THE RISE OF ISLĀM AND INVASIONS OF THE ARABS
At the end of the sixth century the western shore of Arabia was
inhabited by tribes of Semitic descent, who possessed a complex
religion and some literary culture. The capital was Mekka, to the north
of Arabia Felix,[73] an ancient city which nestled round a temple
called the Ka`ba, or Cube. In this holy of holies was a black stone,
probably a meteorite, which served as a tribal fetish, and attracted
hosts of pilgrims from the southern provinces of the peninsula. The
family who had charge of the temple belonged to the priestly tribe of
Koraysh, and one of its members was the future prophet Mohammed. While
a youth he gained an insight into the habits of men of various creeds,
not only as an inhabitant of Mekka, whither merchants and pilgrims of
widely different creeds and nationalities flocked, but as a frequent
attendant on caravans during distant journeys to the north. The
impression left on his mind was that the religions of the Christian and
the Jew had far greater vitality than the lukewarm idolatry of his own
people.[74]
At the age of twenty-four he entered the service of a middle-aged
widow named Khadīja, who carried on a large caravan trade, and he
found such favour in her eyes that she offered to become his wife.
Mohammed, being by this marriage assured of a competence for life,
withdrew from the world and began to cast about him for the means of
raising the debased moral standard of his countrymen. The conception of
a Messiah, which enabled the Hebrews to bear their many afflictions,
and of the Comforter promised by Jesus, worked so strongly upon
his powerful imagination that he was at length convinced that he
himself was the chosen one for whom the world was waiting. Catalepsy,
which frequently threw him into long trances, led his superstitious
neighbours to believe that he held commune with higher powers. At
the age of forty[75] Mohammed came before the Eastern world with his
simple gospel: “There is but _one_ God, Allah, and Mohammed is his
Prophet.” At first none but a few of his closest associates believed
in his mission, and so much opposition did he encounter that he was
obliged to flee from Mekka to the town of Medīna, 270 miles northwards.
This was on the 6th of July A.D. 622, which has been taken as the
starting-point of the Mohammedan era.[76] And fitly so, for it was the
turning-point of Mohammed’s great career. The once flouted visionary
gained hosts of adherents in Medīna and the surrounding country, and
spared no effort to consolidate his influence by appeals to the latent
fanaticism of the Arab character. He continued to utter rhapsodies
which, two years after his death, were collected and divided into
chapters and verses under the name of the Koran, and became the
foundation of the religious and civil codes of his followers.
Mekka soon recognised his mission, and after a fierce struggle with
many vicissitudes the whole of Arabia accepted Islām.[77]
At the time of Mohammed’s death, which took place in the 16th year of
his Hijra, or A.D. 632, the creed which he had formulated was still a
religious rather than a worldly power. But it had profoundly stirred
the impetuous, highly strung Arab temperament, which was vaguely
conscious of possessing immense hidden force, and of a boundless sphere
for its exercise in the worn-out empires which bounded their peninsula.
A leader alone was wanted to focus and direct the aspirations
engendered by the dead Prophet’s teachings, and one was found in the
person of Abū Bekr, Mohammed’s father-in-law and earliest convert. He
was proclaimed as the Khalīfa,[78] or successor of the Prophet, and was
the first of that long line of sovereigns who, like the Tsars of our
own age, wielded unquestioned spiritual and temporal power, and, like
them, became prominent factors in the history of the Eastern world.
The new-born creed soon showed its strongly militant character. Led
by Khālid, a pillar of Islām who won by his prowess the title of the
Sword of God, the Arabs defeated a Roman army with heavy loss, and took
Damascus. In six years the whole of Syria and Palestine passed under
their sway. Persia was the next object of attack. The Zoroastrians
struggled long and desperately for their independence, but in 639 they
suffered a crushing defeat at Nahāvend, a battle which must rank high
amongst those which have influenced the current of the world’s history.
Yezdijerd, the last of the Sāsānian dynasty, fled through Sīstān and
Khorāsān to Merv. Here he found no safe asylum, for the governor sent
news of his arrival to the Turks, and the Khākān advanced in person
to seize so rich a prize. The fugitive became aware of the intended
treachery, and concealed himself in a mill near the city. The owner
received him with apparent kindness, but was tempted by the splendour
of the king’s accoutrements to kill him while he slept. He severed
Yezdijerd’s head from his body, which he cast into the mill stream.[79]
[Illustration: THE RAHLA, OR READING-DESK
OUTSIDE THE MOSQUE OF BĪBĪ KHĀNŪM, SAMARKAND]
The immediate results of the battle of Nahāvend were disastrous to
civilisation. Persia was traversed in all directions by bands of
marauding Arabs, and the miserable inhabitants suffered as severely
as they had suffered at the hands of the Mazdakites. “The Caliph
Othman,”[80] writes Gibbon,[81] “promised the government of Khorāsān to
the first general who should enter that large and populous country, the
kingdom of the ancient Bactrians. The condition was accepted, the prize
was deserved; the standard of Mahomet was planted on the walls of
Herāt, Merou, and Balkh; and the successful leader neither halted nor
reposed till his foaming cavalry had tasted the waters of the Oxus.”
