Chapter VIII: The Abbasids (1)

[Sidenote: [750-1258 A.D.]]

The revolution which had raised the Abbasids to the caliphate may be regarded as an uprising of eastern against western Asia; it was the populations of Khorasan and Irak who had brought it about, and it was they whom it chiefly benefited. Abul Abbas, who reigned but four years (750-754) transferred the royal residence from Syria to Babylonia and took up his abode at Anbar. His brother and successor Al-Mansur, desiring a more imposing dwelling-place, at first chose Cufa, but finding that popular feeling ran high there against his own family, and in favour of the Fatimites, he decided to build for himself a new city which should owe entire allegiance to him.

FOUNDING OF BAGHDAD (762 A.D.)

Thus he founded Baghdad (762), which was destined to eclipse all other cities of the Orient. A brick wall strengthened by about 160 towers defended it from attack, and immense sums were spent in its embellishment. The people of the East regarded with satisfaction this change of capital which brought the seat of government nearer to themselves; but the inhabitants of Spain and Maghreb, already discontented with their isolated situation which made them in a way mere tributary provinces, were only awaiting a favourable opportunity to declare their independence.

Upon learning of the downfall of the Omayyads and the ascension of the Abbasids, Spain immediately cut herself loose from the mother-country and proclaimed as caliph a member of the Omayyad family, who chanced to be in Maghreb. Africa, without going so far, appeared to approve the course of its governor, Abd ar-Rahman, who hesitated to recognise the sovereignty of Al-Mansur; and the people, equally unwilling to acknowledge the caliphate of Cordova, gradually broke up into distinct groups each having its own chief, until the fragile ties which still bound them to the Abbasid dynasty were completely severed (755-756 A.D.).

The period of the first Abbasid caliphs was also that of the greatest splendour in the history of the oriental Arabs; it marked the passing of the age of conquest and the dawning of the new glories of civilisation. Al-Mansur, brother of Abul Abbas, whose reign was short, in reality opens the series of those remarkable caliphs whose names, still popular in Arabia, have been made equally so in other lands by _The Thousand and One Nights_. He had fought when young under the chiefs of his family and merited the name “Victorious” which had been bestowed upon him; but his principal claim to glory lies in having created a system of government which attests the depth and soundness of his views. Throughout his vast empire the finance and military forces of the provinces were under the control of the different governors, who devoted the products of taxation to supplying the needs of their localities and sent to the caliphs only what was left over. Not daring to disturb a condition of things so favourable to the people, Al-Mansur instituted the method of frequently changing the representatives of the royal power in the provinces, and of debarring all members of distinguished families from taking part in the transaction of public affairs. His greatest error was an insufficient regard for the sanctity of his word, and a relentless abasement of any servant whose rising greatness seemed to involve a menace. Thus Abdallah, the overthrower of the Omayyads, Abu Muslim, and later the Barmecides, all fell victims to a policy as pitiless as it was suspicious.

Al-Mansur devoted a portion of his life to amassing wealth which some historians estimate to have reached a sum equivalent to £30,000,000, or $150,000,000, but this avidity did not prevent his displaying great liberality towards men of learning, and he himself gave the example of an enlightened interest in the arts and sciences.

During his reign the people, accustomed to rendering him the profound respect he demanded, grew to look upon the caliph as the representative of God on earth, and his successors had no difficulty in enforcing obedience. Nay, they were rather concerned to avoid the despotism made easy by their unlimited authority. The first caliphs after Abul Abbas were just princes, who exerted their power for the general and intellectual welfare of the Arabs. Other cities arose beside Baghdad; roads were laid, caravansaries, market-places, canals, and fountains were constructed, learned and charitable institutions were erected, and the study of letters, commerce, and all the arts of peace were directly fostered by the government.

HARUN AR-RASHID (786-809 A.D.)

The magnificence of all previous reigns paled before that of Harun ar-Rashid,[40] Harun the Just (786-809). This famous potentate, in whom the peculiar genius of the Arab race seems to have reached its highest development, merits particular mention among the vicegerents of Mohammed. Brave, generous, and magnanimous, he resisted all temptations to use despotically his supreme power over a people who never murmured at his will, and governed with a sole view to assuring the happiness of his subjects. He loved virtue, was always ready to recognise his own faults, and neglected no occasion of doing good. That he so far belied his character as to decree the murder of the Barmecides shows him to have been deceived by false statements concerning that family, which had furnished him with his ablest statesmen, Fadl and the grand vizier Jafar. Of Persian origin, the Barmecides had figured prominently at court for nearly a century, and it was chiefly at the instigation of their later representatives that Harun ar-Rashid was so active in protecting commerce, industry, and the arts. Singularly enough Emin, Harun’s eldest son, possessed none of the virtues of his father; but his brother, Al-Mamun, showed profound wisdom in governing the affairs of Khorasan and by popular choice he was placed upon the throne in 813, Emin being made to resign his authority.

