Chapter III: American (6)

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.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Throughout this article, well-known names of persons and places
appear in their most familiar forms, generally without accents or
other diacritical signs. For the sake of homogeneity the articles on
these persons or places are also given under these forms, but in such
cases, the exact forms, according to the system of transliteration
adopted, are there given in addition.

[2] See Noldeke, _Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Poesie der alten Araber_
(1864), pp. 89 seq.

[3] De Goeje, _Memoires d'hist. et de geog. orient._ No. 2 (2nd ed.,
Leiden, 1864); Noldeke, _D.M.Z._, 1875, p. 76 sqq.; Baladhuri 137.

[4] The accounts differ; see Baladhuri 305. The chronology of the
conquests is in many points uncertain.

[5] Baladhuri 315 sq.; Tabari. i. 1068.

[6] He sought to make the whole nation a great host of God; the Arabs
were to be soldiers and nothing else. They were forbidden to acquire
landed estates in the conquered countries; all land was either made
state property or was restored to the old owners subject to a
perpetual tribute which provided pay on a splendid scale for the
army.

[7] Noldeke, _Tabari_, 246. To Omar is due also the establishment of
the Era of the Flight (Hegira).

[8] Even in the list of the slain at the battle of Honain the
Emigrants are enumerated along with the Meccans and Koreish, and
distinguished from the men of Medina.

[9] It was the same opposition of the spiritual to the secular
nobility that afterwards showed itself in the revolt of the sacred
cities against the Omayyads. The movement triumphed with the
elevation of the Abbasids to the throne. But, that the spiritual
nobility was fighting not for principle but for personal advantage
was as apparent in Ali's hostilities against Zobair and Talha, as in
that of the Abbasids against the followers af Ali.

[10] Or, at least, so they thought. The history of the letter to
'Abdallah b. abi Sarh seems to have been a trick played on the
caliph, who suspected Ali of having had a hand in it.

[11] Ma'ad is in the genealogical system the father of the Modar and
the Rab'ia tribes. Qais is the principal branch of the Modar.

[12] The Arabs always call them Rum, i.e. Romans.

[13] A single genealogist, Abu Yaqazan, says that he was a legitimate
son of Abu Sofian, and that his mother was Asma, daughter of A'war.
But all others call his mother Somayya, who is said to have been a
slave-girl of Hind, the wife of Abu Sofian, and who became later also
the mother of Abu Bakra. We cannot make out whether Abu Sofian
acknowledged him as his son or not. At a later period, the Abbasid
caliph Mahdi had the names of Ziyad and his descendants struck off
the rolls of the Koreish; but, after his death, the persons concerned
gained over the chief of the rolls office, and had their names
replaced in the lists (see Tabari iii. 479).

[14] Aghani xx. p. 13, Ibn abi Osaibia i. p. 118.

[15] Tabari ii. p. 82.

[16] See Chodzko, _Theatre persan_ (Paris, 1878).

[17] Dozy took _communis_ for a gloss to _civiliter_

[18] Formerly the capital of the homonymous province of Syria; it
lies a day's march west from Haleb (Aleppo).

[19] This account of the conquest is based partly on the researches
of Dozy, but mainly on those of Saavedra in his _Estudio sobre la
Invasion de los Arabes en Espana_ (Madrid, 1892). Some of the
details, however, e.g. the battle near Tamames and the part played by
the sons of Witiza, are based, not on documentary evidence, but on
probable inferences. For other accounts of the deaths of Musa and
Abdalaziz see Sir Wm. Muir, _Caliphate_ (London, 1891), pp. 368-9.

[20] Solaiman is the Arabic form of Solomon. The prophecy is to be
found in the _Kitab al-Oyun_, p. 24; cf. Tabari ii. p. 1138.

[21] Seyid Ameer Ali, _A Critical Examination of the Life and
Teachings of Mahomet_, pp. 341-343.

[22] Cf. Van Vloten, _Recherches sur la domination arabe, le
Chiitisme et les croyances messianiques sous le Khalifat des
Omayades_ (Amsterdam, 1894), p. 63 seq.

[23] Cf. Wellhausen, _Die Kampfe der Araber mit den Rom. in der Zeit
der Umaijiden_ (Gottingen, 1901), p. 31.

