Farrukhan the Great

Farrukhan the Great (in Persian: فرخان بزرگ, Farrukhan-e Bozorg; 712 - 728) was the independent ruler (ispahbadh) of Tabaristan in the early 8th century, until his death in 728. He is the first actually attested (through his coinage) member of the Dabuyid dynasty, which is traditionally held to have ruled Tabaristan since the time of the Muslim conquest of Persia. He maintained his independence against the attacks of the Umayyad Caliphate, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Dadhburzmihr.

Biography
Farrukhan was the son of Dabuya, and grandson of Gil Gavbara, a descendant of the Sasanian king Djamasp. Farrukhan may in reality be the true founder of Dabuyid rule in Tabaristan; more recent research places his assumption of power there in the 670s instead of the early 710s During his early reign he expanded his kingdom as far as Nishapur and surrounding areas around Tabaristan. The House of Karen and the House of Ispahbudhan came under his suzerainty. In a sense, the Sasanian-Parthian confederacy was recreated, but in a much smaller size. Farrukhan also put an end to the invasions by the Turks of Dihistan.

Farrukhan's kingdom was invaded by the Arab general Masqalah ibn Hubayrah al-Shaybani. Masqalah fought against Farrukhan with 4,000 men for two years until the Masqalah, along with his army, was defeated and massacred.

After having conquered all of Tabaristan, Qatari ibn al-Fuja'ah, an rebel and leader of the Kharijites, together with the rest of the leaders of the Kharijites, took refuge in Tabaristan with Farrukhan. Throughout the winter Farrukhan supplied the forces of Qatari ibn al-Fuja'ah with provisions, fodder and gifts, until their horses became well fed and they themselves strengthened. However, the Kharijites sent a ungrateful letter to Farrukhan saying: "Convert to our religion for otherwise we will take control of your region and commence war against you."

Meanwhile, an Arab general named Sufyan was sent to Tabaristan to capture Qatari ibn al-Fuja'ah and his men. When Sufyan reached Ray, Farrukhan had already taken his army to Damavand waiting for him. He then sent a message to Sufyan proposing to him that he would aid him in defeating Qatari in exchange for not being harassed in his region. Sufyan agreed to these conditions. The battle between Farrukhan's forces and Qatari's forces took place in Semnan where Farrukhan was victorious and the Kharijite leader was killed, according to a legendary report, by the Ispahbadh himself.

Qutayba ibn Muslim, the Arab commander who was notorious for being harsh in wars in Khorasan and Transoxiana, respected Farrukhan and was supported by him in his rivalry against Yazid ibn al-Muhallab. After Qutayba ibn Muslim had successfully conquered Khorasan and Transoxiana, Yazid ibn al-Muhallab rudely reminded him that he had not been able to do the same with Tabaristan. According to Ibn Isfandiyar, Qutaybah then recognized even more clearly that Yazid was his enemy and the Ispahbadh (Farrukhan) his friend. However the friendship of Farrukhan and Qutayba was not to last because in 715/716, Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik, the Umayyad caliph, ordered Qutaybah's murder. The caliph also encouraged Yazid ibn al-Muhallab to conquer Tabaristan himself.

In 716-717, Yazid ibn al-Muhallab prepared an army and set out to conquer Tabaristan. He invaded Gurgan and successfully conquered the city, and ordered the death of so many Iranians that their blood mixed with water would energize the millstone to produce as much as one day meal for him.

After having lost Gurgan, Farrukhan retreated to the mountains of Tabaristan. The Arab commander then captured Sari, and took over the palace of the Ispahbadh. Farrukhan fled to Daylam where he appealed for help to the King of Daylam who sent him 10,000 men. The Dailamite soldiers attacked the Arabs and surrounded them around the mountains and massacred 15,000 of them. On the promise of booty, the Turks invaded Gurgan and massacred the Arab population of Gurgan, including members of Muhallab's family. After being defeated and repelled out of Tabaristan, Yazid ibn al-Muhallab complained to Hayyan al-Nabati, a member of his own tribe, that: "It has been two years that we have been engaged in this ghazwa and jihad, and we cannot conquer the land single-handedly, and our people have lost their patience. No one accepts conversion. [Pray] seek a solution so that we can leave this region intact. We can take our vengeance on the population of Gurgan [in the future] and prepare ourselves for this on another occasion." Yazid was later dismissed and imprisoned by the caliph Umar II.

Farrukhan the Great died in 728 after sixteen years of rule and was succeeded by his son Dadhburzmihr.

Family
Farrukhan had 3 sons, whom were named Saruyih, Farrukhan the Little and Dadhburzmihr.

Contributions
During his early rule, he reconstructed the city of Zadracarta and made it his capital, and because his son's name was "Saruyih", he called it by this name, which later became known as Sari.