Mazyar
Ispahbadh Padishkhwargarshah
Bust of Mazyar inSari, Iran
Ispahbadh of theQarinvand dynasty
Reign	817–839
Predecessor	Qarin ibn Vindadhhurmuzd
Successor	Quhyar
Ispahbadh ofTabaristan
Reign	825/6-839
Predecessor	Shapur (Bavandids) Vinda-Umid (Paduspanids)
Successor	Qarin I
Born	ca. 800 Lafur,Tabaristan
Died	September 839 Samarra
Dynasty	Qarinvand dynasty
Father	Qarin ibn Vindadhhurmuzd
Religion	Zoroastrianism

Mazyar (Middle Persian:Māh-Izād;Mazandarani/Persian:مازیار,romanized: Māzyār) was anIranian prince from theQarinvand dynasty, who was the ruler (ispahbadh) of the mountainous region ofTabaristan from 825/6 to 839. For his resistance to theAbbasid Caliphate, Mazyar is considered one of the national heroes ofIran by twentieth-century Iranian nationalist historiography. His name means "protected by theyazata of the moon".

Mazyar belonged to the Qarinvand dynasty, which was descended fromSukhra, a powerful magnate from theHouse of Karen, who was thede facto ruler of theSasanian Empire from 484 to 493. However, due to his great influence and power, he was exiled and executed by the Sasanian kingKavadh I (r. 488–496 & 498–531). Sukhra was survived by eight sons, one of them being Karin, who in return for aiding Kavadh I's son and successorKhosrow I (r. 531–579) against theWestern Turkic Khaganate in the 550s, received land to the south ofAmol in Tabaristan, thus starting the Qarinvand dynasty.^[1]

Mazyar succeeded his father Qarin ibn Vindadhhurmuzd in ca. 817. However, his territories were soon invaded by the neighbouringBavandid rulerShahriyar I, who defeated Mazyar and forced him to flee. Mazyar took refuge with his cousin Vinda-Umid, who betrayed him and handed him over to Shahriyar. However, Mazyar managed to escape and reach the court of theAbbasidcaliphal-Ma'mun. There he met one of his astrologers,Yahya ibn al-Munajjim, aPersian who had recently converted toIslam and belonged to theBanu Munajjim family. Mazyar soon also embraced Islam,^[a] and al-Ma'mun gave him the title of "Servant of the Commander of the Faithful" (mawlāamīr al-muʾminīn) and the Muslim name ofAbu'l-Hasan Muhammad.^[2]

Mazyar was also granted two towns ofRuyan andDamavand inTabaristan as his fief, and was named as the co-governor of Tabaristan with the Abbasid statesman Musa ibn Hafs. In 822/3, Mazyar returned to Tabaristan with Abbasid reinforcements, and began to deal with his enemies—he had his brotherQuhyar exiled, and did the same to Shahriyar I's sonQarin I, who was his nephew.^[3] In 825/6, Mazyar invaded the domains of the Bavandids, and captured Shahriyar's son and successor,Shapur. His uncle, Vinda-Umid, was also defeated, and shortly afterwards killed.^[4] Mazyar thus united the highlands under his own rule.^[5] He then assumed the titles ofGil-Gilan,Ispahbadh, andPadishkhwargarshah, all titles used by the 8th-centuryDabuyid king of Tabaristan,Farrukhan the Great (r. 712-728).^[3]

Shapur, knowing that Mazyar planned to have him killed, sent a secret message to Musa, willing to pay him 100,000dirhams if he would assert him as his own prisoner. Musa responded by saying his best shot would be to convert to Islam and become a client of the caliph. Musa, nervous of Mazyar learning of his secret communication with Shapur, asked him how he would react if Shapur converted to Islam and offered to become a client of the caliph. Mazyar gave no answer, but had Shapur beheaded the same day, which greatly angered Musa. Mazyar, fearful of the consequences of having Shapur killed without consensus, apologized to Musa.^[2]

Mazyar now began constructing mosques in several towns, and successfully plundered the territories of theDaylamites, and had a large number of them resettled in the border place of Muzn.^[5] In 826/7, Musa died and was succeeded by his son Muhammad ibn Musa, to whom Mazyar paid no attention.^[2] Mazyar continued to expand his influence, but his policies were regarded by the Muslims of Tabaristan as oppressive. The Muslims of Tabaristan and the Bavandid prince Qarin I now began complaining to al-Ma'mun about Mazyar's behavior, but did not manage to turn al-Ma'mun against Mazyar.^[3]

After al-Ma'mun became involved in a war against theByzantine Empire, Mazyar used the opportunity to imprison Muhammad ibn Musa on the charge of being secretly involved with theAlids. Al-Ma'mun soon acknowledged Mazyar's rule over Tabaristan and its surrounding regions.^[5] When al-Ma'mun died in 833, he was succeeded by his half-brotheral-Mu'tasim, who also acknowledged Mazyar as the ruler of Tabaristan.

