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The Daylamites or Dailamites (Middle Persian: Daylamīgān; Deylamiyān) were an Iranian peoples inhabiting the Daylam—the mountainous regions of northern Iran on the southwest coast of the Caspian Sea, now comprising the southeastern half of Gilan Province.
The Daylamites were warlike people skilled in close combat. They were employed as soldiers during the Sasanian Empire and in the subsequent Muslim empires. Daylam and Gilan were the only regions to successfully resist the Muslim conquest of Persia, although many Daylamite soldiers abroad accepted Islam. In the 9th century many Daylamites adopted Zaidiyyah. In the 10th century some adopted Isma'ilism, then in the 11th century Fatimid Isma'ilism and subsequently Nizari Isma'ilism. Both the Zaidis and the Nizaris maintained a strong presence in Iran up until the 16th century rise of the Safavids who espoused the Twelver sect of Shia Islam. In the 930s, the Daylamite Buyid dynasty emerged and managed to gain control over much of modern-day Iran, which it held until the coming of the Seljuk Turks in the mid-11th century.
They spoke the Daylami language, a now-extinct Northwestern Iranian language similar to that of the neighbouring Gilaks. During the Sasanian Empire, they were employed as high-quality infantry.Farrokh (2007), pp. 201, 224, 231 According to the Byzantine Empire historians Procopius and Agathias, they were a warlike people and skilled in close combat, being armed each with a sword, a shield, and spears or .
The equipment of the Dailamites of the Sasanian army included swords, shield, battle-axe ( tabar-zīn), slings, daggers, pikes, and two-pronged javelins ( zhūpīn). (2025). 9788362447220, Publishing House of Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities. ISBN 9788362447220
Daylamites also took part in the siege of Nokalakevi in 552. They supported the rebellion of Bahrām Chōbin against Khosrow II, but he later employed an elite detachment of 4000 Daylamites as part of his guard. They also distinguished themselves at the Yemeni campaign of Wahriz and in the battles against the forces of Justin II.
Some Muslim sources maintain that following the Sasanian defeat in the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah, the 4000-strong Daylamite contingent of the Sasanian guard, along with other Iranian units, defected to the Arab side, converting to Islam.Farrokh (2007), p. 269
Shortly after 781, the Nestorian monk Shubhalishoʿ began evangelizing the Daylamites and converting them to Christianity. He and his associates made only a little headway before encountering competition from Islam., p. 166. During the reign of Harun al-Rashid (r. 785–809), several Shia Islam fled to the largely pagan Daylamites, with a few Zoroastrians and Christians, to escape persecution. Among these refugees were some Alids, who began the gradual conversion of the Daylamites to Shia Islam.Farrokh (2007), pp. 274-275 Nevertheless, a strong Iranian identity remained ingrained in the peoples of the region, along with an anti-Arab mentality. Local rulers such as the Buyid dynasty and the Ziyarid dynasty, made a point of celebrating old Iranian and Zoroastrian festivals.
In the mid 9th century, the Abbasid Caliphate increased its need for mercenary soldiers in the Royal Guard and the army, thus they began recruiting Daylamites, who at the period were not as strong in numbers as the Turks, Greater Khorasan, the Fergana Valley, and the tribesmen of the Maghariba. From 912/3 to 916/7, a Daylamite soldier, Ali ibn Wahsudhan, was chief of police ( shurta) in Isfahan during the reign of al-Muqtadir (r. 908–929). For many decades, "it remained customary for the Caliph's personal guards to include the Daylamites as well as the ubiquitous Turks".Bosworth (1975) The Buyid dynasty amīrs, who were Daylamite themselves, supplemented their army of Daylamite infantrymen with Turkic cavalrymen. Daylamites were among the people comprising the Seljuq Empire army, and Ghaznavid Empire also employed them as elite infantry.Bosworth (1986)
Islamic sources record their characteristic painted shields and two-pronged short spears (in zhūpīn; in mizrāq) which could be used either for thrusting or for hurling as a javelin. Their characteristic battle tactic was advancing with a shield wall and using their spears and battle-axes from behind.
A present-day Iranian ethnic group that probably goes back to the Daylamites are the Zazas. Zazas and Zazaki. zazaki.de, April 26, 2021 The Zaza refer to themselves as Dimli or Dimla,Garnik S. Asatrian: Dimlī. ] In: Encyclopædia Iranica, November 28, 2011 which is derived from the word Daylam according to a linguistic theory introduced by Friedrich Carl Andreas.Vladimir Fjodorowitsch Minorski: La Domination de Daylamites. (1931) English translation at ResearchGate, July 2015
This is also supported by the fact that Agathias in the 6th century describes the Daylamites (literally "Dilimnites") as "one of the largest nations on the other side of the Tigris, whose territory borders on Persia". This area is the present-day settlement area of the Dimli or Zaza.
The Daylamites exaggeratedly mourned over their dead, and even over themselves in failure. In 963, the Buyid ruler of Iraq, Mu'izz al-Dawla, popularized Mourning of Muharram in Baghdad, which may have played a part in the evolution of the ta'zieh.
Estakhri describes the Daylamites as a bold but inconsiderate people, being thin in appearance and having fluffy hair. They practised agriculture and had , but only a few horses. They also grew rice, fished, and produced textile. According to al-Muqaddasi, the Daylamites were handsome and had beards. According to the author of the Hudud al-'Alam, the Daylamite women took part in agriculture like men. According to Rudhrawari, they were "equals of men in strength of mind, force of character, and participation in the management of affairs." Furthermore, the Daylamites also strictly practised endogamy.
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