Among the eminent men who died that same year were: ʿĀṣim ibn ʿAlī (1); ʿAbd Allah ibn Maslamah al-Qaʿnabī (2); ʿAbdān (3); and Hishām ibn ʿUbayd Allah al-Rāzī (4).
Then the year 222 AH began.
During it al-Muʿtaṣim dispatched a large army as reinforcements for al-Afshīn in his war against the Khurramiyyah, and he sent him thirty million dirhams to cover the expenses of the troops and their retainers.
That same year al-Afshīn and the Khurramiyyah fought a mighty battle. Al-Afshīn captured al-Badh (5), the city of Bābak, and put it to the sack—praise be to Allah. The conquest took place on Friday with ten days remaining in Ramadan, after a long siege, terrifying campaigns, fierce fighting, and strenuous effort; Imām Abū Jaʿfar (6) has recorded the details at great length. In short, al-Afshīn took the town and seized all the wealth it contained.
An account of the capture, imprisonment, and execution of Bābak the Khurramī
When the Muslims gained control of his town, al-Badh—the seat of his dominion and the center of his power—he fled with the members of his household and children, accompanied by his mother and his wife. He withdrew with only a small band of servants, and their provisions soon ran out. Passing by a farmer,
(1) Asim ibn Ali ibn Asim al-Wasti, known as Abu al-Husayn or Abu al-Hasan al-Taymi, was a trustworthy ḥāfiẓ and a student of Shuʿbah. He traveled to Baghdad, where crowds so overwhelmed him that his assembly was surrounded by one hundred thousand people. See Siyar A‘lam al-Nubalā’ (9:262) and Tahdhib al-Tahdhib (5:49).
(2) In the editions and printed sources, “Muslim” is confirmed by the editor as referring to ʿAbdallāh ibn Maslama ibn Qaʿnab al-Ḥārith al-Madānī al-Qaʿnabī, known as Abu ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān, the steadfast imam and Shaykh al-Islām, who resided first in Basra and later in Mecca. He is regarded as the most reliable transmitter of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ. See Siyar A‘lam al-Nubalā’ (10:257), al-ʿIbar (1:382), and Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb (1:451).
(3) ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿUthmān ibn Jabalah ibn Abī Rawwād al-ʿAtkī, known as Abu ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān al-Marwī and nicknamed ʿAbdān, was an imam, a ḥāfiẓ, and a muhaddith of Marw, considered reliable. See Siyar A‘lam al-Nubalā’ (10:270) and Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb (1:432).
(4) The Sunni jurist, one of the Imams of the Sunnah, was among the great authorities in knowledge and was deemed trustworthy. See Siyar A‘lam al-Nubalā’ (10:446).
(5) “Al-Bazz” was a district between Azerbaijan and Arrān, from which Bābak al-Khurramī rebelled during Caliph al-Muʿtaṣim’s reign. See Yāqūt.
(6) Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, History (9:29–51).