Farrukhan the Little

Farrukhan the Little (Persian: Farrukhan-e Kuchak), also surnamed the Deaf (Korbali), was a member of the Dabuyid dynasty, which ruled Tabaristan as independent monarchs in the century after the Muslim conquest of Persia. The brother of the ispahbadh Dadhburzmihr, Farrukhan governed Tabaristan between 740/41 and 747/48 as regent for his underage nephew, Khurshid.

Farrukhan was the younger son of Farrukhan the Great (died ca. 728), the first ruler (ispahbadh) of the Dabuyid dynasty from whose reign coins are known. According to the traditional account, the Dabuyids had established themselves as the quasi-independent rulers of Tabaristan in the 640s, during the tumults of the Muslim conquest of Persia and the collapse of the Sassanid Empire. They owed only the payment tribute and nominal vassalage to the Arab Caliphate, and managed, despite repeated Muslim attempts at invasion, to maintain their autonomy by exploiting the inaccessible terrain of their country. A more recent interpretation of the sources by P. Pourshariati, however, supports that Farrukhan the Great was the one who actually established the family's rule over Tabaristan, sometime in the 670s.

Farrukhan the Great was succeeded by his eldest son, Dadhburzmihr, who died in 740/41. He was succeeded by his son, Khurshid, but he was only six years old. Shortly before his death, Dadhburzmihr appointed Farrukhan the Little as regent until Khurshid came of age. Farrukhan effectively ruled Tabaristan for the next eight years, but this is not reflected in the coinage of the period, with coins struck solely in Khurshid's name from 741 on. Farrukhan's regency coincides with recorded attempts by the Dabuyids to strengthen their position vis-á-vis the Umayyad Caliphate; they used the turmoil of the Third Islamic Civil War to rebel against Caliph Marwan II (r. 744–750), and even sent an embassy to the Tang court in 746, which recognized him ("king Hu-lu-ban") as a vassal prince.

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