Zaydī Rule in Gīlān and Daylamān under Ḥasan-i Ṣabbāḥ

The present paper seeks to shed light on the role of Zaydī imams in Gīlān and Daylamān on the eve of the foundation of the Nizārī Ismāʿīlī state. Though being a very fragmented force divided by several splits and regional disputes, Zaydīs remained present at the very beginning of the Nizārī Ismāʿīlī period before and after 1100 in Gīlān and Daylamān, and they were very much opposed to the emerging Nizārī Ismāʿīlī state. Being an early Šīʿī branch, Zaydīs had established themselves in Gīlān before 800 and remained there until the first half of the 16th century. This paper’s aim is to give an overview of this highly complex Zaydī local political network of Northern Iran constituted of local nativist converts and imams of ʿAlid descent.