We now enter upon the history of the new dynasty, under which the power
of Islam reached its highest point.
1. Abu'l-Abbas inaugurated his Caliphate by a harangue in which he
announced the era of concord and happiness which was to begin now that
the House of the Prophet had been restored to its right. He asserted
that the Abbasids were the real heirs of the Prophet, as the descendants
of his oldest uncle Abbas. Addressing the Kufians, he said, "Inhabitants
of Kufa, ye are those whose affection towards us has ever been constant
and true; ye have never changed your mind, nor swerved from it,
notwithstanding all the pressure of the unjust upon you. At last our
time has come, and God has brought you the new era. Ye are the happiest
of men through us, and the dearest to us. I increase your pensions with
100 dirhems; make now your preparations, for I am the lavish shedder of
blood[27] and the avenger of blood."
Notwithstanding these fine words, Abu'l-Abbas did not trust the
Kufians. He resided outside the town with the Khorasanian troops, and
with them went first to Hira, then to Hashimiya, which he caused to be
built in the neighbourhood of Anbar. For their real sympathies, he knew,
were with the house of Ali, and Abu Salama their leader, who had
reluctantly taken the oath of allegiance, did not conceal his
disappointment. Abu Jahm, the vizier (q.v.; also MAHOMMEDAN
INSTITUTIONS), or "helper," of Abu Moslim, advised that Abu Ja'far, the
caliph's brother, should be sent to Khorasan to consult Abu Moslim. The
result was that Abu Salama was assassinated, and at the same time
Suleiman b. Kathir, who had been the head of the propaganda in Khorasan,
and had also expected that the Mahdi would belong to the house of Ali.
It is said that Abu Ja'far, whilst in Khorasan, was so impressed by the
unlimited power of Abu Moslim, and saw so clearly that, though he called
his brother and himself his masters, he considered them as his
creatures, that he vowed his death at the first opportunity.
The ruin of the Omayyad empire and the rise of the new dynasty did not
take place without mighty convulsions. In Bathaniya and the Hauran, in
the north of Syria, in Mesopotamia and Irak Khorasan insurrections had
to be put down with fire and sword. The new caliph then distributed the
provinces among the principal members of his family and his generals. To
his brother Abu Ja'far he gave Mesopotamia, Azerbaijan and Armenia; to
his uncle Abdallah b. Ali, Syria; to his uncle Da'ud, Hejaz, Yemen and
Yamama (Yemama); to his cousin 'Isa b. Musa, the province of Kufa.
Another uncle, Suleiman b. Ali, received the government of Basra with
Bahrein and Oman; Isma 'il b. Ali that of Ahwaz; Abu Moslim, Khorasan
and Transoxiana; Mahommed b. Ash'ath, Fars; Abu 'Aun, Egypt. In Sind the
Omayyad governor, Mansur b. Jomhur, had succeeded in maintaining
himself, but was defeated by an army sent against him under Musa b.
Ka'b, and the black standard of the Abbasids was raised over the city of
Mansura. Africa and Spain are omitted from this catalogue, because the
Abbasids never gained any real footing in Spain, while Africa remained,
at least in the first years, in only nominal subjection to the new
dynasty. In 754 Abu Moslim came to Irak to visit Abu'l-Abbas and to ask
his permission to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. He was received with
great honour, but the caliph said that he was sorry not to be able to
give him the leadership of the pilgrimage, which he had already
purposely entrusted to his brother, Abu Ja'far.
Abu'l-Abbas died on the 13th of Dhu'l-hijja 136 (5th June 754). He seems
to have been a man of limited capacity, and had very little share in the
achievements accomplished in his name. He initiated practically nothing
without the consent of Abu Jahm, who was thus the real ruler. In the few
cases where he had to decide, he acted under the influence of his
brother Abu Ja'far.
2. _Reign of Mansur._--Abu'l-Abbas had designated as his successors
first Abu Ja'far, surnamed al-Mansur (the victorious), and after him his
cousin 'Isa b. Musa. Abu Ja'far was, according to the historians, older
than Abu'l-Abbas, but while the mother of the latter belonged to the
powerful Yemenite tribe of al-Harith b. Ka'b, the mother of Abu Ja'far
was a Berber slave-girl. But he was a son of Mahommed b. Ali, and was
therefore preferred by Abu Moslim to his uncles and cousins.
Abu'l-Abbas, however, had promised the succession to his uncle Abdallah
b. Ali, when he marched against Merwan. When the news of the death of
Abu'l-Abbas reached Abdallah, who at the head of a numerous army was on
the point of renewing the Byzantine war, he came to Harran, furious at
his exclusion, and proclaimed himself caliph. Abu Moslim marched against
him, and the two armies met at Nisibis, where, after a number of
skirmishes, a decisive engagement took place (28th November 754).
Abdallah was defeated and escaped to Basra, where he found a refuge with
his brother Suleiman. A year later he asked for pardon, and took the
oath of allegiance to Mansur. The caliph spared his life for a time, but
he did not forget. In 764 Abdallah met his death by the collapse of his
house, which had been deliberately undermined.
The first care of Mansur was now to get rid of the powerful Abu Moslim,
who had thus by another brilliant service strengthened his great
reputation. On pretence of conferring with him on important business of
state, Mansur induced him, in spite of the warnings of his best general,
Abu Nasr, to come to Madain (Ctesiphon), and in the most perfidious
manner caused him to be murdered by his guards. Thus miserably perished
the real founder of the Abbasid dynasty, the _Sahib addaula_, as he is
commonly called, the _Amin_ (trustee) of the House of the Prophet. A
witty man, being asked his opinion about Abu Ja'far (Mansur) and Abu
Moslim, said, alluding to the Koran 21, verse 22, "if there were two
Gods, the universe would be ruined." The Khorasanian chiefs were bribed
into submission, and order was at last re-established by Mansur's
general Khazim b. Khozaima in Mesopotamia, and by Abu Da'ud, the
governor of Khorasan in the east.
About the same time Africa[28] and Spain escaped from the dominion of
the eastern Caliphate; the former for a season, the latter permanently.
The cause of the revolt of Africa was as follows. Mansur had written to
Abdarrahman, announcing the death of Abu'l-Abbas, and requiring him to
take the oath of allegiance. Abdarrahman sent in his adhesion, together
with a few presents of little value. The caliph replied by a threatening
letter which angered Abdarrahman. He called the people together at the
hour of prayer, publicly cursed Mansur from the pulpit and declared him
deposed. He next caused a circular letter, commanding all Maghribins to
refuse obedience to the caliph, to be read from the pulpit throughout
the whole extent of the Maghrib (western North Africa). A brother of
Abdarrahman, Ilyas, saw in this revolt an opportunity of obtaining the
government of Africa for himself. Seconded by many of the inhabitants of
Kairawan, who had remained faithful to the cause of the Abbasids, he
attacked his brother, slew him, and proclaimed himself governor in his
stead. This revolution in favour of the Abbasids was, however, not of
long duration. Habib, the eldest son of Abdarrahman, who had fled in the
night of his father's murder, was captured, but the vessel which was to
convey him to Spain having been detained by stress of weather, his
partisans took arms and rescued him. Ilyas was marching against them,
when the idea occurred to Habib of challenging him to single combat.
Ilyas hesitated, but his own soldiers compelled him to accept the
challenge. He measured arms with Habib, and was slain. The party of
independence thus triumphed, but in the year 144 (761) Mahommed b.
Ash'ath, the Abbasid general, entered Kairawan and regained possession
of Africa in the name of the eastern caliph. From the year 800, it must
be added, Africa only nominally belonged to the Abbasids; for, under the
reign of Harun al-Rashid, Ibrahim b. al-Aghlab, who was invested with
the government of Africa, founded in that province a distinct dynasty,
that of the Aghlabites.
At the same time as the revolt in Africa, the independent Caliphate of
the western Omayyads was founded in Spain. The long dissensions which
had preceded the fall of that dynasty in the East had already prepared
the way for the independence of a province so distant from the centre of
the empire. Every petty amir then tried to seize sovereign power for
himself, and the people groaned under the consequent anarchy. Weary of
these commotions, the Arabs of Spain at last came to an understanding
among themselves for the election of a caliph, and their choice fell
upon one of the last survivors of the Omayyads, Abdarrahman b. Moawiya,
grandson of the caliph Hisham. This prince was wandering in the deserts
of Africa, pursued by his implacable enemies, but everywhere protected
and concealed by the desert tribes, who pitied his misfortunes and
respected his illustrious origin. A deputation from Spain sought him out
in Africa and offered him the Caliphate, which he accepted with joy. On
the 1st Rabia I. 138 (14th August 755) Abdarrahman landed in the Iberian
peninsula, where he was universally welcomed, and speedily founded at
Cordova the Western Omayyad Caliphate (see SPAIN: _History_).
While Mansur was thus losing Africa and Spain, he was trying to redeem
the losses the empire had sustained on the northern frontier by the
Byzantines. In 750-751 the emperor Constantine V. (Copronymus) had
unsuccessfully blockaded Malatia; but five years later he took it by
force and razed its wall to the ground. Mansur now sent in 757 an army
of 70,000 men under the command of his cousin Abdalwahhab, the son of
Ibrahim the Imam, whom he had made governor of Mesopotamia, the real
chief being Hasan b. Qahtaba. They rebuilt all that the emperor had
destroyed, and made this key of Asia Minor stronger than ever before.
The Moslems then made a raid by the pass of Hadath (Adata) and invaded
the land of the Byzantines. Two aunts of the caliph took part in this
expedition, having made a vow that if the dominion of the Omayyads were
ended they would wage war in the path of God. Constantine advanced with
a numerous army, but was afraid of attacking the invaders. The Moslems
also rebuilt Mopsuestia. But from 758 till 763 Mansur was so occupied
with his own affairs that he could not think of further raids.
In 758 (others say in 753 or 754) a body of 600 sectaries, called
Rawendis (q.v.), went to Hashimiya, the residence of the caliph, not far
from Kufa. They believed that the caliph was their lord, to whom they
owed their daily bread, and came to pay him divine honours. They began
by marching in solemn procession round the palace, as if it had been the
Ka'ba. Mansur being told of it said: "I would rather they went to hell
in obedience to us, than to heaven in disobedience." But as they grew
tumultuous, and he saw that this impious homage gave offence to his men,
he caused the principal leaders to be seized and thrown into prison. The
Rawendis immediately rose in revolt, broke the prison doors, rescued
their chiefs, and returned to the palace. The unfortunate fanatics were
hunted down and massacred to the last man, and thereby the ties that
bound the Abbasids to the ultra-Shi'ites were severed. From that time
forward the Abbasid caliphs became the maintainers of orthodox Islam,
just as the Omayyads had been. The name of Hashimiya, which the reigning
family still retained, was henceforward derived not from Abu Hashim, but
from Hashim, the grandfather of Abbas, the great-grandfather of the
Prophet.
A much greater danger now threatened Mansur. In the last days of the
Omayyads, the Shi'ites had chosen as caliph, Mahommed b. Abdallah b.
Hasan, whom they called the Mahdi and the "pure soul," and Mansur had
been among those who pledged themselves to him by oath. Not unnaturally,
the Alids in Medina were indignant at being supplanted by the Abbasids,
and Mansur's chief concern was to get Mahommed into his power.
Immediately after his occupying the throne, he named Ziyad b. Obaidallah
governor of Medina, with orders to lay hands on Mahommed and his brother
Ibrahim, who, warned betimes, took refuge in flight. In 758 Mansur,
informed that a revolt was in preparation, came himself to Medina and
ordered Abdallah to tell him where his sons were. As he could not or
would not tell, he together with all his brothers and some other
relatives were seized and transported to Irak, where Abdallah and his
brother Ali were beheaded and the others imprisoned. Notwithstanding all
these precautions, a vast conspiracy was formed. On the same day
Mahommed was to raise the standard of revolt in Medina, Ibrahim in
Basra. But the Alids, though not devoid of personal courage, never
excelled in politics or in tactics. In A.D. 762 Mahommed took Medina and
had himself proclaimed caliph. The governor of Kufa, 'Isa b. Musa,
received orders to march against him, entered Arabia, and captured
Medina, which, fortified by Mahommed by the same means as the Prophet
had employed against the besieging Meccans, could not hold out against
the well-trained Khorasanians. Mahommed was defeated and slain. His head
was cut off and sent to Mansur. When on the point of death, Mahommed
gave the famous sword of the Prophet called Dhu'l-Fiqar to a merchant to
whom he owed 400 dinars. It came later into the possession of Harun
al-Rashid. In the meanwhile Ibrahim had not only gained possession of
Basra, Ahwaz and Fars, but had even occupied Wasit. The empire of the
Abbasids was in great jeopardy. For fifty days Mansur stayed in his
room, neither changing his clothes nor allowing himself a moment's
repose. The greater part of his troops were in Rei with his son
al-Mahdi, who had conquered Tabaristan, in Africa, with Mahommed b.
