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ARABIC AUTHORS.
A MANUAL
OF
ARABIAN HISTORY AND LITERATURE.
BY
F.F. ARBUTHNOT, M.R.A.S.,
AUTHOR OF
"EARLY IDEAS" AND "PERSIAN PORTRAITS."
LONDON:
WILLIAM HEINEMANN.
1890.
PREFACE.
The following pages contain nothing new and nothing original, but they
do contain a good deal of information gathered from various sources,
and brought together under one cover. The book itself may be useful,
not, perhaps, to the Professor or to the Orientalist, but to the
general reader, and to the student commencing the study of Arabic. To
the latter it will give some idea of the vast field of Arabian
literature that lies before him, and prepare him, perhaps, for working
out a really interesting work upon the subject. Such still remains to
be written in the English language, and it is to be hoped that it will
be done some day thoroughly and well.
It is gratifying to think that the study of Oriental languages and
literature is progressing in Europe generally, if not in England
particularly. The last Oriental Congress, held at Stockholm and
Christiania the beginning of September, 1889, brought together a
goodly number of Oriental scholars. There were twenty-eight
nationalities represented altogether, and the many papers prepared and
read, or taken as read preparatory to their being printed, showed that
matters connected with Oriental studies in all their branches excite
considerable interest.
England, too, has been lately making some efforts which will be, it is
sincerely hoped, crowned with success. The lectures on modern Oriental
languages lately established by the Imperial Institute of the United
Kingdom, the Colonies, and India, in union with University College and
King's College, London, is full of promise of bringing forth good
fruit hereafter. So much is to be learnt from Oriental literature in
various ways that it is to be hoped the day may yet come when the
study of one or more Oriental languages will be taken up as a pastime
to fill the leisure hours of a future generation thirsting after
knowledge.
In addition to the above, a movement is also being made to attempt to
revive the old Oriental Translation Fund. It was originally started in
A.D. 1828, and did good work for fifty years, publishing translations
(see Appendix) from fifteen different Oriental languages, and then
collapsing from apathy, neglect, and want of funds. Unless well
supported, both by donations and annual subscriptions, it is useless to
attempt a fresh start. To succeed thoroughly it must be regarded as a
national institution, and sufficiently well-off to be able to afford to
bring out Texts and Indexes of
[Transcriber's note: Missing page in the source document.]
-cially An-Nadim's 'Fihrist,' a most valuable book of reference, ought
to be done into English without further delay. Private individuals can
hardly undertake the business, but a well-organized and permanent
Oriental Translation Fund, assisted by the English and Indian
Governments, could and would render extraordinary services in the
publication of texts, translations, and indexes of Oriental literature
generally.
For assistance in the preparation of this present volume my thanks are
due to the many authors whose works have been freely used and quoted,
and also to Mr. E. Rehatsek, of Bombay, whose knowledge of the Arabic
language and of Arabic literature is well known to all Oriental
scholars.
F.F. ARBUTHNOT.
18, Park Lane, W.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
HISTORICAL.
Arabia: its boundaries, divisions of districts, revenues, area,
population, and history.--Tribe of Koraish.--The Kaabah at
Mecca.--Muhammad.--His immediate successors: Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman,
Ali.--The Omaiyides.--Fate of Hasan and Hussain, sons of Ali--Sunnis
and Shiahs.--Overthrow of the Omaiyides by the Abbasides.--The
Omaiyides in Spain; their conquests and government.--The Moors, and
their final expulsion.--To what extent Europe is indebted to the
Spanish Arabs.--Their literature and architecture.--The Abbaside Khalifs
at Baghdad.--Persia, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and Arabia become detached
from their government in the course of time.--Fall of Baghdad itself
in A.D. 1258.--Dealings of the Turks with Arabia.--The Wahhabi reform
movement.--Expeditions of the Turks and Egyptians to suppress
it.--Various defeats and successes.--Present form of government in
Arabia.--Its future prospects.--List of the Omaiyide Khalifs, preceded
by Muhammad and his four immediate successors.--List of the Abbaside
Khalifs.--List of the Arab rulers in Spain.
CHAPTER II.
LITERARY.
