[1] John Aitken Carlyle (1801-1879) finally settled near the Carlyles
in Chelsea. He began an English prose version of Dante's _Divine
Comedy_--which has earned him the name of "Dante Carlyle"--but only
completed the translation of the _Inferno_ (1849). The work included
a critical edition of the text and a valuable introduction and notes.
CARMAGNOLA, FRANCESCO BUSSONE, COUNT OF (1390-1432), Italian soldier of
fortune, was born at Carmagnola near Turin, and began his military
career when twelve years old under Facino Cane, a _condottiere_ then in
the service of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, duke of Milan. On the death of
the latter his duchy was divided among his captains, but his son and
heir, Filippo Maria, determined to reconquer it by force of arms. Facino
Cane being dead, Visconti applied to Carmagnola, then in his thirtieth
year, and gave him command of the army. That general's success was
astonishingly rapid, and soon the whole duchy was brought once more
under Visconti's sway. But Filippo Maria, although he rewarded
Carmagnola generously, feared that he might become a danger to himself,
and instead of giving him further military commands made him governor of
Genoa. Carmagnola felt greatly aggrieved, and failing to obtain a
personal interview with the duke, threw up his commission and offered
his services to the Venetians (1425). He was well received in Venice,
for the republic was beginning to fear the ambitions of the Visconti,
and the new doge, Francesco Foscari, was anxious to join the Florentines
and go to war with Milan. Carmagnola himself represented the duke's
forces as much less numerous than they were supposed to be, and said
that the moment was an opportune one to attack him. These arguments,
combined with the doge's warlike temper, prevailed; Carmagnola was made
captain-general of St Mark in 1426, and war was declared. But while the
republic was desirous of rapid and conclusive operations, it was to the
interest of Carmagnola, as indeed to all other soldiers of fortune, to
make the operations last as long as possible, to avoid decisive
operations, and to liberate all prisoners quickly. Consequently the
campaign dragged on interminably, some battles were won and others lost,
truces and peace treaties were made only to be broken, and no definite
result was achieved. Carmagnola's most important success was the battle
of Maclodio (1427), but he did not follow it up. The republic, impatient
of his dilatoriness, raised his emoluments and promised him immense
fiefs including the lordship of Milan, so as to increase his ardour, but
in vain. At the same time Carmagnola was perpetually receiving
messengers from Visconti, who offered him great rewards if he would
abandon the Venetians. The general trifled with his past as with his
present employers, believing in his foolish vanity that he held the fate
of both in his hand. But the Venetians were dangerous masters to trifle
with, and when they at last lost all patience, the Council of Ten
determined to bring him to justice. Summoned to Venice to discuss future
operations on the 29th of March 1432, he came without suspicion. On his
arrival at the ducal palace he was seized, imprisoned and brought to
trial for treason against the republic. Although the doge befriended him
he was condemned to death and beheaded on the 5th of May. A man of
third-rate ability, his great mistake was that he failed to see that he
could not do with a solvent and strong government what he could with
bankrupt tyrants without military resources, and that the astute
Visconti meant to ruin him for his abandonment.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The best account of Carmagnola is Horatio Brown's essay
in his _Studies in Venetian History_ (London, 1907); see also A.
Battistella, _Il Conte di Carmagnola_ (Genoa, 1889); E. Ricotti,
_Storia delle Compagnie di Ventura_ (Turin, 1845). Alessandro Manzoni
(q.v.) made this episode the subject of a poetical drama, _Il Conte di
Carmagnola_ (1826). (L. V.*)
CARMAGNOLA, a town of Italy, in the province of Turin, 18 m. by rail S.
of Turin. Pop. (1901) 2447 (town), 11,721 (commune). It is the junction
where the lines for Savona and Cuneo diverge; it is also connected with
Turin by a steam tramway via Carignano. Carmagnola is a place of
medieval origin. The town was captured by the French in 1796.
