Tabaristan Uprising

Tabaristan uprising (; ; 781-805) was a series of rebellions of indigenous Zoroastrian population of Tabaristan against the Abbasid Caliphate, led by local Spahbeds which occurred between 781 and 805. A few years after Spahbed Khurshid's suicide and the annihilation of the Dabuyid dynasty, as dissatisfaction with the actions of the Abbasid caliphs grew, people turned to the Qarinvand dynasty Spahbed, Wandad Hurmuzd and asked him to lead their uprising. After deliberation with Spahbeds of other dynasties such as, Bavandids and, he accepted people's request. However, the uprisings were suppressed by Abbasid forces in 805.

Background

After the Muslim conquest of Persia, most of Iran's territories fell under Muslim hands. The Muslim conquerors discriminated and harassed Zoroastrians and forced them to pay Jizya. Among the former Sasanian territories, southern coasts of Caspian Sea sternly stood against Arabs and influence of Islam. These areas were sheltered by the high mountains of Alborz, against the attack of the large army of Arabs while advancing towards Khorasan. At that time, Tabaristan was the most advanced and populated of the regions south of Caspian Sea, and was ruled by a dynasty of House of Ispahbudhan called the Dabuyids and Tabaristan was subsequently made a regular province of the caliphate, ruled from Amul by an Arab governor, although the local dynasties of the Bavandids, Qarinvandids, the Zarmihrids and Baduspanids, formerly subject to the Dabuyids, continued to control the mountainous interior as tributary vassals of the Abbasid government. Caliph Al-Mansur sent his son and heir, al-Mahdi (r. 775–785), to recover the treasure of Abu Muslim. Khurshid denied having it, and al-Mansur tried to unseat Khurshid by crowning one of his cousins as ''ispahbadh''. This did not have the desired effect of challenging the loyalty of Khurshid's subjects, but Khurshid was eventually forced to accommodate the Abbasids by accepting an increase in the annual tribute, which brought it to the level paid to the Sassanids.M. Rekaya, "Khurshīd", in: *The Encyclopaedia of Islam*, 2nd ed., vol. 5, pp. 68–70. Al-Mansur sent his generals Abu al-Khaṣīb Marzuq and Khazim bin Khuzaymah into Tabaristan, with the intention of completely subduing the country and making it a province. Khurshid fled to the fortress of al-Tak in the mountains, where he was besieged in 759–760. Although Khurshid himself escaped to nearby Daylam, the fortress eventually fell, and with it his family fell into the hands of the Abbasids and brought to Baghdad.Wilferd Madelung, "DABUYIDS", in: *Encyclopædia Iranica*, vol. 6, fasc. 5, pp. 541–544.

From Daylam, Khurshid tried to regain his kingdom. He raised an army from the mountain dwellers of the region, and tried to invade Tabaristan in 760. Repulsed, he returned to Daylam. After learning of his family's capture, took poison, probably in 761.Parvaneh Pourshariati, *Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire*, I.B. Tauris, 2008, p. 317.

Tabaristan became a regular province of the Caliphate, ruled from Amul by an Arab governor, although the local dynasties of the Bavandids, Karinids and Zarmihrids, formerly subject to the Dabuyids, continued to control the mountainous interior as tributary vassals of the Abbasid government.
Abu al-Khaṣīb Marzuq was the first Abbasid governor of Tabaristan, who constructed a great mosque in Sari.

The first phase of the Rebellion (781–785)

The second governor, Khalid ibn Barmak, had attempted to build towns and befriend the Qarinvand ruler Wandad Hurmuzd () in order to increase Abbasid influence there. After he left the region, however, the Bavandid ruler Sharwin I () destroyed his constructions. Although Wandad Hurmuzd and Sharwin I had reassured their pledge to the caliph al-Mahdi in 781, they mounted a threatening anti-Muslim rebellion with the Masmughan of Miyanrud two years later. According to local accounts, the rebels massacred all the Muslim inhabitants of Tabaristan in one day. The modern historian Wilferd Madelung considers it exaggerated, and suggests that the massacres only took place in the highlands and segments of the lowlands that the rebels where able to penetrate. The rebels were initially successful. This alarmed al-Mahdi, who in 783/4 sent his son Musa with a huge army, to Gurgan, against the two lords of Tabaristan.
The following year (785), al-Mahdi sent a force of 40,000 soldiers under Sa'id al-Harashi that he finally defeated the rebels. Wandad Hurmuzd was wounded and captured and gave himself up to Musa in Gurgan on a promise of pardon. Musa after his succession to the caliphate in 169 AH /785 CE took him to Baghdad, but soon permitted him to return to his domains, and once again The two lords of Tabaristan agreed to pay tribute

The Second Phase of the Rebellion (801-805)

The relations between the Muslim governors and local rulers of Tabaristan became friendly for a period. Wandad Hurmuzd bought considerable amounts of land outside of Sari from the governor Jarid ibn Yazid. Tensions arose once again at the end of the reign of caliph Harun al-Rashid (). The Bavandids and Qarinvandids disallowed any Muslim to get buried in Tabaristan, and the soldiers of Sharwin I had killed the caliphal deputy of the region, who was the nephew of the governor Khalifa ibn Sa'id. In 805, Wandad Hurmuzd's brother Vindaspagan killed a Muslim tax collector who had been sent to inspect his villages.

Harun al-Rashid, who was at the city of Ray to address an issue with the governor of Khurasan, summoned the two rulers. There they both guaranteed their loyalty to the caliph, promising him to pay the land tax. On the request of Wandad Hurmuzd, Harun al-Rashid replaced the governor of Tabaristan. However, the new governor was instructed to confine the power of the local rulers to the highlands. Wandad Hurmuzd's son Qarin, as well Sharwin I's son Shahriyar, were taken to Baghdad as hostages as proof of their loyalty. After Harun al-Rashid's death in 809, they were returned to Tabaristan.

Aftermath

By ca. 815, Abdallah ibn Khordadbeh served as the governor of Tabaristan, and conquered the mountainous regions of Tabaristan from the local Bavandid ruler Sharwin I. During the same year, he campaigned in Daylam, where he conquered two cities and captured its ruler Abu Layla. Shahriyar (now known as Shahriyar I), after succeeding his father sometime before 817, expelled the Qarinvand ruler Mazyar (a grandson of Wandad Hurmuzd) with the help of the latter's uncle Vinda-Umid ibn Vindaspagan. In 817, Abdallah aided Mazyar, to escape from Tabaristan and reach the court of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun. In 822/3, Mazyar returned to Tabaristan with Abbasid reinforcements, and began to deal with his enemies—he had his brother Quhyar exiled, and did the same to Shahriyar I's son Qarin I, who was his nephew. In 825/6, Mazyar invaded the domains of the Bavandids, and captured Shahriyar's son and successor, Shapur. His uncle, Vinda-Umid, was also defeated, and shortly afterwards killed. Mazyar thus united the highlands under his own rule. He then assumed the titles of ''Gil-Gilan'', ''Ispahbadh'', and ''Padishkhwargarshah'', all titles used by the 8th-century

References

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* {{EI2 , volume=5 , title = Khurshīd , first = M. , last = Rekaya , authorlink = , pages = 68–70 , url = http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/khurshid-SIM_4345

Rebellions against the Abbasid Caliphate
Tabaristan
Rebellions in Iran