of Islam. In Asia Minor and Armenia, Maslama, brother of the caliph, and
his generals obtained numerous successes against the Greeks. Tyana was
conquered after a long siege, and a great expedition against
Constantinople was in preparation. In Armenia Maslama advanced even as
far as the Caucasus. In Africa, Musa b. Nosair, who succeeded Hassan b.
No'man as governor, in a short time carried his conquests as far as Fez,
Tangier and Ceuta, and one of his captains even made a descent on Sicily
and plundered Syracuse. When he returned from the west to Kairawan, he
made his client Tariq (or Tarik) governor of Tangier and of the whole
western part of Africa. Under him the chiefs who had submitted to the
Moslem arms retained their authority. One of them was the Greek exarch
of Tangier, Julian, who, supported by the powerful Berber tribe of
Ghomera, had long resisted and even asked for aid from Spain, but had
been compelled to surrender and was left governor of Ceuta. Meanwhile in
Spain, after the death of the Gothic king Witiza in the year 90
(708-709), anarchy arose, which was terminated by the council of
noblemen at Toledo electing Roderic, the powerful duke of Baetica, to be
his successor in the fifth year of Walid. The eldest son of Witiza then
applied to Julian, and asked the aid of the Arabs for the recovery of
his father's throne. Tariq forwarded the embassy to Kairawan, and Musa
asked the caliph's permission to send an expedition into Spain.
Authorized by Musa, Tariq now sent, in Ramadan 91 (July 710), 500
Berbers under the command of Tarif to reconnoitre the country. This
expedition, seconded by partisans of Witiza, was successful. In the
beginning of A.D. 711 Roderic had been summoned to the north on account
of an invasion of Navarra by the Franks, caused, it is said, by the
conspirators. Tariq, thus certain of meeting no serious opposition to
his landing, passed into Spain himself with an army composed mainly of
Berbers of the Ghomera tribe under the guidance of Julian. The spot
where he landed thence acquired the name of Jebel Tariq, "Mountain of
Tariq," afterwards corrupted into Gibraltar. Having made himself master
of Algeciras and thereby secured his communication with Africa, Tariq
set out at once in the direction of Cordova. At the news of the invasion
Roderic hastened back and led a numerous army against the combined
forces of Tariq and the partisans of Witiza. A fierce battle took place
in the plain of Barbata on the little river of Guadaleta (north of
Medina Sidonia), in which Roderic was completely routed. The spoils of
the victors were immense, especially in horses, but the king himself had
disappeared. Fearing lest he should have escaped to Toledo and should
there fit out another army, the partisans of Witiza insisted that Tariq
should march immediately against the capital. Tariq complied with their
wishes, notwithstanding the express command of Musa b. Nosair that he
should not venture too far into the country, and the protests of Julian.
Having made himself master of Ecija and having despatched a detachment
under Moghith against Cordova, Tariq took Mentesa (Villanueva de la
Fuente) and marched upon Toledo, which he soon conquered. At the same
time Moghith took Cordova. But, notwithstanding these successes, Tariq
knew that his situation was most critical. King Roderic, who had escaped
to Lusitania, and the noble Goths, who had fled from Toledo, would
certainly not be slow in making efforts to regain what they had lost. He
therefore sent a message in all haste to Musa, entreating him to come
speedily. Musa, though angered by the disobedience of Tariq, hastened to
the rescue and embarked in April 712 with 18,000 men, among them many
noble Arabs, and began, advised by Julian, a methodical campaign, with
the purpose of establishing and securing a line of communication between
the sea and Toledo. After having taken Seville, Carmona and Merida, he
marched from the latter place by the Via Romana to Salamanca, after
having ordered Tariq to rejoin him in order to encounter king Roderic.
Not far from Tamames the king was defeated and killed. King Alphonso the
Great found his tombstone at Viseo with the inscription, "Hic requiescit
Rodericus rex Gothorum." After this battle Musa reconquered Toledo,
which, after the departure of Tariq, had recovered its independence, and
entered the capital in triumph. Already, before the expedition to
Salamanca, he had perceived that the sons of Witiza had neither military
nor political ability. He therefore proclaimed the caliph of Damascus as
sole ruler of the whole peninsula. The Gothic princes must content
themselves with honours and apanages, in which they readily acquiesced.
In the same year 93 (A.D. 712) Musa struck Moslem coins with Latin
inscriptions. Musa then continued the subjugation of Spain, till Walid
recalled him to Damascus. He obeyed after having appointed his son
Abdalaziz governor of Andalos (Andalusia), as the Arabs named the
peninsula, and assigned Seville as his residence. Abdalaziz consolidated
his power by marrying the widow of the late king Roderic. Musa left
Spain about August 714, and reached Damascus shortly before the death of
Walid. Notwithstanding the immense booty he brought, he did not receive
his due reward. Accused of peculation, he was threatened with
imprisonment unless he paid a fine of 100,000 pieces of gold. The old
man--he was born in the year 640--was released by Yazid b. Mohallab, the
then mighty favourite of the caliph Suleiman, but died in the same year
716 on his way to Mecca. His son Abdalaziz was an excellent ruler, who
did much for the consolidation of the new conquests, but he reigned only
one year and eleven months, when he was murdered. His death has been
falsely imputed by some historians to the caliph Suleiman.[19]
In the East the Moslem armies gained the most astonishing successes. In
the course of a few years Qotaiba b. Moslim conquered Paikend, Bokhara,
Samarkand, Khwarizm (mod. Khiva), Ferghana and Shash (Tashkent), and
even Kashgar on the frontiers of China. Meanwhile Mahommed b. Qasim
invaded Makran, took Daibol, passed the Indus, and marched, after having
beaten the Indian king Daher, through Sind upon Multan, which he
conquered and whence he carried off an immense booty.
Walid was the first caliph, born and trained as prince, who felt the
majesty of the imamate and wished it to be felt by his subjects. He
desired to augment the splendours of Islam and its sovereign, as
Abdalmalik had already done by building the dome of Jerusalem. In the
time of the conquest of Damascus, one half of the great church had been
made a mosque, while the remaining half had been left to the Christians.
Walid annexed this part, indemnifying the Christians elsewhere, and
restored the whole building sumptuously and magnificently. In his time
many fine palaces and beautiful villas were built in Syria, and Becker's
conjecture seems not altogether improbable, that from this period dates
the palace of Mashetta, the facade of which is now in the Kaiser
Friedrich Museum at Berlin, as perhaps also the country houses
discovered by Musil in the land of Moab. Walid also caused the mosque of
Medina to be enlarged. For this purpose, the apartments of the Prophet
and his wives were demolished, which at first caused much discontent in
Medina, some crying out that thereby a verse of the Book of God (S. 49,
v. 4) was cancelled. With this exception, the citizens of Medina had
nothing to complain of. The vicegerent of Abdalmalik had treated them
harshly. Walid immediately on his accession appointed as governor of
Hejaz his cousin Omar b. Abdalaziz, who was received there with joy, his
devoutness and gentle character being well known. But the reputation of
Omar attracted to the two holy cities a great number of the inhabitants
of Irak, who had been deeply involved in the rebellion of Ibn Ash'ath.