CARMAGNOLE (from Carmagnola, the town in Italy), a word first applied to
a Piedmontese peasant costume, well known in the south of France, and
brought to Paris by the revolutionaries of Marseilles in 1798. It
consisted of a short skirted coat with rows of metal buttons, a
tricoloured waistcoat and red cap, and became the popular dress of the
Jacobins. The name was then given to the famous revolutionary song,
composed in 1792, the tune of which, and the wild dance which
accompanied it, may have also been brought into France by the
Piedmontese. The original first verse began:--
"Monsieur Veto (i.e. Louis XVI.) avait promis
D'etre fidele a sa patrie."
and each verse ends with the refrain:--
"Vive le son, vive le son,
Dansons la Carmagnole,
Vive le son
Du Canon."
The words were constantly altered and added to during the Terror and
later; thus the well-known lines,
"Madame Veto avait promis
De faire egorger tout Paris
...
On lui coupa la tete," &c.,
were added after the execution of Marie Antoinette. Played in double
time the tune was a favourite march in the Revolutionary armies, until
it was forbidden by Napoleon, on becoming First Consul.
CARMARTHEN (_Caerfyrddin_), a municipal borough, contributory
parliamentary borough (united with Llanelly since 1832), and county town
of Carmarthenshire, and a county of itself, finely situated on the right
bank of the Towy, which is here tidal and navigable for small craft.
Pop. (1901) 10,025. It is the terminal station of a branch of the London
& North-Western railway coming southward from Shrewsbury, and is a
station on the main line of the Great Western running to Fishguard; it
is also the terminus of a branch-line of the Great Western running to
Newcastle-Emlyn. The station buildings lie on the left bank of the
river, which is here spanned by a fine old stone bridge. There are works
for the manufacture of woollens and ropes, also tanneries, but it is as
the central market of a large and fertile district that Carmarthen is
most important. The weekly Saturday market is well attended, and affords
interesting scenes of modern Welsh agricultural life. From the
convenient and accessible position of the town, the gaol and lunatic
asylum serving for the three south-western counties of Wales--Cardigan,
Pembroke and Carmarthen--have been fixed here. Although historically one
of the most important towns in South Wales, Carmarthen can boast of very
few ancient buildings, and the general aspect of the town is modern. A
well-preserved gateway of red sandstone and portions of two towers of
the castle are included in the buildings of the present gaol, and the
old parish church of St Peter contains some interesting monuments,
amongst them being the altar tomb (of the 16th century) of Sir Rhys ap
Thomas, K.G., and his wife, which was removed hither for safety at the
Reformation from the desecrated church of the neighbouring Priory of St
John. Some vestiges of this celebrated monastic house, which formerly
owned the famous Welsh MS. known as the "Black Book of Carmarthen," are
visible between the present Priory Street and the river. Of the more
recent erections in the town, mention may be made of the granite obelisk
in memory of General Sir Thomas Picton (1758-1815) and the bronze statue
of General Sir William Nott (1784-1846).
Carmarthen is commonly reputed to occupy the site of the Roman station
of Maridunum, and its present name is popularly associated with the
wizard-statesman Merlin, or Merddyn, whose memory and prophecies are
well remembered in these parts of Wales and whose home is popularly
believed to have been the conspicuous hill above Abergwili, known as
Merlin's Hill. Another derivation of the name is to be found in
_Caer-mor-din_, signifying "a fortified place near the sea." In any
case, the antiquity of the town is undisputed, and it served as the seat
of government for Ystrad Tywi until the year 877, when Prince Cadell of
South Wales abandoned Carmarthen for Dinefawr, near Llandilo, probably
on account of the maritime raids of the Danes and Saxons. Towards the
close of the 11th century a castle was built here by the Normans, and
for the next two hundred years town and castle were frequently taken and
retaken by Welsh or English. On the annexation of Wales, Edward I.
