for nine months, taken, sacked, and all the inhabitants put to the
sword. The booty of that commercial city was immense.
The Egyptians invaded Africa, and besieged Tripoli, but were forced
to retire on the approach of Ishak, with his regular negro troops.
878. A dreadful famine in Africa; corn at eight pieces of gold
the bushel.
Ishak was a most cruel prince. It is reported that he put
to death, in one day, sixteen of his own natural daughters by
various concubines. His mother presenting him with two beautiful
female slaves, he sent her in return a platter covered with a
napkin; on lifting it up, instead of jewels as she expected, she
beheld the heads of the two slaves. He was succeeded by his son
Abu-’l-Abbâs-Abd-ullah, murdered by his brother Ziadet-Ullah,
who seized the sceptre of Africa.
908. A revolt arising, the timid Ziadet-Ullah abandoned his dominions,
and retired to Egypt, then governed by Basi-el-Nûchîsi, in the
name of Mûktadir-b’illah, eighteenth Chalîf of the dynasty of the
Abbassides. With Ziadet-Ullah expired the dynasty of the Aglabites,
which had ruled Africa for an hundred and eight years[18].
SECT. II.
_Dynasty of the Fatimites, or Ismaëlians._
Obeid-ullah, who had seized the authority, resigned it soon after
to his son Abu-’l-Cassim. Though the new family was of Egyptian
extract, it pretended to deduce its origin from Fâtmé, daughter
of Mohammed, through Ismael the sixth Imâm of the posterity of Ali.
Abu-’l-Cassim assuming the style of _Mahadi_, or real successor
of Ali, displayed talents that sanctioned his usurpation. In the
first year of his reign he subdued the Edrîssites of the West,
and united all the Mohammedan part of Africa.
A.D. 912. Abu-’l-Cassim pours three armies into Egypt, intending to
add that rich province to his other domains. The Chalîf Mûktadir,
then reigning at Bagdad, had foreseen this design, which was
frustrated by the defeat of the armies of Mahadi, though he took
Alexandria. He built a city called Mehedié, now Mahdié, on the
African shore, which he destined for the seat of his empire. He died
in the sixty-third year of his age and twenty-sixth of his reign.
A.D. 933. His son Achmed was less fortunate. He died while his
capital Mehedié was besieged by insurgents.
A.D. 945. Ismaîl his son defeated the rebels, and built Mansûriéh
in Africa.
952. Abu-Tammim succeeded Ismaîl his father. In 968, he sent
Jeuhar, a Greek, at the head of a strong army to seize Egypt, and
succeeded. The capital, then styled _Misr_, or _Fostat_, opened
its gates. Jeuhar built a new capital, which he named _Kahira_,
or the _Victorious_. Abu-Tammim, surnamed Moaz, in the twentieth
year of his reign embarked for Sardinia, then subject to Africa,
till Jeuhar should complete the new metropolis.
972. Abu-Tammim lands at Alexandria, where he is met by Jeuhar:
advancing to Kahira he was welcomed by the acclamations of his new
subjects. To this city he removed all his treasures, and even the
bodies of his ancestors.
Jeuhar, the founder, had desired the building to be begun under
the horoscope or ascendant of the planet Mars, called _Kahir_,
or conqueror, by the Arabs; and hence it was styled Kahira.
The dynasty of the Fatimites, now transplanted to Egypt, ruled
there till the year 1171, (Hejira 566,) when it was supplanted by
Salah-el-dîn, the famous Saladin of the Christian authors.
SECT. III.
_Dynasty of the Zeirites._
To return to Africa. Abu-Tammim, before he proceeded to Egypt,
had resigned the sovereignty of Africa, on condition of homage,
to Yussuf-ben-Zeiri, of a family sprung from Arabia Felix.
The people of the province of Muggrib having rebelled, Yussuf defeated
them; and Tremesen shewing a disposition to join the Muggrebins,
it was razed, and the inhabitants transplanted to Aschir. Another
revolt was equally unsuccessful: the chiefs were led in triumph
through the streets of Cairoan, and then put to death.
