Chapter XLIV: The Remainder of Aly’s Reign

A.H. XXXVIII.–XL. A.D. 658–660.

[Sidenote: Remainder of Aly’s reign.]

No gleam of fortune lighted up the remaining days of Aly’s reign. What with the rising of fanatics at home, and the threats of the rival Caliphate abroad, his life was one continual struggle. And, moreover, the daily exhibition of indifference and disloyalty in Kûfa, the city of his choice, was a burden and mortification hard to bear.

[Sidenote: Insurrection at Bussorah suppressed. A.H. XXXVIII. A.D. 658.]

The loss of Egypt, and the cruel death of Mohammed son of Abu Bekr, preyed upon his mind. He withdrew into the strictest privacy. Ibn Abbâs, fearful lest his cousin should resign the Caliphate, or do some other rash and unadvised thing, set out from Bussorah to visit and comfort him. This becoming known to Muâvia, he took the opportunity, during the absence of Ibn Abbâs, to send an emissary with the view of stirring up the disaffected elements at Bussorah. Among certain of the clans, he was sure of finding many who, equally with himself, sought to avenge the blood of Othmân; few were zealously attached to the cause of Aly; the remainder were mostly _Khârejites_, of the theocratic faction, now as hostile to Aly as to Muâvia himself. Abdallah, the Syrian agent, carrying a letter to the citizens of Bussorah, was so well received, that Ziâd, who held temporary charge of the city, was forced to retire with the treasures and the gubernatorial pulpit into the stronghold of a loyal clan, from whence he wrote for help to Kûfa. Aly at once despatched a chief of influence among the Beni Rabia, the leading tribe at Bussorah, who were by his persuasion induced to rally round Ziâd. After severe and bloody fighting in the city, attended by various success, the rebels were at last defeated, and driven for refuge to a neighbouring castle. There they were surrounded, and the castle having been set on fire, Abdallah, with seventy of his followers, perished in the flames. The victory was decisive for the time; but the insurrection had brought to light the alarming spread of disaffection, and showed how precarious was Aly’s grasp upon the Bedouin races of this factious city.

[Sidenote: Khârejite émeutes.]

The spirit of disturbance and unrest was not confined to Egypt and to Bussorah. During the year, we read of five or six occasions on which considerable bands of Khârejites were impelled by their theocratic creed to go forth and raise the standard of rebellion. One after another they met the common fate of slaughter and dispersion. But though crushed, the frequent repetition of such desperate enterprises, the fruit of a wild and reckless fanaticism, had a disturbing effect on the capital and the empire at large. [Sidenote: Rebellion of Khirrît in Southern Persia, A.H. XXXXVIII. A.D. 658.] The most serious of these risings was that led by Khirrît; and it is the more remarkable, because this chief had with his tribe, the Beni Nâjia, fought bravely by the side of Aly in the battles both of the Camel and Siffîn. He was now driven, like many others, by his strong convictions to rebel. Boldly approaching the throne, he told Aly that since he, as Caliph, had referred a Divine issue to the arbitration of man, he could obey him no more, neither stand up behind him in the Mosque at prayer; but henceforth was sworn to be his enemy. Aly, with his usual patience, said that he would argue out the matter with him, and arranged a meeting for the purpose. But the night before the appointed day, Khirrît stole away from the city with all his following. ‘Gone,’ said Aly, ‘to the devil; lost, like the doomed Thâmudites!’ They were pursued, but by so small a party that they held it at bay, and in the end effected their escape to Ahwâz and Râm Hormuz. There they raised the Persians, Kurds, and Christian mountaineers, by the specious and inflammatory cry that the payment of taxes to an ungodly Caliph must be renounced. With a band of apostate Arabs, they kindled revolt throughout the province of Fars, and put the governor to flight. [Sidenote: suppressed, and Khirrît slain.]A force from Bussorah drove them to the shores of the Indian Ocean. But luring the people by delusive arguments and promises, they still gained head; and it was not till after a bloody battle, in which Khirrît lost his life, that the supremacy of the Caliphate was re-established in Southern Persia. [Sidenote: Christian captives.]The Mussulman prisoners in this campaign were set at liberty on their taking afresh the oath of allegiance; but the Christians, five hundred in number, were all marched away to be sold into captivity. The women and children, as they were torn from their protectors, wailed with loud and bitter cries. The hearts of many were softened. Mascala, Governor of Ardshîr, touched by the scene, took upon himself the cost of ransoming these Christian captives, and set them free. Aly, hearing of it, demanded from him immediate payment at a thousand pieces for each captive; and Mascala, unable to pay down so great a sum, fled and joined Muâvia.[556]

[Sidenote: Ziâd suppresses rebellion in Persia, A.H. XXXIX. A.D. 659,]

The defeat of the Khârejites did not at once restore peace to Persia; for Fars and Kermân threw off their allegiance, and expelled their governors. To quell the spreading insurrection, Aly was happy in the selection of Ziâd, the Chancellor of Bussorah, a man, as we have seen, of conspicuous administrative ability. He carried with him a great court and retinue; but it was mainly by his ready tact in setting one rebellious prince against another, and by well-appointed promises and favours, that he succeeded in restoring peace. [Sidenote: and is appointed Governor of Fars.]Aly recognised his service by conferring on him the government of Fars; and his administration there became so famous as to recall to Persian memories the happy age of Nushirwân. He fixed his court at Istakhr (Persepolis), and built a castle there, in connection with which his name was remembered for many ages following.