established here his courts of chancery and exchequer and the great
sessions for South Wales. Edward III., by the Statute Staple of 1353,
declared Carmarthen the sole staple for Wales, ordering that every bale
of Welsh wool should be sealed or "cocketed" here before it left the
Principality. The earliest charter recorded was granted in 1201 under
King John; a charter of James I. in 1604 constituted Carmarthen a county
of itself; and under a charter by George III. in 1764, which had been
specially petitioned for by the citizens, the two separate jurisdictions
of Old and New Carmarthen were fused and henceforth "called by the name
of Our Borough of Carmarthen." In 1555 Bishop Farrar of St David's was
publicly burned for heresy under Queen Mary at the Market Cross, which
was ruthlessly destroyed in 1846 to provide a site for General Nott's
statue. In 1646 General Laugharne took and demolished the castle in the
name of the parliament, and in 1649 Oliver Cromwell resided at
Carmarthen on his way to Ireland. In 1684 the duke of Beaufort with a
numerous train made his state entry into Carmarthen as lord-president of
Wales and the Marches. With the rise of Llanelly the industrial
importance of Carmarthen has tended to decline; but owing to its central
position, its close connexion with the bishops of St David's and its
historic past the town is still the chief focus of all social, political
and ecclesiastical movements in the three counties of Cardigan, Pembroke
and Carmarthen. Carmarthen was created a parliamentary borough in 1536.
CARMARTHENSHIRE. (_Sir Gaerfyrddin_, colloquially known as _Sir Gar_), a
county of South Wales bounded N. by Cardigan, E. by Brecon and
Glamorgan, W. by Pembroke and S. by Carmarthen Bay of the Bristol
Channel. The modern county has an area of 918 sq. m., and is therefore
the largest in size of the South Welsh counties. Almost the whole of its
surface is hilly and irregular, though the coast-line is fringed with
extensive stretches of marsh or sandy burrows. Much of the scenery in
the county, particularly in the upper valley of the Towy, is exceedingly
beautiful and varied. On its eastern borders adjoining Breconshire rises
the imposing range of the Black Mountains (_Mynydd Du_), sometimes
called the Carmarthenshire Beacons, where the Carmarthen Van attains an
elevation of 2632 ft. Mynydd Mallaen in the wild districts of the
north-east corner of the county is 1430 ft. in height, but otherwise few
of the numberless rounded hills with which Carmarthenshire is thickly
studded exceed 1000 ft. The principal river is the Towy (_Tywi_), which,
with its chief tributaries, the Gwili, the Cothi and the Sawdde, drains
the central part of the county and enters the Bay at Llanstephan, 9 m.
below Carmarthen. Coracles are frequently to be observed on this river,
as well as on the Teifi, which separates Carmarthenshire from
Cardiganshire on the north. Other streams are the Taf, which flows
through the south-western portion of the county and reaches the sea at
Laugharne; the Gwendraeth, with its mouth at Kidwelly; and the Loughor,
or Llwchwr, which rises in the Black Mountains and forms for several
miles the boundary between the counties of Carmarthen and Glamorgan
until it falls into Carmarthen Bay at Loughor. All these rivers contain
salmon, sewin (_gleisiad_) and trout in fair numbers, and are
consequently frequented by anglers. With the exception of the Van Pool
in the Black Mountains the lakes of the county are inconsiderable in
size.
_Geology._--The oldest rocks in Carmarthenshire come to the surface in
the Vale of Towy at Llanarthney and near Carmarthen; they consist of
black shales of Tremadoc (Cambrian) age, and are succeeded by
conglomerates, sandstones and shales, with beds of volcanic ash and
lava, of Arenig (Ordovician) age, which have been brought up along a
belt of intense folding and faulting which follows the Towy from
Llangadock to Carmarthen and extends westwards to the edge of the
county at Whitland. The Llandeilo shales, flags and limestones and
occasional volcanic ashes, which follow, are well developed at
Llangadock and Llandeilo and near Carmarthen, and are famed for their
trilobites, _Asaphus tyrannus_ and _Ogygia Buchi._ Shales and
mudstones and impersistent limestones of Bala age come next in order,
and, bounding the Vale of Towy on the north, extend as a narrow belt
north-westwards towards the Presley hills. Except for the foregoing
deposits the great area between the Teifi and the Towy, of which
little is known, is made up of a monotonous succession of greatly
folded slates and shales with interbedded conglomerates and sandstones
which give rise to scarps, ridges and moorlands; they appear to be of
Llandovery age.
