The
Barmuk Family and Their Downfall
While recording the conditions of
Caliph Haroon Rasheed's caliphate, we have reached 187 A.H. In the beginning of
this year, Haroon Rasheed had his minister killed and his brother Fadal and
father Yahya imprisoned. In the lives of kings and caliphs killing a minister
and imprisoning their family is not an extraordinary or unusual event. The
histories of kings are replete with such incidents. The feats of kings are
written in blood. The ordinary events of the downfall of the Barmuk family and
Jafar's murder have assumed ugly proportions due to the machinations of the
lovers of tumult, tellers of false tales, novelists and the ignorant
worshippers of fantasies. Because there are many educated yet misinformed
persons and many fools giving the impression of being wise who have
misunderstand Mahmood Ghaznavi and Aurangzeb Alamgir and lead others to follow
them and in the process damage the cause of Islam, it is necessary to expose
the falsehoods about Mahmood and Alamgir and present the facts. Similarly false
propaganda against the murder of Jafar and the downfall of the Barmuk family
should be narrated in detail in order to separate reality from fantasy.
Therefore, a detailed narration of the events of 187 A.H. is in order. First of
all a short history of the Barmuk family will be followed by those false and
unfounded narratives which have found publicity among the ignorant and
misinformed, which have been quoted by and alluded to by many educated people
and then finally the real facts will be given.
The
Barmuk Family
The oldest religion of the Iranians
was Mah-âbâdi, which entailed worship of the stars more than fire-worship. A
number of reformers as revivers came one after another after Mah-âbâd. The last
of them was Zoroaster. The religious legal system, which he brought into
practice, Allah alone knows. But from what is gathered, it shows that his
religion contained five-worship more than worship of stars. In his lifetime,
his religion became the royal religion and spread to most parts of Iran.
Asfandyar's wrestling spread it to Afghanistan and the Punjab. The greatest of
the Indian scholars Sangrachah Biyas visited.
Zoroaster in Balkh, took an oath of
obedience, returned to India and started propagating fire-worship, which
survives among the Hindus in the form of hawan even today. Zoroaster's and his
true devotee and the renouncer of his kingdom, King Lahrasab's, final resting
place was Balkh. Balkh is as important in relation to Zoroastrianism as
Jerusalem is in relation to Christianity or Buddhism is to Gaya (in India).
Alexander of Greece destroyed Astkhar, Samarkand, Kangrah, Karachi and Kabul by
assault and plunder. This area was part of the Zoroastrian kingdom of the Kyani
family and it was this region where fire-worship was in practice. The influx of
Greeks not only put an end to the Kyani kingdom but it also put out
fire-worship. After some hundreds of years the Iranians were able to shake off
the Greek yoke and Sâsân I unified the multiple kingships and anarchy of Iran,
picked the sparks out of the Zoroastrian ashes and lighted its hearths. Balkh
had been made desolate by the Chinese during Zoroaster's time but it was
repopulated very soon and remained their holy city and their direction of
prayer.
Alexander's flood had diminished the
markets of Balkh but it remained the place of hope of the steadfast
Zoroastrians. It regained its youth again during the regime of the Sasanids.
When the Sasanids breathed their last on the battlefields of Qadsiyah and
Nahawand, the light of the hearths of Balkh increased all the more because the
defeated emperor of Iran and the rest of the escaping leaders' place of
assembly was in Balkh and it was to Balkh they turned and worshipped Yezdân in
the hearth known as Naubahar. The spiritual leader of a hearth was called Mugh
and the chief of the Mughs, the superintendent of all hearths of his province
and the Mugh of this central hearth was known as Barmugh. Mugh the great
spiritual leader of the Naubahar hearth at the sight of the ruin and
helplessness of the greatest patron of fire-worship, the Iranian emperor, must
have been moved and thought that the religion of which he was one of the
leaders, was about to be humiliated and ruined and with it he and the honor of
his family would vanish.
The hearth of Naubahar was one of
the four central hearths. This hearth commanded the greatest popularity and
grandeur for Balkh was considered to be the place of Lahrasap's slaughter,
Zoroaster's place of residence and the center of Zoroastrians. The Barmugh of
Naubahar commanded the greatest respect among the fire-worshipers and the
Iranians. In 31 A.H., the flood of the Muslim victors moved on to Merv sweeping
the plain and rolling off the mountains until they reached Balkh and the fire,
which was said to have been burning for thousands of years became extinct.