979. Yussuf seized Fez and Sejelmas; and the Chalîfs of Spain lost
all their African possessions, except Ceuta.
983. Abu-’l-Cassim Mansûr succeeded his father. He built a palace
in the city of Cairoan, which cost eight hundred thousand pieces of
gold. His cruelty was shewn in the murder of Abd-ullah his minister,
and even in the punishment of the ungrateful rebel Abu-’l-Fahm,
whose heart this prince is said to have torn from his body and
devoured.
996. His son Abu-Menad received the homage of his nobles in Sardinia,
long subject to Africa. The Fatimite Chalîf of Egypt sent him the
dress and sabre, the accustomed mark of their superiority over the
African monarchy.
Moaz, his son and successor, displayed his rage against heretics,
or those Mohammedans who differed from his own sect, by an universal
massacre. A Roman Catholic prince, misled by his priests, could
not have shewn more inveterate cruelty. Moaz was however so young,
that the blame rests with his ministers.
A.D. 1050. An important war arose between Moaz and Mostansir, Chalîf
of Egypt, who wished to revive the absolute dominion of his house over
Africa. The Egyptians entered the province of Muggrib, by the town
of Zenata. Four years after they seized Tripoli. Mûnis, governor
of the province of Cairoan, passed over to the enemy. Moaz lost a
pitched battle, and took shelter in Mehedié. The Egyptians seized his
capital Cairoan, stopped the springs, turned the course of the river,
and destroyed the magnificent palaces and delicious gardens of the
monarchs of Africa. Moaz, overwhelmed with his misfortunes, sunk into
the grave, and closed a long and fortunate reign in the utmost misery.
1061. Tamîm, his eldest son, succeeded to the sceptre.
1088. The Greeks and Franks, equipping a fleet of four hundred sail,
landed at the isle of Kûssa in Africa, which they ravaged. They then
seized the town of Zawilé, but retired on receiving a contribution
of 200,000 pieces of gold. The conquest of Sicily by the Normans
had given a military impulse, which Africa was often to feel.
A.D. 1107. Tamîm died, leaving the reputation of a just and
generous prince. Having once purchased a slave, and her master,
who was enamoured with her, deeply regretting the loss, Tamîm not
only restored her, but sent him magnificent presents.
1108. Yaiah, his son and successor, put to death three alchymists,
who had misled him by their vain pretensions.
1115. Yaiah died suddenly. Being addicted to astrology, he imagined
a particular day would be fatal to him, and passed it in prayer. In
the evening, happy that he had escaped the danger, he ordered a
magnificent festival, and died as he sat down to table. His son Ali
received the homage of his people at Mehedié.
1116. Ali suppressed the pirates of the isle of Gerbi, and received
Tunis on submission. The people of Sebât, who robbed the caravans,
were severely punished.
1121. Ali prepared a fleet of ten vessels of the first rank, and
thirty of the second, against Sicily. Death prevented his designs.
His son Hassan being only in his fifteenth year, dissentions arose
among the great.
1125. A Sicilian fleet ravaged the isle of Gerbi.
1146. The Sicilians seized Tripoli, which they held six months,
and then retired.
A dreadful famine in Africa, so that even human carcases were
devoured. Many of the inhabitants fled to Sicily.
Roger king of Sicily sent out a fleet of an hundred and fifty sail,
loaded with soldiers and ammunition. Having captured an African ship,
with some pigeons on board, Georgi the Christian admiral forced
the captain to write a letter, importing that the Sicilian fleet
had sailed to Constantinople. The pigeon flew back to Mehedié; and
the inhabitants were exulting in the intelligence, when the hostile
fleet appeared before the city. On landing, the Sicilians found the
place totally abandoned, and the pillage lasted ten hours. Sfax and
Sus were also taken; and the Sicilians became masters of all the
coast from Tripoli to Tunis.
These events, accompanied with intestine commotions, terminated the
rule of the Zeirite dynasty. Hassan-ben-Ali was the last prince.