Hajjaj, however, was not the man to allow the formation of a fresh
nucleus of sedition, and persuaded the caliph to dismiss Omar in the
year 712, and appoint Othman b. Hayyan at Medina and Khalid al-Qasri at
Mecca. These two prefects compelled the refugees to return to Irak,
where many of them were severely treated and even put to death by
Hajjaj.
Few people have been so slandered as this great viceroy of the Orient.
In reality he was a man of extraordinary ability, and accomplished the
task committed to him with vigour and energy. To his unflagging
constancy was due the suppression of the dangerous rebellion of Ibn
Ash'ath. After the restoration of peace his capacity for organization
was displayed in all directions. The draining and tilling of submerged
or uncultivated land on a large scale, the promotion of agriculture in
every way, in particular by the digging of channels, and the regulation
of the system of taxation, were carried out on his initiative. He showed
the utmost wisdom in the selection of his lieutenants. The fear of his
name was so great that even in the desert there was security for life
and property, and his brilliant military successes were unquestionably
due in a great measure to the care which he bestowed on equipment and
commissariat. The heavy expenses entailed thereby were largely met by
the booty which he won. Hajjaj was a sincere Moslem; this, however, did
not prevent him from attacking Ibn Zobair in the Holy City, nor again
from punishing rebels, though they bore the name of holy men. He enjoyed
the entire confidence of Abdalmalik with Walid, but Suleiman, the
appointed successor, regarded him with disfavour. Yazid b. Mohallab,
whom he had recalled from Khorasan, and imprisoned, had escaped and put
himself under the protection of Suleiman, who made himself surety for
the fine to which Yazid had been condemned. Hajjaj foreboded evil, and
prayed eagerly that he might die before Walid. His death took place
about the end of Ramadan 95 (June or July 714).
7. _Reign of Suleiman_ (_Solaiman_).--Suleiman had early missed the
throne. Walid wished to have his son Abdalaziz chosen as his successor,
and had offered Suleiman a large sum of money to induce him to surrender
his rights. Walid went still further and sent letters to the governors
of all the provinces, calling on them to take the oath of allegiance to
his son. None, except Hajjaj and his two generals Qotaiba b. Moslim and
Mahommed b. Qasim, consented thus to set at naught the order of
succession established by Abdalmalik; and Suleiman succeeded without
difficulty on the death of his brother Jomada II. 96 (February 715). We
can easily conceive the hatred felt by Suleiman for Hajjaj and for all
that belonged to him. Hajjaj himself was dead; but Suleiman poured out
his wrath on his family and his officers. The governors of Medina and
Mecca were dismissed; Mahommed b. Qasim, the conqueror of India, cousin
of Hajjaj, was dismissed from his post and outlawed. Qotaiba b. Moslim,
the powerful governor of Khorasan, tried to anticipate the caliph by a
revolt, but a conspiracy was formed against him, which ended in his
murder. Some historians say that he was falsely accused of rebellion.
Yazid b. Mohallab, the enemy of Hajjaj, was made governor of Irak. His
arrival was hailed with joy, especially by the Azd, to whom his family
belonged, and the other Yemenite tribes. Yazid discovered soon that the
system of taxation as regulated by Hajjaj could not be altered without
serious danger to the finances of the empire, and that he could not
afford the expenses which his prodigal manner of life involved. He
therefore asked the caliph to give him the governorship of Khorasan
also, and took his residence in Merv, where he was free from control. On
his return to Khorasan he set on foot a series of new expeditions
against Jorjan and Tabaristan, with only partial success. He sent,
however, to the caliph an exaggerated account of his victories and the
booty he had made. He had cause to repent this later.
Walid had, in the last years of his reign, made preparations for a great
expedition against Constantinople. Suleiman carried them on with energy,
and as early as the autumn of A.D. 715 Maslama invaded Asia Minor at the
head of a numerous army, whilst a well-equipped fleet under Omar b.
Hobaira sailed out to second him. It is said that Suleiman was firmly
persuaded that Constantinople would be conquered during his reign, in
accordance with a Sibylline prophecy which said that the city would be
subdued by a caliph bearing the name of a prophet, he himself being the
first to fulfil this condition.[20] Moreover, the Byzantine empire was
in these years disturbed by internal troubles. The first year of the
expedition was not unsuccessful. The siege of Amorium in Phrygia was
broken up, but Pergamum and Sardis were taken. On the 25th of August 716
the blockade of Constantinople began from the land side, and two weeks
later from the sea side. A few months before, Leo the Isaurian had
ascended the throne and prepared the city for the siege. This lasted
about a year. The besieged were hard pressed, but the besiegers suffered
by the severe winter, and were at last obliged to raise the siege.
Maslama brought back the rest of his army in a pitiful state, while the
fleet, on its return, was partly destroyed by a violent tempest. The
Moslems regard this failure as one of the great evils that have befallen
the human race, and one which retarded the progress of the world for
ages,[21] the other calamity being the defeat in the battle of Tours by
Charles Martel.
Maslama was still on his way back when Suleiman died at Dabiq in
northern Syria, which was the base of the expeditions into Asia Minor.
He seems not to have had the firmness of character nor the frugality of
Walid; but he was very severe against the looseness of manners that
reigned at Medina, and was highly religious. Raja b. Haywa, renowned for
his piety, whose influence began under Abdalmalik and increased under
Walid, was his constant adviser and even determined him to designate as
his successor his devout cousin Omar b. Abdalaziz. Suleiman was kind
towards the Alids and was visited by several of them, amongst others by
Abu Hashim, the son of Mahommed b. al Hanafiya, who after his father's
death had become the secret Imam (head) of the Shi'ites. On his way back
to Hejaz this man visited the family of Abdallah b. 'Abbas, which
resided at Homaima, a place situated in the vicinity of 'Amman, and died
there, after having imparted to Mahommed b. Ali b. Abdallah b. Abbas the
names of the chiefs of the Shi'a in Irak and Khorasan, and disclosed his
way of corresponding with them. From that time the Abbasids began their
machinations against the Omayyads in the name of the family of the
Prophet, avoiding all that could cause suspicion to the Shi'ites, but
holding the strings firmly in their own hands.
8. _Reign of Omar II._--Omar b. Abdalaziz did his best to imitate his
grandfather Omar in all things, and especially in maintaining the simple
manner of life of the early Moslems. He was, however, born in the midst
of wealth; thus frugality became asceticism, and in so far as he
demanded the same rigour from his relatives, he grew unjust and caused
uneasiness and discontent. By paying the highest regard to integrity in
the choice of his officers, and not to ability, he did not advance the
interests of his subjects, as he earnestly wished to do. In the matter
of taxes, though actuated by the most noble designs, he did harm to the
public revenues. The principle of Islam was, that no Moslem, whatever
might be his nationality, should pay any tax other than the _zakat_ or
poor-rate (see MAHOMMEDAN INSTITUTIONS). In practice, this privilege was
confined to the Arabic Moslems. Omar wished to maintain the principle.