About the Arabic and Chinese languages.--The permanent character of
the former attributed to the Koran.--Division of Arab literature into
three periods: I. The time before Muhammad.--The sage Lokman; the
description of three Lokmans; Arab poetry before the Koran; the seven
suspended poems, known as the Mua'llakat, at Mecca; notions of the
Arabs about poetry; their Kasidas; description of the Kasidas of
Amriolkais, Antara, Labid, Tarafa, Amru, Harath, and Zoheir; the poets
Nabiga, Al-Kama, and Al-Aasha. II. The period from the time of
Muhammad to the fall of the Abbasides.--Muhammad considered as a poet;
the poets who were hostile to him; his panegyrist Kab bin Zoheir;
account of him and his 'Poem of the Mantle,' and the results;
Al-Busiri's 'Poem of the Mantle;' names of poets favourable and hostile
to Muhammad; the seven jurisconsults; the four imams; the six fathers
of tradition; the early traditionists; the companions; the alchemists;
the astronomers; the grammarians; the geographers and travellers; the
historians; the tabulators and biographers; the writers about natural
history; the philologists; the philosophers; the physicians; the
poets; the collectors and editors of poems; the essayist Al-Hariri;
many translators; special notice of Ibn Al-Mukaffa; support given to
learning and literature by certain of the Omaiyide, Abbaside, and
Spanish Arab Khalifs; description of Baghdad; reign of
Harun-ar-Rashid; the Barmekides; the Khalif Razi-billah; Hakim II. at
Cordova; his education; his accession to the throne; his collection of
books; his library, and its catalogue; places of learning in the East at
this time. III. Third period, from the fall of Baghdad to the present
time.--Certain historians; Ibn Malik, the grammarian; Ibn Batuta, the
traveller; Abul Feda, Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Kesir, Ibn Hajar, Ibn
Arabshah--all historians; Firuzabadi, Taki-uddin of Fez, Al-Makrisi,
Sayuti, Ibn Kamal Pasha, Abu Sa'ud the mufti, Ibrahim of Aleppo,
Birgeli, Abul Khair; celebrated caligraphers, past and present, Haji
Khalfa, Muhammad al Amin of Damascus, Makkari. Decline of Arabic
literature: its present form. About the printing-presses of Arabic
works at various places.
CHAPTER III.
ABOUT MUHAMMAD.
A complete summary of the details of his life, from his birth to his
death.--Remarks upon him as a reformer, preacher, and apostle.--The
Hanyfs.--Muhammad's early idea of establishing one religion for the
Jews, Christians, and Arabs.--His long struggle with the Koraish.--His
failure at Mecca.--His success at Madinah.--Adapts his views to the
manners and customs of the Arabs only.--The reason of his many
marriages.--His love of women.--About the Koran.--Not collected and
arranged until after his death.--Comparison of the Koran with the Old
and New Testaments.--Superiority of our Bible.--Description of it by
'Il Secolo.'--Rev. Mr. Badger's description of the Koran.--Written in
the purest Arabic, and defies competition.--Muhammad and Moses, Jesus
and Buddha.--Remarks about Buddhism and Christianity.--Moses and
Muhammad the founders of two nationalities.--Abraham the father of the
Jewish, Christian, and Muhammadan religions.--Rénan's description of
the gods of the Jews.--Joseph.--The Twelve Tribes.--Appearance of
Moses as a liberator and organizer.--The reasons of his wanderings in
the desert.--What the Jews owed to Moses, and the Arabs to
Muhammad.--The latter as a military leader.--Resemblance of the warlike
expeditions of the Jews and of the Arabs.--Similar proceedings in the
Soudan at the present time.--Account of the dogmas and precepts of
Islam as embodied in the Koran.--Other points connected with the
institutions of Islam.--Faith and prayer always insisted
upon.--Democratic character of the Muhammadan religion, excellent in
theory, but doubtful in practice.--Muhammad's last address at Mina,
telling the Muslims that they were one brotherhood.--His final remarks.
CHAPTER IV.
TALES AND STORIES.
The Kalilah wa Dimnah.--'Early Ideas.'--'Persian Portraits,'--Origin
of the 'Arabian Nights.'--The Hazar Afsaneh, or Thousand Stories. Date
of the 'Nights.'--Its fables and apologues the oldest part of the
work.--Then certain stories--The latest tales.--Galland's
edition.--His biography.--His successors, sixteen in number, ending with
Payne and Burton.--The complete translations of these two last-named, in
thirteen and sixteen volumes respectively.--Brief analysis of Payne's
first nine, and of Burton's first ten volumes.--Short summary of
twelve stories; viz.: The tale of Aziz and Azizah; the tale of Kamar
Al-Zaman and the Lady Budur; Ala Aldin Abu Al-Shamat; Ali the Persian
and the Kurd sharper; the man of Al-Yaman and his six slave-girls; Abu
Al-Husn and his slave-girl Tawaddud; the rogueries of Dalilah the
Crafty and her daughter Zeynab the Trickstress; the adventures of
Quicksilver Ali of Cairo; Hasan of Busra and the king's daughter of
the Jinn; Ali Nur Al-din and Miriam the girdle-girl; Kamar Al-Zaman
and the jeweller's wife; Ma'aruf the cobbler and his wife
Fatimah.--Remarks on Payne's three extra volumes, entitled 'Tales from
the Arabic,' and on Burton's two first supplemental volumes.--Allusion
to Burton's third supplemental and to Payne's thirteenth
volume.--Burton's fourth, fifth, and sixth supplemental volumes.