SECT. IV.
_Dynasty of the Marabûts, called by the Spanish authors
Al-Moravides._
Marabût implies a saint; and this dynasty arose to power from a
pretended zeal for religion. It originated in the West of Africa,
about the year 1060. Yussuf the second prince, in the year 1069
founded Morocco; he conquered part of Spain, and died in 1106. His son
Ali was less fortunate, and the short-lived dynasty of the Marabûts
was followed by that of the Elmohâds or Unitarians.
SECT. V.
_Dynasty of the Elmohâds._
This dynasty originated in Mount Atlas. Tomrût, its founder, was
followed by his celebrated disciple Abd-el-mûmin, originally a
doctor of theology, but who displayed such talents in war, that Ali,
king of Morocco, after meeting with many defeats, died in despair.
Abd-el-mûmin aspiring to the universal sovereignty of the Mohammedans
in Africa, besieged and took Oran and Fez, A.D. 1142. Tasfîn, son
of Ali, hardly retained Morocco, which was taken by Abd-el-mûmin
from Ishak his successor, the last of the Marabût dynasty.
1150. The Moors of Spain having suffered great losses, sent to
Abd-el-mûmin to request his aid against the Christians. That
ambitious prince eagerly seized the opportunity, and sent several
armies into Spain. The following year he conquered Bugia in Africa.
1159. The Sicilians retaining Tunis, and other places on the coast in
the Eastern part of Africa, Abd-el-mûmin equipped a fleet, and left
Morocco at the head of one hundred thousand combatants. Tunis was
taken by treason. Mehedié, surrounded by the sea, except one part
which was strongly fortified, was bravely defended by the Sicilians,
and their king sent a fleet to their assistance. It was defeated by
that of the Mûslims, and famine forced the garrison to surrender.
Abd-el-mûmin, being acknowleged sovereign of all Mohammedan Africa,
resolved on the conquest of Spain; but death unexpectedly seized
him at Sallî in 1160. He was succeeded by Abu-Yakûb his son.
1180. Abu-Yakûb carried his arms into Spain, where he received
the homage of several Arabian princes. He was constrained to return
to Africa, on intelligence arriving that a horde of Turks, who had
passed from Egypt, had seized Tripoli, and other places. Sfax had
also revolted. These commotions were appeased; and, at Mehedié,
Abu-Yakûb renewed the truce with Sicily for ten years.
1184. Abu-Yakûb invades Spain, is defeated, and killed. Yakûb his
son succeeded him.
The El-Moravides, who had fled to Spain, endeavoured to regain their
power in Africa. They were supported by the Turks of Tripoli; but
Yakûb took that city, and razed its walls.
1195. Yakûb defeats Alfonso king of Castille at Rema near Cordova,
and besieges Toledo. He makes other campaigns in Spain.
1199. Yakûb dies at Sallî, in his forty-eighth year. The sceptre
passes to Mohammed-el-Nasîr his son.
Mohammed lost all that his ancestors had possessed in Spain.
1210. He attempts to recover his Spanish territories at the head of
600,000 men, according to the wonted exaggerations of the Arabs;
but is completely defeated at the famous battle called _Akal_ by
the Arabs, and _Vanos-Tolosa_ by the Spaniards. Mohammed died of
vexation the following year. The Elmohâds had possessed Valencia,
Seville, Carmona, &c.
1211. Yussuf, son of Mohammed, proved a voluptuous and feeble
prince. He reigned twelve years, and died without posterity.
1223. Abd-el-wahhad, his great uncle, succeeded, or was chosen by the
grandees. The same year the royal title was transferred to Abd-ullah
his nephew, who was murdered by rebels.
1226. Edrîs-ben-Yakûb, brother of Abd-ullah, became king of Africa,
and used great cruelties to establish his authority. After reigning
five years, he died of an apoplexy.
1231. His son Abd-el-wahhad succeeded, and was drowned when
bathing. Other princes of this dynasty were, Said-Abul, 1242; Umer,
1248; Wasîk-Abul, 1266. In this usurper closed the dynasty of
the Elmohâds.
