Mazdakism was an
Iranian
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran
* Iranian lan ...
religion, which was an offshoot of
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ont ...
. The religion has been called one of the most noteworthy examples of
pre-modern communism.
The religion was founded in the early
Sasanian Empire by
Zardusht, a Zoroastrian
mobad
A Mobed, Mowbed, or Mobad (Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭢𐭥𐭯𐭲) is a Zoroastrian cleric of a particular rank. Unlike an '' herbad'' (''ervad''), a ''mobed'' is qualified to serve as celebrant priest at the Yasna ceremony and other higher liturgi ...
who was a contemporary of
Mani (d. 274). However, it is named after its most prominent advocate,
Mazdak
Mazdak ( fa, مزدک, Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭦𐭣𐭪, also Mazdak the Younger; died c. 524 or 528) was a Zoroastrian ''mobad'' (priest), Iranian reformer, prophet and religious reformer who gained influence during the reign of the Sasanian emp ...
, who was a powerful and controversial figure during the reign of Emperor
Kavad I
Kavad I ( pal, 𐭪𐭥𐭠𐭲 ; 473 – 13 September 531) was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 488 to 531, with a two or three-year interruption. A son of Peroz I (), he was crowned by the nobles to replace his deposed and unpopular ...
().
Theology
Mazdakism was a
dualistic religion that appeared to be influenced by
Manichaeism
Manichaeism (;
in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian prophet Mani ( ...
. It taught that there were two principles, light and dark (good and evil) that merged at a primordial time creating the universe. The Mazdakites worshipped the God of Light.
Ethics
Mazdakism strongly promoted
simple and
pacifist living. Acts such as
murder and killing animals for food or sport were forbidden, as was eating meat. Followers were to treat all people, even their enemies kindly. The movement also believed in
the holding of all things in common to reduce greed and, allegedly, promoted
group marriage or
polyandry, the latter if true presumably due to the lack of women for poor men to marry due to the
polygyny
Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women.
Incidence
Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any o ...
of the upper classes of Iranian society at the time.
Citations
Cited sources
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General sources
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{{Zoroastrianism
Iranian religions
Religion in Iran
Religion in the Sasanian Empire
Religions that require vegetarianism
Zoroastrianism