Afshin (Caliphate General)
Encyclopedia
Khaydār b. Kāvūs Afshīn known by his hereditary title as Afshin was a senior general at the court of Abbasid caliphs and a son of the vassal prince of Oshrūsana
Oshrusana
Osrūshana or Oshrūsana , also known as Istarawshan Sudujshana, Usrushana, Ustrushana, Eastern Chao, was a former Iranian region...

.

Name and family background

Afshin
Afshin
Afshin is a common Persian and Turkish given name, derived from the princely title of the rulers of Ošrūsana at the time of the Muslim conquest...

 is a hereditary title of Oshrusana
Oshrusana
Osrūshana or Oshrūsana , also known as Istarawshan Sudujshana, Usrushana, Ustrushana, Eastern Chao, was a former Iranian region...

 princes at the time of the Muslim conquest of Persia. The term is an Arabicized form of the Middle Persian Pishin and Avestan Pisinah, a proper name of uncerain etymology. Minorsky suggests that the title Afshin was of Sogdian origin..

During the time when the first Arab invasion of the country of Oshrusana
Oshrusana
Osrūshana or Oshrūsana , also known as Istarawshan Sudujshana, Usrushana, Ustrushana, Eastern Chao, was a former Iranian region...

 took place under [Qutayba ibn Muslim]] (94-5/712-14), Ushrusana was inhabited by an Iranian population, ruled by its own princes who bore the traditional title of Afshin..

Afshin is generally considered an Iranian, and although two classical sources( and some authors) have called him a Turk, he came from an Iranian cultural region and was not usually considered Turkish. The confusion comes from the fact that the term “Turk” was used loosely by Arab writers of the time to denote the new troops of the caliph despite the inclusion among them some elements of Iranian origin, including Ferghana and OshrusanaʻUthmān Sayyid Aḥmad Ismāʻīl Bīlī, "Prelude to the Generals", Published by Garnet & Ithaca Press, 2001. pg 47:"The name Turk was given to all these troops, despite the inclusion amongst them of some elements of Iranian origin, Ferghana, Ushrusana, and Shash – places were in fact the centers were the slave material was collected together....Judging from the specific names of their origin, Soghd, Farghana, Urshusuna, Shahs, the majority of them might have been of Iranian origin".

Early years

According to Yaqubi, during the reign of the third Abbasid caliph Al-Mahdi
Al-Mahdi
Muhammad ibn Mansur al-Mahdi , was the third Abbasid Caliph who reigned from 158 AH to 169 AH . He succeeded his father, al-Mansur....

 (775-85), Afshin of Oshrusana was mentioned among several Iranian and Turkish
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...

 rulers of Transoxania and the Central Asian steppes
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

 who submitted nominally to him. But it was not until Harun al-Rashid
Harun al-Rashid
Hārūn al-Rashīd was the fifth Arab Abbasid Caliph in Iraq. He was born in Rey, Iran, close to modern Tehran. His birth date remains a point of discussion, though, as various sources give the dates from 763 to 766)....

's reign in 794-95 that al-Fadl b. Yahya al-Barmaki led an expedition into Transoxania and received the submission of the ruling Akin known as Kharākana. This Karākana had never previously humbled himself before any other potentate. Further expeditions were nevertheless sent to Oshrusana by Al-Ma'mun
Al-Ma'mun
Abū Jaʿfar Abdullāh al-Māʾmūn ibn Harūn was an Abbasid caliph who reigned from 813 until his death in 833...

 when he was governor in Marv
Marv
Marv is a fictional character in the graphic novel series Sin City, created by Frank Miller. In the 2005 film adaptation, he is played by Mickey Rourke. He first appears in The Hard Goodbye and follows with appearances in A Dame to Kill For, Just Another Saturday Night, and Silent Night...

 and after he had become caliph. Kavus, son of the Afshin Karākana who had submitted to Fazl b. Yahya, withdrew his allegiance from the Arabs; but shortly after Ma'mun arrived in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

 from the east (817-18 or 819-20), a power struggle and dissensions broke out among the reigning family of Oshrusana.