[24] Bayan i. p. 42; Dozy, _Histoire des musulmans d'Espagne_, i. p.
246, names the place Bacdoura or Nafdoura, the Spanish chronist
Nauam.

[25] Dozy i. p. 268.

[26] Merwan has been nicknamed _al-Ja'di_ and _al-Himar_ (the Ass).
As more than one false interpretation of these names has been given,
it is not superfluous to cite here Qaisarani (ed. de Jong, p. 31),
who says on good authority that a certain al-Ja'd b. Durham, killed
under the reign of Hisham for heretical opinions, had followers in
Mesopotamia, and that, when Merwan became caliph, the Khorasanians
called him a Ja'd, pretending that all'Ja'd had been his teacher. As
to al-Himar this was substituted also by the Khorasanians for his
usual title, al-Faras, "the race-horse."

[27] The Arabic word for "shedder of blood," _as-Saffah_, which by
that speech became a name of the caliph, designates the liberal host
who slaughters his camels for his guests. European scholars have
taken it unjustly in the sense of the bloodthirsty, and found in it
an allusion to the slaughter of the Omayyads and many others. At the
same time, it was not without much bloodshed that Abu'l-Abbas finally
established his power.

[28] The rule of the caliphs in Morocco, which had never been firmly
established, had already, in 740, given place to that of independent
princes (see MOROCCO, _History_).

[29] This Hashimiya near Kufa is not to be confused with that founded
by Abu'l-Abbas near Anbar.

[30] Cf. G. le Strange, _Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate_
(Oxford, 1900).

[31] Tabari iii. p. 443 seq.

[32] The first citizens of Medina who embraced Islam were called
Ansar ("helpers").

[33] On this event, see a remarkable essay by Barbier de Meynard in
the _Journal Asiatique_ for March-April, 1869.

[34] Cf. W.M. Patton, _Ahmed ibn Hanbal and the Mihna_ (Leiden,
1897); and article MAHOMMEDAN RELIGION.

[35] See M.J. de Goeje, _Memoire sur les migrations des Ziganes
travers l'Asie_ (Leiden, 1903); also GIPSIES.

[36] See M.J. de Goeje, "De legende der Zevenslapers van Efeze,"
_Versl. en Meded. der K. Akad. v. Wetensch. Afd. Letterk._ 4^e Reeks,
iii., 1900.

[37] See M.J. de Goeje, "De muur van Gog en Magog," _Versl. en
Meded._ 3^e Reeks, v., 1888.

[38] "Dinars" in the text of Tabari iii. 1685, must be an error for
"dirhems."

[39] This Bogha was called al-Kabir, or major; the ally of Wasif, a
man of much inferior consideration, al-Saghir, or minor.

[40] See Noldeke, _Orientalische Skizzen_, pp. 155 seq.

[41] For the connexion between Carmathians and Fatimites see under
FATIMITES.

[42] M.J. de Goeje, _Memoire sur les Carmathes du Bahrain et les
Fatimides_ (Leiden, 1886).

[43] See Defremery, _Memoire sur les Emirs al-Omara_ (Paris, 1848).

[44] Henceforward the history of the Caliphate is largely that of the
Seljuk princes (see SELJUKS).

CALIVER, a firearm used in the 16th century. The word is an English corruption of "calibre," and arises from the "arquebus of calibre," that is, of standard bore, which replaced the older arquebus. "Caliver," therefore, is practically synonymous with "arquebus." The heavier musket, fired from a rest, replaced the caliver or arquebus towards the close of the century.

CALIXTUS, or CALLISTUS, the name of three popes.