South of the Towy a narrow belt of steeply dipping and even inverted
Silurian sandstones and mudstones (Upper Llandovery, Wenlock and
Ludlow) extends south-westwards from Llandovery to Llanarthney, where
they disappear under the Old Red Sandstone. This formation, which
consists of red marls and sandstones with occasional thin impure
limestones (cornstones), extends from near Llandovery to beyond
Carmarthen Bay; its upper conglomeratic beds cap the escarpment of the
Black Mountains (2460 ft.) on the south-eastern borders of the county.
To the south the scarps and moorlands of the Carboniferous Limestone
and Millstone Grit form the north-western rim of the South Wales
coalfield. The rest of the county is occupied by the rich
Coal-Measures of the Gwendraeth Valley and Llanelly districts. All the
rocks in the county are affected by powerful folds and faults. Glacial
deposits are plentiful in the valleys south of the Towy, striae abound
on the Millstone Grit and show that the ice-sheet rose far up the
slopes of the Black Mountains. Coal is the chief mineral, the iron-ore
is no longer worked; the Carboniferous Limestone is burnt at
Llandybie; fire-bricks are manufactured from the Millstone Grit, and a
few lead-veins are found in the Ordovician rocks.
_Industries._--The climate is mild, except in the upland regions, but
the annual rainfall is very heavy. With the exception of its
south-eastern portion, which forms part of the great South Welsh
coalfield, Carmarthenshire may be considered wholly as an agricultural
county. The attention of the farmers is devoted to stock-raising and
dairy-farming rather than to the growth of cereals, whilst the large
tracts of unenclosed hill-country form good pastures for sheep and
ponies. The soil varies much, but in the lower valleys of the Towy and
Taf it is exceedingly fertile. Outside agriculture the gathering of
cockles at the estuaries of the Towy and Taf gives employment to a large
number of persons, principally women; Ferryside and Laugharne being the
chief centres of the cockling industry. The local textile factories at
Pencader, Penboyr, Llangeler, and in the valley of the Loughor are of
some importance. Gold has been found near Caio in the Cothi valley, but
the yield is trifling. There are lead-mines in various places, but none
of great value. The really important industries are restricted to the
populous south-eastern district, where coal-mining, iron-founding and
the smelting of tin and copper are carried on extensively at Llanelly,
Pembrey, Tirydail, Garnant, Pontardulais, Ammanford and other centres.
_Communications._--The Great Western railway traverses the lower part of
the county, whilst a branch of the London & North-Western enters it at
its extreme north-eastern point by a tunnel under the Sugar Loaf
Mountain, and has its terminal station at Carmarthen. A branch line of
the Great Western connects Llanelly with Llandilo by way of Ammanford,
and another branch of the same railway runs northward from Carmarthen to
Newcastle-Emlyn on the Teifi, joining the Aberystwyth branch, formerly
the Manchester & Milford line, at Pencader.
_Population and Administration._--The area of the county is 587,816
acres, and the population in 1891 was 130,566 and in 1901 it was
135,325. The municipal boroughs are Carmarthen (pop. 9935), Kidwelly
(2285) and Llandovery (1809). Urban districts are Ammanford, Llanelly,
Burry Port, Llandilo and Newcastle-Emlyn. The principal towns are
Carmarthen, Llanelly (25,617), Llandilo or Llandeilo Fawr (1934),
Llangadock (1578), Llandovery, Kidwelly, Pembrey (7513) and Laugharne
(1439). The county is in the South Wales circuit, and assizes are held
at Carmarthen. The borough of Carmarthen has a commission of the peace
and separate quarter sessions. The county is divided into two
parliamentary divisions, the eastern and western, and it also includes
the united boroughs of Carmarthen and Llanelly, thus returning three
members in all to parliament. The ancient county, which contains 75
parishes and part of another, is wholly in the diocese of St David's.
