NASR IBN SAYYĀR AND ABŪ MUSLIM
In A.H. 120 (737)[162] Asad died, and was succeeded by Nasr ibn
Sayyār, one of the ablest rulers and generals ever sent to the East in
Mohammedan times. He was as generous as he was strong, and seems to
have won the affection of those under him. During the nine years of his
governorship his position was by no means an easy one, for he had to
contend with the growing influence of the `Abbāsid faction,[163] and to
support, with a loyalty worthy of a better cause, the last degenerate
representatives of the house of Umayya. His first care on assuming
the supreme command was to subjugate the Khākān of the Turks, whose
name was Kūrsūl, against whom he led three successive expeditions. The
first two seem to have been without result, but in the last, which was
directed against Shāsh, the Khākān fell into his hands and was put to
death.[164]
In the same year Nasr renewed his attempt to subject Shāsh to the
Moslem yoke. The campaign was a bloodless one. He received the
submission of Ushrūsana, and concluded an advantageous peace with the
king of Shāsh.[165] He thereupon appointed a Mohammedan governor of
Farghāna.
In the year A.H. 123 (740) this judicious ruler established order
throughout Transoxiana, Khorāsān, and Farghāna.[166] But he had other
difficulties to meet which were not of his own making. The star of
the Umayyads was in the descendent, and the `Abbāsid party were daily
adding to the number of their adherents. And, apart from dynastic
struggles, the whole of Islām was rent with the dissensions of the
rival sects of the Khārijites and the Shi`ites. The sectarian zeal of
the latter, which to this day remains the cause of bitter discord in
the realm of Islām, began now to make itself felt in Persia and in
Central Asia.
In A.H. 125 (742) Hishām, the last Umayyad Caliph of any distinction,
died. The dynasty lasted seven years longer, and in that short period
no less than four Caliphs[167] attempted to restore the fading glory
of their house. While such disorders reigned at headquarters there
was small hope of quelling sedition in the outlying provinces. The
`Abbāsid pretender, Ibrāhīm, thanks to the efforts of his father’s[168]
emissaries, had now a powerful and rapidly increasing faction in Merv.
But Nasr still held command in Khorāsān, and his personal influence
was still great enough to avert open rebellion. It failed; and the
fierce tribal jealousy which always smouldered in Arab breasts burst
into civil war. The two rival factions were the Yemenites and the
Modharites. Nasr ibn Sayyār belonged to the tribe of Modhar, and
bestowed the highest offices on his clansmen. In fact, all the towns
of Khorāsān were governed by members of one or the other of the
three principal branches of the tribe, Asad, Temīm, or Kināna. Now,
there was a man of the tribe of Azd called, after his birthplace,
Juday` El-Kirmānī, who, before the promotion of Nasr, had held a
higher position, and retained some authority among his own people.
To him came the Beni Rabī`a with complaints of the partiality of
Nasr. He promised his intercession with the governor. On attempting
remonstrance he raised Nasr’s ire, and was cast into prison, whence
escaping[169] he rejoined his own people. All efforts at reconciliation
proving fruitless, the rival parties had recourse to armed strength.
In A.H. 127 (744) Hārith ibn Surayj, who was permitted to return to
Khorāsān from his captivity in Fārāb, set up his standard at Merv,
and, gathering many followers around it, openly revolted against Nasr.
In the following year Nasr called upon him to swear allegiance to the
Caliph Merwān, but Hārith refused, and boasted that he was “the man
with the black flag”[170] who was to overthrow the Umayyad dynasty.
Hostilities thereupon commenced between Nasr and Hārith, in which the
latter was worsted. He fled to the camp of El-Kirmānī, whom Nasr had
meanwhile been vainly endeavouring to conciliate.
Their combined forces now marched against Nasr, whom they defeated in a
pitched battle. Nasr fled to Nīshāpūr, while the allies occupied Merv,
where, however, dissensions arose between them which cost Hārith his
life, A.H. 128 (745).[171]
It was in the midst of these disorders that Abū Muslim, the virtual
founder of the `Abbasid dynasty, raised the black banner in Khorāsān.