The original inhabitants had been left on the conquered lands as
agriculturists, on condition of paying a fixed sum yearly for each
district. If one of these adopted Islam, Omar permitted him to leave his
place, which had been strictly forbidden by Hajjaj in Irak and the
eastern provinces, because by it many hands were withdrawn from the
tilling of the ground, and those who remained were unable to pay the
allotted amount. Omar's system not only diminished the actual revenue,
but largely increased in the cities the numbers of the _maula's_
(clients), mainly Persians, who were weary of their dependency on their
Arabic lords, and demanded equal rights for themselves. Their short
dominion in Kufa under Mokhtar had been suppressed, but the discontent
continued. In North Africa particularly, and in Khorasan the effect of
Omar's proclamation was that a great multitude embraced Islam. When it
became necessary to impose a tribute upon the new converts, great
discontent arose, which largely increased the number of those who
followed the Shi'ite preachers of revolt. Conversion to Islam was
promoted by the severe regulations which Omar introduced for the
non-believers, such as Christians and Jews. It was he who issued those
humiliating rescripts, which are commonly but unjustly attributed to
Omar I. But he forbade extortion and suppressed more than one illegal
impost. He endeavoured above all to procure justice for all his
subjects. Complaints against oppression found in him a ready listener,
and many unlawfully acquired possessions were restored to the legal
owners, for instance, to the descendants of Ali and Talha. Even to the
Kharijites he contrived to give satisfaction, as far as possible. In all
these matters he followed the guidance of divines and devotees, in whose
congenial company he delighted. It is, therefore, not to be wondered at
that these men saw in Omar the ideal of a prince, and that in Moslem
history he has acquired the reputation of a saint.
After the failure of the siege of Constantinople, the advanced posts in
Asia Minor were withdrawn, but the raids were continued regularly. It
has been said that it was Omar's intention to give up his Spanish
conquests, but the facts argue the contrary. The governor, named by
Omar, Samh b. Abdallah, even crossed the Pyrenees and took possession of
Narbonne; but he was beaten and killed at Toulouse in July 720. But Omar
did all he could to prevent the degradation of the Holy War, which,
instead of being the ultimate expedient for the propagation of Islam, if
all other means had failed, had often degenerated into mere pillaging
expeditions against peaceful nations.
9. _Reign of Yazid II._--Omar's reign was as short as that of his
predecessor. He died on the 24th of Rajab 101 (A.D. 9th February 720).
Yazid II., son of Abdalmalik and, by his mother 'Atika, grandson of
Yazid I., ascended the throne without opposition. He had at once,
however, to put down a dangerous rebellion. Yazid b. Mohallab had
returned to Irak, after the conquest of Jorjan, when Suleiman was still
alive. Shortly after, Adi b. Artat, whom Omar II. had appointed
governor, arrived, arrested Yazid, and sent him to Omar, who called him
to account for the money he had mentioned in his letter to Suleiman, and
imprisoned him when he pretended not to be able to pay the amount. Yazid
II. had personal grounds for ill-will to Yazid b. Mohallab. One of the
wives of the new caliph, the same who gave birth to that son of Yazid
II. who afterwards reigned as Walid II., was niece to the celebrated
Hajjaj, whose family had been ill-treated by the son of Mohallab, when
he was governor of Irak under Suleiman. Aware that Yazid b. Abdalmalik,
on ascending the throne, would spare neither him nor his family, Yazid
b. Mohallab had succeeded in escaping to Basra, the home of his family,
where his own tribe the Azd was predominant. Meanwhile 'Adi b. Artat had
all the brothers of Yazid and other members of the family of Mohallab
arrested, and tried to prevent Yazid from entering the city. But 'Adi
was too scrupulous to employ the public money for raising the pay of his
soldiers, whilst Yazid promised mountains of gold. Yazid stormed the
castle and took 'Adi prisoner, the public treasury fell into his hands,
and he employed the money to pay his troops largely and to raise fresh
ones. A pardon obtained for him from the caliph came too late; he had
already gone too far. He now proclaimed a Holy War against the Syrians,
whom he declared to be worse enemies of Islam than even the Turks and
the Dailam. Notwithstanding the warnings of the aged Hasan al-Basri, the
friend of Omar II., the religious people, took the part of Yazid, and
were followed by the _maulas_. Though the number of his adherents thus
increased enormously, their military value was small. Ahwaz (Khuzistan),
Fars and Kirman were easily subdued, but in Khorasan the Azd could not
prevail over the Tamim, who were loyal to the caliph. As the rebellion
threatened to spread far and wide, Yazid II. was obliged to appeal to
his brother, the celebrated Maslama. With the approach of the Syrians,
Yazid b. Mohallab tried to forestall them at Kufa. He took his way over
Wasit, which he mastered--the Syrian garrison seems to have been
withdrawn in the days of Omar II.--but, before he could get hold of
Kufa, the Syrian troops arrived. The meeting took place at 'Aqr in the
vicinity of Babel, and Yazid was completely defeated and fell in the
battle. His brothers and sons fled to Basra; thence they went by sea to
Kirman and then to Kandabil in India; but they were pursued relentlessly
and slain with only two exceptions by the officers of Maslama. The
possessions of the Mohallabites were confiscated.
Maslama was rewarded with the governorship of Irak and Khorasan, but
was soon replaced by Omar b. Hobaira, who under Omar II. had been
governor of Mesopotamia. He belonged to the tribe of Qais, and was very
severe against the Azd and other Yemenite tribes, who had more or less
favoured the part of Yazid b. Mohallab. In these years the antagonism
between Qais (Modar) and Yemenites became more and more acute,
especially in Khorasan. The real cause of the dismissal of Maslama was,
that he did not send the revenue-quota to Damascus. Omar b. Hobaira, to
supply the deficiency, ordered the prefect of Khorasan,
Sa'id-al-Harashi, to take tribute from the Sogdians in Transoxiana, who
had embraced Islam on the promise of Omar II. The Sogdians raised a
revolt in Ferghana, but were subdued by Sa'id and obliged to pay. A
still more questionable measure of Ibn Hobaira was his ordering the
successor of Sa'id Harashi to extort large sums of money from several of
the most respectable Khorasanians. The discontent roused thereby became
one of the principal causes of the fall of the Omayyads.
In Africa serious troubles arose from the same cause. Yazid b. Abi
Moslim, who had been at the head of the financial department in Irak
under Hajjaj, and had been made governor of Africa by Yazid II., issued
orders that the villagers who, having adopted Islam, were freed from
tribute according to the promise of Omar II., and had left their
villages for the towns, should return to their domiciles and pay the
same tribute as before their conversion. The Berbers rose in revolt,
slaughtered the unfortunate governor, and put in his place the former
governor Mahommed b. Yazid. The caliph at first ratified this choice,
but soon after dismissed Mahommed from his post, and replaced him by
Bishr b. Safwan, who under Hisham made an expedition against Sicily.
Yazid II. was by natural disposition the opposite of his predecessor. He
did not feel that anxiety for the spiritual welfare of his subjects
which had animated Omar II. Poetry and music, not beloved by Suleiman
and condemned by Omar, were held by him in great honour. Two
court-singers, Sallama and Hababa, exercised great influence, tempered
only by the austerity of manners that prevailed in Syria. He was so
deeply affected by the death of Hababa, that Maslama entreated him not
to exhibit his sorrow to the eyes of the public. He died a few days
later, on the 26th of January 724, according to the chroniclers from
grief for her loss. As his successor he had appointed in the first place
his brother Hisham, and after him his own son Walid.