_History._--Carmarthenshire originally formed part of the lands of the
Dimetae conquered by the Romans, who constructed military roads and
built on the Via Julia the important station of Maridunum upon or near
the site of the present county town. After the retirement of the Roman
forces this fortified town became known in course of time as
Caerfyrddin, anglicized into Carmarthen, which subsequently gave its
name to the county. During the 5th and 6th centuries Carmarthenshire, or
Ystrad Tywi, was the scene of the labours of many Celtic missionaries,
notably of St David and St Teilo, who brought the arts of civilization
as well as the doctrines of Christianity to its rude inhabitants. In the
9th century the whole of Ystrad Tywi was annexed to the kingdom of
Roderick the Great (_Rhodri Mawr_), who at his death in 877 bequeathed
the principality of South Wales to his son, Cadell. The royal residence
of the South Welsh princes was now fixed at Dynevor (_Dinefawr_) on the
Towy near Llandilo. Cadell's son, Howell the Good (_Hywel Dda_), was the
first to codify the ancient laws of Wales at his palace of Ty Gwyn Ar
Daf, the White Lodge on the banks of the Taf, near the modern Whitland.
In 1080, during the troubled reign of Rhys ap Tudor, the Normans first
appeared on the shores of Carmarthen Bay, and before the end of King
Henry I.'s reign had constructed the great castles of Kidwelly,
Carmarthen, Laugharne and Llanstephan near the coast. From this period
until the death of Prince Llewelyn (1282) the history of Carmarthenshire
is national rather than local. By the Statutes of Rhuddlan (1284) Edward
I. formed the counties of Cardigan and Carmarthen out of the districts
of Ceredigion and Ystrad Tywi, the ancient possessions of the house of
Dinefawr, which were now formally annexed to the English crown. Nearly a
third of the present county, however, still remained under the
jurisdiction of the Lords Marchers, and it was not until the Act 27
Henry VIII. that these districts, including the commots of Kidwelly,
Iscennen and Carnwillion, were added to Edward I.'s original shire. The
prosperity of the new county increased considerably under Edward III.,
who named Carmarthen the chief staple-town in Wales for the wool trade.
The revolt of Owen Glendower had the effect of disturbing the peace of
the county for a time, and the French army, landed at Milford on his
behalf, was warmly received by the people of Carmarthenshire. In the
summer of 1485 Sir Rhys ap Thomas, of Abermarlais and Dinefawr, marched
through the county collecting recruits for Henry of Richmond, for which
service he was created a knight of the Garter and made governor of all
Wales. At the Reformation the removal of the episcopal residence from
distant St David's to Abergwili, a village barely two miles from
Carmarthen, brought the county into close touch with the chief Welsh
diocese, and the new palace at Abergwili will always be associated with
the first Welsh translations of the New Testament and the Prayer Book,
made by Bishop Richard Davies (1500-1581) and his friend William
Salesbury, of Llanrwst (16th century). In the early part of the 17th
century the county witnessed the first religious revival recorded in
Welsh annals, that led by Rhys Prichard (d. 1644), the Puritan vicar of
Llandovery, whose poetical works, the _Canwyll y Cymry_ ("the Welshman's
Candle") are still studied in the principality. At the time of the Civil
Wars, Richard Vaughan, earl of Carbery, the patron of Jeremy Taylor, was
in command of the royal fortresses and troops, but made a very feeble
and half-hearted resistance against the parliamentarian forces. During
the following century the great Welsh spiritual and educational
movement, which later spread over all Wales, had its origin in the quiet
and remote parish of Llanddowror, near Laugharne, where the vicar, the
celebrated and pious Griffith Jones (1684-1761), had become the founder
of the Welsh circulating charity schools. Other prominent members of
this important Methodist revival, likewise natives of Carmarthenshire,
were William Williams of Pantycelyn, the well-known hymn-writer
(1716-1791), and Peter Williams, the Welsh Bible commentator
(1722-1796). The county was deeply implicated in the Rebecca Riots of
1842-1843.
Foremost amongst the county families of Carmarthenshire is Rhys, or
Rice, of Dynevor Castle, near Llandilo, a modern castellated house
standing in a beautiful park which contains the historic ruin of the old
Dinefawr fortress. The present Lord Dynevor, the direct lineal
descendant of the princes of South Wales, is the head of this family.
