The End of Mazdak

Two days ago I promised you a grisly end to Mazdak and his followers. Yesterday was the set-up: Iranian Emperor Kavad tried to be tolerant of Mazdak, a priest who preached a doctrine that was not in line with orthodox Zoroastrianism.Kavad reached a point where support of Mazdak was detrimental to Kavad's rule. He arranged a debate over the tenets of Mazdakism. Not only Zoroastrian priests, but also Jewish and Christian representatives were invited to all denigrate Mazdak and his beliefs.Kavad sent Mask and all his followers to his son, Khosrow (who would later succeed Kavad as emperor). Kavad's eldest son, Kawus, was a supporter of Mazdakism, and could not be entrusted to do what had to be done.What happened next was not recorded at the time. The Shahnameh, an epic poem by a Persian in the 10th century (in fact, the longest epic poem in the world created by a single author), tells us what transpired. Khosrow took 3000 followers to a walled garden, where he had them "planted" head-down…