The Sarbadars of Sabzavar: Re-Examining Their 'Shi'a' Roots and Alleged Goal to 'Destroy Khurasanian Sunnism'

It has been claimed that the Sarbadars were initially Shi'a, and had established a 'Shi'a republic' in Sabzavar. This article challenges that claim, and shows that the Sarbadar state only became Ithna-'ashari about 27 years after the rebellion. The confessionally mixed Sarbadar rebels allied with a Shi'a ghulat militia, and that association, coupled with the romanticization and politicization of the Sarbadars' rebellion, has distorted interpretations on the Sarbadars. It is hypothesized that this extremist militia was influenced by Isma'ili doctrines.