AL-MAMUN AND HIS SUCCESSORS

[Sidenote: [809-847 A.D.]]

Al-Mamun surpassed all hopes that had been formed of him. Less brilliant than Harun, he was superior to him in the range of his knowledge and the practical force of his genius. The single political mistake with which he can be reproached was an act of gratitude and kindness. In recompense for services received, he gave to Tahir the hereditary governorship of Khorasan, and this was the first step towards the dismemberment of the eastern caliphate; not because the Tahirites were disposed to abuse their power, but because an unfortunate example had been set, which led the governors of provinces to seek gradually to cut themselves free from the control of their rightful sovereign.

Holding education to be the highest blessing of the people, Al-Mamun opened schools in all parts of his realm, and insured the pursuit of letters by permanent endowments. He gathered about him learned men of all nationalities, and would admit no distinctions in religion. He even decreed that any ten heads of families, whether Christians, Jews, or magi, who assembled for the purpose, could constitute a church, and that all were eligible to appointment for public offices. But, liberal as he was, Al-Mamun was not always safe from hostile attack. The theologians of Baghdad had already been active in putting down zendism, a religion compounded of the beliefs of Islam and the magi; and on Al-Mamun’s making use of some of the writings of this faith to render odious the memory of Abu Muslim, they brought violent accusations against him. To silence his adversaries Al-Mamun increased the penalties against separatism, but true to his principles of tolerance forbore to inflict them.

Al-Mamun’s immediate successors, Mutasim and Wathik, were worthy of the throne. The first-named made the single mistake of forming his body-guard of young Turks, whose later successors were to renew the excesses committed by the prætorians in the time of the Roman emperors; while the reign of Wathik was disturbed solely by doctrinal disputes. Great indeed must have been the diversity of opinion in religious matters, since there are to be counted no less than sixty-three principal sects among the Arabs. Wathik having brought the light of his reason to bear on the dogma of the eternity of the _Koran_, sustained with great heat by Akhmed ben Nasr, was at one time on the point of being dethroned and supplanted by his rude antagonist. Although treated with severity by prejudiced historians, Wathik was an excellent prince, who governed his realm with such wisdom and benevolence that it soon came to contain no beggars, and he died with the resignation of a firm, enlightened character.

The reigns of the earlier Abbasids are marked by a complete absence of expeditions undertaken with a view to aggrandisement, the wars with neighbouring populations being carried on without any thought of invasion. The Greeks offered the Arabs of the Orient more frequent pretexts for dispute than other nations, and the frontier line which separated them became the scene of many sanguinary conflicts. The vanity of the degenerate Greeks who constituted the population there, was inordinately flattered by success even in border-warfare, and they continued their aggressions through the reigns of most of Abul Abbas’ successors.

[Sidenote: [754-833 A.D.]]

During the reign of Al-Mansur the Byzantine emperors had been afflicted by the loss of Melitene, an important city of Cappadocia, the devastation of Cilicia, and the defeat of an army on the shores of the Melas, in Pamphylia, and were destined to suffer further reverses at the hands of the caliph himself. Irritated by successive defeats, the Arabs got together all their forces and entered Asia Minor, where they vanquished all the troops that Irene, guardian of Constantine Copronymus, sent against them, and finally appeared before the walls of Constantinople. Preferring capitulation to the horrors of a siege, the empress surrendered the cities of Cilicia and agreed to pay an annual tribute of sixty thousand dinars. Harun ar-Rashid, whom Al-Mahdi had placed in command of this expedition, returned to Syria with considerable booty and with six thousand prisoners in his train.

In 792 Irene believed herself strong enough to break the treaty, and preparations for hostilities were begun on both sides. Harun, now become caliph, had vessels equipped which ravaged the islands of the Mediterranean and destroyed the Greek fleet in the Gulf of Adalia, making Irene pay dearly for her attempt at rebellion. She again agreed to pay tribute, stipulating merely an exchange of captives; which exchange took place on the bank of a little river in Cilicia, and was ever afterward a custom when a truce occurred between belligerents. Nicephorus, Irene’s successor, confident in his courage, hesitated not to tempt fortune again.

(From a panel in the Alhambra)]

He addressed a haughty letter to the caliph, which elicited this brief reply: “In the name of the all-merciful God, Harun ar-Rashid, commander of the faithful, to Nicephorus, dog of a Roman. I have received your letter, son of an infidel, and you shall not hear my reply, you shall see it.” Harun indeed wrote his reply in letters of fire all over the plains of Asia Minor. He was constantly victorious; but, though the wars in which he was engaged proved that the Arabs had not yet lost their military skill, they showed that they had greatly deteriorated from the standard of the generals of Omar, who would not have paused till they reached Constantinople itself.

