Mazdak
Mazdak (in
Persian مزدک) (died c. 529) was a proto-
socialist Persian philosopher who gained influence under the reign of the
Sassanian king
Kavadh I. He was hanged and his followers were massacred by
Khosrau I, Kavadh's son. He was the founder of the philosophy called
Mazdakism, whose adherents share the dualistic
cosmology/
theology with
Manichaeism. Under this dualism, there were two original principles of the universe: Light, the good one; and Darkness, the evil one. These two had been mixed by a cosmic accident, and man's role in this life was through good conduct to release the parts of himself that belonged to Light. But where Manichaeism saw the mixture of good and bad as a cosmic tragedy, Mazdak viewed this in a more neutral, even optimistic way. Mazdak preached that the mix of good and evil had touched everything, except
God .
The two distinguishing factors of Mazdak's teaching were the reduction of the importance of religious formalities and a criticism of the strong position of
Zoroastrian clergy, who, he believed, had suppressed the Persian population and caused much poverty. In many ways Mazdak's teaching can be understood as a call for social
revolution, and he has been called the "first
Socialist in history".
Mazdak emphasized good conduct, which involved a moral and ascetic life, no killing and not eating flesh (which contained substances solely from Darkness), being kind and friendly and living in peace with other people.
Despite the concepts of good conduct, the followers of Mazdak raided the palaces and
harems of the rich, removing the valuables to which they believed they had equal rights. Facing the unrest in the empire, the King Kavadh I, ruling from 488 until 531, converted to Mazdakism. With his backing could Mazdak embark on a program of social reform, which involved pacifism, anti-clericalism and aid programs for helping the poor. Mazdak had government warehouses opened to help the poor. Mazdak had most Zoroastrian fire temples closed, save three.
His programs were so dramatic that rumours told that he planned to have all
private property confiscated, and replace
marriage with
free love.
Fear from among the
nobility and Zoroastrian clergy grew so strong that Kavadh was overthrown in 496, but he managed to get the throne back three years later with the help of the
Hephthalites. Scared by the resistance among the powerful, he chose to distance himself from Mazdak. He allowed his son, crown prince Khosrau, to launch a great campaign against the Mazdakis in 524 or 528, culminating in a massacre killing most of the adherents, including Mazdak himself and Kavadh's oldest son. Some survived, and settled in remote areas. Small pockets of Mazdaki societies survived for centuries, and were eventually absorbed by Central Asian
Buddhism.
We have no direct sources of Mazdakism: none of their books have survived. Our knowledge is made up of brief mentions in Syrian, Persian, Arabic and Greek sources, and much of the information is written by opponents of Mazdakism.
*
*Religions of Iran:
Mazdakism*Encylopedia of Orient:
Mazdakism*History of Zoroastrianism:
Mazdak
