Notes:

Karaites in Persian Qarai’un, in English Qara’ism; meaning Readers [of Scripture]): In the Second century Hijri/ Eight century AD, the authoritarian rule of Rabbinic- Talmudic oligarchy (Hakhamim, Hakhams) caused opposition amongst Jews and led to the creation of a powerful movement against them. Leading this movement was Annan ibn Davoud (Anan ben David). Annan lived around 135- 159 Hijri (754- 775 AD) in Baghdad, during the time of the Abbasid Caliph Al Mansur. His followers were initially known as “Annan’ie” and later were named “Karaites”. Other Jews called them “Bani Mikra” or “Beile Mikra” (The tribe of Mikra). “Mikra” (מקרא) means “reading” or “that which is read”. This was because they recognized the original and early scriptures as the only valid source of religious wisdom and denied the oral tradition that the Rabbinical- Talmudic Jewish had spread in recent centuries. As written in Karaite documents, Hakhams first tried to gain support of Annan, but were unsuccessful. Annan was later imprisoned on orders of Caliph Al Mansur (Quite possibly due to the conspiracy of Jewish leaders). Abu Hanifa, one of the great Muslim Scholars, advised him in prison to talk about similarity of his views with Islamic ones in front of the Caliph and he was forgiven by doing so. Annan took some of his ideas from Islam and was influenced by Abu Hanifa. He was especially against the closed society of Jews and the forbiddance of relation with non-Jews. In the second half of the Ninth century AD, the ideas of Annan ibn Davoud were taken by Benyamin ibn Moosa (Benjamin ben Moses) Nahawandi and were formulated into an influential sect. (Nahavand is a city in Persia/ Iran.) His role in the sect was to such an extent that Arabic sources mention the sect as the “followers of Annan and Benjamin”. Between Eight to Eleventh century AD, the Karaites centre of activity was in the Arabian Peninsula and was later spread further among the Jews of Asia Minor. Among the Jews, Karaites were the most serious threat to the Hakhams (Hakhamim) and Rabbinical Oligarchy up until the coming of the European movement of Haskalah (enlightenment) in the late 18 century. The Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971, vol. 10, p. 764) mentions “the tremendous religious, political, and economic fermentation in the entire East, resulting from... the collision of Islam with world religions; and the social and economic grievances of the poorer classes of Jewry” as the main reason for founding of the Karaite sect. From the Fourth century Hijri/ Tenth century AD, a group of distinguished scholars came to being amongst the Karaites who wrote in Arabic and this sect became a powerful force among the Jews, seriously challenging the Rabbinical- Talmudic version of Judaism. At this time, the main centers of Karaites were in Persia (Iran), Mesopotamia, Al Qods (Palestine), Egypt and North Africa. It was at this time that Jewish Hakhams started writing books against Annan and Karaism. It is interesting to know that both the writings of the Karaites and those written against them by the Hakhamim were in Arabic. At the time of the Crusader oligarchy of Europe’s attack on Al Qods (second half of the 11th century AD), Crusader knights destroyed the centre of Karaites in Al Qods (Jerusalem) in the horrible fashion that was mentioned earlier. This was a heavy blow against the Karaites. From then until the 15th century AD Egypt became their main refuge. In the 14th to 16th centuries some of the Karaites were in the Asia Minor. In the 17 and 18 centuries their main centre was moved to Crimea and Lithuania. At the end of the 18 century these lands were added to the Russian Empire. At first, Russian rulers did not distinguish between Karaites and Talmudic Jews and treated both in the same fashion. It was from the time of Catherine the Second (The Great) that the difference between the Karaites and other Jews was discovered. Thereafter more attention was given to them and they received special treatments. At the time of Nicolai the First, Karaite leaders went to the Tsarist officials and announced that they are different from Rabbanites; that they are good citizens, industrious and politically loyal. Russian officials understood their distinguished position more and in 1863 gave them full Russian citizenship and rights. In 1932 their number was reported as ten thousand and they lived mostly in Crimea. At this time around 2000 Karaites lived outside of Russia in Poland, Constantinople, Al Qods (Palestine), Egypt and Mesopotamia (Iraq). In January of 1932 the government of Germany announced that it does not consider the Karaites Jewish. Therefore they were not harmed from Germany’s attacks during World War II. In 1970 the number of Karaites residing in Israel was reported as seven thousand, who mostly lived in Ramleh, Ashdod and Beer- Sheva.

Knights Templar: The Order of the Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon was at first name of a group of French knights which was formed in Al Qods (Jerusalem) in 1118 AD by the Crusaders. This group was gradually expanded and was formed into a mercenary military force that sold its services to the Crusader rulers. They rose greatly in military power and took charge of the transport of gold and other looted treasures from the East to Europe. After the end of the Crusades in 1291 they returned to Europe. Having got used to years of killing, caravan raiding and piracy, they naturally felt restless in their new surroundings. Therefore they kept their organization, chose for themselves a leader with the title of “The Grand Master” and continued their operations in a secret fashion. Their continued operation was considered a threat to the security of France and in 1304, Philip the 4th, King of France, ordered their arrest. Many of them were imprisoned and were tried in Papal and French courts. In 1312, Pope ordered the order to be closed down and King Philip publicly executed a number of the leaders of the group, including Jacques De Molay, the last “Grand Master” who was from the nobility. The remaining Templars fled to Portugal and created a new order called the “Knights of Christ”. This group had the main role in Portugal’s colonial activity in North Africa and the East and the later founding of Portugal’s colonial Empire. The flag of this group was the same as the one of the Knights Templar: a red cross on a white background, which today happens to be the flag of International Red Cross. In our time, the Knights Templar are an important branch of Freemasonry with their own special orders and conducts. For example, the Grand Master is called “The Grand commander”. In all Masonic sects, the name and memory of Jacques De Molay is greatly venerated and Philip the 4th is extremely hated.

Abdollah Shahbazi (b. 1955) is author of The Jew and Parsi Plutocrats: British Imperialism and Iran, 7 vol. in Persian:

Vol. 1 in two parts: 1- Overseas Plunder and the new Western Civilization, 2- Jews and the Jewish Oligarchy (543 pp.)

Vol. 2: The Jewish Oligarchy and the Formation of Global Plutocracy (625 pp.)

Vol. 3: Aristocracy and the new West (553 pp.)

Vol. 4: Early History of Freemasonry (586 pp.)

Vol. 5: Financial Aristocracy and the collapse of the Traditional Order (448 pp.)

Vol. 6 and 7 are about the Parsi sect, Parsi Oligarchy of India and the role of Global Plutocracy in the contemporary history of Iran (to be published).