Khurramites

The Khurramites (Template:PerB Khurrāmīyah or Khorrām-Dīnān, "followers of the right religion") were an Iranian religious and political movement which appeared in Āzarbāyjān and the rest of Iran in 814. An alternative name for the movement is Surkhjāmgān (Template:Rtl-lang) or its Arabic equivalent Muhammrira - "those who wear a red headgear" - a reference to their symbolic red headgear.

Origins And History

The sect was founded by the Persian cleric, Sunpadh and was a revitalization of an earlier sect that had mixed Shi'ism and Zoroastrianism; however, its true claim to fame was its adoption by Bābak as a basis for rebelling against the Abbasid Caliphate.

The sect grew out of a response to the execution of Abu Muslim by the Abbasids, and denied that he had died, rather claiming that he would return as the messiah. This message was further confirmed by the appearance of a prophet named al-Muqanna who claimed that the spirit of God had existed in Muhammad, Ali and Abu Muslim.

Under the leadership of Bābak, the Khurammites proclaimed the breakup and redistribution of all the great estates and the abolition of Islam. In 816 they began making attacks on Muslim forces in Iran and Iraq. Al-Mamun sent four armies to deal with the problem, but they were defeated each time with Byzantine support. The sect would continue to attract followers until the sixteenth century when the Safavids took control of Iran.

Legacy

According to Turkish scholar Abdülbaki Gölpinarli, the "Kizilbash" ("Red-Heads") of the 16th century - a religious and political movement in Azerbaijan that helped to establish the Safavid dynasty - were "spiritual descendants of the Khurramites".

See also

• Bābak
• Islamic conquest of Persia
• Shiism
• Mazdak
• Zoroastrism
• Abu Muslim