The ill-cemented power of the Caliph was more adapted for conquest than
assimilation, and its area overrun by his undisciplined hordes was too
vast to be held in permanent subjection. Conscious of their weakness,
the Arabs spared no efforts to spread the tenets of Islām, which alone
was capable of welding together communities differing widely in race,
language, and customs. From this epoch dates the decline of the creed
of Zoroaster throughout Persia and the countries of Central Asia. The
assassination of the Caliph `Omar by a Persian slave was the signal for
a general insurrection throughout this loosely knitted empire. This
was not finally quelled till A.H. 31 (652), when Ibn `Āmir gained a
victory over the Persians at Khwārazm on the Oxus, and compelled the
country as far as Balkh to acknowledge the Caliph’s suzerainty.[82] In
A.H. 41 (661) `Abdullah ibn `Āmir organised a successful expedition
into Khorāsān and Sīstān;[83] and in the course of the following
year Kays ibn al-Haytham was sent thither as provincial governor. He
was superseded in A.H. 43 (663) by `Abdullah ibn Khāzim. In A.H. 45
(665) Ziyād, whom in the preceding year the Great Caliph Mo`awiya
had officially recognised as his brother, was made governor of Basra
and “the East.” Al-Hakam ibn `Āmir al-Ghifārī was sent in A.H. 47
(667) on an expedition into Khorāsān. He occupied Tokhāristān and
the country south and south-east of Balkh as far as the Hindu Kush,
and was, moreover, the first Arabian general to cross the Oxus.[84]
Al-Hakam died at Merv in A.H. 50 (670), on his return from an
expedition against the people of Mount Ashall.[85] In the following
year Rabī` ibn Ziyād[86] el-Hārithī was sent to Khorāsān to succeed
him.[87] About this date many Arabs migrated with their families to
Khorāsān and settled there.[88] Rabī`’s first care was the reduction
of Balkh, which had been the scene of a revolt, and this he effected
without resorting to force. He also engaged the Turks in Kūhistān,
and put them to rout. Among the fugitives was Nīzak Tarkhūn,[89] who
perished later at the hands of Kutayba ibn Muslim. Rabī` also crossed
the Oxus, but made no conquests on the farther side.[90] His death, and
that of his master Ziyād, took place in A.H. 53 (673). He named his
son `Abdullah as his successor, but the latter died two months later,
and was succeeded by Khulayd ibn `Abdullah el-Hanafī. On the death of
Ziyād the Caliph gave the governments of Kūfa, Basra, and Khorāsān to
his own son `Ubaydullah, while he appointed Ziyād’s son `Ubaydullah,
in supersession of Khulayd, as his lieutenant in Khorāsān. `Ubaydullah
ibn Ziyād collected an army in Irāk, entered Khorāsān and, crossing
the Oxus, penetrated into the mountains of Bokhārā,[91] and conquered
Rāmtīna and half of Baykand. The Turks of Bokhārā were at that time
governed by a princess named Khātūn, who acted as regent during the
minority of her son Tughshāda. On the approach of the Arabs with an
overwhelming force, Khātūn fled to Samarkand. According to Tabari,[92]
so great was her haste that one of her shoes was left behind. It
fell into the hands of the Arabs, and was valued by them at 200,000
direms.[93]
Diplomacy gained for Bokhārā what arms could never have accomplished.
Khātūn saved the evacuation of her capital by entering into a treaty
by which she bound herself to pay a yearly tribute.[94] `Ubaydullah
withdrew to Merv laden with booty, and on his return to Irāk was
appointed by the Caliph Mo`awiya, governor of Basra. In A.H. 56 (676)
Sa`īd ibn `Othman, who had superseded him in Khorāsān, determined to
complete the conquest of Bokhārā, in spite of the treaty concluded
by his predecessor. The Queen-Regent Khātūn was powerless to resist
the invasion, for she had reason to doubt the loyalty of her troops,
and her resources had been well-nigh exhausted in her struggle with
`Ubaydullah. She therefore came to terms with Sa`īd by the surrender
of the last shreds of her sovereignty in Bokhārā. But Samarkand, the
wealthiest of its strongholds, was still unmastered. Sa`īd ibn `Othman
embarked on a campaign for its reduction, carrying with him eighty
Bokhārān nobles as hostages for their queen’s good behaviour. After
several successful engagements with the Turks he stormed Samarkand[95]
and carried off 30,000 prisoners, with much booty.[96] When Sa`īd
passed through Bokhārā on his return to Khorāsān the queen demanded
back the eighty hostages, but he replied that he did not yet feel sure
of her good faith, and that he would not part with the Bokhārāns until
he had crossed the Amū Daryā. At this stage of his march the queen sent
messengers to repeat her demand, but she was informed by Sa`īd that
the hostages should be sent back from Merv. Thus he continued to elude
compliance, and finally dragged his wretched captives to Medīna. Here
they were stripped of the attire proper to their rank and reduced to
a condition of slavery. Preferring death to an ignominious existence,
the desperadoes broke into Sa`īd’s palace, and, closing fast the doors,
slew him and afterwards themselves. This tragedy occurred in A.H. 61
(680), under the Caliphate of Yezīd ibn Merwān, who had succeeded his
father Mo`awiya in the previous year.