10. _Reign of Hisham_.--Hisham was a wise and able prince and an enemy
of luxury, not an idealist like Omar II., nor a worldling like Yazid
II., but more like his father Abdalmalik, devoting all his energy to the
pacification of the interior, and to extending and consolidating the
empire of Islam. But the discontent, which had been sown under his
predecessors, had now developed to such an extent that he could not
suppress it in detail. His first care was to put an end to the
tyrannical rule of the Qaisites (Modarites) in Irak and Khorasan by
dismissing Omar b. Hobaira and appointing in his place Khalid al-Qasri.
This very able man, who under Hajjaj had been prefect of Mecca, belonged
properly neither to the Qaisites nor to the Yemenites, but as he took
the place of Ibn Hobaira and dismissed his partisans from their posts,
the former considered him as their adversary, the latter as their
benefactor. After his death, in particular, the Yemenites celebrated him
as their chief, and assigned as the reason for their revolt the injuries
which he suffered. Khalid himself assuredly did not intend it. He was a
loyal servant of the dynasty, and remained such even after receiving
very harsh treatment from them. For fifteen years Khalid governed the
eastern half of the empire, and continued to maintain peace with only
few exceptions throughout. He did much for the reclaiming and improving
of lands in Irak, in which the caliph himself and several princes took
an active part. The great revenues obtained thereby naturally caused
much jealousy. Khalid lived on a very rich scale and was extraordinarily
liberal, and he was charged with having carried out all his improvements
for his own interests, and upbraided for selling the corn of his estates
only when the prices were high. To these charges were added the
accusation that he was too tolerant to Christians, Jews and
Zoroastrians. As his mother professed the Christian religion, he was
accused of infidelity. At last a conspiracy, into which the principal
engineer of Khalid, Hassan the Nabataean, had been drawn, succeeded in
inciting Hisham against Khalid. They told him that Khalid had used
disrespectful terms in speaking of the caliph, and that he had
appropriated revenues belonging to the state. The latter imputation
especially influenced Hisham, who was very parsimonious. When the
dismissal of Khalid had been resolved upon, Yusuf b. Omar, his appointed
successor, was sent secretly to Kufa, where he seized on Khalid
unawares. For eighteen months Khalid remained in prison. But when he
declined even under torture to confess that he had been guilty of
extensive peculation, he was finally released. He settled at Damascus
and made a noble return for his injuries by taking an active part in the
war against the Greeks. In the summer of A.D. 740, while he was in Asia
Minor, a great fire broke out in Damascus, the guilt of which was
attributed to Khalid. Though it soon appeared that the imputation was
false, Khalid, on his return, was furious, and uttered very offensive
words against the caliph. Hisham, however, would not again punish his
old servant; on the contrary, he seems to have regarded his indignation
as a proof of innocence.
The successor of Khalid in Irak had not long been in office when Zaid b.
Ali, grandson of Hosain b. Ali, who had come to Kufa for a lawsuit, was
persuaded by the chiefs of the Shi'a to organize a revolt. He succeeded
in so far that 15,000 Kufians swore to fight with him for the
maintenance of the commandments of the Book of God and the _Sunna_
(orthodox tradition) of his Prophet, the discomfiture of the tyrants,
the redress of injury, and last, not least, the vindication of the
family of the Prophet as the rightful caliphs. The revolt broke out on
the 6th of January 740. Unfortunately for Zaid he had to do with the
same Kufians whose fickleness had already been fatal to his family. He
was deserted by his troops and slain. His body was crucified in Kufa,
his head sent to Damascus and thence to Medina. His son Yahya, still a
youth, fled to Balkh in Khorasan, but was discovered at last and hunted
down, till he fell sword in hand under Walid II. Abu Moslim, the founder
of the Abbasid dynasty, proclaimed himself his avenger, and on that
occasion adopted the black garments, which remained the distinctive
colour of the dynasty.
In Khorasan also there were very serious disturbances. The Sogdians,
though subdued by Sa'id al Harashi, were not appeased, but implored the
assistance of the Turks, who had long been contending earnestly against
the Arabs for the dominion of Transoxiana. They found besides a most
valuable ally in Harith b. Soraij, a distinguished captain of the Arabic
tribe of Tamim, who, with many pious Moslems, was scandalized by the
government's perfidy in regard to the new converts. Harith put himself
at the head of all the malcontents, and raised the black flag, in
compliance with a Sibylline prophecy, holding that the man with the
black flag (the Prophet's flag) would put an end to the tyranny, and be
the precursor of the Mahdi.[22] The government troops suffered more than
one defeat, but in the last month of the year 118 (A.D. 736) the
governor Asad al-Qasri, the brother of Khalid, after having defeated
Harith, gained a brilliant victory over the Turks, which finally caused
them to retreat. Asad died almost simultaneously with the dismissal of
Khalid. Hisham then separated Khorasan from Irak and chose as governor
of the former Nasr b. Sayyar, a valiant soldier who had grown grey in
war, and who, besides all his other capacities, was an excellent poet.
Nasr instituted a system of taxation, which, if it had been introduced
earlier, would perhaps have saved the Arabic domination. It was that
which later on was generally adopted, viz. that all possessors of
conquered lands (i.e. nearly the whole empire except Arabia), whether
Moslems or not, should pay a fixed tax, the latter in addition to pay a
poll-tax, from which they were relieved on conversion to Islam. During
the reign of Hisham, Nasr made a successful expedition against Harith
and the Turks. The propaganda of the Shi'a by the Abbasids was
continued in these years with great zeal.
In India several provinces which had been converted to Islam under the
Caliphate of Omar II. declared themselves independent, because the
promise of equal rights for all Moslems was not kept under the reign of
his successors. This led to the evacuation of the eastern part of India
(called Hind by the Arabs, Sind being the name of the western part), and
to the founding of the strong cities of Mahfuza and Mansura for the
purpose of controlling the land.
In the north and north-west of the empire there were no internal
disorders, but the Moslems had hard work to maintain themselves against
the Alans and the Khazars. In the year 112 (A.D. 730) they suffered a
severe defeat, in which the general Jarrah perished. But the illustrious
Maslama b. Abdalmalik, and Merwan b. Mahommed (afterwards caliph),
governor of Armenia and Azerbaijan (Adherbaijan), succeeded in repelling
the Khazars, imposing peace on the petty princes of the eastern
Caucasus, and consolidating the Arab power in that quarter. The war
against the Byzantines was continued with energy during the whole of
Hisham's reign. Moawiya, the son of Hisham, whose descendants reigned
later in Spain, was in command till 118 (A.D. 736), when he met his
death accidentally in Asia Minor by a fall from his horse. After his
death, Suleiman, another son of the caliph, had the supreme command.
Both were eager and valiant warriors. But the hero of all the battles
was Abdallah b. Hosain, surnamed al-Battal (the brave). He has been the
subject of many romantic tales. Tabari tells how he took the emperor
Constantine prisoner in the year 114 (A.D. 732; but Constantine V.