The advent of the `Abbāsids to the Caliphate was an event of such
moment for the future of Central Asia that it is necessary in this
place to give a brief account of the rise of the new dynasty. The
fall of the Umayyads was the death-knell of unity in Islām. In spite
of numberless rebellions in all parts of their conquered provinces
the Umayyads had never recognised independent rulers, but with
the establishment of the house of `Abbās there set in a general
dismemberment of the empire of the Caliphs. The origin of the dispute
between the Hāshimites (or `Abbāsids) and the Umayyads dates back
to a period anterior to the birth of Mohammed. It was a rivalry
between the two chief stocks of the house of Koraysh.[172] We have
seen above that, although Mohammed, on first declaring his mission,
met with opposition from his own tribe, after the conquest of Mekka
they temporarily reconciled the conflicting interests. So after the
Prophet’s death discussions again arose between `Alī and the Caliph
Mo`āwiya. The Khārijites, who demanded a purely theocratic rule, were
also continually in a ferment. After the tragic death of Husayn, the
son of `Alī, at Kerbelā, a party arose devoted to the house of `Alī,
and claiming the succession of his family to the Caliphate, who called
themselves the Shī`a (or faction), and who are known to Europeans as
the Shi`ites.
In the reign of Hishām (A.H. 105), Mohammed, the great-grandson of the
Prophet’s uncle, `Abbās, who was living in retreat in the south of
Palestine, began to advance his claims to the Caliphate. Emissaries
and secret deputations were sent to all the principal towns of Persia,
`Irāk, and Khorāsān, and, in spite of the severe measures taken to
check the movement, the cause of the Hāshimites began rapidly to
spread. The Shi`ites and the Khārijites were induced to make common
cause with the Hāshimites, on the plea that the only object of the
movement was to secure the Caliphate for a member of the Prophet’s own
family.
In the year A.H. 125 (742) Mohammed visited Mekka, and in the same
year Abū Muslim was taken there on a pilgrimage by a party of the
Hāshimite faction. This Abū Muslim, whose real name was `Abd er-Rahmān
ibn Muslim, was a native of Khorāsān, and had been a saddler in the
service of a distinguished Arabian family.[173] While residing at
Mekka he attracted the attention of the `Abbāsid claimant, who at once
singled him out as a youth of great promise,[174] and prophesied that
Abū Muslim would be greatly instrumental in bringing the `Abbāsids to
power. He spent the two following years in journeys between Khorāsān
and Homayma, in order to promote the cause and report its progress. By
means of an active propaganda the Hāshimites had been most successful
in winning over large numbers of adherents, and Abū Muslim was only
watching for a suitable moment to raise the flag of revolt. In A.H. 129
(746), on the death of Hārith ibn Surayj, Nasr ibn Sayyār sent a small
force from Nīshāpūr against El-Kirmānī, which was repelled, and Nasr
now moved on to Merv with all the troops he could command. Abū Muslim,
deeming the moment favourable for his designs, unfurled the black
standard[175] of the `Abbāsids. Ere a month had elapsed contingents
began to pour in from all quarters. Nasr, finding himself unable to
check the movement, implored reinforcements from Merwān, the governor
of `Irāk, and pointed out that the loss of Khorāsān would be fatal to
the house of Umayya.
But no help arrived, and Abū Muslim, conscious of his foe’s weakness,
invited El-Kirmānī to join with him against Nasr; the latter,
foreseeing this contingency, caused El-Kirmānī to be killed by one of
his soldiers, and sent his head to the Caliph. The Yemenites and the
two sons of El-Kirmānī attached themselves to Abū Muslim. In despair
Nasr sent to Merwān a despatch in verse,[176] in which he pointed out
the perils surrounding his situation, and asked whether the house of
Umayya was asleep or awake.
In the year A.H. 130 (747) Abū Muslim made his entry into Merv, and
ordered public prayers to be offered for the `Abbāsid claimant as
Caliph. Nasr, who had abandoned the struggle for power and was living
in retirement at Merv, withdrew on his approach to Nīshāpūr by way of
Sarakhs.[177] In his flight he was joined by such of his troops as
remained faithful, but near Nīshāpūr he was overtaken and defeated by
Kahtaba ibn Shebīb, who had been despatched by Abū Muslim in pursuit.
Nasr now fled farther westward, and on reaching Jurjān was joined by
the Syrian troops from `Irāk; but they came too late. Kahtaba again
overtook the fugitive and inflicted a final defeat. Nasr fled towards
Hamadān, but he died worn out by years and toil at Sāva at the age of
eighty-five. With this faithful viceroy perished the last hopes of the
Umayyads, A.H. 131 (748).