Tabaristan
Tabaristan or Tabarestan (
History
Pre-Islamic era
Tabaristan was named after the
Islamic era
Dabuyid rule
In the 640s, the
His son Baduspan I was granted control over
Caliphate rule
Under the caliphate, Amul became the leading town of Tabaristan, being the primary manufacturer of the silk fabrics that the region was famous for. Throughout history, many prominent figures with the nisba al-Tabari were from the city, such as Muhammad ibn Jarir (died 923), the author of the Qur'anic commentary Tafsir al-Tabari and the historical chronicle Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk (History of the Prophets and Kings).[18]
Abu al-Khaṣīb Marzuq was the first Abbasid governor of Tabaristan, who constructed a great mosque in Sari.[19] The second governor, Khalid ibn Barmak,[20] had attempted to build towns and befriend the Qarinvand ruler Wandad Hurmuzd (r. 765–809) in order to increase Abbasid influence there. After he left the region, however, the Bavandid ruler Sharwin I (r. 772–817) 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, defeating the Muslim forces and their leaders. This alarmed al-Mahdi, who in 783/4 sent his son Musa with "a huge army and equipment such as no one previously had been equipped, to Gurgan to direct the war against Wandad Hurmuzd and Sharwin, the two lords of Tabaristan."[21]
The following year, a force of 40,000 soldiers under Sa'id al-Harashi finally defeated the rebels. Wandad Hurmuzd was wounded and captured, but he was soon pardoned and allowed to return to his lands. Following this, 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 (r. 786–809). 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.[22]
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.[23] 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.[24]
Culture
Mazandarani, the local language of Tabaristan, is first attested in the works of early Muslim geographers, who refer it as Tabari. The geographical distribution of the language almost remains the same till this day. To the west it extended to Tammisha; on the other side the inhabitants spoke the "lotara of Astarabad and Persian of Gurgan". The eastern limit of the language was a bit further than present-day, reaching as far as Malat. The writing tradition of the language is approximately as old as that of New Persian. This was due to the long-lasting independent and semi-independent local kingdoms, ruled by the ispahbads. The oldest known work in Tabari, which has only survived in the Persian translation, is the Marzban-nama, written by the Bavandid ispahbad al-Marzuban in the late 10th-century or early 11th-century.[25]
Islam was first properly established in Tabaristan (as well as Gilan and Daylam) with the advent of
For a certain period, the Caspian shore of Iran served as a center for ancient Iranian national consciousness. In 783, during a rebellion in Tabaristan, the locals gave up their Arab husbands to the rebels.[29] Dynasties such as the Bavandids and Ziyarids continued to commemorate their pre-Islamic background, with traditional Iranian festivals such as Nowruz and Mehregan continuing to exist in Tabaristan.[26]
See also
References
- ^ a b Webb 2018.
- ^ Brunner 1983, p. 766.
- ^ Minorsky, Bosworth & Vasmer 1991, p. 935.
- ^ Brunner 1983, p. 765.
- ^ Felix & Madelung 1995, pp. 342–347.
- ^ Pourshariati 2008, p. 288.
- ^ a b Malek 2017, pp. 101–102.
- ^ Malek 2020, p. 162.
- ^ Yavari 2020.
- ^ a b Madelung 1993, pp. 541–544.
- ^ Ghereghlou 2018.
- ^ Malek 2017, p. 104.
- ^ Malek 2017, p. 105.
- ^ Malek, Hodge M. 2004, p. 14.
- ^ Madelung 1975, pp. 200–201.
- ^ Rekaya 1986, pp. 68–70.
- ^ a b Malek 2017, p. 106.
- ^ Barthold 2015, p. 239.
- ^ Malek, Hodge M. 2004, p. 5.
- ^ Malek 2017, pp. 105–107.
- ^ Madelung 1975, p. 200.
- ^ Madelung 1975, p. 202.
- ^ Madelung 1975, pp. 202–204.
- ^ Madelung 1984, pp. 747–753.
- ^ Borjian 2004, p. 291.
- ^ a b c Curtis & Stewart 2009, p. 32.
- ^ Spuler 2014, p. 201.
- ^ Spuler 2014, p. 509.
- ^ Spuler 2014, p. 223.
Sources
- JSTOR j.ctt7zvv3z. (registration required)
- Malek, Hodge M. (2004). The Dābūyid Ispahbads and Early 'Abbāsid Governors of Tabaristān: History and Numismatics. Royal Numismatic Society. ISBN 978-0-901405-83-8.
- ISBN 0-521-06936-X.
- JSTOR 4030997. (registration required)
- Blois, F. C. de (2000). "Tansar". In ISBN 978-90-04-11211-7.
- Brunner, Christopher (1983). "Geographical and Administrative divisions: Settlements and Economy". In ISBN 0-521-24693-8.
- ISBN 978-1845116910.
- Felix, Wolfgang; Madelung, Wilferd (1995). "Deylamites". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. VII, online edition, Fasc. 4. New York. pp. 342–347.
{{cite encyclopedia}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ISSN 1873-9830.
- ISBN 0-521-20093-8.
- Madelung, W. (1984). "ĀL-E BĀVAND (BAVANDIDS)". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 7. London u.a.: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 747–753. ISBN 90-04-08114-3.
- Madelung, Wilfred (1993). "Dabuyids". Encyclopædia Iranica, Vol. VI, online edition, Fasc. 5. New York. pp. 541–544.
{{cite encyclopedia}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Malek, Hodge Mehdi (1995). "The Dabuyid Ispahbads of Tabaristan". The American Numismatic Society: 105–160.
- Malek, Hodge Mehdi (2017). "Tabaristān During the 'Abbāsid Period: The Overlapping Coinage of the Governors and Other Officials (144-178H)". In Faghfoury, Mostafa (ed.). Iranian Numismatic Studies. A Volume in Honor of Stephen Album. Lancaster and London: Classical Numismatic Group. pp. 101–126.
- Malek, Hodge Mehdi (2020). "Sasanian Coins from Amul, Tabaristan". Ancient Iranian Numismatics: 157–191. S2CID 241393278.
- ISBN 9781838606152.
- ISBN 978-90-04-08112-3.
- ISBN 978-90-04-09834-3.
- ISBN 978-1-84511-645-3.
- Rekaya, M. (1986). "Khurshīd". In ISBN 978-90-04-07819-2.
- ISBN 978-90-04-28209-4.
- Webb, Peter (2018). "Tabarestan". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8.
- Yavari, Neguin (2020). "Dābūyids". In Fleet, Kate; ISSN 1873-9830.