroastrian cleric of a particular rank. Unlike a ''herbad'' (''ervad''), a ''mobed'' is qualified to serve as celebrant priest at the Yasna ceremony and other higher liturgical ...

''). In an effort for reforming the military and establishing a standing army, King

put Babak in charge of the Department of the Warriors (

: ''Dīwān ī Gund''). A "list" for the pieces of equipment for the ''

aswaran The Aswārān (singular aswār), also spelled Asbārān and Savaran, was a cavalry force that formed the backbone of the army of the Sasanian Empire. They were provided by the aristocracy, were heavily armored, and ranged from archers to cataphr ...

'' cavalry was written. There is an account in

's ''

Tarikh al-Tabari The ''History of the Prophets and Kings'' ( ''Tārīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk''), more commonly known as ''Tarikh al-Tabari'' () or ''Tarikh-i Tabari'' or ''The History of al-Tabari '' () is an Arabic-language historical chronicle completed by the ...

'' and

Ferdowsi Abu'l-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi (also Firdawsi, ; 940 – 1019/1025) was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a single poet, and the gre ...

's ''

'', describing a military parade of the fully armed Sasanian cavalrymen before Babak in order to present themselves for inspection after the military reforms. As they appeared before Babak, he sent them away, demanding that "everyone", including a properly armed King

, be present on the following day. Failing this, the king would not receive his annual salary, which was based on the 4,000

dirham The dirham, dirhem or drahm is a unit of currency and of mass. It is the name of the currencies of Moroccan dirham, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates dirham, United Arab Emirates and Armenian dram, Armenia, and is the name of a currency subdivisi ...

s received by a cavalry officer, plus one extra dirham. Khosrow I acquiesced, and participated, fully armed, in the parade next day; this story demonstrated that everyone, including the king, was subject to the royal law.

References

{{reflist 6th-century Iranian people Generals of Khosrow I Officials of the Sasanian Empire Reformers Military reforms