Chapter VIII

CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE REBELS IN THE EAST AND SOUTH OF ARABIA.

A.H. XI. A.D. 632–3.

[Sidenote: Campaigns in the east and south of Arabia. A.H. XI.]

Having traced Khâlid’s victorious career from the north to the centre of Arabia, we shall now follow the Mussulman arms in their progress from Bahrein and Omân on the Persian Gulf, along the southern coast to Hadhramaut and Yemen, but more briefly than before, both because the authorities themselves are brief, and also because the interest of the story, apart from a few instructive incidents, centres mainly in the general result, that is, the reclamation of apostate Arabia.

[Sidenote: Bahrein invaded by Alâ. A.H. XI. A.D. 633.]

Beyond Yemâma, skirting the western shore of the Persian Gulf from Catîf to Omân, lies the long tract, desert and littoral, called Hejer and Bahrein. It was chiefly occupied by the Beni Bekr, and other branches of the great Beni Rabia family. Mondzir, the Christian chief of Bahrein, had adopted Islam, and, in acknowledgment of the Prophet’s suzerainty, entertained a Resident from Medîna at his court.[62] He died shortly after Mahomet, and then the whole province rebelled. One tribe alone was kept loyal by Jarûd, a disciple taught at the feet of the Prophet, who now preached that, though Mahomet had gone the way of all the prophets, Islam would not the less survive. Alâ, the Resident, who had fled upon the outbreak, was reappointed by the Caliph, and despatched with a force to reclaim the rebellious province.[63] This was after the brilliant campaign of Khâlid, and the country was sufficiently near the scene of his operations to feel its influence. As he passed along the outskirts of Yemâma, the Beni Hanîfa, Temîm, and other tribes, anxious to prove their loyalty, sent contingents to join the column.[64] Thus reinforced to double his original numbers, Alâ attempted to cross the waterless zone of Dahna, lying between him and the Gulf. The army lost its way, and was overtaken by darkness in the very midst of the wilderness; the water was all spent, no springs were known of, and they resigned themselves to despair. With the sun would arise a scorching heat, and they would all perish of thirst. [Sidenote: The miraculous lake.]But, in answer to their earnest cries and supplications, as morning broke, water suddenly appeared shining on the horizon. They hastened forward, and found it to be a lake. Watering their camels and horses therefrom, they drank themselves abundantly, and went on their journey joyfully. The marvel is, in the believers’ eyes, the more extraordinary, as no spring had ever been seen in the wilderness of Dahna before, nor after the most diligent search has the miraculous lake ever been found again.[65]

[Sidenote: Bahrein reduced.]

The rebellion in _Bahrein_ had by this time assumed formidable dimensions. Hotem, a powerful chief, had gathered around him not only the backsliding tribes, but also the mixed races of Persian and Indian parentage, who abounded on the shores of the Gulf;[66] and they had fixed upon a scion of the house of Hîra as their king. The faithful remnant under Jarûd, blockaded by the rebels, were nearly succumbing to hunger, when, to their relief, Alâ appeared. For offensive operations, however, against so great a host, the Moslem force was still too weak. To guard their position, they dug a deep trench in front, and for a whole month contented themselves with single combats and indecisive skirmishing. At last, one night, finding the enemy disordered and overcome with wine, they made an attack from all sides, put them to flight, and killing Hotem, took the prince of Hîra prisoner.[67]

[Sidenote: Miraculous descent on the island of Dârîn.]

The discomfited force fled, and, taking ship, found refuge in Dârîn, one of the numerous islets a little way off from the mainland, and the seat of a Nestorian bishopric.[68] Thither they were pursued by Alâ, and here again we are told of a miraculous interposition. No boats or means of transport were anywhere at hand. Raising, therefore, a wild invocation to the Lord of Hosts for help, the Moslems rushed into the sea and crossed the strait as it had been a shallow sandy beach. The enemy, taken by surprise on their island, were put utterly to the sword, so that not one escaped to tell the tale. A pious bard has likened the passage to that of the Israelites through the Red Sea, and a monk is said to have been converted by the double miracle of waters breaking out in the wilderness, and waters drying up in the channel of the great deep. The spoil was prodigious,[69] and multitudes of women and children were taken captive.

[Sidenote: Bahrein reclaimed by Alâ.]

