ABSTRACT

After these days no one of this sect dared to raise his head in the world. Now it so happened that Mazdak’s wife, Khurrama bint Fada, had fled from Mada’in with two persons, and having arrived at the village of Rayy, with their help she began secretly to call people to her husband’s religion, with the result that a considerable number of Zoroastrians adopted it. People gave them the name of the Khurrama-dins. 1 However, they dared not practise openly; they concealed the religion while constantly looking for an excuse to emerge and reveal it. In the year 137 after the flight of The Prophet (upon him be peace) when Abu Ja‘far al-Mansur (Abu Dawaniq) slew Abu Muslim Sahib ad-Daula [The Master of the Empire] at Baghdad, there was in the city of Nishapur a Zoroastrian Mayor called Sinbad. 2 This man had been an old friend and servant of Abu Muslim, and the latter had promoted him and made him an army-commander. After the killing of Abu Muslim he emerged in revolt and came with an army from Nishapur to Rayy, and he stirred up the Zoroastrians of Rayy and Tabaristan, knowing that the people of Kuhistan and ‘Iraq were fifty per cent Rafidis and Mazdakites. Pursuing his intention of preaching the religion openly, first of all he killed Ba ‘Ubaida the Hanafite, who was the governor of Rayy on behalf of al-Mansur, and seized the hoards which Abu Muslim had laid up at Rayy. Having thus acquired some strength he sought to avenge Abu Muslim’s blood; he claimed that he was Abu Muslim’s apostle, and told the people of ‘Iraq and Khurasan that Abu Muslim had not been killed, but that when al-Mansur tried to kill him, he recited the greatest name of God, and turned into a white dove, and flew from his hands; he was now in a brazen fortress where he dwelt with the Mahdi 3 and Mazdak; soon all three would appear and their chief would be Abu Muslim with Mazdak as his vazir. He professed to have received messengers and letters from Abu Muslim.