CALIXTUS I., pope from 217 to 222, was little known before the discovery of the book of the _Philosophumena_. From this work, which is in part a pamphlet directed against him, we learn that Calixtus was originally a slave and engaged in banking. Falling on evil times, he was brought into collision with the Jews, who denounced him as a Christian and procured his exile to Sardinia. On his return from exile he was pensioned by Pope Victor, and, later, was associated by Pope Zephyrinus in the government of the Roman church. On the death of Zephyrinus (217) he was elected in his place and occupied the papal chair for five years. His theological adversary Hippolytus, the author of the _Philosophumena_, accused him of having favoured the medalist or Patripassian doctrines both before and after his election. Calixtus, however, condemned Sabellius, the most prominent champion of that system. Hippolytus accused him also of certain relaxations of discipline. It appears that Calixtus reduced the penitential severities applied until his time to those guilty of adultery and other analogous sins. Under Calixtus and his two immediate successors, Hippolytus was the leader of a schismatic group, organized by way of protest against the election of Calixtus. Calixtus died in 222, in circumstances obscured by legends. In the time of Constantine the Roman church reckoned him officially among the martyr popes. (L. D.*)

CALIXTUS II. (d. 1124), pope from 1119 to 1124, was Guido, a member of a noble Burgundian family, who became archbishop of Vienne about 1088, and belonged to the party which favoured reform in the Church. In September 1112, after Pope Paschal II. had made a surrender to the emperor Henry V., Guido called a council at Vienne, which declared against lay investiture, and excommunicated Henry. In February 1119 he was chosen pope at Cluny in succession to Gelasius II., and in opposition to the anti-pope Gregory VIII., who was in Rome. Soon after his consecration he opened negotiations with the emperor with a view to settling the dispute over investiture. Terms of peace were arranged, but at the last moment difficulties arose and the treaty was abandoned; and in October 1119 both emperor and anti-pope were excommunicated at a synod held at Reims. The journey of Calixtus to Rome early in 1120 was a triumphal march. He was received with great enthusiasm in the city, while Gregory, having fled to Sutri, was delivered into his hands and treated with great ignominy. Through the efforts of some German princes negotiations between pope and emperor were renewed, and the important Concordat of Worms made in September 1122 was the result. This treaty, made possible by concessions on either side, settled the investiture controversy, and was confirmed by the Lateran council of March 1123. During his short reign Calixtus strengthened the authority of the papacy in southern Italy by military expeditions, and restored several buildings within the city of Rome. During preparations for a crusade he died in Rome on the 13th or 14th of December 1124.

See M. Maurer, _Pabst Calixt II._ (Munich, 1889); U. Robert, _Hisloire
du pape Calixte II._ (Paris, 1891); and A. Hauck's _Realencyklopadie_,
Band iii. (Leipzig, 1897).

CALIXTUS III. (_c._1378-1458), pope from 1455 to 1458, was a Spaniard named Alphonso de Borgia, or Borja. A native of Xativa, he gained a great reputation as a jurist, becoming professor at Lerida; in 1429 he was made bishop of Valencia, and in 1444 a cardinal, owing his promotion mainly to his close friendship with Alphonso V., king of Aragon and Sicily. Chosen pope in April 1455, he was very anxious to organize a crusade against the Turks, and having sold many of his possessions, succeeded in equipping a fleet. Neither the princes nor the people of Europe, however, were enthusiastic in this cause, and very little result came from the pope's exertions. During his papacy Calixtus became involved in a quarrel with his former friend, Alphonso of Aragon, now also king of Naples, and after the king's death in June 1458 he refused to recognize his illegitimate son, Ferdinand, as king of Naples, asserting that this kingdom was a fief of the Holy See. This pope was notorious for nepotism, and was responsible for introducing his nephew, Rodrigo Borgia, afterwards Pope Alexander VI., to Rome. He died on the 6th of August 1458.

See A. Hauck's _Realencyklopadie_, Band iii. (Leipzig, 1897).