While thus engaged, Alâ received material help from loyal followers along the coast. They secured the wavering, protected the rear from surprise, and overawed unruly tribes ever ready for plunder and rapine. Thus the whole region of Hejer, reclaimed to the faith, fell peaceably under the government of Alâ.[70] [Sidenote: Mothanna.]Amongst those who aided in this work was Mothanna, a chief of great influence over the Bekr clans, from one of which he sprang.[71] Following up the victory of Alâ along the coast, this warrior in his progress northward reached at last the delta of the Euphrates, where he inaugurated a movement that was of lasting importance and which will shortly engage our attention.

The campaign of _Omân_ followed close upon that of Bahrein.[72] Jeyfar, Prince of Omân, had a year or two before tendered his allegiance to Mahomet. [Sidenote: Omân reconquered by Hodzeifa.]Amru was thereupon deputed to be the Prophet’s Representative at his court, and the demand of tithes from this distant province was foregone, on condition that they were distributed among the local poor.[73] Notwithstanding this concession, Mahomet was no sooner dead than the whole province revolted. The rebellion was led by one Lackît, who, to swell his influence, claimed himself to be a prophet. Jeyfar fled to the mountains and Amru to Medîna. The task of reclaiming Omân and the adjoining province of Mâhra was committed by Abu Bekr to Hodzeifa and Arfaja, two converts of influence in those parts.[74] They were assisted by Ikrima, son of Abu Jahl, who (as we have seen) was bidden by Abu Bekr to retrieve his reputation in this distant quarter. Arrived in Omân, they effected a junction with Jeyfar, and were then sufficiently strong to re-occupy Sohâr.[75] An engagement followed at Dabâ. [Sidenote: Battle of Dabâ.]Here the Moslems, hard pressed, were near to suffering defeat, when, at the critical moment, a great body of Abd al Cays and other tribes recently reclaimed in Bahrein appeared on the field and turned the battle in their favour. The slaughter amongst the enemy was great, and their families, which they had placed in the rear to nerve their courage, fell a welcome prize into the believers’ hands. The mart of Dabâ, enriched by Indian merchandise, yielded a magnificent booty, and Arfaja was at once deputed to Medîna with the royal Fifth of slaves and plunder.

[Sidenote: Ikrima reduces Mâhra.]

Hodzeifa was left behind as governor of Omân. Ikrima, having reached the easternmost point of Arabia, turning now to the south-west, pursued his victorious course to _Mâhra_. His army was swelled not only by the Bahrein contingent but by fresh levies, attracted by his success, from the tribes upon his march. Mâhra was distracted at this moment by the quarrel of two rival chiefs. Espousing the cause of the weakest, who at once avowed the faith, Ikrima attacked the other and achieved a great victory. Among the spoil were 2,000 Bactrian camels and a vast supply of arms and beasts of burden. This quarter of the peninsula, including the islands along the coast, was soon completely pacified. After some time spent here in the re-establishment of order, Ikrima, with an army now of overwhelming strength, advanced, as he had been instructed, to join Mohâjir in the campaign against Hadhramaut and Yemen. But before proceeding further, we must take a brief retrospect of things in the south and west of the peninsula.

[Sidenote: Order restored in the Hejâz, Tihâma, and south-west coast.]

The commotion in that quarter caused by the rebellion of Aswad, the ‘Veiled Prophet,’ had hardly subsided, when the death of Mahomet threw the land into a worse confusion. Mecca and Tâyif, after the first excitement, remained tolerably secure under their governors, the youthful Attâb[76] and Othmân ibn al Aás. But in the _Tihâma_ (coast washed by the Red Sea), as well as in the interior, misrule and violence were rife. A party of marauders from amongst the Beni Khozâa and other lawless Bedouins round about the Holy City, ready as ever for plunder and rapine, were dispersed with great slaughter by the levies of Attâb. Order was maintained by a body of 500 men quartered within the sacred limits, and by small pickets throughout the districts of Mecca and Tâyif. But between them and Yemen there was nothing save turmoil and alarm. Troops of bandit horse, remnants of the false prophet’s army, hovered about the country to the south and west of Najrân. They were headed by Amr ibn Mádekerib, a poet of note and a chief of great local influence, before whom Khâlid ibn Saîd, the governor of Najrân, fled for his life. On one occasion, however, Khâlid, with but a small following, surprised Amr and spoiled him of his horse and the sword _Samsât_, inherited from Himyar kings and famous in Arab song.[77] The whole coast was in a ferment, and the loyal adherents of Islam were fain to flee for shelter to fastnesses in the mountains. Bands of the Beni Azd, occupying the uplands, approached the sacred territory in threatening attitude, but were dispersed by the governor of Tâyif. The whole Tihâma was overrun by swarming bands of the Akk and Ashár tribes, who closed the roads and barred communications with the south. Tâhir, who had been placed by Mahomet over these tribes, was now commissioned with a force to rally the faithful remnant on the spot, and to clear the country of the robbers infesting it. This he did so effectually that the roads became again impassable, but now simply from the offensive multitude of carcases strewn upon them.[78]