Ash'ath, and in Arabia with 'Isa b. Musa. Had Ibrahim marched at once
against Kufa he might have crushed Mansur, but he let slip the
opportunity. A terrible conflict took place at Ba-Khamra, 48 m. from
Kufa. Homaid b. Qahtaba, the commander of Mansur's army, was defeated,
only a small division under 'Isa b. Musa holding its ground. At that
moment Salm, the son of the famous Qotaiba b. Moslim, came to the rescue
by attacking the rear of Ibrahim. Homaid rallied his troops, and Ibrahim
was overpowered. At last he fell, pierced by an arrow, and, in spite of
the desperate efforts of his followers, his body remained in the hands
of the enemy. His head was cut off and brought to Mansur.
Mansur could now give his mind to the founding of the new capital. When
the tumult of the Rawendis took place he saw clearly that his personal
safety was not assured in Hashimiya,[29] where a riot of the populace
could be very dangerous, and his troops were continually exposed to the
perverting influence of the fickle and disloyal citizens of Kufa. He had
just made choice of the admirable site of the old market-town of Bagdad
when the tidings came of the rising of Mahommed in Medina. In those days
he saw that he had been very imprudent to denude himself of troops, and
decided to keep henceforth always with him a body of 30,000 soldiers. So
Bagdad, or properly "the round city" of Mansur, on the western bank of
the Tigris, was built as the capital. Strictly it was a huge citadel, in
the centre of which was the palace of the caliph and the great mosque.
But around this nucleus there soon grew up the great metropolis which
was to be the centre of the civilized world as long as the Caliphate
lasted.[30] The building lasted three years and was completed in the
year 149 (A.D. 766). That year is really the beginning of the new era.
"The Omayyads," says the Spanish writer Ibn Hazm, "were an Arabic
dynasty; they had no fortified residence, nor citadel; each of them
dwelt in his villa, where he lived before becoming caliph; they did not
desire that the Moslems should speak to them as slaves to their master,
nor kiss the ground before them or their feet; they only gave their care
to the appointment of able governors in the provinces of the empire. The
Abbasids, on the contrary, were a Persian dynasty, under which the Arab
tribal system, as regulated by Omar, fell to pieces; the Persians of
Khorasan were the real rulers, and the government became despotic as in
the days of Chrosroes." The reign of Abu'l-Abbas and the first part of
that of Mansur had been almost a continuation of the former period. But
now his equals in birth and rank, the Omayyads and the Alids, had been
crushed; the principal actors in the great struggle, the leaders of the
propaganda and Abu Moslim were out of the way; the caliph stood far
above all his subjects; and his only possible antagonists were the
members of his own family.
'Isa b. Musa had been designated, as we have seen, by Abu'l-Abbas as
successor to Mansur. The latter having vainly tried to compel 'Isa to
renounce his right of succession, in favour of Mansur's son Mahommed
al-Mahdi, produced false witnesses who swore that he had done so.
However unwillingly, 'Isa was obliged at last to yield, but it was
understood that, in case of Mahommed's death, the succession should
return to 'Isa. One of the false witnesses was, it is asserted, Khalid
b. Barmak, the head of that celebrated family the Barmecides (q.v.),
which played so important a part in the reign of Harun al-Rashid. This
Khalid, who was descended from an old sacerdotal family in Balkh, and
had been one of the trusty supporters of Abu Moslim, Mansur appointed as
minister of finance.
A son of Mahommed the Alid had escaped to India, where, with the
connivance of the governor Omar b. Hafs Hazarmerd, he had found refuge
with an Indian king. Mansur discovered his abode, and caused him to be
killed. His infant son was sent to Medina and delivered to his family.
Omar Hazarmerd lost his government and received a command in Africa,
where he died in 770.
In A.H. 158 (A.D. 775) Mansur undertook a pilgrimage to Mecca, but
succumbed to dysentery at the last station on the route. He was about
sixty-five years of age, and had reigned for twenty-two years. He was
buried at Mecca. He was a man of rare energy and strength of mind. His
ambition was boundless and no means, however perfidious, were despised
by him. But he was a great statesman and knew how to choose able
officers for all places. He was thrifty and anxious to leave to his son
a full treasury. He seems to have cherished the ideal that this son,
called Mahommed b. Abdallah, after the Prophet, should fulfil the
promises of peace and happiness that had been tendered to the believers,
and therefore to have called him al-Mahdi. For that purpose it was
necessary that he should have the means not only to meet all state
expenses, but also to be bounteous. But from the report of the historian
Haitham b. 'Adi[31] about the last discourse which father and son had
together, we gather that the former had misgivings in regard to the
fulfilment of his wishes.
Khalid b. Barmak took the greatest care of the revenues, but contrived
at the same time to consult his own interests. Mansur discovered this in
the same year in which he died, and threatened him with death unless he
should pay to the treasury three millions of dirhems within three days.
Khalid already had so many friends that the sum was brought together
with the exception of 30,000 dirhems. At that moment tidings came about
a rising in the province of Mosul, and a friend of Khalid said to the
caliph that Khalid was the only man capable of putting it down.
Thereupon Mansur overlooked the deficiency and gave Khalid the
government of Mosul. "And," said a citizen of that town, "we had such an
awe and reverence for Khalid, that he appeased the disorders, almost
without punishing anybody."
3. _Reign of Mahdi._--As soon as Mansur was dead, Rabi', his client and
chamberlain, induced all the princes and generals who accompanied the
caliph, to take the oath of allegiance to his son Mahommed al-Mahdi, who
was then at Bagdad. Isa b. Musa hesitated, but was compelled to give in.
In 776 Mahdi constrained him for a large bribe to renounce his right of
succession in favour of his sons, Musa and Harun. Mansur wrote in his
testament to his son that he had brought together so much money that,
even if no revenue should come in for ten years, it would suffice for
all the wants of the state. Mahdi, therefore, could afford to be
munificent, and in order to make his accession doubly welcome to his
subjects, he began by granting a general amnesty to political prisoners.
Among these was a certain Ya'qub b. Da'ud, who, having insinuated
himself into the confidence of the caliph, especially by discovering the
hiding places of certain Alids, was afterwards (in 778) made prime
minister. The provincial governors in whom his father had placed
confidence, Mahdi superseded by creatures of his own.
In Khorasan many people were discontented. The promises made to them
during the war against the Omayyads had not been fulfilled, and the new
Mahdi did not answer at all to their ideal. A revolt in 160 under the
leadership of a certain Yusuf b. Ibrahim, surnamed al-Barm, was
suppressed by Yazid b. Mazyad, who, after a desperate struggle, defeated
Yusuf, took him prisoner and brought him in triumph to Bagdad, where he
with several of his officers was killed and crucified. In the following
year, Mahdi was menaced by a far more dangerous revolt, led by a
sectary, known generally as Mokanna (q.v.), or "the veiled one," because
he always appeared in public wearing a mask. He took up his abode in the
Transoxianian province of Kish and Nakhshab, where he gathered around
him a great number of adherents. After some successes, the pretender was
ultimately cornered at the castle of Sanam near Kish, and took poison
together with all the members of his family. His head was cut off and
sent to Mahdi in the year 163.
Mahdi had been scarcely a year on the throne when he resolved to
accomplish the pilgrimage to Mecca. The chroniclers relate that on this
occasion for the first time camels loaded with ice for the use of the
caliph came to Mecca. Immediately on his arrival in the Holy City he
applied himself, at the request of the inhabitants, to the renewal of
the curtains which covered the exterior walls of the Ka'ba. For a very
long time no care had been taken to remove the old covering when a new
one was put on; and the accumulated weight caused uneasiness respecting
the stability of the walls. Mahdi caused the house to be entirely
stripped and anointed with perfumes, and covered the walls again with a
single cloth of great richness. The temple itself was enlarged and
restored. On this occasion he distributed considerable largesses among
the Meccans. From Mecca Mahdi went to Medina, where he caused the mosque
to be enlarged, and where a similar distribution of gifts took place.
During his stay in that city he formed for himself a guard of honour,
composed of 500 descendants of the Ansar,[32] to whom he assigned a
quarter in Bagdad, named after them the Qati'a (Fief) of the Ansar.
Struck by the difficulties of every kind which had to be encountered by
poor pilgrims to Mecca from Bagdad and its neighbourhood, he ordered
Yaqtin, his freedman, to renew the milestones, to repair the old
reservoirs, and to dig wells and construct cisterns at every station of
the road where they were missing. He also had new inns built and decayed
ones repaired. Yaqtin remained inspector of the road till 767.
During the reign of Mansur the annual raids against the Byzantines had
taken place almost without intermission, but the only feat of importance
had been the conquest of Laodicea, called "the burnt" ([Greek: hae
katakekaumenae]), by Ma'yuf b. Yahya in the year 770. At first the
armies of Mahdi were not successful. The Greeks even conquered Marash
(Germanicia) and annihilated the Moslem army sent from Dabiq. In 778,
however, Hasan b. Qahtaba made a victorious raid as far as Adhruliya
(Dorylaeum); it was on his proposition that Mahdi resolved on building
the frontier town called Hadath (Adata), which became an outpost. In 779
the caliph decided on leading his army in person. He assembled his army
in the plains of Baradan north of Bagdad and began his march in the
early spring of 780, taking with him his second son Harun, and leaving
his elder son Musa as his lieutenant in Bagdad. Traversing Mesopotamia
and Syria, he entered Cilicia, and established himself on the banks of
the Jihan (Pyramus). Thence he despatched an expeditionary force,
nominally under the command of Harun, but in reality under that of his
tutor, the Barmecide Yahya b. Khalid. Harun captured the fortress Samalu
after a siege of thirty-eight days, the inhabitants surrendering on
condition that they should not be killed or separated from one another.
The caliph kept faith with them, and settled them in Bagdad, where they
built a monastery called after their native place. In consequence of
this feat, Mahdi made Harun governor of the whole western part of the
empire, including Azerbaijan and Armenia. Two years later war broke out
afresh between the Moslems and the Greeks. Leo IV., the East Roman
emperor, had recently died, leaving the crown to Constantine VI. This
prince being only ten years old, his mother Irene acted as regent and
assumed the title Augusta. By her orders an army of 90,000 men, under
the command of Michael Lachanodrakon, entered Asia Minor. The Moslems,
on their side, invaded Cilicia under the orders of Abdalkabir who, being
afraid of encountering the enemy, retired with his troops. Irritated by
this failure, the caliph in 781 sent Harun, accompanied by his
chamberlain Rabi', with an army of nearly 100,000 men, with orders to
carry the war to the very gates of Constantinople. The patrician
Nicetas, count of Opsikion, who sought to oppose his march, was defeated
by Harun's general, Yazid b. Mazyad, and put to flight. Harun then
marched against Nicomedia, where he vanquished the domesticus, the chief
commander of the Greek forces, and pitched his camp on the shores of the
Bosporus. Irene took alarm, sued for peace, and obtained a truce for
three years, but only on the humiliating terms of paying an annual
tribute of 90,000 denarii, and supplying the Moslems with guides and
markets on their way home. This brilliant success so increased Mahdi's
affection for Harun that he appointed him successor-designate after Musa
and named him _al-Rashid_ ("the follower of the right cause"). Three
years later, he resolved even to give to him the precedence in the
succession instead of Musa, yielding to the importunity of Khaizoran,
the mother of the two princes, and to his own predilection. It was
necessary first to obtain from Musa a renunciation of his rights; and
for that purpose he was recalled from Jorjan, where he was engaged on an
expedition against the rebels of Tabaristan. Musa, informed of his
father's intentions, refused to obey this order, and Mahdi determined to
march in person against him. But, after his arrival at Masabadhan, a
place in Jabal (Media, the later Persian Irak), he died suddenly, at the
age of only forty-three. Some attribute his death to an accident met
with in hunting; others believe him to have been poisoned. Some European
scholars have suspected Musa of having been concerned in it, but of this
we have no proof whatever.
The reign of Mahdi was a time of great prosperity. Much was done for the
organization of the huge empire; agriculture and commerce flourished;
the revenues were increasing, whilst the people fared well. The power of
the state was acknowledged even in the far east: the emperor of China,
the king of Tibet, and many Indian princes concluded treaties with the
caliph. He was an ardent champion of the orthodox faith, repudiating all
the extravagant doctrine preached by the Abbasid missionaries and
formerly professed by his father. In particular he persecuted
mercilessly the Manichaeans and all kinds of freethinkers.
4. _Reign of Hadi_.--On the death of Mahdi, Harun, following the advice
of Yahya. b. Khalid, sent the insignia of the Caliphate, with letters of
condolence and congratulation, to Musa in Jorjan, and brought the army
which had accompanied Mahdi peacefully back from Media to Bagdad. Musa
returned in all haste to the capital, and assumed the title of _al-Hadi_
("he who directs"). The accession of a new caliph doubtless appeared to
the partisans of the house of Ali a favourable opportunity for a rising.