--Summing-up of the number of stories contained in the above two
editions; from what manuscripts they were translated, and some final
remarks.--The Kathá Sarit Ságara, a sort of Hindoo 'Arabian Nights'.
--Comparison of the two works.--Brief description of the Kathá and its
contents.--Gunádhya and Somadeva.--Final remarks on the stories found
in the Kathá.--Antar, a Bedouin romance.--Its partial translation.--Its
supposed author.--Brief description of the work, with some remarks upon
it.--Both the 'Arabian Nights' and Antar rather long.--The press in
England to-day.--Numerous writers of novels and story-books.--These
take the place of the 'Nights,' and satisfy the public, always in
search of something new, even if not true; something original, even if
not trustworthy.--Final remarks.
CHAPTER V.
ANECDOTES AND ANA.
In Persian literature the Gulistan, Negaristan, and Beharistan contain
many anecdotes.--In Arabic literature there are works of the same
kind.--'The Naphut-ul-Yaman,' or Breath of Yaman.--Six stories
translated from it.--The Merzuban namah, with newly translated
extracts from it.--Remarks on this work.--The Al-Mustatraf, or the
Gleaner or the Collector.--Two stories from it.--Two anecdotes taken
from the Sehr-ul-oyoon, or Magic of the Eyes.--A philosophic
discourse, translated from the Siraj-ul-Muluk, or Lamp of Kings.--The
Ilam en Nas, or Warnings for Men.--Eighteen stories from Ibn
Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary.--Seven anecdotes from various
sources.--Verses from the Arabic about the places where certain Arabs
wished to be buried.--Translation of the verses upon Alfred de
Musset's tomb in Paris.
Appendix.
Index.
CHAPTER I.
HISTORICAL.
The Arabia of to-day is bounded on the west by the Red Sea and Gulf of
Suez; on the south by the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea; on the
east by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf; and on the north by a
portion of Syria. This last boundary would, however, be more clearly
defined by drawing a line from Suez straight across to the western
head of the Persian Gulf.
By the Greeks and Romans this country was divided into Arabia Petræa,
Arabia Deserta, and Arabia Felix, or the Stony, the Desert, and the
Happy. The Arabs themselves call it 'The Land of the Arabs,' while
modern geographers give the Sinaitic peninsula as the first geographic
district; the Hijaz, including the Haram, or sacred territory of
Mecca, as the second; and Yaman, with the Tehamah, as the third. To
these may be added the provinces of Hadramant and Mahrah, and of Oman
and Hasa, to the south and east respectively, with Nejd, or Central
Arabia, as the central plateau, and some large deserts scattered in
different parts of the peninsula.
Of the revenues of Arabia it is almost impossible to form anything
like a correct estimate. The area of the country covers about
1,200,000 square miles, and the population is said to be from five to
six millions, of whom one-fifth consist of Ahl Bedoo, or dwellers in
the open land, otherwise known as Bedouins; and four-fifths of
settled Arabs, called Ahl Hadr, or dwellers in fixed localities.
The history of Arabia may be divided into three periods:
1st. The prehistoric period, full of tales of heroes, and giants, and
wonderful cities.
2nd. The period which preceded the era of Muhammad.
3rd. That which followed it.
The first period is mythical to a certain extent; at all events,
nothing can be stated positively about it. The second period is
distinguished as one of local monarchies and federal governments in a
rough and rude form; while the third commences with theocratic
centralization, dissolving finally into general anarchy.
Of the many tribes in Arabia, the most celebrated is the family of the
Koraish, still regarded as the noblest of the Arabs, partly because,
at the beginning of the fifth century A.D., their chiefs had rendered
themselves the masters and acknowledged guardians of the sacred Kaabah
at Mecca, and partly because of their connection with the Prophet. The
Kaabah, La Maison Carrée, or square temple, a shrine of unknown
antiquity, was situated within the precincts of the town of Mecca, and
to it, long before Muhammad's time, the Arabs had brought yearly
offerings, and made devout pilgrimages. The tribe of Koraish, having
once obtained the keys of the consecrated building, had held them
against all comers till Muhammad's conquest of Mecca in A.D. 630, when
he handed over the key to Othman bin Talha, the former custodian, to
be kept by him and his posterity as an hereditary and perpetual
office, and he further confirmed his uncle Abbas in the office of
giving drink to the pilgrims.
Before entering into a somewhat lengthy description of Arabian
literature, it is necessary to give a short and rapid sketch of
Arabian history, beginning from the time of Muhammad, as his Koran was
the foundation of the literary edifice. All Arab authors have looked
upon that work as the height of eloquent diction, and have regarded it
as the model standard to be followed in all their productions.
Leaving, then, the two first periods of Arabian history, viz., the
prehistoric, and the pre-Muhammadan, without any particular notice,
the third period will be sketched as briefly as possible, and will be
found excessively interesting, containing as it does the rise,
grandeur, and decline of the Arabs as a nation.
