The Khurramites ( Khorram-Dīnân, meaning "those of the Joyful Religion") were an Iranian religious and political movement with its roots in the Zoroastrian sect founded by Mazdak. An alternative name for the movement is the Muḥammira (, "Red-Wearing Ones"; in 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". History The sect was founded in the 8th century CE by the Persian cleric Sunpadh as a revitalisation of an earlier sect that had mixed Shī‘a Islam and Zoroastrianism. However, its true claim to fame was its adoption by Babak Khorramdin as a basis to rebel against the Abbasid Caliphate. The sect grew out of a response to the execution of Abu Muslim by the Abbasids and denied that he had died but claimed that he would return as the Messiah. Their message was further confirmed by the appearance of the named al-Muqanna "The Veiled", who claimed that the spirit of God had existed in Muhammad, ‘Alī and Abu Muslim. According to al-Tabari, the name first appeared in 736 when the missionary Kedas, a Hasemite, adopted "Din al-Korramiya". After the Hasemite Revolution, the Khurramites fought as rebels under Sonbadh, Moqanna, Babak and other leaders in various cities and regions. The Khurramites in Azerbaijan were associated with Javidhan, a landlord who led one of the two Khurramite movements in Azerbaijan (from 807–808 to 816–817), with his headquarters being Badd Fort, near the Aras River. The leader of the other Khurramite movement was Abu Imran, who often clashed with Javidhan. During one of the clashes, probably in 816, Abu Imran was defeated and killed, and Javidhan was wounded and died three days later. Javidhan was succeeded by his heir, Babak Khorramdin, who married Javidhan's widow. Babak's participation in the Khorrami movement was summarised by Waqed: ″Two rich men named Javidhan b. Shahrak (or Shahrak) and Abu 'Emran were then living in the highland around the mountain of Badd and contending for the leadership of the highland's Khorrami inhabitants. Javidhan, when stuck in the snow on his way back from Zanjān to Badd, had to seek shelter at Balalabad and happened to go into the house of Babak's mother. Being poor, she could only light a fire for him, while Babak looked after the