Abbasids conquered his country in 759–760, and captured most members of his family. Khurshid fled to Daylam
, where he ended his life.
Biography
Map of Tabaristan and its neighbouring territories
Khurshid was born in 734/735, the son of
Arab Caliphate, and managed, despite repeated Muslim attempts at invasion, to maintain their autonomy by exploiting the inaccessible terrain of their country.[2][4] A more recent interpretation of the sources by P. Pourshariati, however, supports that Farrukhan was the one who actually established the family's rule over Tabaristan, sometime in the 670s.[5] In earlier works on the dynasty, Khurshid is named Khurshid II, due to erroneous interpretation of numismatic evidence, which led earlier scholars to interpolate a first Khurshid before Farrukhan, whose rule was thought to have begun ca. 710.[1][2]
Khurshid succeeded his father at the age of only six, and for eight years the regency was exercised by his uncle Farrukhan-i Kuchak ("
Tang court in 746, which recognized him ("king Hu-lu-ban") as a vassal prince.[1]
During the
Sunbadh, who entrusted part of Abu Muslim's treasure to Khurshid's keeping. When Sunbadh's revolt was defeated, Sunbadh fled to Tabaristan, but was killed there by one of Khurshid's cousins, ostensibly because he had failed to show the man proper respect. It is possible, however, that the murder was instigated by Khurshid, in the hope of acquiring the remainder of Abu Muslim's treasure.[1][2][8] 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.[1][9][10]
Soon after, nevertheless, Khurshid took advantage of the rebellion of Abd al-Jabar ibn Abd al-Rahman, the governor of Khurasan, to once again throw off allegiance to the Caliphate. 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.[1][2][11] From Daylam, Khurshid tried to regain his kingdom. He raised an army from the mountain dwellers of the region, and invaded Tabaristan in 760. Repulsed, he returned to Daylam.[1][2] After learning of his family's capture, he is said to have exclaimed "after this there is no inclination to life and joy, and death is the very solace and respite itself", and took poison, probably in 761.[1][12][13]
Tabaristan became a regular province of the Caliphate, ruled from
Bavandids, Karinids and Zarmihrids, formerly subject to the Dabuyids, continued to control the mountainous interior as tributary vassals of the Abbasid government. Coins were minted in Tabaristan in Khurshid's name until 764, whereafter the name of the Abbasid governor was substituted. As a result, some earlier works also mention 767 as the date of Khurshid's death.[1][12]
Family
After their capture, Khurshid's sons, the crown prince Dadmihr, Hormozd and Vandad-Hormozd, received Arabic names, but otherwise their fate is unknown.[2][13] According to Chinese sources, on the other hand, one of them was on embassy in the Tang court at the time Tabaristan was conquered.[1] Khurshid's daughters were distributed as concubines to members of the Abbasid dynasty. The names and genealogy of these princesses are confused, but one was taken by al-Mansur himself and another by his brother, Abbas ibn Muhammad. Al-Bakhtariyya, a daughter of Farrukhan-i Kuchak, became the concubine of al-Mahdi, and it is reported that another of al-Mahdi's concubines, Shakla, was a daughter of Khurshid. In 817, during the Fourth Fitna, the populace of Baghdad turned to their sons to make them caliphs in opposition to al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833). Al-Bakhtariyya's son al-Mansur ibn al-Mahdi refused, but his half-brother Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi accepted and ruled as anti-caliph until 819.[1][2][13]
