Dualistic religion that arose in Iran in the late 5th cent AD.
Its origins are uncertain, and no Mazdakite scriptures survive. It is named for Mazdak, its main Persian proponent in the 5th century, who converted the Sasanid king Kavadh I. It held that there were two original principles, Light (or Good) and Darkness (or Evil), which accidentally became mixed, producing the world. Humans' duty was to strive to release Light in the world through moral conduct. Mazdakism was suppressed in the 6th century by Persian nobles and Zoroastrian clergy who objected to its tenets concerning the common holding of property and women, but it survived in secret until the 8th century. See also dualism , Zoroastrianism and Parsiism .