Banu Khorramdin
Banu Khorramdin or Bānu Xorram-Din (795 - 838) was the wife of Pāpak Khoramdin. Banu fought side by side with her husband Babak against the Abbasid Caliphate. Bānu and Pāpak are considered as one of the most heroic freedom fighters of Persia who initiated the Khurramite movement. It was a freedom fighting movement aimed to overthrow the Arab Caliphate and restore the Sassanians to the throne.[1] After the occupation of Persia by the Arabs, Banu and Babak worked as revolutionary resistance fighters leading the Persian Resistance Militia.
The famous female commando and revolutionary Banu, is to this day considered by most Iranians as a heroine. The central area of activity for Banu was Azerbaijan state of Persia. Banu was a temperamental woman and a very skilled archer, she grew up with her bow and arrows. According to some sources, Banu was Babak's partner in life and death, in war and peace. Between 816-837 A.D. occurred one of the most dramatic periods in the history of Iran which was set under Babak and Banu’s leadership.
During these most crucial years, they struggled against the Caliphate and refused their Arabian/Islamic customs. Eventually, Banu, Babak and their warriors were forced to leave Babak Fort after 23 years of constant successful campaigns which killed over 500,000 invading Arabs. Babak's mighty army "Red-Wearing Ones" (alternatively Persian: سرخ ژامگان Surx-Zhāmagān) was never defeated. They were eventually betrayed by one of their own officers (Afshin) and were handed over to the Arab Abbasid Caliphate.
References
- ↑ Said Nafisi, Babak Khorramdin Delāvar-e-Azarbaijan (Babak Khorramdin, the braveheart of Azerbaijan), Tabesh Publishers, Tehran 1955, pg 57, actual quote from Ibn Esanfiyar: Persian: من (مازیار) و افشين خيدر بن کاوس و بابک هر سه از دير باز عهد و بيعت کرده ايم و قرار داده بر آن که دولت از عرب بازستانيم و ملک و جهانداري با خاندان کسرويان نقل کنيم