In _Yemen_ peace was not so easily restored. The false prophet Aswad (it will be recollected) was assassinated by three of his courtiers, who, at the bidding of Mahomet, conspired with his wife against him.[79] [Sidenote: Confusion in Yemen following the assassination of Aswad.]These were the Arab chief Cays ibn Abd Yaghûth, commander of his army, and the two ministers, of Persian descent, Feroze and Dâdweih, who thereupon succeeded to the government at Sanâa.[80] When tidings of these events reached Medîna just after Mahomet’s death, Abu Bekr appointed Feroze to be his lieutenant, with Cays and Dâdweih to help him. The Arab blood of Cays rebelled against serving under a foreigner, and he plotted to expel the whole Persian race. The princes of Himyar, however, Dzul Kelâa and others,[81] would not help him, and he was obliged to call in the aid of the brigand Amr ibn Mádekerib and his marauding bands. Dâdweih was treacherously slain by Amr at a feast, but Feroze escaped, and after much hardship, secured his retreat with a friendly tribe in the hills of Khaulân. For a time Cays carried all before him. The family of Feroze was taken captive, and the Persian settlers, pursued in every direction, fled to the mountains, or took ship from Aden. Feroze appealed for help to the Caliph; but it was long before he had any troops to send. So Feroze cast about for himself, and at length, by the aid of some loyal tribes, put the troops of Cays to flight, regained possession of his family and reoccupied Sanâa.[82]

[Sidenote: Mohâjir marches from Medîna upon Yemen. End of A.H. XI. Spring, A.D. 633.]

But more effectual help to quell the disordered country was soon at hand. On one side, Mohâjir was marching from the north. Appointed by the Prophet his lieutenant in Hadhramaut, he had long been detained by sickness at Medîna, and perhaps also by the inability of the Caliph to furnish him with a following. He was the last of the commanders sent forth by Abu Bekr to reclaim the backsliding tribes. Passing through Tâyif and Najrân, as late, probably, as ten or twelve months after the death of Mahomet,[83] he was joined on the way by various loyal tribes, and thus approached the disturbed country at the head of a substantial force. On the other side, Ikrima, with his great and ever-growing army, was advancing from the east. Hastening to meet Mohâjir, he, for the present, left Hadhramaut on his right, and passed rapidly on to Aden. Alarmed at the gathering storm, Cays ibn Abd Yaghûth and Amr ibn Mádekerib had joined their forces to oppose Mohâjir. But soon quarrelling, they parted, and, according to the wont of Arab poets, abused each other in insulting verse.[84] Amr, perceiving opposition to be now in vain, sought, by a strange expedient, to gain his safety. He made a night attack upon Cays, and carried him prisoner to Mohâjir; but he had forgotten a safe-conduct for himself. Mohâjir, therefore, seized them both, and sent them in chains to Medîna. The Caliph was at first minded to put Amr to death because of the murder of Dâdweih; but he denied the crime, and there was no evidence to prove it. ‘Art thou not ashamed,’ said Abu Bekr to him, ‘that following the rebel cause, thou art ever either a fugitive or in bonds? Hadst thou been a defender of the Faith instead, then had the Lord raised thee above thy fellows.’ ‘So assuredly it is,’ replied the humbled chief; ‘I will embrace the faith, and never again will I desert it.’ So the Caliph forgave them both; and his clemency was not abused, for we find these gallant but unscrupulous chiefs soon after fighting loyally in the Persian war.

[Sidenote: Peace restored in Yemen.]

After this, Yemen was speedily reduced to order. The rebel horse, remnant of the false prophet’s army, was pursued without quarter, and soon exterminated. And Mohâjir, established firmly at Sanâa, ruled in security over the whole of that country, from Najrân to Aden.

[Sidenote: Rebellion in Hadhramaut under Ashâth ibn Cays.]

