Military History of Ray, Iran - Dynasties and Ideologies, 8th Century CE

Dynasties and Ideologies, 8th Century CE

In the declining years of the Umayyad dynasty, the Caliphate came close to collapse. In 122 H (740 CE) the Shi'ite Muslim Zayd ibn 'Ali had attempted unsuccessfully to take over as Caliph, and in 127 H (744 CE) the Shi'ites backed another claimant, Abdallah ibn Mu'awiyah. Failing to gain a victory in Mesopotamia, he crossed the Zagros Mountains, and by the end of 128 H (745 CE) most of western Iran, including Ray, had submitted to him. He was defeated a few months later, but the spirit of unrest remained. A year or two later, a revolt of Iranian Jews took place, led by Abu ‘Isa Isaac ibn Jacob al-Isfahani, (known as Abu Isa, or Obadiah) who claimed to be a messiah and proposed to lead his people back to Judea. He and his followers travelled from town to town gathering increasing support while fending off Muslim troops. However, when he brought his force to Ray, apparently about 131 H (748 CE), he met an army led by al-Mansur, who would later become the second 'Abbasid caliph, and was defeated with considerable bloodshed. He is believed to have been killed in the battle- but some of his followers thought otherwise, saying that he escaped and hid in a nearby mountain cave, and the Isawiya sect lasted at least two centuries more.

In the campaign which finally achieved the ascendancy of the 'Abbasid dynasty over the Umayyads, history vaguely repeated itself. Like the Sassanid emperor Yazdgird III, the leader of Arab forces in Iran, Nasr ibn Sayyar, went to Ray in the belief that there he would be able to obtain troops to challenge the 'Abbasids, who were pursuing him across the country. Meeting little success, he moved on to Saveh just before the pursuers reached Ray- but during his short stay in the city he had become ill, and he died in the autumn of 131 H (748 CE) soon after reaching Saveh.

In the years immediately after the 'Abbasid dynasty took over the caliphate, there was more unrest. In 137 H (754-5 CE) a Zoroastrian supporter named Sunbadh, one of the first Khurramis (supporters of the late Abu Muslim, who had brought the 'Abbasids to power, only to be killed by the second 'Abbasid Caliph) took his tens of thousands of followers to Ray. There he opened the storehouses Abu Muslim had left when he went on the journey that ended with his assassination, and claimed the treasure within, before setting off towards Hamadan with thousands more supporters. The Khurrami cause did not die with the bloody defeat of Sunbadh's army a few weeks later, and in 162 H (778-9 CE) more supporters of Abu Muslim allied at Djurdjan (Gorgan) with a sect known as the Muhammira, or "wearers of red", under the nominal leadership of one of Abu Muslim's sons or grandsons, Abu'l Gharra (but organised by 'Abd al-Qahhar). They marched to Ray, but there they met, and were crushed by, an army sent by Caliph al-Mahdi, led by 'Umar ibn 'Ala, governor of Tabaristan.

Between those two Khurrami insurrections, in 141 H (758-9 CE) there was another illustration of the strategic importance of Ray, when the governor of Khorasan rebelled against the Caliph al-Mansur, who sent his son Muhammad (later Caliph al-Mahdi) to restore control, using Ray as a base. In the event, the governor was defeated by some of his own subjects, but Muhammad ruled the eastern territories from Ray until 152 H (768-9 CE), and redeveloped the city under the name of Muhammadiya, with improved defences and military facilities (creating a new suburb, Mahdi-abadah, to resettle those whose homes were demolished in the process). His son, the great Harun al-Rashid, born and raised in Ray, made similar use of the fortified town, for example in 189 H (805 CE) when he heard that another rebellion was brewing in Khorasan. While in Ray, he took the opportunity to torture the local governor, Ishaq ibn al-Abbas al-Farsi to try and make him reveal the whereabouts of his niece's husband, the troublesome Isma'ili Imam, Muhammad ibn Ismail. Ishaq died as a result of his treatment.