BAḎḎ

 

BAḎḎ or BAḎḎAYN (perhaps two places), a mountainous region (kūra) in Azerbaijan and a center of Ḵorramīs (Ebn al-Nadīm, ed. Tajaddod, pp. 406-07). There was located the castle of Baḏḏ, which became the residence and headquarters of Bābak-e Ḵorramī (q.v.) during his revolt against the ʿAbbasid caliphate (201/816-222/837). Baḏḏ was located between Azerbaijan and Arrān, close to the river Aras (Masʿūdī, Morūj II, p. 75; VI, p. 187; VII, pp. 62-63, 123-24; Abū Dolaf, p. 6; Yāqūt, I, p. 529), one parasang from Ardabīl (Ebn Ḵordāḏbeh, p. 121; Nafīsī, p. 37: 21 parasangs). Its sunless and foggy climate is mentioned by Abū Dolaf and Yāqūt (loc. cit.). The remains of Baḏḏ, currently known as Qaḷʿa-ye Jomhūr (probably named after the neighboring Jomhūr mountains), according to the report of the Archeological Mission (summer 1345 Š./1966) lie 50 km from Ahar on a western branch of the Qarasū river, 3 km southwest of Kalībar. The remaining building is composed of a castle and a palace on the top of a mountain, 2,300-2,600 meters above sea level, surrounded by 400-600 meter deep valleys. There is only a narrow and arduous path to the castle, which made it inaccessible during Bābak’s revolt. The position of the castle, the watch-towers, the furnaces, and its solid building show the military importance of Baḏḏ (see the illustrations in Kāmbaḵš-e Fard). The castle was conquered and ruined by Afšīn’s army on 9 Ramażān 222/15 August 837. It has been mentioned and described by Arab poets such as Ḥosayn b. Żaḥḥāk Bāhelī, Abū Tammām, and Boḥtorī (Ṭabarī, III, p. 1256; Ebn Ḵordāḏbeh, p. 121; Masʿūdī, Tanbīh, pp. 93, 160; Yāqūt, loc. cit.). Abū Dolaf (loc. cit.) saw Ḵorramīs in Baḏḏ in the middle of the 4th/10th century expecting the Mahdī.

 

Bibliography:

Abū Dolaf Mesʿar b. Mohalhel Ḵazrajī, al-Resāla al-ṯānīa, ed. V. Minorsky, Cairo, 1955, p. 6; Pers. tr.

S. A. Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Tehran, 1354 Š./1975, pp. 46-47.

Ebn Ḵordāḏbeh, pp. 120-21.

G. Flügel, “Bābek, seine Abstammung und erstes Auftreten,” ZDMG 23, 1869, p. 539 n. 1.

S. Kāmbaḵš-e Fard, “Qaḷʿa-ye Jomhūr yā dež-e Baḏḏ,” Honar o mardom 50, Āḏar, 1345 Š./December, 1966, pp. 2-6.

Idem, Barrasīhā-ye tārīḵī 1/4, Dey, 1345 Š./January, 1967, pp. 6-28.

A. Kasrawī, Šahrīārān-e gomnām, 3rd ed., Tehran, 1353 Š./1974, p. 153.

M. J. Maškūr, Naẓar-ī be tārīḵ-e Āḏarbāyjān, Tehran, 1349 Š./1970, pp. 149, 401-02.

Masʿūdī, Morūj II, p. 95, VI, p. 187, VII, pp. 62-63, 123-24, 468; idem, Tanbīh, Beirut, 1981, pp. 93, 160.

S. Nafīsī, Bābak-e Ḵorramdīn, 2nd ed., Tehran, 1342 Š./1963, pp. 37-39.

Gh. Sadighi, Les mouvements religieux iraniens au IIe et au IIIe siècle de l’hégire, Paris, 1938, pp. 242-43, 274, 277-78.

S. J. Torābī Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Āṯār-e bāstānī-e Āḏarbāyjān, Tehran, 1355 Š./1976, pp. 466-71.

Yāqūt, Boldān I, pp. 528-30.

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 بذ  بذین

(Ḡ. -Ḥ. Yūsofī)

Originally Published: December 15, 1988

Last Updated: August 19, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. III, Fasc. 4, p. 366

Cite this entry:

Ḡ.-Ḥ Yusofi, “Baḏḏ,” Encyclopaedia Iranica Online, 1988; available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/badd.