Hosain b. Ali b. Hasan III. raised an insurrection at Medina with the
support of numerous adherents, and proclaimed himself caliph. Thence he
went to Mecca, where on the promise of freedom many slaves flocked to
him, and many pilgrims also acknowledged him. Suleiman b. Mansur, the
caliph's representative in the pilgrimage of that year, was entrusted
with the command against him. Hosain was attacked at Fakh, 3 m. from
Mecca, and perished in the combat with many other Alids. His maternal
uncle, Idris b. Abdallah, a brother of Mahommed and Ibrahim, the rivals
of Mansur, succeeded in escaping, and fled to Egypt, whence by the help
of the postmaster, himself a secret partisan of the Shi'ites, he passed
into West Africa, where at a later period his son founded the Idrisite
dynasty in Fez (see MOROCCO).
Hadi, who had never been able to forget that he had narrowly escaped
being supplanted by his brother, formed a plan for excluding him from
the Caliphate and transmitting the succession to his own son Ja'far. To
this he obtained the assent of his ministers and the principal chiefs of
his army, with the exception of Yahya b. Khalid, Harun's former tutor,
who showed such firmness and boldness that Hadi cast him into prison and
resolved on his death. Some historians say that he had already given
orders for his execution, when he himself was killed (September 14th,
786) by his mother Khaizoran, who had systematically and successfully
intrigued against him with the object of gaining the real power for
herself. Hadi, indignant at the fact that she was generally regarded as
the real source of authority, had attempted to poison her, and
Khaizoran, hoping to find a more submissive instrument of her will in
her second and favourite son, caused Hadi to be smothered with cushions
by two young slaves whom she had presented to him. She herself died
three years later.
5. _Reign of Harun al-Rashid_.--We have now reached the most celebrated
name among the Arabian caliphs, celebrated not only in the East, but in
the West as well, where the stories of the _Thousand and One Nights_
have made us familiar with that world which the narrators represent in
such brilliant colours. Harun ascended the throne without opposition.
His first act was to choose as prime minister his former tutor, the
faithful Yahya b. Khalid, and to confide important posts to the two sons
of Yahya, Fadl and Ja'far, of whom the former was his own
foster-brother, the latter his intimate friend. The Barmecide family
were endowed in the highest degree with those qualities of generosity
and liberality which the Arabs prized so highly, and the chronicles
never weary in their praises. Loaded with all the burdens of government,
Yahya brought the most distinguished abilities to the exercise of his
office. He put the frontiers in a good state of defence; he filled the
public treasury, and carried the splendour of the throne to the highest
point. His sons, especially Fadl, were worthy of their father.
Although the administration of Harun's states was committed to skilful
hands, yet the first years of his long reign were not free from
troubles. Towards the year 176 (A.D. 792-793) a man of the house of Ali,
named Yahya b. Abdallah, another brother of Mahommed and Ibrahim, who
had taken refuge in the land of Dailam on the south-western shores of
the Caspian Sea, succeeded in forming a powerful party, and publicly
claimed the Caliphate. Harun immediately sent against him an army of
50,000 men, under the command of Fadl, whom he made governor of all the
Caspian provinces. Reluctant, however, to fight against a descendant of
the Prophet, Fadl first attempted to induce him to submit by promising
him safety and a brilliant position at the court of Bagdad.
Yahyaaccepted the proposal, but required that the caliph should send him
letters of pardon countersigned by the highest legal authorities and the
principal personages of the empire. Harun consented and Yahya went to
Bagdad, where he met with a splendid reception. At the end of some
months, however, he was calumniously accused of conspiracy, and the
caliph, seizing the opportunity of ridding himself of a possible rival,
threw him into prison, where he died, according to the majority of the
historians, of starvation. Others say that Ja'far b. Yahya b. Khalid, to
whose care he had been entrusted, suffered him to escape, and that this
was the real cause of Harun's anger against the Barmecides (q.v.).
Dreading fresh insurrections of the Alids, Harun secured the person of
another descendant of Ali, Musa b. Ja'far, surnamed al-Kazim, who
enjoyed great consideration at Medina, and had already been arrested and
released again by Mahdi. The unfortunate man was brought by the caliph
himself to Bagdad, and there died, apparently by poison.
Meanwhile Harun did not forget the hereditary enemy of Islam. In the
first year of his reign all the strong places of Kinnesrin and
Mesopotamia were formed into a special province, which received the name
of al-'Awasim ("the defending fortresses"), with Manbij (Hierapolis) as
its capital. The building of the fortress of Hadath having been
completed, Harun committed to Faraj the Turk the task of rebuilding and
fortifying the city of Tarsus. Thanks to these and similar measures, the
Moslem armies were able to advance boldly into Asia Minor. Almost every
year successful raids were made, in the year 797 under the command of
the caliph himself, so that Irene was compelled to sue for peace. An
attack by the Khazars called the caliph's attention from his successes
in Asia Minor. This people had made an irruption into Armenia, and their
attack had been so sudden that the Moslems and Christians were unable to
defend themselves, and 100,000 had been reduced to captivity. Two
valiant generals, Khozaima b. Khazim and Yazid b. Mazyad, marched
against the Khazars and drove them out of Armenia.
In the midst of the cares of war, Harun was assiduous in his religious
duties, and few years passed without his making the pilgrimage. Having
determined to fix the order of succession in so formal a manner as to
take away all pretext for future contentions, he executed a deed by
which he appointed his eldest son Mahommed his immediate heir, and after
him the second, Abdallah, and after Abdallah the third, Qasim. Mahommed
received the surname of _al-Amin_ ("the Sure"), Abdallah that of
_al-Ma'mun_ ("he in whom men trust"), and Qasim that of _al-Mo'tamin
billah_ ("he who trusts in God"). Harun further stipulated that Mamun
should have as his share during the lifetime of his brother the
government of the eastern part of the empire. Each of the parties
concerned swore to observe faithfully every part of this deed, which the
caliph caused to be hung up in the Ka'ba, imagining that it would be
thus guaranteed against all violation on the part of men, a precaution
which was to be rendered vain by the perfidy of Amim.
It was in the beginning of the following year, at the very moment when
the Barmecides thought their position most secure, that Harun brought
sudden ruin upon them. The causes of their disgrace have been
differently stated by the annalists (see BARMECIDES). The principal
cause appears to have been that they abused the sovereign power which
they exercised. Not a few were jealous of their greatness and sought for
opportunities of instilling distrust against them into the mind of
Harun, and of making him feel that he was caliph only in name. The
secret dissatisfaction thus aroused was increased, according to some
apparently well-informed authorities, by the releasing of the Alid Yahya
b. Abdallah, already mentioned. Finally Harun resolved on their
destruction, and Ja'far b. Yahya, who had just taken leave of him after
a day's hunting, was arrested, taken to the castle of Harun, and
beheaded. The following day, his father Yahya, his brother Fadl, and all
the other Barmecides were arrested and imprisoned; all their property
was confiscated. The only Barmecide who remained unmolested with his
family was Mahommed the brother of Yahya, who had been the chamberlain
of the caliph till 795, when Fadl b. Rabi' got his place. This latter
had henceforward the greatest influence at court.
In the same year a revolution at Constantinople overthrew the empress
Irene. The new emperor Nicephorus, thinking himself strong enough to
refuse the payment of tribute, wrote an insulting letter to Harun, who
contented himself with replying: "Thou shall not hear, but see, my
answer." He entered Asia Minor and took Heraclea, plundering and burning
along his whole line of march, till Nicephorus, in alarm, sued for
peace. Scarcely had the caliph returned into winter quarters when
Nicephorus broke the treaty. When the news came to Rakka, where Harun
was residing, not one of the ministers ventured to tell him, until at
last a poet introduced it in a poem which pleased the monarch.
Notwithstanding the rigour of the season, Harun retraced his steps, and
Nicephorus was compelled to observe his engagements. In 805 the first
great ransoming of Moslem prisoners took place on the banks of the
little river Lamus in Cilicia. But Nicephorus, profiting by serious
disturbances in Khorasan, broke the treaty again, and overran the
country as far as Anazarba and Kanisat as-sauda ("the black church") on
the frontier, where he took many prisoners, who were, however, recovered
by the garrison of Mopsuestia. Thus Harun was obliged to take the field
again. He entered Asia Minor with an army of 135,000 regulars, beside
volunteers and camp followers. Heraclea was taken, together with many
other places, and Tyana was made a military station. At the same time
his admiral, Homaid b. Ma'yuf, conquered Cyprus, which had broken the
treaty, and took 16,000 of its people captive. Nicephorus was now so
completely beaten that he was compelled to submit to very harsh
conditions. In the year 808 the second ransoming between the Moslems and
the Greeks took place near the river Lamus.
The disturbances in Khorasan were caused by the malversations of the
governor of that province, Ali b. 'Isa b. Mahan. The caliph went in
person to Merv, in order to judge of the reality of the complaints which
had reached him. Ali b. 'Isa hastened to meet the caliph on his arrival
at Rai (Rhagae), near the modern Teheran, with a great quantity of
costly presents, which he distributed with such profusion among the
princes and courtiers that no one was anxious to accuse him. Harun
confirmed him in his post, and, after having received the chiefs of
Tabaristan who came to tender their submission, returned through Bagdad
to Rakka on the Euphrates, which city was his habitual residence. In the
following year Rafi' b. Laith, a grandson of Nasr b. Sayyar, raised the
standard of revolt in Samarkand, and, at the head of a numerous army,
defeated the son of Ali b. 'Isa. Thereupon Ali fled from Balkh, leaving
the treasury, which was plundered by the populace after his departure.
The caliph on learning that the revolt was due to Ali's tyranny, sent
Harthama b. A'yan with stringent orders to seize Ali and confiscate his
possessions. This order was carried out, and it is recorded that 1500
camels were required to transport the confiscated treasures. The
caliph's hope that Rafi' would submit on condition of receiving a free
pardon was not fulfilled, and he resolved to set out himself to
Khorasan, taking with him his second son Mamun. On the journey he was
attacked by an internal malady, which carried him off, ten months after
his departure from Bagdad, A.H. 193 (March 809), just on his arrival at
the city of Tus. Harun was only forty-five years of age. He was far from
having the high qualifications of his grandfather Mansur; indeed he did
not even possess the qualities of his father and his brother. When the
latter asked him to renounce his right of succession, he was willing to
consent, saying that a quiet life with his beloved wife, the princess
Zobaida, was his highest wish, but he obeyed his mother and Yahya b.
Khalid. As long as the Barmecides were in office, he acted only on their
direction. After their disgrace he was led into many impolitic actions
by his violent and often cruel propensities. But the empire was,
especially in the earlier part of his reign, in a very prosperous state,
and was respected widely by foreign powers. Embassies passed between
Charlemagne and Harun in the years 180 (A.D. 797) and 184 (A.D. 801), by
which the former obtained facilities for the pilgrims to the Holy Land,
the latter probably concessions for the trade on the Mediterranean
ports. The ambassadors brought presents with them; on one of these
occasions the first elephant reached the land of the Franks.
Under the reign of Harun, Ibrahim b. al-Aghlab, the governor of Africa,
succeeded in making himself independent of the central government, on
condition of paying a fixed annual tribute to his suzerain the caliph.
This was, if we do not take Spain into the account, the first instance
of dismemberment, later to be followed by many others.
In the days of this caliph the first paper factories were founded in
Bagdad.
6. _Reign of Amin_.--On the death of Harun his minister, Fadl b. Rabi',
with the view of gaining the new caliph's confidence, hastened to call
together all the troops of the late caliph and to lead them back to
Bagdad, in order to place them in the hands of the new sovereign, Amin.
He even, in direct violation of Harun's will, led back the corps which
was intended to occupy Khorasan under the authority of Mamun. Aware,
however, that in thus acting he was making Mamun his irreconcilable
enemy, he persuaded Amin to exclude Mamun from the succession. Mamun, on
receiving his brother's invitation to go to Bagdad, was greatly
perplexed; but his tutor and later vizier, Fadl b. Sahl, a Zoroastrian
of great influence, who in 806 had adopted Islam, reanimated his
courage, and pointed out to him that certain death awaited him at
Bagdad. Mamun resolved to hold out, and found pretexts for remaining in
Khorasan. Amin, in anger, caused the will of his father, which, as we
have seen, was preserved in the Ka'ba, to be destroyed, declared on his
own authority that Mamun's rights of succession were forfeited, and
caused the army to swear allegiance to his own son Musa, a child of
five, on whom he bestowed the title of _an-Natiq bil-Haqq_ ("he who
speaks according to truth"), A.H. 194 (A.D. 809-810). On hearing the
news, Mamun, strong in the rightfulness of his claim, retaliated by
suppressing the caliph's name in all public acts. Amin immediately
despatched to Khorasan an army of 40,000 under the command of Ali b.
'Isa, who had regained his former influence, and told the caliph that,
at his coming to Khorasan, all the leading men would come over to his
side. Zobaida, the mother of the caliph, entreated Ali to treat Mamun
kindly when he should have made him captive. It is said that Fadl b.