* * * * *
Upon the fall of this powerful dynasty, Africa was divided into
those petty royalties which still subsist, with few variations.
The family of the _Merinis_ became masters of Fez and Morocco,
and were the most powerful of the successors of the Elmohâds.
The Abi-Hafs seized Tunis; and the Beni Ziân enjoyed Tremesen.
Abu-’l-Hassan, sultan of Morocco, became sovereign by conquest,
about A.D. 1347, of all the African states; but this power was only
a momentary meteor.
About the year 1500 an ambitious _Sherîf_, or descendant of Mohammed,
seized the sovereignty of Morocco; and his descendants, under the
style of Sherîfs, retain the power to this day.
The kingdom of Tremesen, on the East of Fez, contained Algier, Oran,
&c. It was seized by the Beni Ziân about A.D. 1249. On the death
of the last of that race, A.D. 1560, it was united to the Turkish
Deydom of Algier.
The power of the Turks in Africa is very recent. It began in 1514,
when the pirate Barbarossa seized Algier; and piracy, as is too well
known, has become an appendage of their dominion.
Tunis became subject to the Abi-Hafs about A.D. 1240. Abu-Zekeria,
the first prince, is said to have extended his contribution to
the country of the negroes. A.D. 1270, St. Louis, attacking Tunis,
perished by a pestilence.
In 1533 Barbarossa seized Tunis. The expedition of Charles V. 1535,
is well known; but the African marygold is its only permanent
product. The race of the Abi-Hafs terminated in 1570, when El-Wahhali,
a descendant of Barbarossa, and Dey of Algier, took possession
of Tunis. The Mohammedan power, on the North and West of Africa,
remains divided between the Sherîfs of Morocco and Fez, and the
Turks of Algier and Tunis.
PART II.
_EGYPT._
Egypt remained for a considerable time in quiet subjection to the
Chalîfs, successors of Mohammed. But their power being on the
decline, owing to the insolence of their Turcoman militia, the
janizaries of that period, and other causes, this fertile country
began to throw off the yoke.
DYNASTY I.
_The Tholonides._
In the year of the Hejira 265, A.D. 879, Achmed, son of Tholon or
Teilûn, governor of Egypt, usurped the sovereignty from the Chalîf
Motamid-b’-illah. This short-lived dynasty expired in Sultan Harôn,
grandson of the usurper, about thirty years after.
DYNASTY II.
_The Fatimites._
The conquest of Egypt by Abu-Tammîm, Sultan of Africa, has been
already mentioned.
975. Abu-Tammîm or Moaz was succeeded by his son Aziz. He carried
on several wars in Syria.
996. Hakim, his successor, is only famed for his cruelty.
1021. Daher, fourth Chalîf of Egypt, conquered Aleppo, but was
forced to abandon it.
1036. Abu-Tamîm Mostansir. In the reign of this Chalîf most of
the Egyptian possessions in Syria were lost.
1094. Mostali. This Chalîf, in 1098, regained Jerusalem from
the Turks; next year it was taken by the Franks, under Godefroy
de Boulogne.
1101. Amer, a child. The Wizîr Afdhal exercised the sovereignty
during his reign of thirty years.
1130. Hafed.
1149. Dafer. In his Chalîfate the Christians took Ascalon.
1155. Fayez.
1160. Aded. The Fatimite race had before this period sunk
into such imbecility, that the Wizirs held the whole executive
power. Shawûr, the _reigning_ Wizir, having been supplanted by the
intrigues of Dargham, passed to Syria, to implore the assistance
of Nûr-el-din, Sultan of Damascus[19]. In 1164 his request was
complied with. Shirakûk, called Syracon by the Christian writers,
and his nephew, the famous Salah-el-dîn, or Saladin, were sent to
re-establish Shawûr, who soon finding his associates too powerful,
formed an alliance with the Franks. Shirakûk however defeated
all his projects; and in 1169 procured an order from the Chalîf
Aded for the decapitation of Schawûr, with the robe and firmân of
wizîr for himself. He died in the same year, and was succeeded by
his nephew Saladin.
