Opposition to the caliphate in Azerbaijan in the first century of the Abbasids: The Khurami rebellion (h.132–232/750–847)

Abstract

The Khurramiyya Rebellion (c. 132–232/750–847), led by Babek Khorramdin in Azerbaijan under the Abbasid Caliphate, represents a critical milestone to understand the dynamics of resistance against oppressive imperial structures in the early Islamic world. Despite its relevance as a synthesis of religious, ethnic, and socioeconomic dissent, previous research has not gone deeper in its ideological connection to pre-Islamic Mazdakism and its role in articulating local identities against Arab hegemony, prioritizing military narratives over holistic analyses. This study seeks to fill this gap by examining the root causes of the rebellion—discrimination against the mawali, Abbasid fiscal exploitation, and Arab settlement policies—as well as its legacy as a continuation of Mazdakism, a proto-egalitarian movement of the Sassanian period. It is shown that the Khurramiyya fused Zoroastrian symbols with Islamic rhetoric to mobilize marginalized Persian peasants, artisans, and elites, challenging not only the caliphate but also claiming Azerbaijan’s cultural autonomy. The findings reveal that the rebellion, although militarily suppressed, consolidated a framework of ethno-religious resistance that influenced later movements, such as the Safavids, evidencing how tensions between center and periphery in multicultural empires can catalyze dissident identities. This work provides a reappraisal of medieval rebellions as multifaceted phenomena, underlining the need to integrate socioeconomic, religious, and cultural perspectives in the study of Islamic history.