Sahl had, through a secret agent, induced Fadl b. Rabi' to select Ali,
knowing that the dislike felt towards him by the Khorasanians would
double their strength in fighting against him. Mamun, on his side, sent
in all haste an army of less than 4000 men of his faithful Khorasanians,
and entrusted their command to Tahir b. Hosain, who displayed
remarkable abilities in the war that ensued. The two armies met under
the walls of Rai (Shaaban 195, May 811). By a bold attack, in the manner
of the Kharijites of yore, Tahir penetrated into the centre of the
hostile army and killed Ali. The frightened army fled, leaving the camp
with all its treasures to Tahir, who from that day was named "the man
with the two right hands." A courier was despatched immediately to Merv,
who performed the journey, a distance of about 750 miles, in three days.
On the very day of his arrival, Harthama b. A'yan had left Merv with
reinforcements. Mamun now no longer hesitated to take the title of
caliph.
When the news of Ali's defeat came to Bagdad, Amin sent Abdarrahman b.
Jabala to Hamadan with 20,000 men. Tahir defeated him, forced Hamadan to
surrender, and occupied all the strong places in Jabal (Media). The year
after, Amin placed in the field two new armies commanded respectively by
Ahmad b. Mazyad and Abdallah b. Homaid b. Qahtaba. The skilful Tahir
succeeded in creating divisions among the troops of his adversaries, and
obtained possession, without striking a blow, of the city of Holwan, an
advantage which opened the way to the very gates of Bagdad. He was here
reinforced by troops sent from Khorasan under the command of Harthama b.
A'yan, who was appointed leader of the war against Amin, with orders to
send Tahir to Ahwaz. Tahir continued his victorious march, conquered
Ahwaz, took Wasit and Madain, and pitched his camp near one of the gates
of the capital, where he was rejoined by Harthama. One after the other
the provinces fell away from Amin, and he soon found himself in
possession of Bagdad alone. The city, though blockaded on every side,
made a desperate defence for nearly two years. Ultimately the eastern
part of the city fell into the hands of Tahir, and Amin, deserted by his
followers, was compelled to surrender. He resolved to treat with
Harthama, as he was averse to Tahir; but this step caused his ruin.
Tahir succeeded in intercepting him on his way to Harthama, and
immediately ordered him to be put to death. His head was sent to Mamun
(September 813). It was presented to him by his vizier, Fadl b. Sahl,
surnamed Dhu'l-Riyasatain, or "the man with two governments," because
his master had committed to him both the ministry of war and the general
administration. Mamun hid his joy beneath a feigned display of sorrow.
Amin was only twenty-eight years old. As a ruler he was wholly
incompetent. He hardly comprehended the importance of the affairs with
which he was called upon to deal. He acted invariably on the advice of
those who for the time had his confidence, and occupied himself mainly
with the affairs of his harem, with polo, fishing, wine and music. The
five years of his reign were disastrous to the empire, and in particular
to Bagdad which never entirely recovered its old splendour.
7. _Reign of Mamun._--On the day following the death of Amin Tahir
caused Mamun to be proclaimed at Bagdad, and promised in his name a
general amnesty. The accession of this prince appeared likely to restore
to the empire the order necessary for its prosperity. It was not so,
however. The reign of Mamun--that reign in which art, science and
letters, under the patronage of the caliph, threw so brilliant a
lustre--had a very stormy beginning. Mamun was in no haste to remove to
Bagdad, but continued to reside at Merv. In his gratitude to Fadl b.
Sahl, to whose service he owed his success, he not only chose him as
prime minister of the empire, but also named his brother, Hasan b. Sahl,
governor of Media, Fars, Ahwaz, Arabia and Irak. The two generals to
whom he owed still more were not treated as they deserved. Harthama was
ordered to return to Khorasan; Tahir was made governor of Mesopotamia
and Syria, with the task of subduing Nasr b. Shabath, who with numerous
adherents refused submission to the caliph. The Alids seized on the
elevation of Mamun as a pretext for fresh revolts. At Kufa a certain Ibn
Tabataba placed an army in the field under Abu'l-Saraya, who had been a
captain in the army of Harthama. An army sent by Hasan b. Sahl was
defeated, and Abu'l-Saraya, no longer content to play a second part,
poisoned his chief, Ibn Tabataba, and put in his place another of the
family of Ali, Mahommed b. Mahommed, whom, on account of his extreme
youth, he hoped to govern at his will. Abu'l-Saraya's success continued,
and several cities of Irak--Basra, Wasit and Madain--fell into his
hands. Mecca, Medina and Yemen also were mastered by the Alids, who
committed all kinds of atrocities and sacrilege. Abu'l-Saraya, who even
struck money in Kufa, began to menace the capital, when Hasan b. Sahl
hastily sent a messenger to Harthama b. A'yan, who was already at Holwan
on his way back to Merv, entreating him to come to his aid. Harthama,
who was deeply offended by his dismissal, refused at first, but at last
consented, and at once checked the tide of disaster. The troops of the
Alids were everywhere driven back, and the whole of Irak fell again into
the hands of the Abbasids. Kufa opened its gates; Basra was taken by
assault. Abu'l-Saraya and Mahommed b. Mahommed fled to Mesopotamia, but
were made prisoners. The former was decapitated, the latter was sent to
Khorasan, the revolt in Arabia was quickly suppressed, and peace seemed
within reach. This, however, was by no means the case. The disorder of
civil war had caused a multitude of robbers and vagabonds to emerge from
the purlieus of Bagdad. These ruffians proceeded to treat the capital as
a conquered city, and it became necessary for all good citizens to
organize themselves into a regular militia. Harthama, having vanquished
Abu'l-Saraya, did not go to Hasan b. Sahl, but proceeded towards Merv
with the purpose of telling Mamun that the state of affairs was not as
Fadl b. Sahl represented it to him, and urging him to come to Bagdad,
where his presence was necessary. Fadl, informed of his intentions,
filled the caliph's mind with distrust against the old general, so that
when Harthama arrived Mamun had him cast into prison, where he died
shortly afterwards. When the tidings of his disgrace came to Bagdad, the
people expelled the lieutenant of Hasan b. Sahl, called by them the
Majuzi ("the Zoroastrian"), who had chosen Madain for his residence, and
put at their head Mansur, a son of Mahdi, who refused to assume the
title of caliph, but consented to be Mamun's vicegerent instead of Hasan
b. Sahl.
Meanwhile, at Merv, Mamun was adopting a decision which fell like a
thunderbolt on the Abbasids. In A.H. 201 (A.D. 817), under pretence of
putting an end to the continual revolts of the partisans of Ali, and
acting on the advice of his prime minister Fadl, he publicly designated
as his successor in the Caliphate Ali ar-Rida, a son of that Musa
al-Kazim who perished in the prison of Mahdi, a direct descendant of
Hosain, the son of Ali, and proscribed black, the colour of the
Abbasids, in favour of that of the house of Ali, green. This step was
well calculated to delight the followers of Ali, but it could not fail
to exasperate the Abbasids and their partisans. The people of Bagdad
refused to take the oath to Ali b. Musa, declared Mamun deposed, and
elected his uncle, Ibrahim, son of Mahdi, to the Caliphate.[33] It was
only indirectly that the news reached the caliph, who then saw that Fadl
had been treating him as a puppet. His anger was great, but he kept it
carefully to himself. Fadl was one day found murdered, and Ali b. Musa
died suddenly. The historians bring no open accusation against Mamun,
but it seems clear that the opportune removal of these men was not due
to chance. Mamun affected the profoundest grief, and, in order to disarm
suspicion, appointed as his prime minister the brother of Fadl, Hasan b.
Sahl, whose daughter Buran he afterwards married. Soon after the news
came to him that Hasan b. Sahl had become insane. Mamun appointed an
officer to act as his lieutenant, and wrote that he was coming to Bagdad
in a short time. From that moment the pseudo-caliph Ibrahim found
himself deserted, and was obliged to seek safety in concealment. His
precarious reign had, however, lasted nearly two years. Mamun had found
out also that the general uneasiness was largely due to his treatment of
Harthama and Tahir, the latter having been put in a rebellious country
without the men and the money to maintain his authority. The caliph
therefore wrote to Tahir to meet him at Nahrawan, where he was received
with the greatest honour. Having taken all precautions, Mamun now made
his solemn entry into Bagdad, but, to show that he came as a master, he
still displayed for several days the green colours, though at last, at
the request of Tahir, he consented to resume the black. From this time,
A.H. 204 (August 819), the real reign of Mamun began, freed as he now
was from the tutelage of Fadl.
When welcoming Tahir, Mamun bade him ask for any reward he might desire.
Tahir, fearing lest the caliph, not being able to endure the sight of
the murderer of his brother, should change his mind towards him,
contrived to get himself appointed governor of Khorasan. Like most of
the great Moslem generals, Tahir, it is said, had conceived the project
of creating an independent kingdom for himself. His death, A.H. 207
(A.D. 822), prevented its realization; but as his descendants succeeded
him one after the other in the post of governor, he may be said in
reality to have founded a dynasty in Khorasan. His son Abdallah b. Tahir
was a special favourite of Mamun, He brought Nasr b. Shabath to
subjection in Mesopotamia, and overcame by great ability a very
dangerous rebellion in Egypt. When he returned thence, the caliph gave
him the choice between the government of Khorasan and that of the
northern provinces, where he would have to combat Babak the Khorramite.
Abdallah chose the former (see below, S 8).
The pseudo-caliph, Ibrahim, who, since Mamun's entry into Bagdad, had
led a wandering life, was eventually arrested. But Mamun generously
pardoned him, as well as Fadl b. Rabi', the chief promoter of the
terrible civil war which had so lately shaken the empire. After that
time, Ibrahim lived peacefully at the court, cultivating the arts of
singing and music.
Tranquillity being now everywhere re-established, Mamun gave himself up
to science and literature. He caused works on mathematics, astronomy,
medicine and philosophy to be translated from the Greek, and founded in
Bagdad a kind of academy, called the "House of Science," with a library
and an observatory. It was also by his orders that two learned
mathematicians undertook the measurement of a degree of the earth's
circumference. Mamun interested himself too in questions of religious
dogma. He had embraced the Motazilite doctrine about free will and
predestination, and was in particular shocked at the opinion which had
spread among the Moslem doctors that the Koran was the uncreated word of
God. In the year 212 (A.D. 827) he published an edict by which the
Motazilite (Mu'tazilite) doctrine was declared to be the religion of the
state, the orthodox faith condemned as heretical. At the same time he
ordered all his subjects to honour Ali as the best creature of God after
the Prophet, and forbade the praise of Moawiya. In A.H. 218 (A.D. 833) a
new edict appeared by which all judges and doctors were summoned to
renounce the error of the uncreated word of God. Several distinguished
doctors, and, among others, the celebrated Ahmad b. Hanbal (q.v.),
founder of one of the four orthodox Moslem schools, were obliged to
appear before an inquisitorial tribunal; and as they persisted in their
belief respecting the Koran, they were thrown into prison. Mamun, being
at Tarsus, received from the governor of Bagdad the report of the
tribunal, and ordered that the culprits should be sent off to him.
Happily for these unfortunate doctors, they had scarcely reached Adana,
when news of the caliph's death arrived and they were brought back to
Bagdad. The two successors of Mamun maintained the edicts--Ahmad b.
Hanbal, who obstinately refused to yield, was flogged in the year
834--but it seems that Motasim did not himself take much interest in the
question, which perhaps he hardly understood, and that the prosecution
of the inquisition by him was due in great part to the charge which was
left him in Mamun's will. In the reign of Motawakkil the orthodox faith
was restored, never to be assailed again.[34]
In spite of these manifold activities Mamun did not forget the
hereditary enemy of Islam. In the years 830, 831 and 832 he made
expeditions into Asia Minor with such success that Theophilus, the Greek
emperor, sued for peace, which Mamun haughtily refused to grant.
Accordingly, he decided on marching in the following year against
Amorium, and thence to Constantinople itself. Having sent before him his
son Abbas to make Tyana a strong fortress, he set out for Asia Minor to
put himself at the head of the army, but died of a fever brought on by
bathing in the chill river, Pedendon, 40 m. from Tarsus, in Rajab 218
(A.D. August 833), at the age of forty-eight.
Mamun was a man of rare qualities, and one of the best rulers of the
whole dynasty after Mansur. By him the ascendancy of the Persian element
over the Arabian was completed. Moreover, he began to attract young
Turkish noblemen to his court, an example which was followed on a much
larger scale by his successor and led to the supremacy of the Turks at a
later period.
8. _Reign of Motasim._--Abu Ishak al-Mo'tasim had for a long time been
preparing himself for the succession. Every year he had bought Turkish
slaves, and had with him in the last expedition of Mamun a bodyguard of
3000. Backed by this force he seems to have persuaded the ailing caliph
to designate him as his successor. The chroniclers content themselves
with recording that he himself wrote in the name of the caliph to the
chief authorities in Bagdad and elsewhere that he was to be the
successor. His accession, however, met at first with active opposition
in the army, where a powerful party demanded that Abbas should take the
place of his father. Abbas, however, publicly renounced all pretension
to the Caliphate, and the whole army accepted Motasim, who immediately
had the fortifications of Tyana demolished and hastened back to Bagdad,
where he made his public entry on the 20th of September 833.