1171. Saladin obliges the Franks to evacuate Egypt. An enemy of the
Fatimites, from religious schism, he omits the name of Aded, in the
public prayers, and substitutes that of the Chalîf of Bagdad. Aded
died on the 13th of September 1171; and in him terminated the dynasty
of the Fatimites. His successors renounced the title of Chalîf,
and assumed only that of Sultans.
DYNASTY III.
_The Aiûbite Sultans._
Salah-ed-din, son of Aiûb, a Kurd, usurped the title of Sultan of
Egypt in 1174. Not contented with that sovereignty, he extended
his views to Syria. In 1177 he is defeated at Ramlé by Rainaud
de Chatillon.
1182. More success attended his arms in Syria; and next year he
seized Amida in Mesopotamia, and forced Aleppo to a capitulation.
1187. Saladin gains over the Franks his famous victory at Hittîn:
the Christian power falls, and Saladin becomes master of Jerusalem
on the 2d of October.
1189. The Franks besiege Akka, or Ptolemais, which did not surrender
till after it had been invested for two years.
1192. Saladin concludes a truce with Richard king of England. Akka
and Yaffa were almost the only places left to the Franks.
Saladin died on the 4th March 1193, aged only fifty-seven, leaving
sixteen sons and a daughter.
1193. Malek-el-Azîz, second son of Saladin. He seized Damascus,
and left to his brother only Samosata.
1198. Malek-el-Mansûr. His uncle Afdhal, prince of Samosata,
was called by the Emîrs to rule the kingdom during the minority,
by the title of Atabek.
1200. Adel-Seif-el-dîn, brother of Saladin, usurps the crown.
1209. The Franks penetrate into Egypt, and retire with considerable
booty. Nine years afterward they returned, and seized the isle Pharos
and Damiatt.
1218. Malek-el-Kâmel, son of Seif-el-dîn. The crusaders abandon
Damiatt in 1221.
1228. Malek surrenders, by treaty, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth,
and Sidon, to Frederic II. the Emperor of Germany.
1239. Malek Adel deposed by his brother.
1240. Malek Salah. In 1244 he defeated the Franks and Syrians,
who were about to penetrate into Egypt.
1249. St. Louis seized Damiatt; and in the same year Malek Salah died.
He had bought from the Tatars a number of Turkish slaves from
Kaptchak, to form a guard and marine. These he raised to the highest
employments; and they became the famous MAMLÛKS, who seized the
sovereignty of Egypt.
1249. Turân Shah, son of Malek. Next year he captures St. Louis,
and his army of 20,000. On the 1st May 1250, Turân Shah is massacred
by the Mamlûks, who assign the sceptre to his step-mother, and
afterwards to a boy of the Aiubite race, which in him closed its
domination over Egypt.
* * * * *
MAMLUKS.
SECT. I.
_Baharite Mamlûks._
These were so styled, from having been originally employed as
_mariners_ on board the ships of the Sultan of Egypt. They were Turks.
A.D. 1254. Ezz-ed-dîn Moaz Ibegh was the first sovereign of this
dynasty. He was assassinated.
1255. Nûr-ed-dîn Ali, son of Sultan Ezz-ed-dîn, followed.
It would be uninteresting to mark the names and short reigns of these
princes, most of whom fell by assassination. The chief events alone
shall be commemorated.
Bibars I. who reigned from A.D. 1260 to 1277, was an active prince,
and seized most of the Christian possessions in Syria.
Kalîl Ascraf, who ascended the throne in 1290, took Ptolemais,
and terminated the power of the Christians in Palestine.
During successive reigns many contests took place in Syria, the
possession of which was disputed by the Mamlûk Sultans and the
Moguls.
Nazr Mohammed, who died in 1341, distinguished himself by the
protection which he granted to agriculture and the arts.