CALIXTUS, GEORG (1586-1656), Lutheran divine, was born at Medelby, a village of Schleswig, in 1586. After studying philology, philosophy and theology at Helmstadt, Jena, Giessen, Tubingen and Heidelberg, he travelled through Holland, France and England, where he became acquainted with the leading Reformers. On his return in 1614 he was appointed professor of theology at Helmstadt by the duke of Brunswick, who had admired the ability he displayed when a young man in a dispute with the Jesuit Augustine Turrianus. In 1613 he published a book, _Disputationes de Praecipuis Religionis Christianae Capitibus_, which provoked the hostile criticism of orthodox scholars; in 1619 he published his _Epitome theologiae_, and some years later his _Theologia Moralis_ (1634) and _De Arte Nova Nihusii_. Roman Catholics felt them to be aimed at their own system, but they gave so great offence to Lutherans as to induce Statius Buscher to charge the author with a secret leaning to Romanism. Scarcely had he refuted the accusation of Buscher, when, on account of his intimacy with the Reformed divines at the conference of Thorn (1645), and his desire to effect a reconciliation between them and the Lutherans, a new charge was preferred against him, principally at the instance of Abraham Calovius (1612-1686), of a secret attachment to Calvinism. In fact, the great aim of his life was to reconcile Christendom by removing all unimportant differences. The disputes to which this attitude gave rise, known in the Church as the Syncretistic controversy, lasted during the whole lifetime of Calixtus, and distracted the Lutheran church, till a new controversy arose with P.J. Spener and the Pietists of Halle. Calixtus died in 1656.

There is a monograph on Calixtus by E.L.T. Henke (2 vols., 1853-1856);
see also Isaak Dorner, _Gesch. d. protest. Theol._ pp. 606-624; and
especially Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopadie_.

CALL (from Anglo-Saxon _ceallian_, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch _kallen_, to talk or chatter), to speak in a loud voice, and particularly to attract some one's attention by a loud utterance. Hence its use for a visit at a house, where the name of the occupier, to whom the visit was made, was called aloud, in early times, to indicate the presence of the visitor. It is thus transferred to a short stay at a place, but usually with the idea of a specific purpose, as in "port of call," where ships stop in passing. Connected with the idea of summoning by name are such uses as "roll-call" or "call-over," where names are called over and answered by those present; similar uses are the "call to the bar," the summoning at an Inn of Court of those students qualified to practise as barristers, and the "call within the bar" to the appointment of king's counsel. In the first case the "bar" is that which separates the benchers from the rest of the body of members of the Inn, in the other the place in a court of law within which only king's counsel, and formerly serjeants-at-law, are allowed to plead. "Call" is also used with a particular reference to a divine summons, as of the calling of the apostles. It is thus used in nonconformist churches of the invitation to serve as minister a particular congregation or chapel. It is from this sense of a _vocatio_ or summons that the word "calling" is used, not only of the divine vocation, but of a man's ordinary profession, occupation or business. In card games "call" is used, in poker, of the demand that the hand of the highest bettor be exposed or seen, exercised by that player who equals his bet; in whist or bridge, of a certain method of play, the "call" for a suit or for trumps on the part of one partner, to which the other is expected to respond; and in many card games for the naming of a card, irregularly exposed, which is laid face up on the table, and may be thus "called" for, at any point the opponent may choose.

"Call" is also a term on the English and American stock exchanges for a contract by which, in consideration of a certain sum, an "option" is given by the person making or signing the agreement to another named therein or his order or to bearer, to "call" for a specified amount of stock at a certain day for a certain price. A "put," which is the reverse of a "call," is the option of selling (putting) stock at a certain day for a certain price. A combined option of either calling or putting is termed a "straddle," and sometimes on the American stock exchange a "spread-eagle." (See further STOCK EXCHANGE.) The word is also used, in connexion with joint-stock companies, to signify a demand for instalments due on shares, when the capital of the company has not been demanded or "called" up at once. (See COMPANY.)

CALLANDER, a police burgh of Perthshire, Scotland, 16 m. north-west of Stirling by the Caledonian railway. Pop. (1901) 1458. Situated on the north bank of the Teith, here crossed by a three-arched bridge, and sheltered by a ridge of wooded hills, it is in growing repute as a health resort. A mile and a half north-east are the Falls of Bracklinn (Gaelic, "white-foaming pool"), formed by the Keltie, which takes a leap of 50 ft. down the red sandstone gorge on its way to the Teith. Two miles north-west of Callander is the Pass of Leny, "the gate of the Highlands," and farther in the same direction is Loch Lubnaig, on the shores of which stand the ruins of St Bride's chapel. Callander owes much of its prosperity to the fact that it is the centre from which the Trossachs is usually visited, the route being that described in Scott's _Lady of the Lake_. The ascent of Ben Ledi is commonly made from the town.