[Sidenote: Expeditions from Syria against Irâc. A.H. XXXVIII-IX. A.D. 658–9.]

Though successful thus in Persia, Aly was still subject to trouble and molestation nearer home. Muâvia, relieved now from apprehension on the side of Egypt, began to annoy his rival by frequent raids on Arabia and the cities beyond the Syrian desert. The object was various--now to ravage a province or surprise a citadel, now to exact the tithe from the Bedouin tribes, or, again, to force upon them allegiance to the Syrian Caliphate. Such inroads, though not always successful, inspired a sense of insecurity; and, what was worse than that, they betrayed more clearly than ever the lukewarmness of the people in the cause of Aly. These would stir neither hand nor foot to repel the Syrians invading cities so close to them even as Ain Tamr, Anbâr, and Hît. [Sidenote: Safar, A.H. XXXIX. June, A.D. 659.] To show his displeasure at their listlessness and disobedience, Aly went forth himself into the field almost unattended. On this, the men of Kûfa, partly through shame, partly lured by the promise of increased stipends, marched to the defence of their frontier. During the year there were eight or ten inroads of this kind from Syria. Though eventually repelled, it was not always without loss in prisoners, plunder, and prestige. On one occasion, however, Aly’s commander, with a flying column, pursued the raiders back into the heart of Syria as far as Baalbek; and thence, turning northward, escaped by Ricca again into Irâc. [Sidenote: Muâvia visits Mosul.]On the other hand, Muâvia, to show his contempt for the power of Aly, made an incursion right across the plain of Upper Mesopotamia. For some days he remained encamped on the banks of the Tigris; and, after leisurely inspecting Mosul, which he had never seen before, made his way back again to Damascus unmolested.

[Sidenote: Raid of Bosor on Medîna, Mecca, and Yemen. A.H. XL. A.D. 660.]

The fortieth year of the Hegira opened with a new grief for Aly. At the close of the year preceding, as the annual pilgrimage drew near, Muâvia sent Bosor, a brave but cruel captain of his host, with three thousand men into Arabia, to secure for him the allegiance of the sacred cities. As he drew nigh to Medîna, Abu Ayûb, the governor, fled to Kûfa, and Bosor entered unopposed. Proceeding to the Great Mosque, he mounted the sacred steps of the Prophet’s pulpit, and, recalling Othmân to mind, thus addressed the people: ‘O citizens of Medîna! The Aged Man! Where is the aged, grey-haired man whom, but as yesterday, and in this very place, I swore allegiance to? Verily, but for my promise to Muâvia, who bade me stay the sword, I had not left here a soul alive!’ Then he threatened the leading citizens with death if they refused to acknowledge Muâvia as their Caliph; and so, fearing for their lives, all took the oath of allegiance to the Omeyyad ruler. Passing on to Mecca, the same scene was enacted by the imperious envoy there, and with the same result.[557] Then he marched south to Yemen, where he committed great atrocities upon the adherents of Aly. [Sidenote: He slays the infant children of Aly’s cousin.]The governor, Obeidallah son of Abbâs, escaped to his cousin at Kûfa. But two of his little children, falling into the tyrant’s hands, were put to death in cold blood, as well as their Bedouin attendant, who ventured to protest against the cruel act. An army of four thousand men was despatched in haste from Kûfa, but too late to stop these outrages; and Bosor made good his escape to Syria. The wretched peninsula fared no better at the hands of the relieving army. Many of the inhabitants of Najrân were put to death, because they belonged to the party of Othmân. The men of Mecca were forced to recall the oath they had just taken, and again do homage to Aly. Similarly, the citizens of Medîna swore allegiance to Hasan, son of Aly, at the point of the sword;[558] but no sooner were the troops gone, than Abu Horeira, of the opposite faction, resumed his functions as leader of the daily prayers. The cruel death of his cousin’s infant children preyed on Aly more, perhaps, than all his other troubles put together; and he cursed Bosor in the daily service with a new and bitter imprecation. The disconsolate mother poured forth her sorrow in plaintive verse, some touching couplets of which still survive.[559]

[Sidenote: Abdallah son of Abbâs retires to Mecca.]

Yet another grief was in store for Aly. He had promoted his cousins, the sons of Abbâs, to great dignity, giving the chief command in Yemen to one, in Mecca to another, in Medîna to a third; while Abdallah, the eldest, held the government of Bussorah, the second city in his Caliphate. Complaints having reached the Court of certain irregularities in the administration of Bussorah, Aly called upon his cousin to render an account. Scorning to answer the demand, Abdallah threw up his office, and, carrying his treasures with him, retired to Mecca. Aly was much mortified at this unfriendly act; and still more so by the desertion of his own brother, Ackîl, who went over to Muâvia.[560]

[Sidenote: Aly, broken in spirit, concludes truce with Muâvia. A.H. XL. A.D. 660.]

These troubles, crowding rapidly one upon another, entirely broke the spirit of Aly. He had no longer the heart to carry on hostilities with Syria. If he might secure the Eastern provinces in peaceful subjection to himself, it was all that he could hope for now. Accordingly, after lengthened correspondence, an armistice was concluded between Aly and Muâvia, by which they agreed to lay aside their arms, respect the territory of each other, and maintain a friendly attitude.

[Sidenote: The double Caliphate.]

It is possible that a double Caliphate thus recognised, in two separate and independent empires, by the Rulers of the East and of the West, might have been prolonged indefinitely, or even handed down in perpetuity, had not the tragical event occurred which will be narrated in the following chapter.