In 1348 a pestilence appeared in Egypt, or perhaps originally in
Syria, which spread over a great part of Europe.
A.D. 1365. In October, Peter de Lusignan, king of Cyprus, besieged
Alexandria; but he was soon constrained to abandon it, for want of
provisions[20]. Shabân Ascrâf was then Sultan, and he was the
first who ordered the Sherîfs, or descendants of the Prophet,
to wear a green turban.
SECT. II.
_Borgite Mamlûks._
This race was of Circassian extract, and continued to rule Egypt
till the French invasion.
1382. Barkûk-Daher, who had been Atabek in the minority of Hadgi
Salah, deposed his pupil, and seized the supreme authority. Timûr
invading Syria, Barkûk obtained two victories over the Moguls,
and forced them to withdraw.
1399. Faradj, son of Barkûk. Few of these Sultans reigned above a
year, till
1442. Bursbai, who reigned sixteen. He sent a fleet against Cyprus,
which took Lymissos and Nicosia, and brought John II. and most of
his nobility, captives. Syria remained almost a constant appanage
to Egypt.
1461. Abu-’l-Fathe Achmed received tribute from Cyprus, and assigned
the crown to James, natural son of John III.
Of the succeeding Sultans we find nothing remarkable; and the Mamlûk
aristocracy began to render their station more and more precarious.
In 1501 Kansû El-ghûri was raised to the throne.
In 1516, Selim II. emperor of Constantinople, having declared war
against him, defeated and slew him near Aleppo, and seized Syria.
Tomân Bey was appointed his successor by the Mamlûks. On the 24th
January 1517, he lost, at Rodania near Kahira, a great battle against
the Othman troops. After another obstinate conflict, Tomân Bey was
again defeated by Selim, taken prisoner, and hanged at one of the
gates of Kahira on the 13th April.
* * * * *
Selim was contented with abolishing the _monarchy_ of the Mamlûks,
but suffered their _aristocracy_ to retain its former power, on
certain conditions; the chief of which were, an annual tribute,
obedience in matters of faith to the Mufti of Constantinople, and
the insertion of the name of the Othman Emperors in the prayers,
and on the coin.
Syria, its usual appanage, being withdrawn, Egypt has rarely
intermeddled with foreign affairs, and the Beys have generally been
contented with squeezing the people, and enjoying in ease the fruit
of their extortions. During the pre-eminence of the Othman power,
Egypt appears one of the most quiet and submissive of the provinces:
and the travellers of this and the two preceding centuries may
supply what few materials arise, concerning its history, or rather
its condition. The evening of the Turkish domination was marked by
the appearance of that meteor, Ali Bey, who had scarcely dazzled
the nations with his wild effulgence before he disappeared.
CHAP. VIII.
UPPER EGYPT.
_Design to penetrate into Habbesh or Abyssinia — Voyage on the Nile
— Description of Assiût — General course of the Nile — Islands
and villages — Caverns — Kaw — Achmîm — Painted caverns
— Girgi — Dendera — Antient Temple — Kous — Topography of
Upper Egypt — El-wah-el-Ghurbi — Situation of the Oasis parva._
Ever eager to accomplish my proposed journey into Abyssinia, I was
nevertheless not able to set out till Monday 10th of September,
and, even then, not with all the advantages that might have been
expected. I had indeed employed part of the summer, which was
passed in Kahira, in learning the Arabic language; which is a task
of difficulty to those who are unable to supply the utter want of
books, and method and perspicuity in the teacher. My friends were
forward in representing the dangers to be encountered, rather than
in furnishing the means of avoiding them. I determined to adopt such
a method as an imperfect knowlege of the country suggested as the
least exceptionable, and leave the rest to fortune. Judging that I
should yet have occasion for an interpreter, I took care to provide
a Greek, who, besides his native language, was acquainted with the
Turkish, Arabic, and Italian. I had also with me a Mohammedan of
the lower class of Kahirines, who, as belongs to that character, was
prepared for every office. Thus provided, we commenced our voyage,
and on the eighth day reached Assiût.