According to most of the sources, al-Ma'mun's heir, Al-Mu'tasim
Al-Mu'tasim
Abu Ishaq 'Abbas al-Mu'tasim ibn Harun was an Abbasid caliph . He succeeded his half-brother al-Ma'mun...

 not only made Afshin governor of Azarbaijan and seconded high-ranking officers to serve under him, but also ordered exceptionally large salaries, expense allowances, and rations for him. In 831-833, he suppressed uprisings in Egypt from remote regions to Alexandria. On June 2, 832 the news was proclaimed of his great success in taking Bima in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

. It surrendered to Afshin's extension of al-Ma'mun's promise of safe conduct.

Afshin and Babak

In 835
835
Year 835 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Ragnar Lodbrok rises to power ....

, Caliph al-Mu'tasim
Al-Mu'tasim
Abu Ishaq 'Abbas al-Mu'tasim ibn Harun was an Abbasid caliph . He succeeded his half-brother al-Ma'mun...

 appointed Afshin as a governor of Azerbaijan to fight against Babak Khorramdin
Babak Khorramdin
Bābak Khorram-Din was one of the main Persian revolutionary leaders of the Iranian Khorram-Dinān , which was a local freedom movement fighting the Abbasid Caliphate. Khorramdin appears to be a compound analogous to dorustdin and Behdin "Good Religion" , and are considered an offshoot of...

, leader of anti-Islamic neo-Mazdakite Persian movement of the Khurramites
Khurramites
The Khurramites were an Iranian religious and political movement with its roots in the movement founded by Mazdak. An alternative name for the movement is the Muḥammira "Red-Wearing Ones" , a reference to their symbolic red dress.-Origins and History:The sect was founded by the Persian cleric...

.

After a fierce resistance by Babak's army, Afshin eventually defeated it and captured Babak's castle of Bazz
Babak Castle
Bābak Fort or Babak Castle , also known as the Immortal Castle or Republic Castle, is a large citadel and National Symbol of Iranians on the top of a mountain in the Arasbaran forests, which is located 6 km southwest of Kalibar City in northwestern Iran...

 in August 837. Ya'qubi (Tarikh II, 579) records Afshin freeing 7,600 Arab prisoners from this fortress, and he destroyed the castle. The Khurramite leader escaped to hiding under the protection of local Christian
Caucasian Albania
Albania is a name for the historical region of the eastern Caucasus, that existed on the territory of present-day republic of...

 prince Sahl ibn-Sunbat who later turned him in to Afshin. In return to Afshin'a achievements, caliph rewarded him governorship of Sind in addition to that of Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

 and Azerbaijan.

Anatolian campaign

Afshin fought alongside Mo`tasem during his campaign of 838 against the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

, which reached as far as Amorium
Amorium
Amorium was a city in Phrygia, Asia Minor which was founded in the Hellenistic period, flourished under the Byzantine Empire, and declined after the Arab sack of 838. Its ruins are located near the village of Hisarköy, Turkey....

, commanding the right wing in the onslaught against this fortress.

As the two prongs entered Byzantine territory separated by a hundred and fifty miles, Byzantine emperor Theophilos
Theophilos (emperor)
Theophilos was the Byzantine emperor from 829 until his death in 842. He was the second emperor of the Phrygian dynasty, and the last emperor supporting iconoclasm...

 decided to hit one of the portions of the Muslim army, before the entire invasion force joined together. It was Afshin the emperor attacked, on 21 July 838. The ensuing battle
Battle of Anzen
The Battle of Anzen or Dazimon was fought on July 22, 838 at Anzen or Dazimon between the Byzantine Empire and the forces of the Abbasid Caliphate...

 was a decisive Muslim victory. Although the Byzantines initially held the upper hand, the effect of the Turkic horse-archers and an erroneous belief that Theophilos had been killed demoralized the Byzantine army, which broke and fled. The emperor and his surviving soldiers withdrew in disorder. They did not interfere as Afshin continued on to Ancyra, where he linked up with al-Mu'tasim.