However, when theTahirid rulerAbdallah ibn Tahir demanded the payment of the land tax (kharaj) from Mazyar, the latter refused. Abdallah, claiming Tabaristan as his own fief, then demanded that Mazyar should release Muhammad ibn Musa. Mazyar, however, once again refused to obey Abdallah, and the latter went before al-Mu'tasim to accuse Mazyar of infidelity and tyranny.

Feeling threatened, Mazyar rebelled against the Abbasid Caliphate, an act which was widely supported by the nativeZoroastrians^[6] and the Abbasid-controlled border regions. Mazyar tried to secure the loyalty of the noblemen of Tabaristan and imprisoned anyone he did not trust. According to the medieval historianIbn Isfandiyar in hisTarikh-e-Tabaristan, Mazyar is said to have proclaimed:

Afshin, the son of Kavus,Babak Khorramdin, and I had made an oath and allegiance that we take the country back from the Arabs and transfer the government and the country back to the family ofKasraviyan.^[7]

Abdallah and al-Mu'tasim sent five armies that entered Tabaristan from all sides. Mazyar named his brotherQuhyar as the defender of the Qarinvand mountains, and the BavandidQarin I as the defender of eastern Tabaristan. However, Tabaristan fell quickly to the Abbasid invasion: several cities were taken by surprise, while Qarin I betrayed Mazyar and agreed to aid the Abbasids in exchange for being restored as the ruler of his family's domains. The people ofSari revolted against Mazyar, and Mazyar was betrayed by his brother Quhyar, who captured him and surrendered him to al-Mu'tasim.^[5]

Mazyar was brought toSamarra, where he was executed. His body later wasgibbeted along with the body of Babak Khorramdin. Mazyar's brother Quhyar was shortly after killed by his own Daylamite soldiers because of his betrayal of Mazyar. This marked the end of the Qarivand dynasty. This left the Tahirids as the rulers of Tabaristan, and Qarin I was restored as the ruler of the Bavand dynasty as a vassal.^[4][8]

^ a: This seems to have only been nominal, since a few years later, Mazyar, during his rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate, allowed his Zoroastrian subjects to destroymosques.^[9]

• Babaie, Sussan; Grigor, Talinn (2015).Persian Kingship and Architecture: Strategies of Power in Iran from the Achaemenids to the Pahlavis. I.B.Tauris. pp. 1–288.ISBN 9780857734778.
• Madelung, Wilferd (1975)."The Minor Dynasties of Northern Iran". In Frye, R. N. (ed.).The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 198–249.ISBN 978-0-521-20093-6.
• Madelung, Wilferd (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.
• Mottahedeh, Roy (1975)."The ʿAbbāsid Caliphate in Iran". In Frye, R. N. (ed.).The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 57–90.ISBN 978-0-521-20093-6.
• Rekaya, M. (1997). "Ḳārinids".The Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume IV: Iran–Kha. Leiden and New York: BRILL. pp. 644–647.ISBN 90-04-05745-5.
• Ibn Isfandiyar, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan (1905).An Abridged Translation of the History of Tabaristan, Compiled About A.H. 613 (A.D. 1216). Trans. Edward G. Browne. Leyden: E.J. Brill.
• Pourshariati, Parvaneh (2008).Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran. London and New York: I.B. Tauris.ISBN 978-1-84511-645-3.

• 839 deaths
• 9th-century Iranian people
• 9th-century executions by the Abbasid Caliphate
• Prisoners and detainees of the Abbasid Caliphate
• Rebels from the Abbasid Caliphate
• Iranian rebels
• Rulers of Tabaristan
• Qarinvand dynasty
• Vassal rulers of the Abbasid Caliphate
• Zoroastrian monarchs

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