Neither the fire-worshippers survived nor the fireplace was needed any more. No
group was there to honor Barmugh nor was there income for his luxuries.
However, they maintained their title, Barmugh and the victorious Arabs
pronounced it as Barmuk.
It is incorrect to conclude that the
Arabs put a stop to the fire worshipper’s prayer and converted them to Islam by
force by demolishing Naubahar. Had the Muslims converted the fire worshippers
to Islam by force, they would have first converted Barmuk. They did not disturb
him rather the fire worshippers kept renouncing their religion and embracing
Islam by themselves. It was due to this conversion that the Muslims scored
victories wonderfully fast. Their arrival in Balkh meant the arrival of Islam
there and consequently, it led to the ruin of the hearth of Naubahar and its
Barmugh. Because Barmuk was the religious leader, he did not accept Islam for
the advent of Islam in the country had damaged him in all respects. He looked
on the Muslims in anger.
The Mongols and Turkish tribes along
the Chinese border, who had nothing to do with the Iranian nation and their
religion but were terrified of attacking Balkh, now began to raid.
Consequently, the same Mongol chiefs who promised to pay Jizyah to the Muslims
began to rule over Balkh and later on proved inconvenient to the Muslims when
they gained power. The Mongols removed all traces of fire worship from Balkh
and brought the Barmuk family to the level of the lowest section of the society
by dishonoring it. The Arabs did not stay there long and internal quarrels did
not let them turn their attention to the borders much and thus Balkh remained
the target of attacks by the Mongols. The Barmuk who had seen the good and
prosperous days of Naubahar hearth and the Zoroastrian kingdom, died.
His son, who was a follower of
Zoroaster, came to be known by the same name. Barmuk II had not seen the golden
days of Naubahar. In 86 A.H. when Qutaiba bin Muslim, the governor of Khorasan,
invaded Balkh, a few women were brought into captivity and became slaves.
Barmukh II's wife was among those who came into the share of Qutaiba bin
Muslim's brother Abdullah bin Muslim. After a short time there was
reconciliation with the people of Balkh, all the women and captives were
returned. So, Abdullah bin Muslim had also to return the women. At the time of
her departure she said to him, "I have been made pregnant by you."
When she reached Barmuk, she gave birth to a child who was Ja'far Barmuk's
grandfather named Khalid.
This narration may also be lumped
with the same fictitious and imaginary stories which are generally written by
wonder loving and wonder worshiping authors. However, Khalid was born at the
residence of Barmuk II either in 86 or 87 A.H. In 124 A.H., Imam Ibrahim Abbasi
sent Abu Muslim Khorasani as the officer and superintendent of his propagation.
Abu Muslim enrolled Khalid bin Barmuk in his group when he was forty. Abu
Muslim loved him very much and paid special attention to his training and
raising his status. When Abu Muslim sent a man from Khorasan and had Abu Salmah
Khâlal alias minister to the family of Mohammad murdered, he wrote to Saffah to
make Khâlid Barmuk his minister. Khalid Barmuk remained in that capacity until
Saffah's death. After Saffah when Mansoor Abbasi succeeded to the throne, he
retained him as his minister. In the first year of his caliphate, Mansoor had
Abu Muslim who was Khalid's patron, killed. Khalid did not show his resentment
or sorrow at his death.
But Mansoor taking precautionary
measures sent him out on the plea of stamping out a rebellion and appointed Abu
Ayub as his minister. Since Khalid did not show his stubbornness and disloyalty
in any respect, Caliph Mansoor did not neglect to utilize the services of such
an efficient and capable man. Khalid's future actions and attitude satisfied
Mansoor. Khalid had the experience of being a true disciple of a conspiring and
courageous man like Abu Muslim and was well versed in political matters. He
harbored dedication and love for Iran in his heart, he had seen with his own eyes
the end of Abu Muslim and while his heart was shedding tears of blood, he
assumed the posture of a man deeper than Abu Muslim and succeeded in concealing
his real intentions from an alert and discerning man like Caliph Mansoor. He
remained the ruler of the state of Mousil and the tutor to Mansoor's son. He
maintained his status until the end of his life. To be the tutor of Caliph
Mahdi proved highly beneficial to him and to his family.
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