Muhammad, on his death in June, A.D. 632, left the entire Arab
peninsula, with two or three exceptions, under one sceptre and one
creed. He was succeeded by Abu Bakr (the father of Ayesha, the
favourite wife of the prophet), known as the Companion of the Cave,
with the title of Khalifah, or successor. His reign only lasted two
years, but during that period the various insurrections that broke out
in Arabia in consequence of the death of the Prophet were promptly put
down, after severe fighting, in various parts of the peninsula, and
the whole country was subjugated. Foreign expeditions beyond the
borders were also planned and started.
Abu Bakr, dying in August, A.D. 634, was succeeded by Umar, or Omar,
the conqueror of Syria, Persia, and Egypt by means of his generals
Khalid bin Walid (the best, perhaps, that Islam produced), Abu Obaida,
Mothanna, Sád bin Malik, Amr bin al-Aasi, and others. Omar himself was
an early convert of A.D. 615, and a sudden conversion like our Paul;
but one made his converts by fanaticism and the sword, the other by
preaching and the pen. After a glorious and victorious reign of ten
years Omar was assassinated by a Persian slave in November, A.D. 644,
and was followed as Khalif by Othman, son of Affan, of the noble
family of Abd-esh-Shems, who also assumed the title 'Amir al-Momenin,
or Commander of the Faithful, which had been first adopted by his
predecessor Omar. Othman ruled for twelve years, when he was murdered
in A.D. 656, some say at the instigation of Ali, nephew of Muhammad,
and husband of his only daughter Fatima. Anyhow, Ali succeeded Othman
as Khalif, but was defeated by Moawia, Governor of Syria, and
assassinated in A.D. 660.
Moawia bin Abu Sofyan then established the Benou Umayya dynasty,
called by Europeans the Omaiyides, or Ommiades, from the name of
Umayya, the father of the race. This dynasty reigned for nearly ninety
years, and numbered fourteen successive princes, with their capital at
Damascus.
During the reign of Yazid I., the second prince (A.D. 679-683),
Hussain, the younger son of Ali the Khalif, came to an untimely end.
His elder brother, Hasan, a man of quiet disposition, had been
previously murdered by one of his wives, at the instigation, it is
said, of Yazid before he came to the throne. This happened in A.D.
669. Later on Hussain, with his followers, rose in rebellion, and was
killed on the plain of Kerbela, A.D. 680. The descendants, however, of
this faction continued the disturbances which eventually brought about
the great Muhammadan schism, and the splitting up of the religion into
two sects, known to this day as the Sunnis and Shias. The adherents of
the legitimate Khalifate, and of the orthodox doctrine, assumed the
name of Sunnites, or Traditionists. These acknowledge the first four
Khalifs (the rightly minded, or rightly directed, as they are called)
to have been legitimate successors of Muhammad, while the sectaries of
Ali are known as the Shiites, or Separatists. These last regard Ali as
the first rightful Imam, for they prefer this title (found in Sura
ii., verse 118, of the Koran) to that of Khalif. The Turks and Arabs
are Sunnis: the Persians, and most of the Muhammadans of India, Shias.
This division into two sects, who hate each other cordially, has done
more to weaken the power of the Muhammadan religion as a power than
anything else. The Shias to this day execrate the memory of Yazid as
the murderer of their hero Hussain, whom they have ever regarded as a
martyr, and given full vent to their feelings on the subject in their
'Passion Play,' translated by Sir Lewis Pelly, and described by Mr.
Benjamin in his 'Persia and the Persians.'
Other insurrections against the reigning Omaiyide Khalifs were also
put down, portions of Asia, Africa and Spain conquered, and even
France invaded, so that at the close of the Benou Umayya dynastry,
about A.D. 750, their empire consisted of many and large territories
in Europe, Africa and Asia. Their colour was white, as opposed to the
black of the Abbasides, and the green of the Fatimites, as descendants
of Muhammad.
But the Benou Umayya dynasty succumbed, A.D. 749, under the blows of
Ibrahim (great-grandson of Abbas, the uncle of the Prophet), and of
his younger brother, Abul Abbas, better known in history as As-Saffah,
or the Blood-shedder. A decisive battle was fought on the banks of the
river Zab, near Arbela, and Marwan II. (A.D. 744-750), the last of the
Omaiyide Khalifs, was defeated, and fled first to Damascus, and then
to Egypt, where he was eventually killed by his pursuers, A.D. 750.
The history of the reign of the Abbasides now begins, and under them
the power and glory of Islam reached their highest point. But it is
first necessary to allude to the conquest of Spain by the Omaiyides, a
branch of which family still retained for a long time in the West the
power which they had totally lost in the East.
The most important achievement of the reign of Walid I. (A.D.
