Bazān

Bazān, the Iranian ruler of Yemen by the order of Khosrow Parviz (the Sassanid king), his father was Salman but in other sources his name is “Mehran” or “Sasan” and is attributed to Sassanids. Bazān was an Iranian ruler of Yemen who ruled over Hedjaz and Tihama in Arabia. All the rulers were supposed to give reports on the events in Arabia. Therefore Bazān sent a letter to Khosrow Parviz and informed him of appearance of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad and his followers in Tihama. There is not information on reaction of Khosrow Parviz to this news. ####Then the Prophet wrote a letter to the king and invited him to Islam, but Khosrow Parviz became angry and by a letter ordered Bazān to send some of his persons to Hedjaz in order to arrest or kill the Prophet. Therefore Bazān sent a letter with a group to the Prophet to talk with him. The Prphet kept the group in Medina and then informed them that Khosrow Parviz was killed by his son “Shiruyeh”. The Prophet also suggested Bazān embracing Islam, so that he will remain in the same position (ruler of Yemen), then sent a valuable present for him.

Bazān’s reaction
Bazān announced that if the Prophet is right, he will embrace Islam sooner than other rulers. He received Shiruyeh’s letter in which was written about the murdur of Khosrow and had also ordered to not to bother the Prophet. Following this letter, Bazān and many Iranians of Yemen embraced Islam. Bazān then wrote a letter to the Prophet and informed him that he and others embraced Islam. So the Prophet as he had promissed, appointed him as the ruler of the whole Yemen. The first mosque of Yemen was built in the Bazān’s lands. Bazān is the first non-Arab Muslim ruler and the first king of Yemen and also his companions were the first Iranian group who embraced Islam.

His death
There are different oppinions on his death date. Some say, he died in 631, but according to other sources, he was killed by “Aswad Anasi” (a polytheist) in Medina and then Aswad married to his wife. So Bazān never saw the Prophet, because he was killed on the way going to visit him. After his death, the Prophet divided Yemen among some rulers and appointed Bazān’s son as “Shahr Ibn Bazān” as the ruler of Sanaa.

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