Haidar Qassāb (died 1356) was the head of the

Sarbadars The Sarbadars (from ''sarbadār'', "head on gallows"; also known as Sarbedaran ) were a mixture of religious dervishes and secular rulers that came to rule over part of western Greater Khorasan, Khurasan in the midst of the disintegration of ...

Sabzewar Sabzevar (; ) is a city in northeastern Iran. It is located in the Central District of Sabzevar County, Razavi Khorasan province, serving as the capital of both the county and the district. History The history of Sabzevar goes back to the ...

During 1356.

Biography

A possible member of the artisan guild, Haidar Qassāb served in the government of

Khwaja Shams al-Din 'Ali Khwaja Shams al-Din 'Ali (died 1351–52) was the leader of the Sarbadars of Sabzewar from 1348 until his death. Biography Shams al-Din 'Ali was a member of the Sabzewar aristocracy and a leader of one of the city guilds. During Shaikh Has ...

as a collector of urban craft and trade taxes. When the accounts for the revenues generated by these taxes fell into

arrears In finance, arrears (or arrearage) is a legal term for the part of a debt that is overdue after missing one or more required payments. The amount of the arrears is the amount accrued from the date on which the first missed payment was due. The t ...

, Haidar was harshly punished by Shams al-Din 'Ali. In retaliation, Haidar had him assassinated in 1351 or 1352. Yahya Karawi, an aristocrat who had been informed by Haidar of the assassination plot, succeeded Shams al-Din 'Ali as head of state. Under him Haidar served in a military post and commanded the army forces in

Astarabad Gorgan (; ) is a city in the Central District of Gorgan County, Golestan province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It lies approximately to the northeast of the national capital Tehran, and some a ...

after it was conquered in 1353/54. When Yahya was murdered in 1355 or 1356, several members of the party of

Wajih ad-Din Mas'ud Wajih ad-Din Mas'ud (died 1344) was the leader of the Sarbadars of Sabzewar from 1338-1343 until his death. Under his rule, the Sarbadar state developed its characteristic dual nature as both a secular and radical Shi'i state. Early Reign Mas'ud ...

attempted to install Mas'ud's son Lutf Allah as ruler. Haidar Qassāb prevented this by marching from Astarabad to Sabzewar and forcing the conspirators to flee the city. When they sought refuge in a castle, he had it razed to the ground. After this he installed Yahya's nephew Zahir al-Din Karawi as head of state. Zahir al-Din quickly proved to be an unsatisfactory ruler for Haidar Qassib. Some of Mas'ud's followers had escaped Haidar's purge, and Luft Allah's

atabeg Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic language, Turkic origin, indicating a governor of a nation or province who was subordinate to a monarch and charged with raising the crown prince. The first instance of the ti ...

Nasr Allah rebelled in

Esfarayen Esfarayen () is a city in the Central District of Esfarayen County, North Khorasan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Demographics Ethnicity The majority of the population is Kurdish, with a significan ...

. Ignoring Haidar's advice, Zahir al-Din refused to move against the rebels. Haidar then deposed him and took formal control of the government himself. His position was very weak, however; both the partisans of Mas'ud (who disliked him for his original affiliation with Shams al-Din 'Ali and his crackdown on Lutf Allah's supporters) and the

dervishes Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from ) in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persi ...

(who hated him due to his murder of Shams al-Din 'Ali) were opposed to him.Roemer, p. 30 Before he and his army could reach Esfarayen to subdue the rebels, he was stabbed to death by the Turkish slave of Hasan Damghani in 1356. Hasan Damghani then installed Lutf Allah as head of the Sarbadars.

Notes

References

*Roemer, H. R. "The Jalayirids, Muzaffarids and Sarbadars." ''The Cambridge History of Iran Volume 6: The Timurid and Safavid Periods.'' Edited by Peter Jackson. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986. *Smith, Jr., John Masson. ''The History of the Sarbadar Dynasty 1336-1381 A.D. and Its Sources''. The Hague: Mouton, 1970. {{DEFAULTSORT:Haidar Qassab 1356 deaths Sarbadars Year of birth unknown