Mohâjir and Ikrima were now at leisure to turn their arms against _Hadhramaut_, the great province which occupies the south of Arabia, east of Yemen. There Ziâd, who held Mohâjir’s government during his protracted absence, was hard pressed. He had, at an early period, aroused the hatred of the Beni Kinda by harshness in collecting the tithe; but, supported by the Sakûn, and other tribes hostile to the Beni Kinda, he had obtained several important advantages over them.[85] On one occasion he carried off, with great spoil, the families of a vanquished tribe. Asháth ibn Cays, chief of the Kinda, was moved by their cries; and, having gathered a strong force, fell upon Ziâd, and rescued the captives. It is the same Asháth who, when he tendered his homage to Mahomet, had betrothed to himself the sister of Abu Bekr.[86] Thus compromised he went into active rebellion, and roused the whole country against Ziâd, who, surrounded by the enemy, despatched an urgent summons to Mohâjir to hasten to his deliverance.

[Sidenote: Subdued by Mohâjir and Ikrima.]

By this time Mohâjir and Ikrima, marching respectively from Sanâa and Aden, had effected a junction at Mâreb, and were crossing the sandy desert of Sayhad, which lay between them and Hadhramaut. Learning the critical position of Ziâd, Mohâjir set off in haste with a flying squadron, and, joined by Ziâd, fell upon Asháth, and discomfited him with great slaughter. The routed enemy fled for refuge to the stronghold of Nojeir, which Mohâjir immediately invested. Ikrima soon came up with the main body, when there were troops enough both to surround the city and also to ravage all the country round about. Stung by witnessing the ruin of their kindred, and preferring death to dishonour, the garrison sallied forth, and fought the Moslems at every point about the fortress. After a desperate struggle, in which the approaches were filled with the dead, they were driven back. Meanwhile Abu Bekr, apprised of the obstinate resistance, sent orders to make an example of the rebels, and give no quarter. The wretched garrison, with the enemy daily increasing, and no prospect of relief, were now bereft of hope. Seeing the position desperate, the wily Asháth made his way to Ikrima and treacherously agreed to deliver up the fortress if nine lives were guaranteed. [Sidenote: Ashâth sent prisoner to Medîna and released by Abu Bekr.]The Moslems entered, slew the fighting men, and took the women captive. The list of the nine to be spared was presented to Mohâjir. ‘Thy name is not here!’ cried the conqueror, exultingly, to Ashâth; for the craven traitor had forgotten, in the excitement of the moment, to enter his own name;--‘the Lord be praised, who hath condemned thee out of thine own mouth.’ So, having cast him into chains, he was about to order his execution, when Ikrima interposed and induced him, much against his will, to refer the cause to Abu Bekr. The crowd of captive women, mourning the massacre of their sons and husbands, loaded the recreant as he passed by with bitter imprecations.[87] Arrived at Medîna, the Caliph abused him as a pusillanimous wretch who had neither the power to lead, nor yet the courage to defend, his people; and he threatened him with death. But at last, moved by his appeal to the terms agreed upon by Ikrima, and by his protestations that he would thenceforth fight bravely for the faith, Abu Bekr not only forgave him, but allowed him to fulfil the marriage with his sister.[88] Ashâth remained for a while in idleness at Medîna, and the Caliph was heard to say that one of the three things that he repented having done during his Caliphate was his weakness in sparing this rebel’s life. But afterwards Ashâth went to the wars in Syria and Irâc, and there redeemed his name.

[Sidenote: Authority re-established in the south.]

By these operations the rebellion in the south was crushed, and the reign of Islam completely re-established. Mohâjir elected to remain in Yemen, where he shared the government with Feroze. Ziâd continued to administer Hadhramaut.

A curious story is told of a lady whom Ikrima married at Aden, and carried with him into his camp. [Sidenote: Ikrima marries a lady who had been betrothed to Mahomet.]She had been betrothed to Mahomet, but the marriage had never been consummated. The soldiers murmured, and questioned the propriety of Ikrima’s marriage. Mohâjir referred the matter to Abu Bekr, who decided that there was nothing wrong in the proceeding, as Mahomet had never fulfilled his contract with the betrothed damsel.[89]

[Sidenote: Two songstresses mutilated for profane singing.]

I should not here omit to mention the fate of two songstresses in Yemen, who were accused, one of satirising the Prophet, the other of ridiculing the Moslems, in their songs. Mohâjir had the hands of both cut off, and also (to stay their singing for the future) their front teeth pulled out. The Caliph, on hearing of it, approved the punishment of the first; for, said he: ‘Crime against a prophet is not as crime against a common man; and, indeed, had the case been first referred to me, I should, as a warning to others, have directed her execution.’ But he disapproved the mutilation of the other.