Almost opposite Dynevor Castle (formerly known as Newtown), on the left
bank of the Towy, stands Golden Grove (_Gelli Aur_), once the seat of
the Vaughans, earls of Carbery, whose senior line and titles became
extinct early in the 18th century. The famous old mansion has been
replaced by a modern Gothic structure, and is now the property of Earl
Cawdor. Golden Grove contains the "Hirlas Horn," the gift of King Henry
VII. to Dafydd ap Evan of Llwyndafydd, Cardiganshire, perhaps the most
celebrated of Welsh historical relics. Other families of importance,
extinct or existing, are Johnes, formerly of Abermarlais and now of
Dolaucothi; Williams (now Drummond) of Edwinsford; Lloyd of Forest;
Lloyd of Glansevin; Stepney of Llanelly and Gwynne of Taliaris.
_Antiquities._--Carmarthenshire contains few memorials of the Roman
occupation, but it possesses various camps and tumuli of the British
period, and also a small but perfect cromlech near Llanglydwen on the
banks of the Taf. Of its many medieval castles the most important still
in existence are: Kidwelly; Laugharne; Llanstephan, a fine pile of the
12th century on a hill at the mouth of the Towy; Carreg Cennen, an
imposing Norman fortress crowning a cliff not far from Llandilo; and
Dynevor Castle, the ancient seat of Welsh royalty, situated on a bold
wooded height above the Towy. The remains of the castles at Carmarthen,
Drysllwyn, Llandovery and Newcastle-Emlyn are inconsiderable. Of the
monastic houses Talley Abbey (Tal-y-Llychau, a name drawn from the two
small lakes in the neighbourhood of its site) was founded by Rhys ap
Griffith, prince of South Wales, towards the close of the 12th century
for Benedictine monks; Whitland, or Albalanda, also a Benedictine house,
was probably founded by Bishop Bernard of St David's early in the 12th
century, on a site long associated with Welsh monastic life; and the
celebrated Augustinian Priory of St John at Carmarthen was likewise
established in the 12th century. Very slight traces of these three
important religious houses now exist. The parish churches of
Carmarthenshire are for the most part small and of no special
architectural value. Of the more noteworthy mention may be made of St
Peter's at Carmarthen, and of the parish churches at Laugharne,
Kidwelly, Llangadock, Abergwili and Llangathen, the last named of which
contains a fine monument to Bishop Anthony Rudd (d. 1615). Many of these
churches are distinguished by tall massive western towers, usually of
the 12th or 13th centuries. Besides Golden Grove and Dynevor the county
contains some fine historic houses, prominent amongst which are
Abergwili Palace, the official residence of the bishops of St David's
since the Reformation, burnt down in 1902, but rebuilt on the old lines;
Aberglasney, a mansion near Llangathen, erected by Bishop Rudd and once
inhabited by the poet John Dyer (1700-1758); Court Henry, an ancient
seat of the Herbert family; and Abermarlais, once the property of Sir
Rhys ap Thomas.
_Customs, &c._--The old Welsh costume, folklore and customs have
survived longer in Carmarthenshire than perhaps in any other county of
Wales. The steeple-crowned beaver hat, now practically extinct, was
often to be seen in the neighbourhood of Carmarthen as late as 1890, and
the older women often affect the _pais-a-g[^w]n bach_, the frilled
mob-cap and the small plaid shawl of a previous generation. Curious
instances of old Welsh superstitions are to be found amongst the
peasantry of the more remote districts, particularly in the lovely
country in the valleys of the Towy and Teifi, where belief in fairies,
fairy-rings, goblins and "corpse-candles" still lingers. The curious
mumming, known as "Mari Lwyd" (Blessed Mary), in which one of the
performers wears a horse's skull decked with coloured ribbands, was
prevalent round Carmarthen as late as 1885. At many parish churches the
ancient service of the "Pylgain" (a name said to be a corruption of the
Latin _pulli cantus_) is held at daybreak or cock-crow on Christmas
morning. A species of general catechism, known as _pwnc_, is also common
in the churches and Nonconformist chapels. The old custom of receiving
New Year's gifts of bread and cheese, or meal and money (_calenig_),
still flourishes in the rural parishes. The "bidding" before marriage
(as in Cardiganshire) was formerly universal and is not yet altogether
discontinued, and bidding papers were printed at Llandilo as late as
1900. The horse weddings (_priodas ceffylau_) were indulged in by the
farmer class in the neighbourhood of Abergwili as late as 1880.