Copronymus only began to reign in 740 or 741 A.D.); another Arabic
author places this event in the year 122, adding that al-Battal, having
defeated the Greeks, was attacked and slain in returning with his
captives. The Greek historians say nothing about Constantine having been
made prisoner. It is probable that the Arabs took another Greek soldier
for the prince.[23] The victories of the Moslems had no lasting results.
During the troubles that began in the reign of Walid II., the Greeks
reconquered Marash (Germanicia), Malatia (Malatiyeh) and Erzerum
(Theodosiopolis).
In Spain the attention of the Moslems was principally turned to avenge
the defeat of Samh beyond the Pyrenees. As early as the second year of
the reign of Hisham, 'Anbasa, the governor of Spain, crossed the
Pyrenees, and pushed on military operations vigorously. Carcassonne and
Nimes were taken, Autun sacked. The death of 'Anbasa in A.D. 725 and
internal troubles put a stop to further hostilities. The Berbers were
the chief contingent of the Moslem troops, but were treated by their
Arab masters as inferior people. They began to resent this, and one of
their chiefs, Munisa (Munuza), made himself independent in the north and
allied himself with Odo, king of Aquitaine, who gave him his daughter in
marriage. In the year 113 Abdarrahman b. Abdallah subdued Munisa,
crossed the mountains and penetrated into Gascony by the valley of
Roncesvalles. The Moslems beat Odo, gained possession of Bordeaux, and
overran the whole of southern Gaul nearly as far as the Loire. But in
October 732 their march was checked between Tours and Poitiers by
Charles Martel and after some days of skirmishing a fierce but
indecisive battle was fought. Abdarrahman was among the slain and the
Moslems retreated hastily in the night, leaving their camp to the
Franks. They were, however, not yet discouraged. In 739 the new governor
of Spain, Oqba (Aucupa) b. Hajjaj, a man of high qualities, re-entered
Gaul and pushed forward his raids as far as Lyons, but the Franks again
drove back the Arabs as far as Narbonne. Thenceforth the continual
revolts of the Berbers in Africa, and the internal troubles which
disturbed Spain until the reign of Abdarrahman I., effectually checked
the ambition of the Moslems.
In Africa the hand of government pressed heavily. The Berbers, though
they had pledged themselves to Islam and had furnished the latest
contingents for the Holy War, were treated as tributary serfs,
notwithstanding the promises given by Omar II. The Kharijites, of whom a
great many had emigrated to Africa, found them eager listeners. Still,
they could not believe that it was according to the will of the caliph
that they were thus treated, until a certain number of their chiefs went
as a deputation to Hisham, but failed to obtain an audience. Thereupon a
fierce insurrection broke out, against which the governor of Africa was
powerless. Hisham at once sent an army of more than 30,000 men, under
the command of Kolthum al-Qoshairi, and Balj b. Bishr. Not far from the
river Sabu in Algeria,[24] the meeting with the army of the insurgents
took place (A.D. 740). Kolthum was beaten and killed; Balj b. Bishr led
the rest of the Syrian army to Ceuta, and thence, near the end of 741,
to Spain, where they aided in the suppression of the dangerous revolt of
the peninsular Berbers. Balj died in 742. A year later the governor,
Abu'l-Khattar, assigned to his troops for settlement divers countries
belonging to the public domain.[25] An effort of the African Berbers to
make themselves masters of Kairawan failed, their army being utterly
defeated by the governor Hanzala.
Hisham died in February 743, after a reign of twenty years. He had not
been wanting in energy and ability, and kept the reins of the government
in his own hands. He was a correct Moslem and tolerant towards
Christians and Jews. His financial administration was sound and he
guarded against any misuse of the revenues of the state. But he was not
popular. His residence was at Rosafa on the border of the desert, and he
rarely admitted visitors into his presence; as a rule they were received
by his chamberlain Abrash. Hisham tried to keep himself free from and
above the rival parties, but as his vicegerents were inexorable in the
exaction of tribute, the Qaisites against the Yemenites, the Yemenites
against the Qaisites, both parties alternately had reason to complain,
whilst the non-Arabic Moslems suffered under the pressure and were
dissatisfied. He caused a large extent of land to be brought into
cultivation, and many public works to be executed, and he was accused of
overburdening his subjects for these purposes. Therefore, Yazid III. (as
also the Abbasids) on taking office undertook to abstain from spending
money on building and digging. The principle that a well-filled treasury
is the basis of a prosperous government was pushed by him too far.
Notwithstanding his activity and his devotion to the management of
affairs, the Moslem power declined rather than advanced, and signs of
the decay of the Omayyad dynasty began to show themselves. The history
of his four successors, Walid II., Yazid III., Ibrahim and Merwan II.,
is but the history of the fall of the Omayyads.
11. _Reign of Walid II._--Walid II. was a handsome man, possessed of
extraordinary physical strength, and a distinguished poet. But Hisham,
to whom he was successor-designate, foolishly kept him in the
background, and even made earnest efforts to get his own son Maslama
acknowledged as his successor. Walid therefore retired to the country,
and passed his time there in hunting, cultivating poetry, music and the
like, waiting with impatience for the death of Hisham and planning
vengeance on all those whom he suspected of having opposed him. His
first public action was to increase the pay of all soldiers by 10
dirhems, that of the Syrians by 20. The Omayyads who came to pay their
respects to him received large donations. Many philanthropic
institutions were founded. As to the family of his predecessor, he
contented himself with confiscating their possessions, with the single
exception of Suleiman b. Hisham, whom he had whipped and put in prison.
But the Makhzumites, who were related to Hisham by his mother, he
deprived of all their power and had them tortured to death. The
vicegerents of Hisham were replaced by Qaisites; Yusuf b. Omar, the
governor of Irak, being a Qaisite, was not only confirmed in his office,
but received with it the supreme command of Khorasan. He made use of it
immediately by ordering Nasr b. Sayyar to collect a rich present of
horses, falcons, musical instruments, golden and silver vessels and to
offer it to the caliph in person, but before the present was ready the
news came that Walid had been murdered.
It is not certain that Walid also suspected Khalid al-Qasri of having
intrigued against him. But Yusuf b. Omar did not rest until he had his
old enemy in his power. It is said that he guaranteed Walid a large sum
of money, which he hoped to extort from Khalid. This unfortunate man
died under torture, which he bore with fortitude, in Muharram 126
(November 743).
Walid designated his two sons as heirs to the Caliphate. These were
still under age and were not the children of a freeborn, noble mother.
Both circumstances, according to the then prevailing notions, made them
unfit for the imamate. Moreover, it was an affront, in particular, for
the sons of Walid I., who already had considered the nomination of Yazid
II. as a slight to themselves. A conspiracy arose, headed by Yazid b.
Walid I., and joined by the majority of the Merwanid princes and many
Kalbites and other Yemenites who regarded the ill-treatment of Khalid
al-Qasri as an insult to themselves. Various stories were circulated
about the looseness of Walid's manner of life; Yazid accused him of
irreligion, and, by representing himself as a devout and God-fearing
man, won over the pious Moslems. The conspirators met with slight
opposition. A great many troops had been detached by Hisham to Africa
and other provinces, the caliph himself was in one of his country
places; the prefect of Damascus also was absent. Without difficulty,
Yazid made himself master of Damascus, and immediately sent his cousin
Abdalaziz with 2000 men against Walid, who had not more than 200
fighting men about him. A few men hastened to the rescue, among others
'Abbas b. Walid with his sons and followers. Abdalaziz interrupted his
march, took him prisoner and compelled him to take the oath of
allegiance to his brother Yazid. Walid's small body of soldiers was soon
overpowered. After a valiant combat, the caliph retired to one of his
apartments and sat with the Koran on his knee, in order to die just as
Othman had died. He was killed on the 17th of April 744. His head was
taken to Damascus and carried about the city at the end of a spear.
