THE REMAINDER OF ALY’S REIGN.
A.H. XXXVIII.–XL. A.D. 658–660.
[Sidenote: Remainder of Aly’s reign.]
No gleam of fortune lighted up the remaining days of Aly’s reign. What
with the rising of fanatics at home, and the threats of the rival
Caliphate abroad, his life was one continual struggle. And, moreover,
the daily exhibition of indifference and disloyalty in Kûfa, the city
of his choice, was a burden and mortification hard to bear.
[Sidenote: Insurrection at Bussorah suppressed. A.H. XXXVIII. A.D. 658.]
The loss of Egypt, and the cruel death of Mohammed son of Abu Bekr,
preyed upon his mind. He withdrew into the strictest privacy. Ibn
Abbâs, fearful lest his cousin should resign the Caliphate, or do some
other rash and unadvised thing, set out from Bussorah to visit and
comfort him. This becoming known to Muâvia, he took the opportunity,
during the absence of Ibn Abbâs, to send an emissary with the view of
stirring up the disaffected elements at Bussorah. Among certain of the
clans, he was sure of finding many who, equally with himself, sought to
avenge the blood of Othmân; few were zealously attached to the cause
of Aly; the remainder were mostly _Khârejites_, of the theocratic
faction, now as hostile to Aly as to Muâvia himself. Abdallah, the
Syrian agent, carrying a letter to the citizens of Bussorah, was so
well received, that Ziâd, who held temporary charge of the city, was
forced to retire with the treasures and the gubernatorial pulpit into
the stronghold of a loyal clan, from whence he wrote for help to Kûfa.
Aly at once despatched a chief of influence among the Beni Rabia,
the leading tribe at Bussorah, who were by his persuasion induced
to rally round Ziâd. After severe and bloody fighting in the city,
attended by various success, the rebels were at last defeated, and
driven for refuge to a neighbouring castle. There they were surrounded,
and the castle having been set on fire, Abdallah, with seventy of his
followers, perished in the flames. The victory was decisive for the
time; but the insurrection had brought to light the alarming spread
of disaffection, and showed how precarious was Aly’s grasp upon the
Bedouin races of this factious city.
[Sidenote: Khârejite émeutes.]
The spirit of disturbance and unrest was not confined to Egypt and to
Bussorah. During the year, we read of five or six occasions on which
considerable bands of Khârejites were impelled by their theocratic
creed to go forth and raise the standard of rebellion. One after
another they met the common fate of slaughter and dispersion. But
though crushed, the frequent repetition of such desperate enterprises,
the fruit of a wild and reckless fanaticism, had a disturbing effect on
the capital and the empire at large. [Sidenote: Rebellion of Khirrît
in Southern Persia, A.H. XXXXVIII. A.D. 658.] The most serious of
these risings was that led by Khirrît; and it is the more remarkable,
because this chief had with his tribe, the Beni Nâjia, fought bravely
by the side of Aly in the battles both of the Camel and Siffîn. He
was now driven, like many others, by his strong convictions to rebel.
Boldly approaching the throne, he told Aly that since he, as Caliph,
had referred a Divine issue to the arbitration of man, he could obey
him no more, neither stand up behind him in the Mosque at prayer; but
henceforth was sworn to be his enemy. Aly, with his usual patience,
said that he would argue out the matter with him, and arranged a
meeting for the purpose. But the night before the appointed day,
Khirrît stole away from the city with all his following. ‘Gone,’ said
Aly, ‘to the devil; lost, like the doomed Thâmudites!’ They were
pursued, but by so small a party that they held it at bay, and in the
end effected their escape to Ahwâz and Râm Hormuz. There they raised
the Persians, Kurds, and Christian mountaineers, by the specious and
inflammatory cry that the payment of taxes to an ungodly Caliph must
be renounced. With a band of apostate Arabs, they kindled revolt
throughout the province of Fars, and put the governor to flight.
[Sidenote: suppressed, and Khirrît slain.]A force from Bussorah drove
them to the shores of the Indian Ocean. But luring the people by
delusive arguments and promises, they still gained head; and it was
not till after a bloody battle, in which Khirrît lost his life, that
the supremacy of the Caliphate was re-established in Southern Persia.
[Sidenote: Christian captives.]The Mussulman prisoners in this campaign
were set at liberty on their taking afresh the oath of allegiance; but
the Christians, five hundred in number, were all marched away to be
sold into captivity. The women and children, as they were torn from
their protectors, wailed with loud and bitter cries. The hearts of many
were softened. Mascala, Governor of Ardshîr, touched by the scene, took
upon himself the cost of ransoming these Christian captives, and set
them free. Aly, hearing of it, demanded from him immediate payment at
a thousand pieces for each captive; and Mascala, unable to pay down so
great a sum, fled and joined Muâvia.[556]
[Sidenote: Ziâd suppresses rebellion in Persia, A.H. XXXIX. A.D. 659,]
The defeat of the Khârejites did not at once restore peace to Persia;
for Fars and Kermân threw off their allegiance, and expelled their
governors. To quell the spreading insurrection, Aly was happy in the
selection of Ziâd, the Chancellor of Bussorah, a man, as we have seen,
of conspicuous administrative ability. He carried with him a great
court and retinue; but it was mainly by his ready tact in setting one
rebellious prince against another, and by well-appointed promises
and favours, that he succeeded in restoring peace. [Sidenote: and is
appointed Governor of Fars.]Aly recognised his service by conferring
on him the government of Fars; and his administration there became so
famous as to recall to Persian memories the happy age of Nushirwân. He
fixed his court at Istakhr (Persepolis), and built a castle there, in
connection with which his name was remembered for many ages following.