705-715), the sixth prince of the Omaiyide dynasty, was the conquest
of Spain by his generals Tarik and Musa. The Arabs (known in Europe
under the name of Saracens) first established themselves in Cordova
about A.D. 711, and the two generals above named continued their
victorious progress throughout the country in 712 and 713, until
nearly nine-tenths of the peninsula was held by the Muhammadans.
Some years later France even was invaded by the Arabs, and the banners
of the Muslims were erected on the coasts of the Gulf of Lyons, on the
walls of Narbonne, of Nimes, of Carcassonne, and of Béziers. The Arabs
afterwards advanced as far as the plains of Tours, where their
victorious progress was checked by Charles Martel, who gained a great
victory over them near that town in October, A.D. 732, and completely
defeated them, so that they were obliged to retire again to Spain.
There successive viceroys and emirs ruled as the representatives of
the Khalifs at Damascus until the fall of the Omaiyide dynasty in the
East, A.D. 750.
But even after that Spain remained for many years under Arab
domination. Anarchy almost prevailed from A.D. 750 to 755, but in that
year the Arabs of Spain, weary of disorder, elected as their ruler
Abd-ar-Rahman, grandson of the Khalif Hashim, tenth prince of the
Omaiyide dynasty. At the time of his election, Abd-ar-Rahman was a
wanderer in the desert, pursued by his enemies, when a deputation from
Andalusia sought him out and offered him the Khalifate of Spain. It
was gladly accepted. He landed there in September, A.D. 755, was
universally welcomed, and founded at Cordova the Western Omaiyide
Khalifate, which lasted up to A.D. 1031, under sixteen rulers, with
certain interruptions during the reign of the last seven of them. On
the extinction of the Khalifate, Spain was broken up into various
petty kingdoms under kings and kinglets belonging to different Arab
tribes and families. This continued from A.D. 1032 to 1092, when the
Almoravides established themselves from A.D. 1092 to 1147, and were
followed by the Almohades, who reigned up to A.D. 1232.
After this Cordova, Seville, and other places were taken by Ferdinand
III. of Leon and Castile, between A.D. 1236 and 1248. On the fall of
Cordova the Muhammadan power declined with great rapidity; and, though
the celebrated kingdom of Granada was established by the Moors in A.D.
1232, it was their last refuge from the rising power of the
Christians. Some twenty-one princes reigned there till A.D. 1492, when
Granada itself was taken, and this last Muhammadan dynasty was driven
out of Spain by Ferdinand of Arragon and Isabella of Castile. Thus
ended the empire of the Arabs and the Moors in Spain, which had lasted
nearly eight hundred years.
The Spanish Arabs were extremely fond of learning. Indeed, it is due
to them to a very great extent that literature and science were kept
afloat in Europe during the ages that followed the invasion of the
Barbarians, as the Huns, Vandals, Goths, and Visigoths were generally
called. That interval known as the 'Dark Ages' was kept alight by the
Arabs alone. Abd-ar-Rahman II. established a library at Cordova during
his reign, A.D. 822-852. Hakim II., the successor of Abd-ar-Rahman
III., loved the sciences, founded the University of Cordova, and
collected a library of great magnitude (A.D. 961-976).
The revival of learning in Europe is chiefly attributed to the
writings of Arabian doctors and philosophers, and to the schools which
they founded in several parts of Spain and Italy. These seats of
learning were frequented even in the twelfth century of our era by
students from various parts of Europe, who disseminated the knowledge
thus acquired when they returned to their own countries. At that time
many Arabic works were translated into Latin, which thus facilitated
the progress of science. In the three last chapters of the second book
of the 'History of the Muhammadan Dynasties in Spain,' translated by
Pascual de Gayangos, the state of science and literature is detailed
in the words of Makkari, the original Arab author of that work, and in
it many once celebrated authors are mentioned, of whom not only their
productions, but even their very names, have since perished. The
distinguished writers whose works have come down to us will be more
particularly alluded to in the next chapter. Europe is also indebted
to the Arabs for the elements of many useful sciences, particularly
that of chemistry. Paper was first made in Europe by them, and their
carpets and manufactures in steel and leather were long unrivalled,
while in the Arabian schools of Cordova mathematics, astronomy,
philosophy, botany and medicine were taught with great success.
As Europe gradually emerged from darkness and ignorance, the Moors in
Spain became so weak and powerless that in A.D. 1526 Charles I of
Spain, and V. of Germany, ordered them to adopt the Spanish language.
In A.D. 1566 an edict of Philip II. forbade them to speak or write in
Arabic, and directed them to renounce all their traditional habits,
customs and ceremonies. Philip III. completed the work which his
father had left unfinished. In A.D. 1609 all the Moriscoes were
ordered to depart from the peninsula within three days, with a penalty
of death if they failed to obey the order, and from that time their
existence as a nation finally ceased in Europe, and Spain thus lost a
million of industrious inhabitants skilled in the useful arts. After
their expulsion Arabic literature more or less disappeared. Much of it
was destroyed, and a Spanish cardinal, it is said, once boasted that
he had destroyed with his own hands one hundred thousand Arabic
manuscripts! It is highly probable that the remnants of Andalusian
libraries were brought to light by Casiri (b. 1710, d. 1791) during
the past, and by Gayangos during the present century, and it is
doubtful if much more will ever now be discovered.