AUTHORITIES.--T. Nicholas, _Annals and Antiquities of the Counties of
Wales_ (London, 1872); W. Spurrell, _Carmarthen and its Neighbourhood_
(Carmarthen, 1879); J.B.D. Tyssen and Alcwyn C. Evans, _Royal
Charters, &c., relating to the Town and County of Carmarthen_
(Carmarthen, 1878).
CARMATHIANS (QARMATHIANS, KARMATHIANS), a Mahommedan sect named after
Hamdan Qarmat, who accepted the teaching of the Isma'ilites (see
MAHOMMEDAN RELIGION: _Sects_) from Hosain ul-Ahwazi, a missionary of
Ahmed, son of the Persian Abdallah ibn Maimun, toward the close of the
9th century. This was in the Sawad of Irak, which was inhabited by a
people little attached to Islam. The object of Abdallah ibn Maimun had
been to undermine Islam and the Arabian power by a secret society with
various degrees, which offered inducements to all classes and creeds and
led men on from an interpretation of Islam to a total rejection of its
teaching and a strict personal submission to the head of the society.
For the political history of the Carmathians, their conquests and their
decay, see ARABIA: _History_; CALIPHATE (sect. C. SS 16, 17, 18, 23);
and EGYPT: _History_ (Mahommedan period).
In their religious teaching they claimed to be Shi'ites; i.e. they
asserted that the imamate belonged by right to the descendants of Ali.
Further, they were of the Isma'ilite branch of these, i.e. they
acknowledged the claim to the imamate of Isma'il the eldest son of the
sixth imam. The claim of Isma'il had been passed over by his father and
many Shi'ites because he had been guilty of drinking wine. The
Isma'ilites said that as the imam could do no wrong, his action only
showed that wine-drinking was not sinful. Abdallah taught that from the
creation of man there had always been an imam sometimes known, sometimes
hidden. Isma'il was the last known; a new one was to be looked for. But
while the imam was hidden, his doctrines were to be taught by his
missionaries (_da'is_). Hamdan Qarmat was one of these, Ahmed ibn
Abdallah being nominally the chief. The adherents of this party were
initiated by degrees into the secrets of its doctrines and were divided
into seven (afterwards nine) classes. In the first stage the convert was
taught the existence of mystery in the Koran and made to feel the
necessity of a teacher who could explain it. He took an oath of complete
submission and paid a sum of money. In the second stage the earlier
teachers of Islam were shown to be wrong in doctrine and the imams alone
were proved to be infallible. In the third it was taught that there were
only seven imams and that the other sects of the Shi'ites were in error.
In the fourth the disciple learnt that each of the seven imams had a
prophet, who was to be obeyed in all things. The prophet of the last
imam was Abdallah. The doctrine of Islam was that Mahomet was the last
of the prophets. In the fifth stage the uselessness of tradition and the
temporary nature of the precepts and practices of Mahomet were taught,
while in the sixth the believer was induced to give up these practices
(prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, &c.). At this point the Carmathian had
completely ceased to be a Moslem. In the remaining degrees there was
more liberty of opinion allowed and much variety of belief and teaching
existed.
The last contemporary mention of the Carmathians is that of Nasir ibn
Khosrau, who visited them in A.D. 1050. In Arabia they ceased to
exercise influence. In Persia and Syria their work was taken up by the
Assassins (q.v.). Their doctrines are said, however, to exist still in
parts of Syria, Persia, Arabia and India, and to be still propagated in
Zanzibar.