سنباذ المجوسي

سنباذ المجوسي

c. 755 CE · 137 AH

Sunbadh — the Zoroastrian of Aharwana who rose for Abu Muslim's blood as 'Firuz Aspahbadh', seized Nishapur, Qumis and Rayy, and fell to Jahwar ibn Marrar after seventy days, 137 AH 1.

Depth

At a glance

Roles
Rebel
Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region
Persia & Central Asia
Review
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Life in time

650675700725750775800825850875900 c. c.
The Early Abbasid Caliphate · Abbasid Fragmentation · The Rashidun Caliphate · The Umayyad Period Contemporaries: Abd al-Rahman ibn Ziyad ibn An'am · Abu Al Hudhayl Al Allaf · Abu Hanifa al-Nu'man ibn Thabit · Al-A'mash, Sulayman ibn Mihran · Al-Awza'i, Abd al-Rahman ibn Amr

Sects and schools

Overview

Sunbadh the Magian, from the village of Ahrawana on the outskirts of Nishapur, who led a movement that arose in the year 137 AH after the killing of Abu Muslim al-Khurasani 2.

The movement

Sunbadh rose seeking revenge for Abu Muslim against Abu Ja'far al-Mansur. Many followers came after him. He prevailed over Nishapur, Qumis and al-Rayy, took the title "Firuz Asbadh", seized Abu Muslim's treasuries, and announced that he would attack Mecca and destroy the Ka'ba in revenge 3.

His end

al-Mansur sent an army under Jahwar ibn Marrar al-Ijli against him, and it crushed him in the year 137 AH, seventy days after the movement began 4.

Notes for researchers

  • Taqqush holds that the movement had three motives: political, in avenging Abu Muslim; doctrinal, drawing its principles from the Khurramiyya and the Mazdakiyya; and racial, aiming to revive the Persian state. This is the author's assessment, and we have not yet verified it against primary sources 5.
  • The entry is built on Taqqush's summary of the book, and we have not yet gone back to the primary sources.

Connections

Explore the connections

Participated in
حركة سنباذ المجوسي

People and things also explored

جهور بن مرّار العجلي· Rayy· حركة سنباذ المجوسي· The people of the qibla and not declaring takfir for sin· الغيبة· علم الكلام· الإمامة· المهدية

Sources

  1. Tarikh al-Dawla al-Abbasiyya — Muhammad Suhayl Taqqush (7th ed. 2009), p. 53-55
  2. Tarikh al-Dawla al-Abbasiyya — Muhammad Suhayl Taqqush (7th ed. 2009), p.53-55
  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
  5. Tarikh al-Dawla al-Abbasiyya — Muhammad Suhayl Taqqush (7th ed. 2009), p.53-54
Cite this page

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

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Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story.
Related

جهور بن مرّار العجلي

Jahwar ibn Marrar al-Ijli — the Abbasid commander who crushed Sunbadh's rising between Hamadhan and Rayy, 137 AH.