حركة سنباذ المجوسي

حركة سنباذ المجوسي

755 CE · 137 AH

Rayy

The seventy-day rising of Sunbadh the Magian — first of the 'Mubayyida' movements that gathered under Abu Muslim's name, crushed between Hamadhan and Rayy, 137 AH 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region
Persia & Central Asia
Review
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In time

740750760770
The Early Abbasid Caliphate · The Umayyad Period

In space

Rayy

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Sides

Overview

The Majus rising of Sunbadh arose in 137 AH after the killing of Abu Muslim al-Khurasani, and ended seventy days later at the hand of an Abbasid army under Jahhur ibn Marrar al-Ijli. 2

Its rising

Sunbadh rose in anger at the killing of Abu Muslim and seeking vengeance for him. Many followers gathered around him, he prevailed over Nishapur, Qumis and al-Rayy, called himself Firuz Isbahadh, seized the treasuries of Abu Muslim, and declared that he intended to demolish the Ka'ba. 3

Its suppression

Abu Ja'far al-Mansur sent an army under Jahhur ibn Marrar al-Ijli, which clashed with it between Hamadhan and al-Rayy, and ended the movement after about seventy days of its rising. 4

Its place among the movements

The movement is counted the first of the movements of the Mubayyida, the groups tied to the name of Abu Muslim who wore white and carried white banners. It was followed by the Rawandiyya movement in 141 AH, then the movement of Ustadhsis in 150 AH. 4

Notes for researchers

  • The article is based on a summary of Taqqush's book "The Abbasid State", a modern reference; we have not yet returned to the primary sources it draws on.
  • The political, doctrinal and racial motives that the book attributes to Sunbadh are reported from the author, and we have not judged them independently.

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
جهور بن مرّار العجلي· سنباذ المجوسي
Occurred at
Rayy

People and things also explored

The Conquest of Rayy and Qumis· Founding of al-Muhammadiyya at Rayy· اجتياح التتر بلاد الجبل وأذربيجان والكرج· al-Sha'bi· جهور بن مرّار العجلي· سنباذ المجوسي· Rayy

Sources

  1. Tarikh al-Dawla al-Abbasiyya — Muhammad Suhayl Taqqush (7th ed. 2009), p. 54-55
  2. Tarikh al-Dawla al-Abbasiyya — Muhammad Suhayl Taqqush (7th ed. 2009), p.54-55
  3. Tarikh al-Dawla al-Abbasiyya — Muhammad Suhayl Taqqush (7th ed. 2009), p.54
  4. Tarikh al-Dawla al-Abbasiyya — Muhammad Suhayl Taqqush (7th ed. 2009), p.55
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “حركة سنباذ المجوسي”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/sunbadh-revolt-137/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.

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Related

The Conquest of Rayy and Qumis

In al-Baladhuri via al-Kalbi from Abu Mikhnaf: two months after Nihawand's battle Umar wrote Ammar ibn Yasir, his Kufa agent, to send Urwa ibn Zayd al-Khayl al-Ta'i to Rayy and Dastaba with eight thousand; the Daylam gathered against him with Rayy's reinforcement, and God gave him victory — he killed and swept through them, left his brother Hanzala ibn Zayd, and came to Ammar asking to be sent to Umar — he having once borne the Bridge's ill news and wishing now to bring joy. Umar saw him and said 'we are God's and to Him we return'; Urwa answered 'rather praise God — we are victorious,' told his tale, and when asked why he did not send word answered 'I left my brother and wished to come myself' — so Umar named him al-Bashir. Urwa's verse: 'I stood forth a teacher to Qadisiyya's people — not every bearer of sorrow teaches.'