Jan 4

The Day Babak Khorramdin Was Excuted

This piece of history will be completely edited later          Babak Khorramdin was executed on 4 January AD 838 by the orders of Motasam, the Abbassid Caliph, by first cutting his hands and then legs and then hanging his body outside the city of Samarra, where it was hanging for a long time.     In that century, in every corner of Iran, one independentist rose. In the north of Iran, simultaneously three nationalists, Babak, Mazyar and Afshin, started their campaign against the Baghdad rule, among whom Babak was at the same time following the social and economic hypothesis of Mazdak and was working for complete equality of all people and common ownership. His followers wore red garments and most probably, the title, “the red forces” given to Russian communists, has roots in that event. In history, they have been named “the red robed”, Khorramians or Khorramdinians. In those days, majority of people of Azarbaijan, from where Babak rose, had still kept their Zoroastrian religion. It should be noted that right upto the reign of Esmail, the Safavid king (5 centuries ago), many people in the north of Aras River and their governors were Zoroastrians named Sharvanshah Zoroastrians. It should also be noted that Turkish language      entered this part of Iran 2-3 centuries later, with the rising of Saljuqians.     Babak had defeated the Abbasid Caliph army, which comprised the Turk slaves of Central Asia because he possessed several forts and strongholds. He was in contact with Mazyar, the governor of Tabarestan (Mazandaran) and also Afshin, another nationalist commander. Mazyar, because of his neighborhood with the Taherian dynasty, was paying respect from far to the Caliph and waiting for the right time, and Afshin believed in demolishing the Caliph’s power from inside, so had made himself close to the Caliph, but the Caliph knew everything. In order to weaken the morale of the Iranians, who would say “Islam yes but Arabs no”, he sent Afshin to fight against Babak. Afshin tried his best that Babak survives. Babak fled to Armenia after losing some of his officers, but was trapped there in a conspiracy and captivated and sent to Afshin, and Afshin had no way but to surrender him to the Caliph. The Caliph killed him in a tragic way, which has      been described by historians and is also written in the ‘Tabari History’. But Babak did not lose his spirits till he had life in him. Mazyar was arrested through his brother’s deceit and was killed tragically in Samarra, where Motasam had transferred his capital to and his body was hung next to the bones of Babak. Then, it was Afshin’s turn. He was caught in Baghdad and the Caliph exposed his contacts with Mazyar and Babak and killed him by giving him hunger in prison and hung his body also next to the other two. The history of the Arab Caliphs and other Arab rulers is full of such cruelties, even murder of their own family and relatives.          Translation by Rowshan Lohrasbpour (AmordadNews writer)