Motasim wanted officers for his bodyguard. Immediately after his coming
to Bagdad, he bought all the Turkish slaves living there who had
distinguished themselves. Among them were Ashnas, Itakh, Wasif, Sima,
all of whom later became men of great influence. The guard was composed
of an undisciplined body of soldiers, who, moreover, held in open
contempt the religious precepts of Islam. Tired of the excesses
committed by these Turks, the people of Bagdad beat or killed as many of
them as they could lay hands on, and Motasim, not daring to act with
severity against either his guard or the citizens, took the course of
quitting the city. Having bought in 834 territories at Samarra, a small
place situated a few leagues above Bagdad, he caused a new residence to
be built there, whose name, which could be interpreted "Unhappy is he
who sees it," was changed by him into Sorra-man-ra'a, "Rejoiced is he
who sees it." Leaving the government of the capital in the hands of his
son Harun al-Wathiq, he established himself at Samarra in 836. This
resolution of Motasim was destined to prove fatal to his dynasty; for it
placed the caliphs at the mercy of their praetorians. In fact, from the
time of Wathiq, the Caliphate became the plaything of the Turkish guard,
and its decline was continuous.
In the time of the civil war the marshlands in Irak between Basra and
Wasit had been occupied by a large population of Indians, called _yat_,
or, according to the Arabic pronunciation, _Zott_, who infested the
roads and levied a heavy tribute from the ships ascending and descending
the Tigris. From the year 821 onwards Mamun had tried in vain to bring
them to submission. When Motasim came back to Bagdad, after the death of
his brother, he found the people in great distress, their supply of
dates from Basra having been cut off by the Zott, and resolved to put
them down with all means. After seven months of vigorous resistance,
they at last yielded on condition of safety of life and property. In
January 835 the Zott in their national costume and with their own music
were conducted on a great number of boats through Bagdad. Thence they
were transported to Ainzarba (Anazarba) on the frontier of the Greek
empire. Twenty years later they entered Asia Minor, whence in a later
period they came into Europe, under the name of Athinganoi (Ziganes) and
Egyptians (gipsies).[35]
A far more difficult task lay before Motasim, the subjection of Babak
al-Khorrami in Azerbaijan. Though the name Khorrami is often employed by
the Moslem writers to designate such extravagant Moslem sectaries as
the Hashimiya, the real Khorrami were not Moslems, but Persian
Mazdaqites, or communists. The name Khorrami, or Khorramdini, "adherent
of the pleasant religion," seems to be a nickname. As they bore red
colours, they were also called Mohammira, or Redmakers. Their object was
to abolish Islam and to restore "the white religion." We find the first
mention of them in the year 808, when Harun al-Rashid sent an army
against them. During the civil war their power was steadily increasing,
and spread not only over Azerbaijan, but also over Media (Jabal) and
Khorasan. The numerous efforts of Mamun to put them down had been all in
vain, and they were now in alliance with the Byzantine emperor.
Therefore, in the year 835, Motasim made Afshin, a Turkish prince who
had distinguished himself already in the days of Mamun, governor of
Media, with orders to take the lead of the war against Babak. After
three years' fighting, Babak was taken prisoner. He was carried to
Samarra, led through the city on the back of an elephant, and then
delivered to the executioners, who cut off his arms and legs. His head
was sent to Khorasan, his body was crucified. For long afterwards the
place where this happened bore the name of "Babak's Cross."
In the hope of creating a diversion in Babak's favour, Theophilus in 837
fell upon and laid waste the frontier town of Zibatra. There and in
several other places he took a great number of prisoners, whom he
mutilated. The news arrived just after that of the capture of Babak, and
Motasim swore to take exemplary vengeance. He assembled a formidable
army, penetrated into Asia Minor, and took the city of Amorium, where he
gained rich plunder. During his return the caliph was informed of a
conspiracy in the army in favour of 'Abbas the son of Mamun, of which
'Ojaif b. 'Anbasa was the ringleader. The unfortunate prince was
arrested and died soon after in prison. The conspirators were killed,
many of them with great cruelty. (For the campaign see Bury in _J.H.S._,
1909, xxix. pt. i.)
Motasim had just returned to Samarra when a serious revolt broke out in
Tabaristan, Maziyar, one of the hereditary chiefs of that country,
refusing to acknowledge the authority of Abdallah Ibn Tahir, the
governor of Khorasan, of which Tabaristan was a province. The revolt was
suppressed with great difficulty, and it came out that it was due to the
secret instigation of Afshin, who hoped thereby to cause the fall of the
Tahirids, and to take their place, with the ulterior object of founding
an independent kingdom in the East. Afshin, who stood at that moment in
the highest favour of the caliph, was condemned and died in prison.
Motasim died a year later, January 842.
9. _Reign of Wathiq._--His son Wathiq, who succeeded, though not in the
least to be compared with Mamun, had yet in common with him a thirst for
knowledge--perhaps curiosity would be a more appropriate term--which
prompted him, as soon as he became caliph, to send the famous astronomer
Mahommed b. Musa into Asia Minor to find out all about the Seven
Sleepers which he discovered in the neighbourhood of Arabissus,[36] and
Sallam the Interpreter to explore the situation of the famous wall of
Gog and Magog, which he reached at the north-west frontier of China.[37]
For these and other personal pursuits he raised money by forcing a
number of high functionaries to disgorge their gains. In so vast an
empire the governors and administrators had necessarily enjoyed an
almost unrestricted power, and this had enabled them to accumulate
wealth. Omar had already compelled them to furnish an account of their
riches, and, when he found that they had abused their trust, to
relinquish half to the state. As time went on, nomination to an office
was more and more generally considered a step to wealth. During the
reign of the Omayyads a few large fortunes were made thus. But with the
increasing luxury after Mansur, the thirst for money became universal,
and the number of honest officials lessened fast. Confiscation of
property had been employed with success by Harun al-Rashid after the
disgrace of the Barmecides, and occasionally by his successors, but
Wathiq was the first to imprison high officials and fine them heavily on
the specific charge of peculation.
The caliph also shared Mamun's intolerance on the doctrinal question of
the uncreated Koran. He carried his zeal to such a point that, on the
occasion of an exchange of Greek against Moslem prisoners in 845, he
refused to receive those Moslem captives who would not declare their
belief that the Koran was created. The orthodox in Bagdad prepared to
revolt, but were discovered in time by the governor of the city. The
ringleader Ahmad b. Nasr al-Khoza'i was seized and brought to Samarra,
where Wathiq beheaded him in person. The only other event of importance
in the reign of Wathiq was a rising of the Arabian tribes in the
environs of Medina, which the Turkish general Bogha with difficulty
repressed. When he reached Samarra with his prisoners, Wathiq had just
died (August 846). That the predominance of the praetorians was already
established is clear from the fact that Wathiq gave to two Turkish
generals, Ashnas and Itakh respectively, the titular but lucrative
supreme government of all the western and all the eastern provinces. In
his days the soldiery at Samarra was increased by a large division of
Africans (Maghribis).
10. _Reign of Motawakkil._--As Wathiq had appointed no successor the
vizier Mahommed Zayyat had cast his eye on his son Mahommed, who was
still a child, but the generals Wasif and Itakh, seconded by the upper
cadi Ibn abi Da'ud, refused their consent, and offered the supreme power
to Wathiq's brother Ja'far, who at his installation adopted the name of
_al-Motawakkil 'ala 'llah_ ("he who trusts in God"). The new caliph
hated the vizier Zayyat, who had opposed his election, and had him
seized and killed with the same atrocious cruelty which the vizier
himself had inflicted on others. His possessions, and those of others
who had opposed the caliph's election, were confiscated. But the
arrogance of Itakh, to whom he owed his Caliphate, became insufferable.
So, with the perfidy of his race, the caliph took him off his guard, and
had him imprisoned and killed at Bagdad. He was succeeded by Wasif.
About this time an impostor named Mahmud b. Faraj had set himself up as
a prophet, claiming to be Dhu'l-Qarnain (Alexander the Great) risen from
the dead. Asserting that Gabriel brought him revelations, he had
contrived to attract twenty-seven followers. The caliph had him flogged,
and compelled each of the twenty-seven to give him ten blows on the head
with his fist. The "prophet" expired under the blows (850).
One of the first acts of Motawakkil was the release of all those who had
been imprisoned for refusing to admit the dogma of the created Koran,
and the strict order to abstain from any litigation about the Book of
God. The upper cadi Ibn abi Da'ud, the leader of the movement against
orthodoxy, who had stood in great esteem with Mamun and had fulfilled
his high office under the reigns of Motasim and Wathiq, had a stroke of
paralysis in the year 848. His son Mahommed was put in his place till
851, when all the members of the family were arrested. They released
themselves by paying the enormous sum of 240,000 dinars and 16,000,000
dirhems, which constituted nearly their whole fortune, and were then
sent to Bagdad, where father and son died three years later. An orthodox
upper cadi was named instead, and the dogma of the created Koran was
declared heresy; therewith began a persecution of all the adherents of
that doctrine and other Motazilite tenets. Orthodoxy triumphed, never
again to lose its place as the state religion. Hand in hand with these
reactionary measures came two others, one against Jews and Christians,
one against the Shi'ites. The first caliph who imposed humiliating
conditions on the Dhimmis, or Covenanters, who, on condition of paying a
certain not over-heavy tribute, enjoyed the protection of the state and
the free exercise of their cult, was Omar II., but this policy was not
continued. A proposition by the cadi Abu Yusuf to Harun al-Rashid to
renew it had not been adopted. Motawakkil, in 850, formulated an edict
by which these sectaries were compelled to wear a distinctive dress and
to distinguish their houses by a figure of the devil nailed to the
door, excluding them at the same time from all public employments, and
forbidding them to send their children to Moslem schools. Nevertheless,
he kept his Christian medical men, some of whom were high in favour. He
showed his hatred for the Shi'ites by causing the mausoleum erected over
the tomb of Hosain at Kerbela, together with all the buildings
surrounding it, to be levelled to the ground and the site to be ploughed
up, and by forbidding any one to visit the spot. A year before, a
descendant of Hosain, Yahya b. Omar, had been arrested and flogged on
his orders. He escaped afterwards, rose in rebellion at Kufa in 864, and
was killed in battle. It is reported that the caliph even permitted one
of his buffoons to turn the person of Ali into mockery.
In the year 848-849 Ibn Ba'ith, who had rendered good service in the war
against Babak, but had for some cause been arrested, fled from Samarra
to Marand in Azerbaijan and revolted. Not without great difficulty
Bogha, the Turkish general, succeeded in taking the town and making Ibn
Ba'ith prisoner. He was brought before Motawakkil and died in prison. In
the year 237 (A.D. 851-852) a revolt broke out in Armenia.
Notwithstanding a vigorous resistance, Bogha subdued and pacified the
province in the following year. In that same year, 852-853, the
Byzantines made a descent on Egypt with 300 vessels. 'Anbasa the
governor had ordered the garrison of Damietta to parade at the capital
Fostat. The denuded town was taken, plundered and burned. The Greeks
then destroyed all the fortifications at the mouth of the Nile near
Tinnis, and returned with prisoners and booty. The annual raids of
Moslems and Greeks in the border districts of Asia Minor were attended
with alternate successes, though on the whole the Greeks had the upper
hand. In 856 they penetrated as far as Amid (Diarbekr), and returned
with 10,000 prisoners. But in the year 859 the Greeks suffered a heavy
defeat with losses of men and cattle, the emperor Michael himself was in
danger, whilst the fleet of the Moslems captured and sacked Antalia.
This was followed by a truce and an exchange of prisoners in the
following year.
In 855 a revolt broke out in Homs (Emesa), where the harsh conditions
imposed by the caliph on the Christians and Jews had caused great
discontent. It was repressed after a vigorous resistance. A great many
leading men were flogged to death, all churches and synagogues were
destroyed and all the Christians banished.
In the year 851 the Boja (or Beja), a wild people living between the Red
Sea and the Nile of Upper Egypt, the Blemmyes of the ancients, refused
to pay the annual tribute, and invaded the land of the gold and emerald
mines, so that the working of the mines was stopped. The caliph sent
against them Mahommed al-Qommi, who subdued them in 856 and brought
their king Ali Baba to Samarra before Motawakkil, on condition that he
should be restored to his kingdom.
About this time Sijistan liberated itself from the supremacy of the
Tahirids. Ya'qub b. Laith al-Saffar proclaimed himself amir of that
province in the year 860, and was soon after confirmed in this dignity
by the caliph.
