Suppression Guide: Analysis of the Story of Mazdak in Siyāsatnāmeh Based on New Historicism

Summoning and recalling the past is the result of social and political crises of the present. In order to legitimize and confirm the rulers, Muslim writers tried to match the schemas of ancient times with their contemporary examples. In such adaptation, the existing king was compared to the ideal king and his performance was compared to that of the Golden Age of Iran. The centralized and organized historiography of the Sassanids narrated the story of Mazdak in order to legitimize the power and performance of the Sassanids and created an ideal image of the era of Anushirvān and his justice. Khājeh Nizām al-Mulk, who was in charge of the ministry in a turbulent era, was searching for an ideal government in the era of Anushirvān. To deal with the Ismaili movement, he resorted to the example of the killing of the Mazdakians by the Sassanid government in the final part of Siyāsatnāmeh, and by reconstructing the historical patterns, he not only confirmed the killing of the Mazdakians, but also legitimized the suppression of the Seljuk opponents.