Sasanian EmpireThe Sasanian Empire (səˈsɑːniən,_səˈseɪniən), officially known as Eranshahr ("Land/Empire of the Iranians"), was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th–8th centuries AD. Named after the House of Sasan, it endured for over four centuries, from 224 to 651 AD, making it the longest-lived Persian imperial dynasty. The Sasanian Empire succeeded the Parthian Empire, and re-established the Persians as a major power in late antiquity alongside its neighbouring arch-rival, the Roman Empire (after 395 the Byzantine Empire).
KhurramitesThe Khurramites (خرمدینان Khorram-Dīnân, meaning "those of the Joyful Religion") were an Iranian religious and political movement with its roots in the Zoroastrian movement of Mazdakism. An alternative name for the movement is the Muḥammira (محمرة, "Red-Wearing Ones"; in سرخجامگان Sorkh-Jâmagân), a reference to their symbolic red dress. The Qizilbash ("Red-Heads") of the 16th century – a religious and political movement in Azerbaijan that helped to establish the Safavid dynasty – were reportedly the "spiritual descendants of the Khurramites".
CommunismCommunism (from Latin communis) is a left-wing to far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered around common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange that allocates products to everyone in the society based on need. A communist society would entail the absence of private property and social classes, and ultimately money and the state (or nation state).
MazdakismMazdakism was an Iranian religion, which was an offshoot of Zoroastrianism. The religion has been called one of the most noteworthy examples of pre-modern communism. The religion was founded in the early Sasanian Empire by Zardusht, a Zoroastrian mobad who was a contemporary of Mani (d. 274). However, it is named after its most prominent advocate, Mazdak, who was a powerful and controversial figure during the reign of Emperor Kavad I (498-531). Mazdakism was a dualistic religion that appeared to be influenced by Manichaeism.
QarmatiansThe Qarmatians (Qarāmiṭa; قرمطیان) were a militant Isma'ili Shia movement centred in al-Hasa in Eastern Arabia, where they established a religious- and as some scholars claimed proto-socialist or utopian socialist state in 899 CE. Its members were part of a movement that adhered to a syncretic branch of Sevener Ismaili Shia Islam, and were ruled by a dynasty founded by Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi, a Persian from Jannaba in coastal Fars.
HeresyHeresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam has at times been met with censure ranging from excommunication to the death penalty. Heresy is distinct from apostasy, which is the explicit renunciation of one's religion, principles or cause; and from blasphemy, which is an impious utterance or action concerning God or sacred things.
QizilbashQizilbash or Kizilbash (Qızılbaş; قزيل باش; Qezelbāš; Kızılbaş kɯzɯɫbaʃ) were a diverse array of mainly Turkoman Shia militant groups that flourished in Azerbaijan, Anatolia, the Armenian highlands, the Caucasus, and Kurdistan from the late 15th century onwards, and contributed to the foundation of the Safavid dynasty in early modern Iran. The word Qizilbash derives from Turkish Kızılbaş, meaning "red head".
Dualism in cosmologyDualism in cosmology or dualistic cosmology is the moral or spiritual belief that two fundamental concepts exist, which often oppose each other. It is an umbrella term that covers a diversity of views from various religions, including both traditional religions and scriptural religions. Moral dualism is the belief of the great complement of, or conflict between, the benevolent and the malevolent. It simply implies that there are two moral opposites at work, independent of any interpretation of what might be "moral" and independent of how these may be represented.
NishapurInfobox settlement | official_name = Neyshabur | native_name = | settlement_type = City | other_name = Raēvant (), Abarshahr (), Shadiyakh () | image_skyline = Nishapur, officially romanized as Neyshabur, (; from Middle Persian "New-Shapuhr", meaning: "The New City of Shapur", "The Fair Shapur", or "The Perfect built of Shapur") is the second-largest city of Razavi Khorasan Province in the Northeast of Iran.