In 858 Motawakkil, hoping to escape from the arrogant patronage of
Wasif, who had taken the place of Itakh as head of the Turkish guard,
transferred his residence to Damascus. But the place did not agree with
him, and he returned to Samarra, where he caused a magnificent quarter
to be built 3 m. from the city, which he called after his own name
Ja'fariya, and on which he spent more than two millions of dinars (about
L900,000). He found the means by following the example of his
predecessor in depriving many officials of their ill-gotten gains. He
contrived to enrol in his service nearly 12,000 men, for the greater
part Arabs, in order to crush the Turks. In the year of his elevation to
the Caliphate, he had regulated the succession to the empire in his own
family by designating as future caliphs his three sons, _al-Montasir
billah_ ("he who seeks help in God"), _al-Mo'tazz billah_ ("he whose
strength is of God"), and _al-Mowayyad billah_ ("he who is assisted by
God"). By and by he conceived an aversion to his eldest son, and wished
to supplant him by Motazz, the son of his favourite wife Qabiha. The day
had been fixed on which Montasir, Wasif and several other Turkish
generals were to be assassinated. But Wasif and Montasir had been
informed, and resolved to anticipate him. In the night before, Shawwal
A.H. 247 (December 861), Motawakkil, after one of his wonted orgies, was
murdered, together with his confidant, Fath b. Khaqan. The official
report, promulgated by his successor, was that Fath b. Khaqan had
murdered his master and had been punished for it by death. For the
administrative system in this reign see MAHOMMEDAN INSTITUTIONS.
11. _Reign of Montasir._--On the very night of his father's
assassination Montasir had himself proclaimed caliph. He was a man of
very feeble character, and a mere puppet in the hands of his vizier
Ahmad b. Khasib and the Turkish generals. He was compelled to send
Wasif, the personal enemy of Ibn Khasib, to the frontier for a term of
four years, and then to deprive his two brothers Motazz and Mowayyad,
who were not agreeable to them, of their right of succession. He died
six months after, by poison, it is said.
12. _Reign of Mosta'in._--The Turkish soldiery, now the chief power in
the state, chose, by the advice of Ibn Khasib, in succession to
Montasir, his cousin Ahmad, who took the title of _al-Mosta'in billah_
("he who looks for help to God"). In the reign of this feeble prince the
Greeks inflicted serious losses on the Moslems in Asia Minor. A great
many volunteers from all parts, who offered their services, were hunted
down as rioters by the Turkish generals, who were wholly absorbed by
their own interests. The party which had placed Mosta'in on the throne,
led by Ibn Khasib and Otamish, were soon overpowered by Wasif and Bogha.
Ibn Khasib was banished to Crete, Otamish murdered. The superior party,
however, maintained Mosta'in on the throne, because they feared lest
Motazz should take vengeance upon them for the murder of his father
Motawakkil. But in the year 865 Wasif and Bogha fled with Mosta'in to
Bagdad, and Motazz was proclaimed caliph at Samarra. A terrible war
ensued; Mosta'in was obliged to abdicate, and was killed in the
following year.
In 864 a descendant of Ali, named Hasan b. Zaid, gained possession of
Tabaristan and occupied the great city of Rai (Rey) near Teheran. A year
later the province was reconquered by the Tahirid governor of Khorasan,
so that Hasan was obliged to retreat for refuge to the land of the
Dailam. But he returned soon, and after many reverses ruled over
Tabaristan and Jorjan for many years.
13. _Reign of Motazz._--Motazz, proclaimed caliph at Bagdad in the first
month of 252 (January 866), devoted himself to the object of freeing
himself from the omnipotent Turkish generals, especially Wasif and
Bogha, who had opposed his election. But such a task demanded an ability
and energy which he did not possess. He was obliged to grant them
amnesty and to recall them to Samarra. He mistrusted also his brothers
Mowayyad and Mowaffaq, who had interceded for them. He put the former to
death and drove the latter into exile to Bagdad. Some time after he had
the satisfaction of seeing Wasif killed by his own troops, and
succeeded, a year later, in having Bogha assassinated. But a more
difficult problem was the payment of the Turkish, Persian and African
guards, which was said to have amounted in A.H. 252 to 200,000,000
dirhems[38] (about L6,500,000), or apparently twice the revenue derived
from the land tax. As the provincial revenues annually decreased, it
became impossible to pay this sum, and Salih the son of Wasif, in spite
of the remonstrances of the caliph, confiscated the property of state
officials. Upon a further demand, Motazz, having failed to procure money
from his mother Qabiha, who was enormously rich, was seized upon and
tortured, and died of starvation in prison (Shaaban 255, July 868).
The dismemberment of the empire continued fast in these years, and the
caliph was compelled to recognize the virtual independence of the
governors Ya'qub the Saffarid (see SAFFARIDS and PERSIA, _History_, S B)
in Seistan, and Ahmad b. Tulun in Egypt.
14. _Reign of Mohtadi._--Immediately after the seizure of Motazz, the
Turks, led by Salih b. Wasif, proclaimed as caliph one of the sons of
Wathiq with the title of al-Mohtadi billah ("the guided by God"), who,
however, refused to occupy the throne until his predecessor had solemnly
abdicated. Mohtadi, who was a man of noble and generous spirit and had
no lack of energy, began by applying the precarious measure of power
which was left him to the reform of the court. He banished the musicians
and singers, and forbade all kinds of games; he devoted himself to the
administration of justice, and gave public audiences to the people for
the redress of their grievances. At the same time he contrived to
elevate the power of the Abna, the descendants of those Persian soldiers
who had established the dynasty of the Abbasids, in order to break the
supremacy of the Turks and other mercenaries. But Mohtadi came too late,
and the Turks did not leave him time to finish his work.
On the news of the conspiracy against Motazz, Musa, the son of the
famous general Bogha,[39] then governor of Media (Jabal), ordered his
deputy-general Moflih to return at once from a proposed invasion of
Dailam, and moved with his army towards Samarra, notwithstanding the
peremptory orders of the caliph. At his approach Salih, who was afraid
of Musa, hid himself, but was soon discovered and killed. At that moment
a Kharijite, named Mosawir, who in 867 had risen in Mesopotamia and
beaten more than one general of the government, took Balad and menaced
Mosul. Musa could not refuse to comply with the formal command of the
caliph to march against him. During the absence of these troops, Mohtadi
seems to have tried to get rid of the principal Turkish leaders. A
brother of Musa and one of his best generals, Bayikbeg (Baiekbak), were
killed, but the soldiery he had gained over for himself were not strong
enough. Mohtadi was overwhelmed and killed, Rajab 256 (June 870).
15. _Reign of Motamid._--Whether from weariness or from repentance, the
Turkish soldiery discontinued for a time their hateful excesses, and
their new leader, Musa b. Bogha, was without the greed and ambition of
his predecessors. A son of Motawakkil was brought out of prison to
succeed his cousin, and reigned for twenty-three years under the name of
_al-Mo'tamid 'ala'llah_ ("he whose support is God"). He was a feeble,
pleasure-loving monarch, but Mohtadi had regained for the Caliphate some
authority, which was exercised by Obaidallah b. Khaqan, the able vizier
of Mohtadi, and by Motamid's talented brother Abu Ahmad al-Mowaffaq;
Musa b. Bogha himself remained till his death a staunch servant of the
government. During the reign of Motamid great events took place. The
great power long wielded by the Tahirids, not only in the eastern
provinces, but also at Bagdad itself, had been gradually diminishing,
and came to an end in the year 873, when Ya'qub the Saffarid occupied
Nishapur and imprisoned Mahommed b. Tahir with his whole family. The
power of Ya'qub then increased to such an extent that he was not content
with the caliph's offer to recognize him as supreme in the provinces he
had conquered, and military governor of Bagdad, but marched against
Irak. The caliph himself, wearing the mantle and the staff of the
Prophet, then went out against him, and after a vigorous resistance he
was beaten by Mowaffaq, who had the command of the troops, and fled to
Jondisapur in Khuzistan, where he died three years later, leaving his
empire to his brother 'Amr. This prince maintained himself in power till
the year 900, when he was beaten and taken prisoner by Isma'il b. Ahmed
the Samanid. The Samanids had been governors of Transoxiana from the
time of Mamun, and after the fall of the Tahirids, had been confirmed in
this office by the caliph. After 287 (900) they were independent
princes, and under their dominion these districts attained to high
prosperity.
Motamid had also to deal with a rising of the negro slaves in the
province of Basra, led by one Ali b. Mahommed, who called himself a
descendant of Ali. It lasted from 869 to 883, and tasked the government
to its utmost.[40]
In the west, Ahmad b. Tulun became a mighty prince, whose sway extended
over Syria and a part of Mesopotamia. Motamid, who wished to free
himself from the guardianship of his brother Mowaffaq, concerted with
him a plan to emigrate to Egypt, Ahmad being himself angered against
Mowaffaq on personal grounds. Motamid's flight was stopped by his vizier
Ibn Makhlad, and the caliph himself was reconducted to Samarra as a
prisoner in the year 882. From that time there was war between the
Abbasids and the Tulunids. Ahmad died in 270 (884). His son Khomaruya
succeeded him, and maintained himself in power till his death in 896, in
which year his daughter was married to the caliph Motadid. Ten years
later Egypt was conquered by a general of the caliph Moktafi.
During the reign of Motamid the emperor Basil I. conducted the war
against the Moslems with great success, till in the year 270 (A.D. 884)
his army suffered a terrible defeat near Tarsus, in which the greater
part of the army, the commander Andreas, and many other patricians
perished.
Motamid had appointed his son al-Mofawwid as successor to the Caliphate,
and after him his brother Mowaffaq. When the latter died in the year
891, his son Abu 'l-'Abbas, _al-Mo'tadid_ ("he who seeks his support in
God"), was put in his place. Next year Mofawwid was compelled to
abdicate in favour of his cousin. Shortly after Motamid died, Rajab 279
(October 892). Not long before these events, the seat of the Caliphate
had been restored to Bagdad.
16. _Reign of Motadid_.--Motadid may be called, after Mansur, the most
able and energetic of all the Abbasid rulers. He took good care of the
finances, reformed the administration, was an excellent commander in
war, and maintained order as far as possible. The Kharijites in
Mesopotamia, who for many years had molested the government, were
finally crushed with the aid of their former ally Hamdan, who became the
founder of the well-known dynasty of the Hamdanites. The mighty house of
Abu Dolaf in the south-west of Media, which had never ceased to encroach
on the Caliphate, was put down. The governor of Azerbaijan and Armenia,
belonging to the powerful Turkish house of the Sajids or Sajites, whose
loyalty was always doubtful, planned an invasion of Syria and Egypt.
Motadid frustrated it by a quick movement. The citizens of Tarsus who
were involved in the plot were severely punished. The chief punishment,
however, the burning of the fleet, was a very impolitic measure, as it
strengthened the hands of the Byzantines.
Almost simultaneously with the rising of the negro slaves in Basra there
arose in the province of Kufa the celebrated sect of the Carmathians
(q.v.), Fatimites[41] or Isma'ilites. This powerful sect, which save for
a difference of opinion would have joined the negro rising, remained
outwardly quiet during Motamid's reign, but under Motadid the government
began to have misgivings about them. Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi, who had
founded a Carmathian state in Bahrein, the north-eastern province of
Arabia (actually called Lahsa), which could become dangerous for the
pilgrim road as well as for the commerce of Basra, in the year 900
routed an army sent against him by Motadid, and warned the caliph that
it would be safer to let the Carmathians alone. In the same year the
real chief of the sect, whose abode had been discovered by the caliph,
fled from Salamia in Syria, where he lived, to Africa, and hid himself
at Sijilmasa (in Tafilalt) in the far west, whence he reappeared ten
years later at Kairawan as the Mahdi, the first caliph of the
Fatimites.[42]
Motadid died in Rabia II. A.H. 289 (March 902), leaving the Caliphate to
his son _al-Moktafi billah_ ("he who sufficeth himself in God").
17. _Reign of Moktafi_.--Moktafi inherited his father's intrepidity, and
seems to have had high personal qualities, but his reign of six years
was a constant struggle against the Carmathians in Syria, who defeated
the Syrian and Egyptian troops, and conquered Damascus and other
cities. Moktafi led his troops in person, and his general, Mahommed b.
Suleiman, gained a signal victory. Three of their chiefs were taken and
put to death. But, to avenge their defeat, they lay in wait for the
great pilgrim caravan on its return from Mecca in the first days of 294
(906), and massacred 20,000 pilgrims, making an immense booty. This
horrible crime raised the whole Moslem world against them. Zikruya their
chief was defeated at last and perished.
After the defeat of the Syrian Carmathians, Mahommed b. Suleiman was
sent by the caliph to Egypt, where he overthrew the dominion of the
Tulunids. 'Isa b. Mahommed al-Naushari was made governor in their stead
(905).
The war with the Byzantines was conducted with great energy during the
reign of Moktafi. In the year 905 the Greek general Andronicus took
Marash, and penetrated as far as Haleb (Aleppo), but the Moslems were
successful at sea, and in 907 captured Iconium, whilst Andronicus went
over to the caliph's side, so that the Byzantine emperor sent an embassy
to Bagdad to ask for a truce and an exchange of prisoners.