[Sidenote: Expeditions from Syria against Irâc. A.H. XXXVIII-IX. A.D.
658–9.]
Though successful thus in Persia, Aly was still subject to trouble and
molestation nearer home. Muâvia, relieved now from apprehension on the
side of Egypt, began to annoy his rival by frequent raids on Arabia and
the cities beyond the Syrian desert. The object was various--now to
ravage a province or surprise a citadel, now to exact the tithe from
the Bedouin tribes, or, again, to force upon them allegiance to the
Syrian Caliphate. Such inroads, though not always successful, inspired
a sense of insecurity; and, what was worse than that, they betrayed
more clearly than ever the lukewarmness of the people in the cause
of Aly. These would stir neither hand nor foot to repel the Syrians
invading cities so close to them even as Ain Tamr, Anbâr, and Hît.
[Sidenote: Safar, A.H. XXXIX. June, A.D. 659.] To show his displeasure
at their listlessness and disobedience, Aly went forth himself into
the field almost unattended. On this, the men of Kûfa, partly through
shame, partly lured by the promise of increased stipends, marched to
the defence of their frontier. During the year there were eight or ten
inroads of this kind from Syria. Though eventually repelled, it was
not always without loss in prisoners, plunder, and prestige. On one
occasion, however, Aly’s commander, with a flying column, pursued the
raiders back into the heart of Syria as far as Baalbek; and thence,
turning northward, escaped by Ricca again into Irâc. [Sidenote: Muâvia
visits Mosul.]On the other hand, Muâvia, to show his contempt for
the power of Aly, made an incursion right across the plain of Upper
Mesopotamia. For some days he remained encamped on the banks of the
Tigris; and, after leisurely inspecting Mosul, which he had never seen
before, made his way back again to Damascus unmolested.
[Sidenote: Raid of Bosor on Medîna, Mecca, and Yemen. A.H. XL. A.D.
660.]
The fortieth year of the Hegira opened with a new grief for Aly. At the
close of the year preceding, as the annual pilgrimage drew near, Muâvia
sent Bosor, a brave but cruel captain of his host, with three thousand
men into Arabia, to secure for him the allegiance of the sacred cities.
As he drew nigh to Medîna, Abu Ayûb, the governor, fled to Kûfa, and
Bosor entered unopposed. Proceeding to the Great Mosque, he mounted
the sacred steps of the Prophet’s pulpit, and, recalling Othmân to
mind, thus addressed the people: ‘O citizens of Medîna! The Aged Man!
Where is the aged, grey-haired man whom, but as yesterday, and in
this very place, I swore allegiance to? Verily, but for my promise to
Muâvia, who bade me stay the sword, I had not left here a soul alive!’
Then he threatened the leading citizens with death if they refused to
acknowledge Muâvia as their Caliph; and so, fearing for their lives,
all took the oath of allegiance to the Omeyyad ruler. Passing on to
Mecca, the same scene was enacted by the imperious envoy there, and
with the same result.[557] Then he marched south to Yemen, where he
committed great atrocities upon the adherents of Aly. [Sidenote: He
slays the infant children of Aly’s cousin.]The governor, Obeidallah
son of Abbâs, escaped to his cousin at Kûfa. But two of his little
children, falling into the tyrant’s hands, were put to death in cold
blood, as well as their Bedouin attendant, who ventured to protest
against the cruel act. An army of four thousand men was despatched in
haste from Kûfa, but too late to stop these outrages; and Bosor made
good his escape to Syria. The wretched peninsula fared no better at the
hands of the relieving army. Many of the inhabitants of Najrân were
put to death, because they belonged to the party of Othmân. The men of
Mecca were forced to recall the oath they had just taken, and again do
homage to Aly. Similarly, the citizens of Medîna swore allegiance to
Hasan, son of Aly, at the point of the sword;[558] but no sooner were
the troops gone, than Abu Horeira, of the opposite faction, resumed
his functions as leader of the daily prayers. The cruel death of his
cousin’s infant children preyed on Aly more, perhaps, than all his
other troubles put together; and he cursed Bosor in the daily service
with a new and bitter imprecation. The disconsolate mother poured forth
her sorrow in plaintive verse, some touching couplets of which still
survive.[559]
[Sidenote: Abdallah son of Abbâs retires to Mecca.]
Yet another grief was in store for Aly. He had promoted his cousins,
the sons of Abbâs, to great dignity, giving the chief command in
Yemen to one, in Mecca to another, in Medîna to a third; while
Abdallah, the eldest, held the government of Bussorah, the second
city in his Caliphate. Complaints having reached the Court of certain
irregularities in the administration of Bussorah, Aly called upon his
cousin to render an account. Scorning to answer the demand, Abdallah
threw up his office, and, carrying his treasures with him, retired
to Mecca. Aly was much mortified at this unfriendly act; and still
more so by the desertion of his own brother, Ackîl, who went over to
Muâvia.[560]
[Sidenote: Aly, broken in spirit, concludes truce with Muâvia. A.H. XL.
A.D. 660.]
These troubles, crowding rapidly one upon another, entirely broke the
spirit of Aly. He had no longer the heart to carry on hostilities with
Syria. If he might secure the Eastern provinces in peaceful subjection
to himself, it was all that he could hope for now. Accordingly, after
lengthened correspondence, an armistice was concluded between Aly and
Muâvia, by which they agreed to lay aside their arms, respect the
territory of each other, and maintain a friendly attitude.
[Sidenote: The double Caliphate.]
It is possible that a double Caliphate thus recognised, in two
separate and independent empires, by the Rulers of the East and of the
West, might have been prolonged indefinitely, or even handed down in
perpetuity, had not the tragical event occurred which will be narrated
in the following chapter.