On the news of the murder of the caliph, the citizens of Homs (Emesa)
put at their head Abu Mahommed as-Sofiani, a grandson of Yazid I., and
marched against Damascus. They were beaten by Suleiman b. Hisham at a
place called Solaimania, 12 m. from the capital. Abu Mahommed was taken
prisoner and shut up with several of his brethren and cousins in the
Khadra, the old palace of Moawiya, together with the two sons of Walid
II. One or two risings in Palestine were easily suppressed. But the
reigning family had committed suicide. Their unity was broken. The
holiness of their Caliphate, their legitimate authority, had been
trifled with; the hatred of the days of Merj Rahit had been revived. The
orthodox faith also, whose strong representative and defender had
hitherto been the caliph, was shaken by the fact that Yazid III.
belonged to the sect of the Qadaris who rejected the doctrine of
predestination. The disorganization of the empire was at hand.
12. _Reign of Yazid III._--Yazid III., on his accession, made a fine
speech, in which he promised to do all that could be expected from a
good and wise ruler, even offering to make place immediately for the man
whom his subjects should find better qualified for the Caliphate than
himself. He cancelled, however, the increase of the pay granted by Walid
and thus earned the nickname of the _Naqis_ (diminisher). As he owed his
position to the aid of the Kalbites, he chose his officers from among
them. The governorship of Irak was confided to a Kalbite, Mansur b.
Jomhur, a hot-headed and unscrupulous man. Yusuf b. Omar was unable to
offer resistance, and was ultimately taken and confined in the Khadra.
Mansur had hardly been three months in office when Yazid replaced him by
Abdallah, son of Omar II. The distant provinces, with the exception of
Sind and Sijistan, renounced the authority of the new caliph. In Africa
Abdarrahman b. Habib, a descendant of the famous 'Oqba b. Nafi', was
almost independent. In Spain every amir tried to free himself from a
suzerainty which appeared to him only nominal. Nasr b. Sayyar, the
governor of Khorasan, had not yet decided whether he ought to take the
oath of allegiance when Yazid died, after a reign of only five months
and a half, on the 12th of Dhu'l-Hijja A.H. 126 (25th September A.D.
744).
13. Yazid III. left his brother Ibrahim as his successor. He was
acknowledged as caliph only in a part of Syria, and reigned no longer
than two months, when he was obliged to abdicate and to submit to the
authority of Merwan II.
14. Merwan II., the son of Mahommed b. Merwan and cousin of Maslama, was
a man of energy, and might have revived the strength of the Omayyad
dynasty, but for the general disorder which pervaded the whole empire.
In 732 Hisham had entrusted to him the government of Armenia and
Azerbaijan, which he held with great success till the death of Walid II.
He had great military capacity and introduced important reforms. On the
murder of Walid he prepared to dispute the supreme power with the new
caliph, and invaded Mesopotamia. Yazid III., in alarm, offered him as
the price of peace the government of this province together with Armenia
and Azerbaijan. Merwan resolved to accept those conditions, and sent a
deputation to Damascus, which, however, had just reached Manbij
(Hierapolis) when Yazid died. Leaving his son Abdalmalik with 40,000 men
in Rakka, Merwan entered Syria with 80,000 men. Suleiman b. Hisham, at
the head of 120,000 men, was defeated at 'Ain al-Jarr, between Baalbek
and Damascus. Merwan made many prisoners, whom he treated with the
greatest mildness, granting them freedom on condition that they should
take the oath of allegiance to the sons of Walid II. He then marched
upon Damascus. But Suleiman b. Hisham, Yazid, the son of Khalid
al-Qasri, and other chiefs, hastened to the Khadra and killed the two
princes, together with Yusuf b. Omar. Suleiman then made himself master
of the treasury and fled with the caliph Ibrahim to Tadmor (Palmyra).
Only Abu Mahommed as-Sofiani escaped the murderers. When Merwan entered
Damascus this man testified that the sons of Walid II., who had just
become adult, had named Merwan successor to the Caliphate, and was the
first to greet him as Prince of the Believers. All the generals and
officers followed his example and took the oath of allegiance (7th
December A.D. 744). Merwan did all he could to pacify Syria, permitting
the Arabs of the four provinces to choose their own prefects, and even
acquiescing in the selection as prefect of Palestine of Thabit b.
No'aim, who had behaved very treacherously towards him before, but whom
he had forgiven. He did not, however, wish to reside in Damascus, but
transplanted the seat of government to his own town, Harran in
Mesopotamia. Suleiman b. Hisham and Ibrahim tendered their submission
and were pardoned.
But the pacification was only on the surface. Many Omayyad princes
considered Merwan as an upstart, his mother being a slave-girl; the
Damascenes were angry because he had chosen Harran for his residence;
the Kalbites felt themselves slighted, as the Qaisites predominated.
Thabit b. No'aim revolted in Palestine, Emesa (Homs) and Tadmor were
turbulent, Damascus was besieged by Yazid b. Khalid al Qasri. Merwan,
who wanted to march against Irak, was obliged to return to Syria, where
he put an end to the troubles. This time Thabit b. No'aim had to pay for
his perfidy with his life. After this new pacification, Merwan caused
the Syrians to acknowledge his two sons as heirs to the Caliphate, and
married them to two daughters of Hisham. All the Omayyad princes were
invited to the wedding, Merwan hoping still to conciliate them. He then
equipped 10,000 Syrians, and ordered them to rejoin the army of 20,000
men from Kinnesrin (Qinnasrin) and Mesopotamia, who, under Yazid b. Omar
b. Hobaira, were already on the march towards Irak. When these Syrians
came to Rosafa (Rusafa), Suleiman b. Hisham persuaded them to proclaim
himself caliph, and made himself master of Kinnesrin. From all sides
Syrians flocked to his aid till he had 70,000 men under his orders.
Merwan immediately ordered Ibn Hobaira to stop his march and to wait for
him at Durin, and marched with the main force against Suleiman, whom he
utterly defeated at Khosaf in the district of Kinnesrin. Suleiman fled
to Homs and thence to Tadmor and on to Kufa, leaving his brother Sa'id
in Homs. The siege of this place by Merwan lasted nearly five months.
After the victory the walls were demolished, and likewise those of
Baalbek, Damascus, Jerusalem and other towns. Syria was utterly crushed,
and therewith the bulwark of the dynasty was destroyed. Not until the
summer of 128 (A.D. 746) could Merwan resume his campaign against Irak.
The governor of this province, Abdallah, the son of Omar II., was a man
of small energy, whose principal care was his personal ease and comfort.