18. _Reign of Moqtadir._--The sudden death of Moktafi, Dhu'l-qa'da 295
(August 908), was a fatal blow to the prestige of the Caliphate, which
had revived under the successive governments of Mowaffaq, Motadid and
himself. The new caliph, _al-Moqtadir billah_ ("the powerful through
God"), a brother of Moktafi, was only thirteen years of age when he
ascended the throne. Owing to his extreme youth many of the leading men
at Bagdad rebelled and swore allegiance to Abdallah, son of the former
caliph Motazz, a man of excellent character and of great poetical gifts;
but the party of the house of Motadid prevailed, and the rival caliph
was put to death. Moqtadir, though not devoid of noble qualities,
allowed himself to be governed by his mother and her ladies and eunuchs.
He began by squandering the 15,000,000 dinars which were in the treasury
when his brother died in largesses to his courtiers, who, however,
merely increased their demands. His very able vizier, the noble and
disinterested Ali b. 'Isa, tried to check this foolish expenditure, but
his efforts were more than counterbalanced by the vizier Ibn abi'l-Forat
and the court. The most shameless bribery and the robbery of the
well-to-do went together with the most extravagant luxury. The
twenty-four years of Moqtadir's reign are a period of rapid decay. The
most important event in the reign was the foundation of the Fatimite
dynasty, which reigned first in the Maghrib and then in Egypt for nearly
three centuries (see FATIMITES and EGYPT: _History_, "Mahommedan").
Far more dangerous, however, for the Caliphate of Bagdad at the time
were the Carmathians of Bahrein, then guided by Abu Tahir, the son of
Abu Sa'id Jannabi. In 311 (A.D. 923) they took and ransacked Basra; in
the first month of the following year the great pilgrim caravan on its
return from Mecca was overpowered; 2500 men perished, while an even
larger number were made prisoners and brought to Lahsa, the residence of
the Carmathian princes, together with an immense booty. The caravan
which left Bagdad towards the end of this year returned in all haste
before it had covered a third of the way. Then Kufa underwent the fate
that had befallen Basra. In 313 (A.D. 926) the caravan was allowed to
pass on payment of a large sum of money. The government of Bagdad
resolved to crush the Carmathians, but a large army was utterly defeated
by Abu Tahir in 315 (927), and Bagdad was seriously threatened. Next
year Mecca was taken and plundered; even the sacred Black Stone was
transported to Lahsa, where it remained till 339 (950), when by the
express order of the Imam, the Fatimite caliph, it was restored to the
Ka'ba.
In 317 (929) a conspiracy was formed to dethrone Moqtadir, to which
Munis, the chief commander of the army, at first assented, irritated by
false reports. Very soon he withdrew, and though he could not prevent
the plundering of the palace, and the proclamation as caliph of another
son of Motadid with the title _al-Qahir billah_ ("the victorious through
God"), he rescued Moqtadir and his mother, and at the same time his
imprisoned friend Ali b. 'Isa, and brought them to his own house. A few
days later, a counter-revolution took place; the leaders of the revolt
were killed, and Moqtadir, against his wish, was replaced on the throne.
In 320 (A.D. 932) Munis, discovering a court intrigue against him, set
out for Mosul, expecting that the Hamdanids, who owed to him their
power, would join him. Instead of doing this, they opposed him with a
numerous army, but were defeated. Munis took Mosul, and having received
reinforcements from all parts, marched against Bagdad. The caliph, who
wished nothing more than to be reconciled to his old faithful servant,
was forced to take arms against him, and fell in battle Shawwal 320
(October 932), at the age of 38 years. His reign, which lasted almost
twenty-five years, was in all respects injurious to the empire.
19. _Reign of Qahir_.--After the victory Munis acted with great
moderation and proclaimed a general amnesty. His own wish was to call
Abu Ahmad, a son of Moktafi, or a son of Moqtadir, to the Caliphate, but
the majority of generals preferring Qahir because he was an adult man
and had no mother at his side, he acquiesced, although he had a personal
dislike for him, knowing his selfish and cruel character. Qahir was a
drunkard, and derived the money for his excesses from promiscuous
confiscation. He ill-treated the sons of Moqtadir and Abu Ahmad, and
ultimately assassinated his patrons Munis and Yalbak, whose guardianship
he resented. In Jomada I. 322 (April 934) he was dethroned and blinded,
and died in poverty seven years later.
During the last years of Moqtadir and the reign of Qahir a new dynasty
rose. Buya, the chief of a clan of the Dailam, a warlike people who
inhabit the mountainous country south-west of the Caspian Sea, had
served under the Samanids, and found a footing in the south of Media
(Jabal), whence his three sons--well known under the titles they assumed
at a later period: 'Imad addaula ("prop of the dynasty"), Rokn addaula
("pillar of the dynasty"), and Mo'izz addaula ("strengthener of the
dynasty")--succeeded in subduing the province of Fars, at the time of
Qahir's dethronement (see PERSIA: _History_).
20. _Reign of Radi_.--Moqtadir's son, who was then proclaimed caliph
under the name of _ar-Radi billah_ ("the content through God"), was
pious and well-meaning, but inherited only the shadow of power. The
vizier Ibn Moqla tried to maintain his authority at least in Irak and
Mesopotamia, but without success. The treasury was exhausted, the troops
asked for pay, the people in Bagdad were riotous. In this extremity the
caliph bade Ibn Raiq, who had made himself master of Basra and Wasit,
and had command of money and men, to come to his help. He created for
him the office of Amir al-Omara, "Amir of the Amirs," which nearly
corresponds to that of Mayor of the Palace among the Franks.[43]
Thenceforth the worldly power of the Caliphate was a mere shadow. The
empire was by this time practically reduced to the province of Bagdad;
Khorasan and Transoxiana were in the hands of the Samanids, Fars in
those of the Buyids; Kirman and Media were under independent sovereigns;
the Hamdanids possessed Mesopotamia; the Sajids Armenia and Azerbaijan;
the Ikshidites Egypt; as we have seen, the Fatimites Africa, the
Carmathians Arabia. The Amir al-Omara was obliged to purchase from the
latter the freedom of the pilgrimage to Mecca, at the price of a
disgraceful treaty.
During the troubles of the Caliphate the Byzantines had made great
advances; they had even taken Malatia and Samosata (Samsat). But the
great valour of the Hamdanid prince Saif-addaula checked their march.
The Greek army suffered two severe defeats and sued for peace.
21. _Reign of Mottaqi_.--Radi died in Rabia I. A.H. 329 (December 940).
Another son of Moqtadir was then proclaimed caliph under the name of
_al-Mottaqi billah_ ("he who guards himself by God"). At the time of his
accession the Amir al-Omara was the Turkish general Bajkam, in whose
favour Ibn Raiq had been obliged to retire. Unfortunately Bajkam died
soon after, and his death was followed by general anarchy. A certain
Baridi, who had carved out for himself a principality in the province of
Basra, marched against Bagdad and made himself master of the capital,
but was soon driven out by the Dailamite general Kurtakin. Ibn Raiq
came back and reinstated himself as Amir al-Omara. But Baridi again laid
siege to Bagdad, and Mottaqi fled to Nasir addaula the Hamdanid prince
of Mosul, who then marched against Bagdad, and succeeded in repelling
Baridi. In return he obtained the office of Amir al-Omara. But the
Dailamite and Turkish soldiery did not suffer him to keep this office
longer than several months. Tuzun, a former captain of Bajkam, compelled
him to return to Mosul and took his place. Mottaqi fled again to Mosul
and thence to Rakka. The Ikshid, sovereign of Egypt and Syria, offered
him a refuge, but Tuzun, fearing to see the caliph obtain such powerful
support, found means to entice him to his tent, and had his eyes put
out, Saphar 333 (October 944).
22. _Reign of Mostakfi._--As successor Tuzun chose _al-Mostakfi billah_
("he who finds full sufficiency with God"), a son of Moktafi. This
prince, still more than his predecessors, was a mere puppet in the hands
of Tuzun, who died a few months later, and his successor Ibn Shirzad.
Such was the weakness of the caliph that a notorious robber, named
Hamdi, obtained immunity for his depredations by a monthly payment of
25,000 dinars. One of the Buyid princes, whose power had been steadily
increasing, marched about this time against Bagdad, which he entered in
Jomada I. A.H. 334 (December 945), and was acknowledged by the caliph as
legal sovereign, under the title of Sultan. He assumed at this time the
name of Mo'izz addaula. Mostakfi was soon weary of this new master, and
plotted against him. At least Mo'izz addaula suspected him and deprived
him of his eyesight, Jomada II. A.H. 334 (January 946). There were thus
in Bagdad three caliphs who had been dethroned and blinded, Qahir,
Mottaqi and Mostakfi.
23. _Reign of Moti._--Mo'izz addaula soon abandoned his original idea of
restoring the title of caliph to one of the descendants of Ali, fearing
a strong opposition of the people, and also dreading lest this should
lead to the recovery by the caliphs of their former supremacy. His
choice fell on a son of Moqtadir, who took the title of _al-Moti'
billah_ ("he who obeys God"). The sultan, reserving to himself all the
powers and revenues of the Caliphate, allowed the caliph merely a
secretary and a pension of 5000 dirhems a day. Though in public prayers
and on the coins the name of the caliph remained as that of the supreme
authority, he had in reality no authority out of the palace, so that the
saying became proverbial, "he contents himself with sermon and coin."
The Hamdanid prince of Mosul, who began to think his possessions
threatened by Mo'izz addaula, tried without success to wrest Bagdad from
him, and was obliged to submit to the payment of tribute. He died in 358
(A.D. 969), and ten years later the power of this branch of the
Hamdanids came to an end. The representative of the other branch, Saif
addaula, the prince of Haleb (Aleppo), conducted the war against the
Byzantines with great valour till his death in 356 (A.D. 967), but could
not stop the progress of the enemy. His descendants maintained
themselves, but with very limited power, till A.H. 413 (A.D. 1022).
Mo'izz addaula died in the same year as Saif addaula, leaving his power
to his son Bakhtiyar 'Izz addaula, who lacked his father's energy and
loved pleasure more than business.
While the Abbasid dynasty was thus dying out in shame and degradation,
the Fatimites, in the person of Mo'izz li-din-allah (or Mo'izz Abu Tamin
Ma'add) ("he who makes God's religion victorious"), were reaching the
highest degree of power and glory in spite of the opposition of the
Carmathians, who left their old allegiance and entered into negotiations
with the court of Bagdad, offering to drive back the Fatimites, on
condition of being assisted with money and troops, and of being rewarded
with the government of Syria and Egypt. The former condition was
granted, but the caliph emphatically refused the latter demand, saying:
"Both parties are Carmathians, they profess the same religion and are
enemies of Islam." The Carmathians drove the Fatimites out of Syria, and
threatened Egypt, but, notwithstanding their intrepidity, they were not
able to cope with their powerful rival, who, however, in his turn could
not bring them to submission. In 978-979 peace was made on condition
that the Carmathians should evacuate Syria for an annual payment of
70,000 dinars. But the losses sustained by the Carmathians during that
struggle had been enormous. Their power henceforward declined, and came
to an end in A.H. 474 (A.D. 1081).
Mo'izz addaula, as we have seen, professed a great veneration for the
house of Ali. He not only caused the mourning for the death of Hosain
and other Shi'ite festivals to be celebrated at Bagdad, but also allowed
imprecations against Moawiya and even against Mahomet's wife Ayesha and
the caliphs Abu Bekr, Omar and Othman, to be posted up at the doors of
the mosques. These steps annoyed the people and the Turkish soldiery,
who were Sunnites, and led at last to an insurrection. Moti was
compelled to abdicate, and Bakhtiyar was driven out of Bagdad
Dhu'l-qa'da 363 (August 974).
24. _Reign of Tai._--Moti left the empty title of caliph to his son
_al-Ta'i li-amri'llah_ ("the obedient to the command of God"). The Turks
who had placed him on the throne could not maintain themselves, but so
insignificant was the person of the caliph that 'Adod addaula, who
succeeded his cousin Bakhtiyar in Bagdad, did not think of replacing him
by another. Under this prince, or king, as he was called, the power of
the Buyids reached its zenith. His empire stretched from the Caspian to
the Persian Sea, and in the west to the eastern frontier of Syria. He
did his best to remedy the misery caused by the intestine Wars, repaired
the ruined mosques and other public edifices, founded hospitals and
libraries--his library in Shiraz was one of the wonders of the
world--and improved irrigation. It was also he who built the mausoleum
of Hosain at Kerbela, and that of Ali at Kufa. But after his death in
the year 372 (A.D. 983), his sons, instead of following the example of
their predecessors, the three sons of Buya, fought one against the
other. In 380 (A.D. 990) the youngest of them, Baha addaula, had the
upper hand. This prince, who was as avaricious as he was ambitious,
wishing to deprive the caliph Ta'i of his possessions, compelled him to
abdicate A.H. 381 (A.D. 991).