There are two buildings still extant in Spain which have survived the
Arabs, viz., their mosque at Cordova (now the Cathedral), and their
palace of the Alhambra at Granada, both well worth a visit, and well
described in Murray's and O'Shea's guides to Spain. During the reign
of Abd-ar-Rahman III. (A.D. 912-961) the city, palace, and gardens of
Medinatu-z-Ahra, three or four miles from Cordova, were constructed in
honour of his favourite wife or mistress, Az-zahra, and cost an
immense sum of money. At present no vestiges of them exist, and it is
supposed that not only these, but many other Arab mosques and
buildings, were intentionally destroyed by their conquerors, as the
hatred between the Christian and the Muslim in those days was of the
bitterest description.
And now to return to the Abbasides, established in the East on the
downfall of the Omaiyide dynasty there in A.D. 750, and thus continue
the main line of Arab history.
There were, in all, thirty-seven Abbaside Khalifs, of whom Abu Jaafar,
surnamed Al-Mansur, the Victorious (A.D. 754-775), Harun-ar-Rashid
(A.D. 786-809), and Al-Mamun (A.D. 812-833) were the most celebrated.
Of these, the first, who was the second Khalif, founded Baghdad, the
capital of the Abbasides, about A.D. 762; the second, who was the
fifth Khalif, has been rendered immortal by the frequent illusions to
him, and to members of the Barmeki family, in the 'Arabian Nights';
while the third, who was the seventh Khalif, was a great patron of
literature and science.
As years rolled on the dynasty and its princes became weaker and
weaker, and finally came to an end under the thirty-seventh and last
Khalif Al-Mustaa 'sim Billah, with the capture of Baghdad in A.D. 1258
by Halaku Khan, the sovereign of the Mughals, and the grandson of
Jenghiz Khan.
Long before this, however, the empire which the first of the Abbasides
had conquered was already broken up. About A.D. 879, in Persia,
Amr-bin-Lais founded the Suffary or Braiser dynasty, still subject to
the Commander of the Faithful. But even this allegiance only lasted
till A.D. 901, when the Samani and Dailami dynasties were established
in the North and South of Persia respectively, and quite independent
of the Khalifs of Baghdad.
In A.D. 909, the Fatimites, so designated from one Obaid Allah, a real
or pretended descendant of Ali and Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad,
established themselves in the North of Africa, and consolidated their
power there. In A.D. 972 Al-Moizz, or Abu Tamim, a great-grandson of
Obaid Allah, the founder of the Fatimite dynasty at Tunis, sent his
general Jawhar with an army to invade Egypt. The country was
conquered, the city of Cairo built, the seat of government was
transferred there, and the title of Khalif assumed by the Fatimites.
There they remained as reigning Khalifs until A.D. 1171, when
Salah-ad-Din (Saladin) usurped the sovereignty, and founded the
Ayoobite dynasty of Kurds, till its last ruler, Melik-al-Ashraf, was
deposed in A.D. 1250 by the Mamlook El Moizz, who in that year founded
the Baharite Mamlook dynasty, which lasted with variations in the
families till A.D. 1377. But in A.D. 1260 Ez-Zahir Beybars, a Mamlook
slave, secured the throne, and brought the then representative of the
Abbaside Khalifs (the family having been dethroned by the Mughals at
Baghdad in A.D. 1258) to Egypt, and recognised him as possessing
spiritual authority alone, but nothing else. From that time until the
taking of Egypt by Sultan Selim I. in A.D. 1517, the Abbaside Khalifs
retained the spiritual power first under the Baharite, and then under
the Circassian or Borgite Mamlooks. When Egypt became a Turkish
pashalic, Selim, the conqueror, compelled the representative of the
Abbaside Khalifs, by name Al-Motawukkel, to leave Cairo and reside in
Constantinople; and on his death the Ottoman Sultans assumed the title
of Khalif, which they hold to this day, and are recognised by the
Sunnis as the head of the Muhammadan religion, and the successors of
Muhammad.
As regards Syria and Palestine (two countries more or less closely
connected, owing to their proximity and absence of distinct and
defined boundaries), on the termination of the rule of the Omaiyides
at Damascus in A.D. 750, they remained nominally under the Abbasides
till A.D. 969, when Syria was conquered by the Fatimites, who were
succeeded by the Seljuks, who captured Damascus about A.D. 1075, and
Antioch A.D. 1085. The struggles with the Crusaders commenced in A.D.
1096, and continued until Saladin's famous victory at Hattin in 1187,
when he became master of nearly the whole of Syria and Palestine.
Fighting still went on in these countries between the Franks and
others until A.D. 1518, when Selim I. conquered the country and
incorporated it with the Turkish Empire. No Arab prince has since
reigned in Egypt or Syria, though these countries have always
exercised certain influences over Arabia.
In Arabia itself, towards the end of the tenth century and the
beginning of the eleventh, A.D., the Karmathians had risen in revolt,
and detached that country from the Abbaside dynasty to such an extent
that she returned almost to her primitive independence. Indeed, it may
be said that, in the whole of Arabia, the Hijaz, with the Haram, or
sacred territory of Mecca, under the Shariff, or nobles, the lineal
descendants of the tribe of Koraish, alone retained some kind of
constituted authority, and paid allegiance sometimes to the government
of Baghdad, and sometimes to that of Egypt.
As already stated above, in A.D. 1517 the Turkish Sultan Selim I.
conquered Egypt, and obtained from the last real, or supposed
surviving, Abbaside kinsman of the Prophet a formal investiture of the
Muhammadan Khalifate. This was more religious than political in its
bearing, but still many of the tribes in Arabia offered their
allegiance to the Ottoman Government. From that time the Turks began
their dealings with Arabia, which remained in a sort of independence
under their own tribal Shaikhs, more or less according to the
circumstances of different districts, until the rise of the Wahhabi
movement, about the middle of the eighteenth century of our era.
The Wahhabi reform movement requires special mention. It began in
Arabia about A.D. 1740. The reformer and originator of the movement
was Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab, born at the town of Aïnah, in the
centre of the Nejd district, A.D. 1691. He died in A.D. 1787, aged
ninety-six. After some years spent in travel and in study, he began
his preaching about A.D. 1731. Driven from Aïnah, his native place, as
Muhammad was driven from Mecca, Abdul Wahhab established himself at
ad-Diriyyah, where Muhammad bin Saood, the Shaikh of a sub-tribe of
the Anizeh, gave him shelter, and eventually married his daughter. By
preaching and fighting, his followers increased in number, and his
reforms spread throughout the Nejd district, and many converts were
made by him and his successors.
In A.D. 1797 a Turkish army from Baghdad attacked the Wahhabis, but
were beaten, and two years later Saood II. took and plundered Kerbela,
Taif, Mecca, and other places, and seems to have retained his power
and his government for several years.
In A.D. 1811 the Turks, who had quite lost their authority in Arabia,
requested Muhammad Ali of Egypt to put down the movement, and
reconquer the country. The first expedition, commanded by his son
Tussun, in its attempt to take Madinah, was nearly annihilated, but
succeeded the following year. Later on the campaign was conducted by
Muhammad Ali in person, and afterwards by his adopted son Ibrahim
Pasha, with considerable success. The final stronghold, ad-Diriyyah,
was captured in A.D. 1818, the Wahhabi chief captured, and sent first
to Egypt and then to Constantinople, where he was beheaded in December
of that year.
The Egyptian occupation of Arabia was followed by a renewal of the
Wahhabi movement, which eventually succeeded, in A.D. 1842, in driving
out the Egyptians, occupied as they were at the time with fighting the
Turks in Syria and Anatolia. Wahhabism was then re-established in some
parts, and independence in other parts, of the country; but on the
whole Wahhabism has never been very popular either in Arabia or India,
in which latter country it also has some followers. It may be regarded
as the latest sect of Islam, but does not make much progress.
Arabia may now be said to be under three different kinds of
government--_i.e._, partly under the Wahhabis, partly under the Turks,
and partly under independent rulers, while Aden has been held by the
English ever since its first capture in A.D. 1839. In other words, the
present position of Arabia may be more definitely described as
follows: Hasa, Hareek, the whole of Nejd, Kaseem, the provinces
adjoining Yaman on the north, and Aseer, forming a broad belt, and
stretching across the centre of the peninsula from the Red Sea to the
Persian Gulf, remain under Wahhabi influences. The Hijaz and some
sea-ports, such as Jedda and others, are at present absolutely under
the Turkish Government; while Bahrein, Oman and its capital Muscat,
and Yaman are more or less independent. Between Nejd and Syria a new
and promising kingdom has sprung up under Telal.
The time perhaps may come, and perhaps not far distant, when the Turks
will disappear altogether from Arabia, and Wahhabism and independent
tribes will alone remain. Another Muhammad or another Abdul Wahhab may
some day again appear, and bring together the tribes under one rule
for a time. It is doubtful, though, if ever the Arabs will again have
the power, talent, or enthusiasm to revive the glories of the Arabian
Empire, which now lives in history only, and is well worth a study.
For ready reference the following is a chronology of the dynasty of
the Ornaiyides, preceded by Muhammad and the first Khalifahs:
A.D.
Muhammad the Apostle 622--632
Abu Bakr 632--634
Omar I. 634--643
Othman 643--655
Ali 655--660
1. Moawia I. 660--679
2. Yazid I. 679--683
3. Moawia II. 683--683
4. Marwan I. 683--684
5. Abdul-Malik 684--705
6. Walid I. 705--715
7. Sulaiman 715--717
8. Omar II. 717--720
9. Yazid II. 720--724
10. Hashim 724--743
11. Walid II. 743--744
12. Yazid III. 744--744
13. Ibrahim 744--744
14. Marwan II. 744--750
The dynasty of the Omaiyides was followed by that of the Abbasides,
who reigned as follows:
A.D.
1. Abul-Abbas As-Saffah 750--754
2. Al-Mansur 754--775
3. Al-Mahdi 775--785
4. Al-Hadi 785--786
5. Harun-ar-Rashid 786--809
6. Al-Amin 809--812
7. Al-Mamun 812--833
8. Al-Mo'tasim Billah 833--842
9. Al-Wathik 842--847
10. Al-Mutwakkil 847--861
11. Al-Mustansir Billah 861--862
12. Al-Mustain Billah 862--866
13. Al-Mo'tiz Billah 866--869
14. Al-Muhtadi Billah 869--870
15. Al-Mo'tamid 870--892
16. Al-Motazid Billah 892--902
17. Al-Muktafi Billah 902--908
18. Al-Muktadir Billah 908--932
19. Al-Kahir Billah 932--934
20. Al-Radhi Billah 934--940
21. Al-Muttaki Billah 940--944
22. Al-Mustakfi Billah 944--945
23. Al-Mutia Billah 945--974
24. Al-Taya Billah 974--991
25. Al-Kadir Billah 991--1031
26. Al-Kaim Billah 1031--1075
27. Al-Muktadi Billah 1075--1094
28. Al-Mustazhir Billah 1094--1118
29. Al-Mustershid Billah 1118--1135
30. Al-Rashid Billah 1135--1136
31. Al-Muktafi 1136--1160
32. Al-Mustanjid Billah 1160--1170
33. Al-Mustazi 1170--1180
34. Al-Nasir Billah 1180--1225
35. Al-Tahir 1225--1226
36. Al-Mustansir Billah II. 1226--1240
37. Al-Mustaa'sim Billah 1240--1258
He was killed at the taking of Baghdad by Halaku Khan, and the last of
the dynasty, which continued, however, as a spiritual power in Egypt
till A.D. 1517.
The empire over which the Abbasides began to rule in A.D. 750 had
gradually dwindled away until little but Baghdad and its environs were
left on the fall of the dynasty in A.D. 1258. Will history repeat
itself in the same way as regards Constantinople, which in some years
may be the only territory left in Europe to a people who once were
conquerors, and whose arms even were carried to the walls of Vienna?
As Persia, Egypt, Syria, parts of Africa and Arabia, by degrees, were
severed from the Abbaside Empire, so the different provinces of Turkey
in Europe appear to be slowly separating themselves from the Turkish
Power, until finally there will be nothing left to them in Europe but
that city whose splendid position will ever make it a bone of
contention to both rising and declining States.
The following is a list of the Omaiyides who ruled in Spain a.d. 756
to 1031:
A.D.
1. Abd-ar-Rahman I. 756-788
2. Hisham I. 788-796
3. Al-Hakim I. 796-822
4. Abd-ar-Rahman II. 822-852
5. Muhammad I. 852-886
6. Al-Mundhir 886-888
7. Abd-Allah 888-912
8. Abd-ar-Rahman III. 912-961
He was one of the greatest of the rulers of Cordova. Under this prince,
who at last assumed the title of Khalif and Commander of the Faithful,
the unity of Muhammadan Spain was for the time restored.
A.D.
9. Al-Hakim II. 961-976
10. Hisham II. 976-1009
He was a Khalif only in name, while Muhammad Bin Ali Amir, surnamed
Al-Mansur, was the real ruler or regent till his death in A.D. 1002. He
was succeeded by his son, Abd-al-Malik, who ruled successfully till his
death in A.D. 1008, and was followed by his brother, Abd-ar-Rahman, who
was beheaded in A.D. 1009, Hisham II. having been previously deposed.
A.D.
11. Muhammad II. (Al-Mahdi-billah) 1009-1009
12. Sulaiman 1009-1010
Hisham II. for the second time 1010-1013
Sulaiman for the second time 1013-1016
(1) Ali bin Hammud, a Berber chief 1016-1018
13. Abd-ar-Rahman IV. 1018-1019
(2) Al Kasim bin Hammud 1019-1023
14. Abd-ar-Rahman V. 1023-1024
15. Muhammad III. 1024-1025
(3) Yabya bin Ali bin Hammud 1025-1027
16. Hisham III. 1027-1031
A complete list of all the Muhammadan rulers in Spain will be found in
Makkari's history of these dynasties, translated by Gayangos.