An ambitious man, Abdallah b. Moawiya, a great-grandson of Ali's brother
Ja'far, put himself at the head of a band of Shi'ites and _maulas_, made
himself master of Kufa and marched upon Hira, where, since Yusuf b.
Omar, the governor and the Syrian troops had resided. The rebels were
defeated, and Kufa surrendered (October 744) under condition of amnesty
for the insurgents and freedom for Abdallah b. Moawiya. This adventurer
now went into Media (Jabal), where a great number of _maulas_ and
Shi'ites, even members of the reigning dynasty and of the Abbasid
family, such as the future caliph Mansur, rejoined him. With their help
he became master of a vast empire, which, however, lasted scarcely three
years.
Ibn Omar did not acknowledge Merwan as caliph. For the moment Merwan
could do no more than send a new governor, Ibn Sa'id al Harashi. This
officer was supported only by the Qaisite troops, the Kalbites, who were
numerically superior, maintaining Ibn Omar in his residence at Hira.
There were many skirmishes between them, but a common danger soon forced
them to suspend their hostilities. The general disorder after the death
of Hisham had given to the Khawarij an opportunity of asserting their
claims such as they had never had before. They belonged for the greater
part to the Rabi'a, who always stood more or less aloof from the other
Arabs, and had a particular grudge against the Modar. Their leading
tribe, the Shaiban, possessed the lands on the Tigris in the province of
Mosul, and here, after the murder of Walid II., their chief proclaimed
himself caliph. Reinforced by many Kharijites out of the northern
provinces, he marched against Kufa. Ibn Omar and Ibn Sa'id al Harashi
tried to defend their province, but were completely defeated. Harashi
fled to Merwan, Ibn Omar to Hira, which, after a siege of two months, he
was obliged to surrender in Shawwal 127 (August A.D. 745). Mansur b.
Jomhur was the first to pass over to the Khawarij; then Ibn Omar himself
took the oath of allegiance. That a noble Koreishite, a prince of the
reigning house, should pledge himself to follow Dahhak the Shaibanite as
his Imam, was an event of which the Khawarij were very proud. Ibn Omar
was rewarded with the government of eastern Irak, Khuzistan and Fars.
Whilst Merwan besieged Homs, Dahhak returned to Mesopotamia and took
Mosul, whence he threatened Nisibis, where Abdallah, the son of Merwan,
maintained himself with difficulty. Suleiman b. Hisham also had gone
over to the Khawarij, who now numbered 120,000 men. Mesopotamia itself
was in danger, when Merwan at last was able to march against the enemy.
In a furious battle at Kafartutha (September A.D. 746) the Khawarij were
defeated; Dahhak and his successor Khaibari perished; the survivors were
obliged to retire to Mosul, where they crossed the Tigris. Merwan
followed them and encamped on the western bank. Immediately after the
battle of Kafartutha, Yazid b. Omar b. Hobaira directed his troops
towards Irak. He beat the Kharijites repeatedly and entered Kufa in May
or June 747. Ibn Omar was taken prisoner; Mansur b. Jomhur fled to Ibn
Moawiya. Ibn Hobaira was at last free to send Ibn Dobara with an army to
Mesopotamia. At his approach the Kharijites left their camp and fled to
Abdallah b. Moawiya, who was now at the height of his power. But it was
not destined to last. The two generals of Ibn Hobaira, Ibn Dobara and
Nobata b. Hanzala defeated his army; Ibn Moawiya fled to Khorasan, where
he met his death; the chief of the Kharijites, Shaiban Yashkori went to
eastern Arabia; Suleiman b. Hisham and Mansur b. Johmur escaped to
India. Thus, at last, the western and south-eastern parts of the empire
lay at the feet of Merwan. But in the north-east, in Khorasan, meanwhile
a storm had arisen, against which his resources and his wisdom were
alike of no avail.
When the news of the murder of Walid II. reached Khorasan, Nasr b.
Sayyar did not at once acknowledge the Caliphate of Yazid III., but
induced the Arab chiefs to accept himself as amir of Khorasan, until a
caliph should be universally acknowledged. Not many months later
(Shawwal 126) he was confirmed in his post by Yusuf b. Omar, the
governor of Irak. But Nasr had a personal enemy, the chief of the Azd
(Yemenites) Jodai' al-Kirmani, a very ambitious man. A quarrel arose,
and in a short time the Azd under Kirmani, supported by the Rabi'a, who
always were ready to join the opposition, were in insurrection, which
Nasr tried in vain to put down by concessions.
So stood matters when Harith b. Soraij, seconded by Yazid III.,
reappeared on the scene, crossed the Oxus and came to Merv. Nasr
received him with the greatest honour, hoping to get his aid against
Kirmani, but Harith, to whom 3000 men of his tribe, the Tamim, had gone
over, demanded Nasr's abdication and tried to make himself master of
Merv. Having failed in this, he allied himself with Kirmani. Nasr could
hold Merv no longer, and retired to Nishapur. But the Tamim of Harith
could not endure the supremacy of the Azd. In a moment the allies were
divided into two camps; a battle ensued, in which Harith was defeated
and killed. Originally, Harith seems to have had the highest aims, but
in reality he did more than any one else to weaken the Arabic dominion.
He brought the Turks into the field against them; he incited the native
population of Transoxiana against their Arab lords, and stirred up
discord between the Arabs themselves. Being a Tamimite, he belonged to
the Modar, on whom the government in Khorasan depended; but he aided the
Yemenites to gain the upper hand of them. Thus he paved the way for Abu
Moslim.
Since the days of Ali there had been two tendencies among the Shi'ites.
The moderate party distinguished itself from the other Moslems only by
their doctrine that the imamate belonged legally to a man of the house
of the Prophet. The other party, that of the ultra-Shi'ites, named
Hashimiya after Abu Hashim the son of Mahommed b. al-Hanafiya, preached
the equality of all Moslems, Arabs or non-Arabs, and taught that the
same divine spirit that had animated the Prophet, incorporated itself
again in his heirs (see SHI'ITES). After the death of Hosain, they chose
for their Imam Mahommed b. al-Hanafiya, and at his decease his son Abu
Hashim, from whom Mahommed b. Ali, the grandson of Abdallah b. Abbas,
who resided at Homaima in the south-east of Syria, obtained the secrets
of the party and took the lead (A.H. 98, see above). This Mahommed, the
father of the two first Abbasid caliphs, was a man of unusual ability
and great ambition. He directed his energies primarily to Khorasan. The
missionaries were charged with the task of undermining the authority of
the Omayyads, by drawing attention to all the injustices that took place
under their reign, and to all the luxury and wantonness of the court, as
contrasted with the misery of many of their subjects. God would not
suffer it any longer. As soon as the time was ripe that time could not
be far off--He would send a saviour--and out of the house of the
Prophet, the Mahdi, who would restore Islam to its original purity. All
who desired to co-operate in this holy purpose must pledge themselves to
unlimited obedience to the Imam, and place their lives and property at
his disposal. As a proof of their sincerity they were required at once
to pay a fixed sum for the Imam. The missionaries had great success,
especially among the non-Arabic inhabitants of Khorasan and Transoxiana.
Mahommed b. Ali died A.H. 126 (A.D. 743-744), and his son Ibrahim, the
Imam, took his place. Ibrahim had a confidant about whose antecedents
one fact alone seems certain, that he was a _maula_ (client) of Persian
origin. This man, Abu Moslim by name, was a man of real ability and
devoted to his master's cause. To him, in 745-746, the management of
affairs in Khorasan was entrusted, with instructions to consult in all
weighty matters the head of the mission, the Arab Suleiman b. Kathir. At
first the chiefs of the mission were by no means prepared to recognize
Abu Moslim as the plenipotentiary of the heir of the Prophet. In the
year 129 he judged that the time for open manifestation had arrived. His
partisans were ordered to assemble from all sides on a fixed day at
Siqadenj in the province of Merv. Then, on the 1st Shawwal (15th June
747), the first solemn meeting took place and the black flags were
unfolded. On that occasion Suleiman b. Kathir was still leader, but by
the end of the year Abu Moslim, whom the majority believed to belong
himself to the family of the Prophet, was the acknowledged head of a
strong army. Meantime, Nasr had moved from Nishapur to Merv, and here
the two Arabic armies confronted each other. Then, at last, the true
significance of Abu Moslim's work was recognized. Nasr warned the Arabs
against their common enemy, "who preaches a religion that does not come
from the Envoy of God, and whose chief aim is the extirpation of the
Arabs." In vain he had entreated Merwan and Ibn Hobaira to send him
troops before it should be too late. When at last it was possible to
them to fulfil his wish, it was in fact too late. For a moment it seemed
as though the rival Arab factions, realizing their common peril, would
turn their combined forces against the Shi'ites. But Abu Moslim
contrived to re-awaken their mutual distrust and jealousy, and, taking
advantage of the opportunity, made himself master of Merv, in Rabia II.
A.H. 130 (December 747). Nasr escaped only by a headlong flight to
Nishapur. This was the end of the Arabic dominion in the East. Many Arab
chiefs were killed, partly by order of Abu Moslim, partly by their
clients. The latter, however, was strictly forbidden by Abu Moslim. So
severe indeed was the discipline he exercised, that one of the chief
missionaries, who by a secret warning had rendered possible the escape
of Nasr from Merv, paid for it with his life.
As soon as Abu Moslim had consolidated his authority, he sent his chief
general Qahtaba against Nishapur. Nasr's son Tamim was vanquished and
killed, and Nasr retreated to Kumis (Qumis) on the boundary of Jorjan,
whither also advanced from the other side Nobata at the head of an army
sent by Merwan. Qahtaba detached his son Hasan against Nasr and went
himself to meet Nobata, whom he beat on the 1st of Dhu'l-hijja 130 (6th
August 748). Nasr could not further resist. He reached Sawa in the
vicinity of Hamadan, where he died quite exhausted, at the age of
eighty-five years. Rei and Hamadan were taken without serious
difficulty. Near Nehawend, Ibn Dobara, at the head of a large army,
encountered Qahtaba, but was defeated and killed. In the month of
Dhu'l-qa'da 131 (June 749) Nehawend (Nehavend) surrendered, and thereby
the way to Irak lay open to Qahtaba. Ibn Hobaira was overtaken and
compelled to retire to Wasit. Qahtaba himself perished in the combat,
but his son Hasan entered Kufa without any resistance on the 2nd of
September 740.
Merwan had at last discovered who was the real chief of the movement in
Khorasan, and had seized upon Ibrahim the Imam and imprisoned him at
Harran. There he died, probably from the plague, though Merwan was
accused of having killed him. When the other Abbasids left Homaima is
not certain. But they arrived at Kufa in the latter half of September
749, where in the meantime the head of the propaganda, Abu Salama,
called the wazir of the family of Mahomet, had previously undertaken the
government. This Abu Salama seems to have had scruples against
recognizing Abu'l-Abbas as the successor of his brother Ibrahim, and to
have expected that the Mahdi, whom he looked for from Medina, would not
be slow in making his appearance, little thinking that an Abbasid would
present himself as such. But Abu Jahm, on the instructions of Abu
Moslim, declared to the chief officers of the Khorasanian army that the
Mahdi was in their midst, and brought them to Abu'l-Abbas, to whom they
swore allegiance. Abu Salama also was constrained to take the oath. On
Friday, the 12th Rabia II. A.H. 132 (28th November 749) Abu'l-Abbas was
solemnly proclaimed caliph in the principal mosque of Kufa. The trick
had been carried out admirably. On the point of gathering the ripe
fruit, the Alids were suddenly pushed aside, and the fruit was snatched
away by the Abbasids. The latter gained the throne and they took good
care never to be deprived of it.
After the conquest of Nehawend, Qahtaba had detached one of his
captains, Abu 'Aun, to Shahrazur, where he defeated the Syrian army
which was stationed there. Thereupon Abu 'Aun occupied the land of
Mosul, where he obtained reinforcements from Kufa, headed by Abdallah b.
Ali, an uncle of Abu'l-Abbas, who was to have the supreme command.
Merwan advanced to meet him, and was completely defeated near the
Greater Zab, an affluent of the Tigris, in a battle which lasted eleven
days. Merwan retreated to Harran, thence to Damascus, and finally to
Egypt, where he fell in a last struggle towards the end of 132 (August
750). His head was cut off and sent to Kufa.[26] Abu Aun, who had been
the real leader of the campaign against Merwan, remained in Egypt as its
governor. Ibn Hobaira, who had been besieged in Wasit for eleven months,
then consented to a capitulation, which was sanctioned by Abu'l-Abbas.
Immediately after the surrender, Ibn Hobaira and his principal officers
were treacherously murdered. In Syria, the Omayyads were persecuted with
the utmost rigour. Even their graves were violated, and the bodies
crucified and destroyed. In order that no members of the family should
escape, Abdallah b. Ali pretended to grant an amnesty to all Omayyads
who should come in to him at Abu Fotros (Antipatris) and acknowledge the
new caliph, and even promised them the restitution of all their
property. Ninety men allowed themselves to be entrapped, and Abdallah
invited them to a banquet. When they were all collected, a body of
executioners rushed into the hall and slew them with clubs. He then
ordered leathern covers to be thrown upon the dying men, and had the
banquet served upon them. In Medina and Mecca Da'ud b. Ali, another
uncle of Abu'l-Abbas, conducted the persecution; in Basra, Suleiman b.
Ali. Abu'l-Abbas himself killed those he could lay his hands on in Hira
and Kufa, amongst them Suleiman b. Hisham, who had been the bitterest
enemy of Merwan. Only a few Omayyads escaped the massacre, several of
whom were murdered later. A grandson of Hisham, Abdarrahman, son of his
most beloved son Moawiya, reached Africa and founded in Spain the
Omayyad dynasty of Cordova.
With the dynasty of the Omayyads the hegemony passes finally from Syria
to Irak. At the same time the supremacy of the Arabs came to an end.
Thenceforth it is not the contingents of the Arabic tribes which compose
the army, and on whom the government depends; the new dynasty relies on
a standing army, consisting for the greater part of non-Arabic soldiers.
The barrier that separated the Arabs from the conquered nations begins
to crumble away. Only the Arabic religion, the Arabic language and the
Arabic civilization maintain themselves, and spread more and more over
the whole empire.