25. _Reign of Qadir._--A grandson of Moqtadir was then made caliph under
the name of _al-Qadir billah_ ("the powerful through God"). The only
deed of power, however, that is recorded of him, is that he opposed
himself to the substitution of a Shi'ite head cadi for the Sunnite, so
that Baha addaula had to content himself with giving to the Shi'ites a
special judge, to whom he gave the title of _naqib_ (superintendent).
During this caliphate the Buyid princes were in continual war with one
another. Meanwhile events were preparing the fall of their dynasty. In
350 (A.D. 961) a Turkish general of the Samanids had founded for himself
a principality in Ghazni, arid at his death in 366 (A.D. 976) his
successor Sabuktagin had conquered Bost in Sijistan and Qosdar in
Baluchistan, beaten the Indian prince Diaya Pala, and been acknowledged
as master of the lands west of the Indus. At his death in 387 his son
Mahmud conquered the whole of Khorasan and Sijistan, with a great part
of India. He then attacked the Buyids, and would have destroyed their
dynasty but for his death in the year 421 (A.D. 1030).
In 389 (A.D. 999) Ilek-khan, the prince of Turkistan, took Bokhara and
made an end to the glorious state of the Samanids, the last prince of
which was murdered in 395 (A.D. 1005). The Samanids had long been a
rampart of the Caliphate against the Turks, whom they held under firm
control. From their fall dates the invasion of the empire by that
people. The greatest gainer for the moment was Mahmud of Ghazni. In
Mesopotamia and Irak several petty states arose on the ruins of the
dominions of the Hamdanids and of the Abbasids.
Qadir died in the last month of A.H. 422 (November 1031). He is the
author of some theological treatises.
26. _Reign of Qaim_.--He was succeeded by his son, who at his accession
took the title of _al-Qaim bi-amri'llah_ ("he who maintains the cause of
God"). During the first half of his long reign took place the
development of the power of the Ghuzz, a great Turkish tribe, who took
the name Seljuk from Seljuk their chief in Transoxiana. Already during
the reign of Mahmud large bodies had passed the Oxus and spread over
Khorasan and the adjacent countries. In the time of his successor the
bulk of the tribe followed, and in the year 429 (A.D. 1038) Toghrul Beg,
their chief, beat the army of the Ghaznevids and made his entry into
Nishapur. Thenceforth this progress was rapid (see SELJUKS). The
situation in Bagdad had become so desperate that the caliph called
Toghrul to his aid. This prince entered Bagdad in the month of Ramadan
A.H. 447 (December 1055), and overthrew finally the dynasty of the
Buyids.[44] In 449 (A.D. 1058) the caliph gave him the title of "King of
the East and West." But in the following year, 450, during his absence,
the Shi'ites made themselves masters of the metropolis, and proclaimed
the Caliphate of the Fatimite prince Mostansir. They were soon
overthrown by Toghrul, who was now supreme, and compelled the caliph to
give him his daughter in marriage. Before the marriage, however, he
died, and was succeeded by his nephew Alp Arslan, who died in 465 (25th
December) (A.D. 1072). Qaim died two years later, Shaaban A.H. 467
(April 1075).
In the year 440 Mo'izz b. Badis, the Zeirid ruler of the Maghrib, made
himself independent, and substituted in prayer the name of the Abbasid
caliph for that of Mostansir. In order to punish him, the latter gave
permission to the Arab tribes in Egypt to cross the Nile, and granted
them possession of all the lands they should conquer. This happened in
442 (A.D. 1050) and was of the greatest significance for the subsequent
fate of Africa.
27. _Reign of Moqtadi_.--In the first year of the Caliphate of
_al-Moqtadi bi-amri'llah_ ("he who follows the orders of God"), a
grandson of Qaim, the power of the Seljuk empire reached its zenith. All
the eastern provinces, a great part of Asia Minor, Syria with the
exception of a few towns on the shore, the main part of West Africa
acknowledged the caliph of Bagdad as the Imam. Yemen had been subjected,
and at Mecca and Medina his name was substituted in the public prayers
for that of the Fatimite caliph. But after the death of Malik-Shah a
contest for the sultanate took place. The caliph, who had in 1087
married the daughter of Malik-Shah, had been compelled two years after
to send her back to her father, as she complained of being neglected by
her husband. Just before his death, the Sultan had ordered him to
transfer his residence from Bagdad to Basra. After his death he stayed
and supported the princess Turkan Khatun. This lost him his life. The
day after Barki-yaroq's triumphant entry into Bagdad, Muharram 487
(February 1094), he died suddenly, apparently by poison.
28. _Reign of Mostazhir_.--_Al-Mostazhir billah_ ("he who seeks to
triumph through God"), son of Moqtadi, was only sixteen years old when
he was proclaimed caliph. His reign is memorable chiefly for the growing
power of the Assassins (q.v.) and for the first Crusade (see CRUSADES).
The Seljuk princes were too much absorbed by internal strife to
concentrate against the new assailants. After the death of Barkiyaroq in
November 1104, his brother Mahommed reigned till April 1118. His death
was followed about four months later by that of Mostazhir.
29. _Reign of Mostarshid._--_Al-Mostarshid billah_ ("he who asks
guidance from God"), who succeeded his father in Rabia II. 512 (August
1118), distinguished himself by a vain attempt to reestablish the power
of the caliph. Towards the end of the year 529 (October 1134) he was
compelled to promise that he would confine himself to his palace and
never again take the field. Not long after he was assassinated. About
the same time Dobais was killed, a prince of the family of the Banu
Mazyad, who had founded the Arabian state of Hillah in the vicinity of
the ruins of Babel in 1102.
30. _Reign of Rashid._--_Al-Rashid billah_ ("the just through God")
tried to follow the steps of his father, with the aid of Zengi, the
prince of Mosul. But the sultan Mas'ud beat the army of the allies, took
Bagdad and had Rashid deposed (August 1136). Rashid escaped, but was
murdered two years later.
31. _Reign of Moqtafi._--His successor _Al-Moqtafi li-amri'llah_ ("he
who follows the orders of God"), son of Mostazhir, had better success.
He was real ruler not only of the district of Bagdad, but also of the
rest of Irak, which he subdued by force. He died in the month of Rabia
II. 555 (March 1160). Under his reign the central power of the Seljuks
was rapidly sinking. In the west of Atabeg (prince's guardian) Zengi,
the prince of Mosul, had extended his dominion over Mesopotamia and the
north of Syria, where he had been the greatest defender of Islam against
the Franks. At his death in the year 541 (A.D. 1146), his noble son, the
well-known Nureddin, who was called "the just king," continued his
father's glorious career. Transoxiana was conquered by the heathen
hordes of Khata, who towards the end of 535 (A.D. 1141) under the king
Ghurkhan defeated the great army of the Seljuk prince and compelled the
Turkish tribes of the Ghuzz to cross the Oxus and to occupy Khorasan.
32. _Reign of Mostanjid._--_Al-Mostanjid billah_ ("he who invokes help
from God"), the son of Moqtafi, enlarged the dominion of the Caliphate
by making an end to the state of the Mazyadites in Hillah. His allies
were the Arabic tribe of the Montafiq, who thenceforth were powerful in
southern Irak. The greatest event towards the end of his Caliphate was
the conquest of Egypt by the army of Nureddin, the overthrow of the
Fatimite dynasty, and the rise of Saladin. He was killed by his
majordomo in Rabia II. 566 (December 1170).
33. _Reign of Mostadi._--His son and successor _al-Mostadi'
bi-amri'llah_ ("he who seeks enlightenment by the orders of God "),
though in Egypt his name was now substituted in public prayers for that
of the Fatimite caliph, was unable to obtain any real authority. By the
death of Nureddin in 569 (A.D. 1174) Saladin's power became firmly
rooted. The dynasty founded by him is called that of the Ayyubites,
after the name of his father Ayyub. Mostadi died in the month of
Dhu'l-qa'da 575 (March 1180).
34. _Reign of Nasir._--Quite a different man from his father was his
successor _al-Nasir li-dini'llah_ ("he who helps the religion of God").
During his reign Jerusalem was reconquered by Saladin, 27 Rajab 583
(October 2nd, 1187). Not long before that event the well-known Spanish
traveller Ibn Jubair visited the empire of Saladin, and came to Bagdad
in 580, where he saw the caliph himself. Nasir was very ambitious; he
had added Khuzistan to his dominions, and desired to become also master
of Media (Jabal, or Persian Irak, as it was called in the time of the
Seljuks). Here, however, he came into conflict with the then mighty
prince of Khwarizm (Khiva), who, already exasperated because the caliph
refused to grant him the honours he asked for, resolved to overthrow the
Caliphate of the Abbasids, and to place a descendant of Ali on the
throne of Bagdad. In his anxiety, Nasir took a step which brought the
greatest misery upon western Asia, or at least accelerated its arrival.
In the depths of Asia a great conglomeration of east Turkish tribes
(Tatars or Mongols), formed by a terrible warrior, known under his
honorific title Jenghiz Khan, had conquered the northern provinces of
China, and extended its power to the frontiers of the Transoxianian
regions. To this heathen chief the Imam of the Moslems sent a messenger,
inducing him to attack the prince of Khwarizm, who already had provoked
the Mongolian by a disrespectful treatment of his envoys. Neither he nor
the caliph had the slightest notion of the imminent danger they conjured
up. When Nasir died, Ramadan 622 (October 1225), the eastern provinces
of the empire had been trampled down by the wild hordes, the towns
burned, and the inhabitants killed without mercy.
35. _Reign of Zahir_.--_Al-Zahir bi-amri'llah_ ("the victorious through
the orders of God") died within a year after his father's death, in
Rajab 623 (July 1226). He and his son and successor are praised as
beneficent and just princes.
36. _Reign of Mostansir_.--_Al-Mostansir billah_ ("he who asks help from
God") was caliph till his death in Jornada II. 640 (December 1242). In
the year 624 (1227) Jenghiz Khan died, but the Mongol invasion continued
to advance with immense strides. The only man who dared, and sometimes
with success, to combat them was Jelaleddin, the ex-king of Khwarizm,
but after his death in 628 (A.D. 1231) all resistance was paralysed.
37. _Reign of Mostasim_.--_Al-Mosta'sim billah_ ("he who clings to God
for protection"), son of Mostansir, the last caliph of Bagdad, was a
narrow-minded, irresolute man, guided moreover by bad counsellors. In
the last month of the year 653 (January 1256) Hulaku or Hulagu, the
brother of the gteat khan of the Mongols, crossed the Oxus, and began by
destroying all the strongholds of the Isma'ilis. Then the turn of Bagdad
came. On the 11th of Muharram 656 (January 1258) Hulaku arrived under
the walls of the capital. In vain did Mostasim sue for peace. Totally
devoid of dignity and heroism, he ended by surrendering and imploring
mercy from the barbarian victor. On the 4th of Saphar (February 10th) he
came with his retinue into the camp. The city was then given up to
plunder and slaughter; many public buildings were burnt; the caliph,
after having been compelled to bring forth all the hidden treasures of
the family, was killed with two of his sons and many relations. With him
expired the eastern Caliphate of the Abbasids, which had lasted 524
years, from the entry of Abu'I-Abbas into Kufa.
In vain, three years later, did Abu'I-Qasim Ahmad, a scion of the race
of the Abbasids, who had taken refuge in Egypt with Bibars the Mameluke
sultan, and who had been proclaimed caliph under the title _al-Mostansir
billah_ ("he who seeks help from God"), make an effort to restore a
dynasty which was now for ever extinct. At the head of an army he
marched against Bagdad, but was defeated and killed before he reached
that city. Then another descendant of the Abbasids, who also had found
an asylum in Egypt, was proclaimed caliph at Cairo under the name of
_al-Hakim bi-amrillah_ ("he who decides according to the orders of
God"). His sons inherited his title, but, like their father, remained in
Egypt without power or influence (see EGYPT: _History_, "Mahommedan
period"). This shadow of sovereignty continued to exist till the
conquest of Egypt by the Turkish sultan Selim I., who compelled the last
of them, Motawakkil, to abdicate in his favour (see TURKEY: _History_).
He died at Cairo, a pensionary of the Ottoman government, in 1538.
Another scion of the Abbasid family, Mahommed, a great-grandson of the
caliph Mostansir, found at a later period a refuge in India, where the
sultan of Delhi received him with the greatest respect, named him
Makhdumzadeh, "the Master's son," and treated him as a prince. Ibn
Batuta saw him when he visited India, and says that he was very
avaricious. On his return to Bagdad the traveller found there a young
man, son of this prince, who gained a single dirhem daily for serving as
imam in a mosque, and did not get the least relief from his rich father.
It seems that this Mahommed, or his son, emigrated later to Sumatra,
where in the old Samutra the graves of their descendants have been
lately discovered. (M. J. de G.)