From Ancyra, the full Muslim force advanced on the Byzantine stronghold of Amorium. A Muslim captive escaped from that city and disclosed the weakness of a section of its walls. The caliph concentrated his bombardment on this section. A breach was made there and Amorium was captured.

Downfall

Afshin's star began to decline, apparently as a result of jealousies which he had already shown against Abu Dolat- and `Abdallah b. Taher
Abdullah bin Tahir of Khorasan
Abdullah ibn Tahir was the Tahirid governor of Khurasan from 828 until his death. He is perhaps the most famous of the Tahirids....

, governor of Khorasan
Greater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...

 and apparently regarded by Afshin as an upstart and a rival for power in Transoxania. He had begun intriguing with Maziar son of Qaren
Maziar
Maziar was an Iranian aristocrat of the House of Karen and feudal ruler of the mountainous region of Tabaristan...

, an Iranian prince and Spahbed of Tabarestan in the Caspian region. Afšin allegedly encouraged Māzyār in secret, in the hope that `Abdallāh b. Tāher would be deprived of his governorship and he Afšīn, would fall heir to it. Maziar rebellion was quashed in 839 and Afshin's position now became increasingly difficult, which caused Afshin to fall from favour. His situation was made worse by the finding of alleged correspondence between him and Maziar. Further, the Khurasanian governor, Abdallah ibn Tahir, alleged that he had intercepted some of Babak's wealth Afshin had obtained in that campaign and was seeking to transfer secretly to Afshin's lands in Oshrusana. When Mazyar arrived in Samarra
Samarra
Sāmarrā is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Salah ad-Din Governorate, north of Baghdad and, in 2003, had an estimated population of 348,700....

, Afshin was arrested.

Maziar participated in the interrogation of the former general, asserting that Afshin had conspired with him. Others present raised additional questions concerning the sincerity of Afshin's conversion to Islam from Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...

. Afshin had answers to all the allegations. He claimed that Zoroastrian artefacts and books in his possession were family heirlooms from before he had become Muslim. He explained that when he punished a pair of Muslim fanatics destroying idols in Ushrusanah he was exercising reasonable leadership aimed at maintaining the harmony of his religiously diverse territory. He told his detractors that the formulaic address his people used in writing to him in Persian as "Lord of lords", was simply a tradition and did not invalidate his personal belief in one God.

All such replies were unsuccessful. Al-Mu'tasim had a special prison built for Afshin. It was known as "The Pearl" and was in the shape of a minaret
Minaret
A minaret مناره , sometimes مئذنه) is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques, generally a tall spire with an onion-shaped or conical crown, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery....

. There he spent the final nine months of his life and there he died in May–June of 841.

See also

  • Islamic conquest of Persia
    Islamic conquest of Persia
    The Muslim conquest of Persia led to the end of the Sassanid Empire in 644, the fall of Sassanid dynasty in 651 and the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion in Persia...

  • Islamization in Iran
  • Babak Khorramdin
    Babak Khorramdin
    Bābak Khorram-Din was one of the main Persian revolutionary leaders of the Iranian Khorram-Dinān , which was a local freedom movement fighting the Abbasid Caliphate. Khorramdin appears to be a compound analogous to dorustdin and Behdin "Good Religion" , and are considered an offshoot of...

  • Babak Castle
    Babak Castle
    Bābak Fort or Babak Castle , also known as the Immortal Castle or Republic Castle, is a large citadel and National Symbol of Iranians on the top of a mountain in the Arasbaran forests, which is located 6 km southwest of Kalibar City in northwestern Iran...

  • Maziar
    Maziar
    Maziar was an Iranian aristocrat of the House of Karen and feudal ruler of the mountainous region of Tabaristan...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK