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Mazdakism
Mazdakism ( Persian: مزدکیه) was an Iranian religion, which was an offshoot of Zoroastrianism. The religion was founded in the early Sasanian Empire by Zaradust-e Khuragen, a Zoroastrian mobad who was a contemporary of Mani (d. 274). However, it is named after its most prominent advocate, Mazdak, who was a powerful and controversial figure during the reign of Emperor Kavad I (), until he was killed by Emperor Khusrau I (). Theology Mazdakism was a dualistic religion that emerged from Zoroastrian thought, teaching about principles of light and darkness, the mixture of which were said to have created the world. Mazdakites believed it was their duty to defeat the darkness and evil in the world. Zaradust and Mazdak may have been influenced by Manichaeanism, Gnosticism, or Platonism; however, unlike many Manichaean or Gnostic sects, they eschewed asceticism and did not teach that the world or matter were evil or needed to be renounced. Ethics Mazdakism opposed ...
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Mazdak
Mazdak (, Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭦𐭣𐭪, also Mazdak the Younger; died c. 524 or 528) was an Iranian Zoroastrian '' mobad'' (priest) and religious reformer who gained influence during the reign of the Sasanian emperor Kavadh I. He claimed to be a prophet of Ahura Mazda and instituted social welfare programs. Mazdakism Mazdak was the chief representative of a religious and philosophical teaching called Mazdakism, which he viewed as a reformed and purified version of Zoroastrianism,Shaki, Mansour. 1985. The cosmogonical and cosmological teachings of Mazdak.
Papers in Honour of Professor Mary Boyce, Acta Iranica 25, Leiden, 1985, pp. 527–43.
although his teaching has been argued to display influences from

Zaradust-e Khuragen
Zaradust-e Khuragen ( Persian: زرتشت خورگان) was the leader of a branch of Zoroastrianism called Dorostdini and teacher of Mazdak,Esposito, John L. (2003). "Mazdakism". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 198. . leader of Mazdakism. Dorostdini was the root of Mazdakism, and the sect put emphasis on the use of wisdom instead of religious laws. He was from Fasa and for many years he lived in the Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the .... References Iranian Zoroastrians Date of birth unknown Date of death unknown 6th-century Iranian people {{Zoroastrianism-stub ...
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Kavad I
Kavad I ( ; 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 uncle Balash (). Inheriting a declining empire where the authority and status of the Sasanian kings had largely ended, Kavad tried to reorganize his empire by introducing many reforms whose implementation was completed by his son and successor, Khosrow I. They were made possible by Kavad's use of the Mazdakite preacher Mazdak, leading to a social revolution that weakened the authority of the nobility and the clergy. Because of this, and the execution of the powerful king-maker Sukhra, Kavad was deposed and imprisoned in the Castle of Oblivion. He was replaced by his brother Jamasp. However, with the aid of his sister and an officer named Siyawush, Kavad and some of his followers fled east to the territory of the Hephthalite king, who provided him with an army. Th ...
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Khusrau I
Khosrow I (also spelled Khosrau, Khusro or Chosroes; ), traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan ("the Immortal Soul"), was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 531 to 579. He was the son and successor of Kavad I (). Inheriting a reinvigorated empire at war with the Byzantines, Khosrow I signed a peace treaty with them in 532, known as the Perpetual Peace, in which the Byzantine emperor Justinian I paid 11,000 pounds of gold to the Sasanians. Khosrow then focused on consolidating his power, executing conspirators, including his uncle Bawi. Dissatisfied with the actions of the Byzantine clients and vassals, the Ghassanids, and encouraged by Ostrogoth envoys from Italy, Khosrow violated the peace treaty and declared war against the Byzantines in 540. He sacked the major city of Antioch and deported its population to Persia. In 541, he invaded Lazica and made it an Iranian protectorate, thus initiating the Lazic War. In 545, the two empires agreed to halt the wars in Mes ...
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Religious Communism
Religious communism is a form of communism that incorporates religious principles. Scholars have used the term to describe a variety of social or religious movements throughout history that have favored the common ownership of property. There are many historical and ideological similarities between religious communism and Liberation Theology. Overview The term ''religious communism'' has been used to describe a variety of social or religious movements throughout history. The " commune of early christians at Jerusalem" has been described as a group that practiced religious communism. The teachings of Mazdak, a religious proto-socialist Persian reformer, have also been referred to as early ''communism''. According to Ben Fowkes and Bulent Gokay, Bolshevik Mikhail Skachko stated at the Congress of the Peoples of the East that "the Muslim religion is rooted in principles of religious communism, by which no man may be a slave to another, and not a single piece of land may be priva ...
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Religion In The Sasanian Empire
Religion in the Sassanian era (Persian: دین در دوران ساسانی ) refers to events related to religion during the Sasanian Empire from 224 to 651 CE. Manichaeism It appears from various accounts that the second Sassanian king, Shapur I, was tolerant of foreign religions and ideas. Mani appeared during Shapur's time and reached Shapur's presence and was allowed to spread his religion. The spread of the sect of Shi'ism in Sassanian lands, which had a long-lasting effect, was due to this spirit of tolerance, which was undoubtedly not to Kartir's advantage. The third Sassanian king, Hormizd I, also supported Mani Nazar and protected him from the persecution of opponents in his palace in Babylon. He also showed interest in Kartir, Mani's enemy, and even gave him the hat and waistcoat that were signs of nobility, placing him in the ranks of the great men of the time. Anahita Temple of Anahita, Bishapur The Temple of Anahita in Bishapur, located in the city of Kazeru ...
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Sasanian Empire
The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign over ancient Iran was second only to the directly preceding Arsacid dynasty of Parthia. Founded by Ardashir I, whose rise coincided with the decline of Arsacid influence in the face of both internal and external strife, the House of Sasan was highly determined to restore the legacy of the Achaemenid Empire by expanding and consolidating the Iranian nation's dominions. Most notably, after defeating Artabanus IV of Parthia during the Battle of Hormozdgan in 224, it began competing far more zealously with the neighbouring Roman Empire than the Arsacids had, thus sparking a new phase of the Roman–Iranian Wars. This effort by Ardashir's dynasty ultimately re-established Iran as a major power of late an ...
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Iranian Religions
The Iranian religions, also known as the Persian religions, are, in the context of comparative religion, a grouping of religious movements that originated in the Iranian plateau, which accounts for the bulk of what is called " Greater Iran". Background The beliefs, activities, and cultural events of the ancient Iranians in ancient Iran are complex matters. The ancient Iranians made references to a combination of several Aryans and non-Aryan tribes. The documented history of Iranian religions begins with Zoroastrianism. The ancient Iranian prophet, Zoroaster, reformed the early beliefs of ancient Iranians, the reconstructed Ancient Iranian religion, into a form of henotheism/monotheism. The Gathas, hymns of Zoroaster's Avesta, introduced monotheistic ideas to Persia, while through the Yashts and Yasna, mentions are made to polytheism and earlier creeds. The Vedas and the Avesta have both served researchers as important resources in discovering early Proto-Indo-Iranian reli ...
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Persian Language
Persian ( ), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and used officially within Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan in three mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible standard language, standard varieties, respectively Iranian Persian (officially known as ''Persian''), Dari, Dari Persian (officially known as ''Dari'' since 1964), and Tajik language, Tajiki Persian (officially known as ''Tajik'' since 1999).Siddikzoda, S. "Tajik Language: Farsi or not Farsi?" in ''Media Insight Central Asia #27'', August 2002. It is also spoken natively in the Tajik variety by a significant population within Uzbekistan, as well as within other regions with a Persianate society, Persianate history in the cultural sphere o ...
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Religion In Iran
Religion in Iran has been shaped by multiple religions and sects over the course of the country's history. Zoroastrianism was the main followed religion during the Achaemenid Empire (550-330 BC), Parthian Empire (247 BC-224 AD), and Sasanian Empire (224-651 AD). Another Iranian religion known as Manichaeanism was present in Iran during this period. Jewish and Christian communities (the Church of the East) thrived, especially in the territories of northwestern, western, and southern Iran—mainly Caucasian Albania, Asoristan, Persian Armenia, and Caucasian Iberia. A significant number of Iranian people also adhered to Buddhism in what was then eastern Iran, such as the regions of Bactria and Sogdia. Between 632-654 AD, the Rashidun Caliphate conquered Iran, and the next two centuries of Umayyad and Abbasid rule (as well as native Iranian rule during the Iranian Intermezzo) would see Iran, although initially resistant, gradually adopt Islam as the nation's predominant faith. S ...
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The Cambridge History Of Iran
''The Cambridge History of Iran'' is a multi-volume survey of Iranian history published in the United Kingdom by Cambridge University Press. The seven volumes cover "the history and historical geography of the land which is present-day Iran, as well as other territories inhabited by peoples of Iranian descent, from prehistoric times up to the present. History The publication started in 1968 and in 1989 the last volume was published. The idea of publishing such a survey of Iranian history and culture was conceived in 1959 by Arthur J. Arberry. According to the scholar Hubert Darke, who served as editorial secretary to the project between 1970 and 1993, "The series was planned to be not simply a political history of Iran but to survey the culture which has flourished in the Iranian region and this culture's contribution to the civilization of the world. All aspects of the religious, philosophical, economic, scientific, and artistic elements in Iranian civilization have been studied ...
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Polygamy
Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one husband at the same time, it is called polyandry. In sociobiology and zoology, researchers use ''polygamy'' in a broad sense to mean any form of multiple mating. In contrast to polygamy, monogamy is marriage consisting of only two parties. Like "monogamy", the term "polygamy" is often used in a ''de facto'' sense, applied regardless of whether a State (polity), state recognizes the relationship.For the extent to which states can and do recognize potentially and actual polygamous forms as valid, see Conflict of marriage laws. In many countries, the law only recognises monogamous marriages (a person can only have one spouse, and bigamy is illegal), but adultery is not illegal, leading to a situation of ''de facto'' polygamy being allo ...
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