Red Revolution Across Iran
Four years after his brutal execution by Motasam in Samara, the followers of Babak Khorramdin known also as Sorkhjamegan, started one of the earliest colorful revolutions in world history with the color of their leader's blood. Babak's last gesture before his death; washing his face with his own blood after his first hand was cut, made him a national hero.
Sorkhjamegan had an ideology based on a mixture of Zoroastrianism and Islam and grew popular after execution of Abu Muslim, another national hero from Khorasan and leader of Siyahjamegan. Most of the records about Sorkhjamegan written by Arab narrators are invalid in that, they try to discredit their faith and attribute bizarre social and cultural behaviors to their followers. However, Sorkhjamegan's main principle was that the universe is made of light and man being is to reach divinity through kindness. This fact made them avoid shedding blood unless absolutely necessary, in order to become clean and pure physically and mentally.
The Iranian secret of well-being is based on Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds which had always been in conflict with what the Caliphs were trying to impose.
The Sorkhjamegan uprising was suppressed with brutality and consequently most of the followers fled to neighboring Armenia and sought refuge under Byzantine Empire. They continued to attract followers until the sixteenth century when they merged with the Kizilbash who helped establish the Safavid dynasty. (Updated: Jan, 1, 2010)
English-Persian Glossary
- Sorkhjamegan : سرخ جامگان
- Siyahjamegan : سياه جامگان
- Khorramdin : خرمدين
- Revolution : انقلاب
- Abu Muslim : ابومسلم خراساني(Abu Moslem) ونداد هرمزد
- Byzantine : وابسته به روم شرقي
- Kizilbash : قزلباش(Qizilbash)
- Khorasan : خراسان(Khorassan)
- Safavid : صفوي
- Motasam : معتصم(Motassam,Mutasim) معتصم گجستک
- Armenia : ارمنستان(Armanestan)
- Iranian : ايراني اهل ايران ، وابستهبه ايران
- Empire : امپراتوري
- Muslim : مسلمان(Moslem) مسلم
- Samara : سامرا(Samarra)
- Babak : بابک
- Islam : اسلام
- Four : چهار
- Iran : ايران
- Arab : عرب
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