Mir-i Buzurg

Mir-i Buzurg
'Mir of the Marashis
Tomb of Mir-i Buzurg
Reign	1359–1362
Predecessor	Kiya Afrasiyab (Afrasiyabids)
Successor	Rida al-Din (Amol) Kamal al-Din I (Sari)
Born	Unknown Dabudasht
Died	1379 Mazandaran
Burial	Amol
House	Marashi
Religion	Twelver Shi'a Islam

Qavam al-Din ibn Abdallah al-Marashi (Persian: قوام‌الدین بن عبدالله مرعشی‎‎), better known as Mir Buzurg or Mir Bozorg (Persian: میربزرگ‎‎, Mīr-e Bozorg, lit. "The great Mir"), was the founder of the Marashi dynasty, ruling from 1359 to 1362.

Mir-i Buzurg belonged to a Sayyid family, he was the son of a certain Abdallah al-Marashi, who was the eponymous ancestor of the Marashi dynasty. Mir-i Buzurg, during his early life, lived in Dabudasht near Amol, which was then under Bavandid control. He studied religion and came into contact with Izz al-Din Sughandi, an influential sufi who was a pupil of Abd al-Razzaq ibn Fazlullah, the founder of the Sarbadars of Khorasan. Mir-i Buzurg later founded a Khanqah in Dabudasht and gained numerous followers. He also made a pilgrimage to the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad.

In 1359, the Bavand dynasty was put to an end by the Chulabi nobleman Kiya Afrasiyab who founded the Afrasiyab dynasty. However, the nobles of Mazandaran did not acknowledge his rule and viewed it as usurpation. Afrasiyab shortly tried to achieve stability by asking aid from Mir-i Buzurg. However, some of Mir-i Buzurg's dervishes later acted hostile to Afrasiyab, which made him imprison Mir-i Buzurg and many of his dervishes. However, the supporters of Mir-i Buzurg shortly revolted, and freed him from prison. In 1359, a battle between Afrasiyab and Mir-i Buzurg took place near Amol, where Afrasiyab was defeated and was killed together with his three sons.

Mir-i Buzurg shortly conquered the territories of the Afrasiyab dynasty, and laid foundations to the Marashis. The following year Afrasiyab's son Fakhr al-Din Chulabi murdered one of the sons of Mir-i Buzurg, which resulted in a massacre of most of the Afrasiyabid family. Another son of Afrasiyab, Iskandar-i Shaykhi, managed to escape the massacre and flee to Khorasan.