One of the Caliph’s first acts had been to appoint Salm ibn Ziyād
as his lieutenant in Khorāsān.[97] The latter found the northern
part of his charge a prey to revolt, for the restless Khātūn had
taken advantage of dissension among the Caliph’s followers to throw
off his hated yoke. Salm took council with a trusted general named
Muhallab,[98] and, establishing a base at Merv, crossed the Oxus
with[99] a force 6000 strong and moved rapidly on to Bokhārā. The
queen, in her despair, turned to the Tarkhūn Malik of Soghd, to whom
she promised her hand in marriage as the price of his alliance against
the invaders. The Tarkhūn, seduced by the dazzling bait, advanced to
her assistance at the head of 120,000 men. He put a reconnoitring party
of the Arabs to flight, destroying more than half their number, but
was beset by the entire force, and after a fierce struggle was utterly
routed. So vast was the booty taken by Salm’s followers in the pursuit
that each man-at-arms received 2400 direms.[100]
This victory[101] brought the queen of Bokhārā to her senses. She
sued for peace, which was granted, and Salm returned in triumph. Salm
seems to have won for himself universal respect during his two years’
residence in Merv as governor of Khorāsān, and the fact that during
this period 2000 children had received his name[102] is quoted as a
proof of his popularity.
The Caliph Yezīd had died during the previous year (683). He was
succeeded by Mo`awiya II., who was less imbued with fanaticism than
his lieutenants, and found the Caliphate too heavy a burden. Resigning
it after a few months’ reign, he left Islām a prey to anarchy. Two
claimants appeared for the thorny crown--`Abdullah ibn Zobayr, and
Merwān I. of the race of Umayya. The first gained the allegiance of
Yemen, including the Holy Places, Egypt and part of Syria; the second
was proclaimed lord of Damascus, and speedily drove his rival from
Syria and Egypt. Merwān’s son and successor, `Abd el-Melik, concluded
a peace with the Byzantine emperor on the basis of the payment of
a tribute of 50,000 pieces of gold, and turned the whole of his
forces against the pretender, who still held to Mekka and Medīna. Him
he defeated twice, and slew Mohammad. All Islām was now under his
chieftainship, with the exception of Khorāsān, which was governed
by `Abdullah ibn Khāzim as representative of Ibn Zobayr. Finding it
impossible to secure the former’s allegiance, `Abd el-Melik incited
one of his generals named Bukayr to compass his master’s death, on a
promise to confer on him the governorship of the province. The bait
was swallowed by Bukayr, who formed a conspiracy against `Abdullah
ibn Khāzim, and deprived him of authority (692). He became head of
Khorāsān; but his triumph was shortlived. The Caliph naturally doubted
the loyalty of one who had shown himself unfaithful to his trust, and
superseded him by Umayya ibn `Abdullah ibn Khālid (696). Four years
later (700), Muhallab, who had left Merv and established himself in
Kesh (the modern Shahrisebz), sent his son Habīb with a huge army
against Bokhārā, whose king he utterly defeated. While Muhallab was
in Kesh, his followers entreated him to penetrate farther into the
country, but Muhallab replied that his only aim was to bring all
his Musulmans safe back to Merv. After two years’ stay at Kesh he
came to terms with the inhabitants of the surrounding country, and,
satisfied with the large tribute they rendered to him, returned to his
headquarters at Merv.
Muhallab died A.H. 82 (701), and was succeeded by his son Yezīd in
the government of Merv. In A.H. 84 (703)[103] the latter was deprived
of his post by the famous Hajjāj,[104] who had the disposal of all
such appointments. Yezīd thereupon quitted Khorāsān, and his brother
Mufaddhal, who had formerly been his lieutenant, was appointed
governor. He held the post for about nine months, undertaking during
that brief period successful expeditions against Khiva and Bādghīs.
The immense spoils of war he distributed among his soldiers, keeping,
we are told, nothing for himself. In A.H. 86 (705) `Abd el-Melik
died, and in the same year, on the arrival of Yezīd in `Irāk, Hajjāj
appointed Kutayba ibn Muslim el-Bāhili governor of Khorāsān in place of
Mufaddhal. The glorious career of Kutayba in Central Asia began at this
epoch with his entry into Merv.