In 829 the war was resumed under a singular pretext. Al-Mamun, who was a passionate lover of mathematics, learned that Leon, an adept in that science, resided at Constantinople, and made known his desire to consult him at Baghdad. The emperor refused to allow Leon to leave Constantinople, and Al-Mamun again took up arms, but did not push the war with great vigour. In 833, after Mutasim had come to the throne, the emperor, encouraged by some slight Greek successes, in his turn took the offensive, and for a long time the issues were about even between the two rulers. At last after the taking of Zapetra, the caliph’s native town (836), by the emperor, Mutasim swore to be revenged; and marching on Amorium took the city (840) and subjected it to the same treatment as had been inflicted on Zapetra. Wathik, Mutasim’s successor, was less bent on war; but the Greeks continued hostilities until, under the emperor Basil, they regained all the domains in Cilicia that Harun had taken from them.

In their western provinces the Abbasids displayed no great eagerness or concern; they scarcely sought to hold Spain under their sway, and left Africa almost entirely to itself, even serving by their own direct acts to elevate the family of the Aghlabites, and free it from all allegiance to themselves except the formal recognition of sovereignty. Ibrahim ben Aghlab thus assumed governorship over all Maghreb; but his successors were not able to prevent a member of the Alid family from severing from the Baghdad caliphate the whole of western Mauretania.

BAGHDAD UNDER THE CALIPHS

[Sidenote: [801-908 A.D.]]

The Abbasids hoped, perhaps, that the divisions which could not fail to arise in Spain would bring the peninsula again under their dominion; and this anticipation will serve to explain their negotiations with the Frankish kings, the embassies and presents that passed back and forth between Harun ar-Rashid and Charlemagne. The Baghdad caliphate, meanwhile, did not once take up arms against that of Cordova, though Arabs from the peninsula had made incursions into their domains, and a fleet, manned by Andalusian pirates, had taken and burned Alexandria, putting the inhabitants to the sword. In thus abstaining from reprisals and warlike enterprises the Abbasids yielded to the spirit of the times. The Arabs of the East were beginning to appreciate the benefits of civilisation; and the Baghdad rulers responded to the wishes of their subjects by giving them an orderly system of administration, by establishing strict justice, by distributing far and wide the advantages of education, and by cementing the union between the different provinces of the empire by means of closer commercial and industrial relations.

A chamber of finance and a state chancery had originally been instituted, and for a time these had been deemed sufficient; but later the chamber of finance had been replaced by four diwans, one of which was charged specially with the payment of troops, another with the imposition of taxes, a third with the appointment of subordinate officials, and the fourth with the keeping of accounts. The Abbasids had added to this organisation the office of _hajid_, a sort of chamberlain whose mission was to introduce ambassadors, and that of a superior judge, who was to relieve them of the care of deciding important cases that were appealed from the judgment of the kadi.

[Sidenote: [750-1258 A.D.]]

Upon their accession to power the Abbasids had resolved to give more unity and force to the administration; and as the burden of affairs was really too heavy for one man to carry, they had attached to their persons a vizir (bearer of burdens) whose duty it was to perform all preliminary labours, and to fix the sum each province was to pay in taxes, so that the amount of the state revenues could be approximately estimated in advance. In imposing taxes the caliphs were guided by a verse in the _Koran_ which ordained that every unbeliever residing in Moslem territory should be subject to dues; the rate _per capita_ for the entire population was graded according to the fortune of the individual, the rich paying more than the poor. There were also certain ground-taxes and tithes, in the assessment of which great opportunities for extortion were open to provincial governors, and the need that the whole should be under the oversight of some vigilant head became plainly apparent.

The flourishing state of finances under their rule enabled the Abbasids to undertake many and important works. Al-Mahdi built caravansaries and had cisterns dug along the weary road from Baghdad to Mecca, cut a new route from Mecca to Medina, and established posting stations between Hedjaz and Yemen that communication might be easy between the two important provinces. From a period as early as that of Moawiyah, a courier service had existed between the various Arab capitals.

The Abbasids also permanently endowed a number of mosques and schools, which were thus enabled to subsist through all political revolutions. They collected the archives of the caliphate in Baghdad, and organised in that city an excellent police, which not only protected individuals but watched over property night and day. The merchants themselves were formed into syndicate bodies with the charge of guarding against commercial frauds, and a supervisor of market-places was appointed to verify the weights and measures used, and his soldiers dealt summary justice to all found guilty of trickery. In the desert districts, too, pillage and depredation had been again begun by the Bedouins, now that warlike expeditions had ceased, and _miraje_ were appointed whose special office it was to protect pilgrims and caravans on their way to Mecca.

In this manner the Abbasid caliphs strove to insure the prosperity of their realm, and under them the Arabs rose to a high degree of civilisation. With the same ardour that had characterised them in their military undertakings, they now endeavoured to outstrip the Greeks in commerce, industry, and the arts, excelling in those very branches of letters and sciences in which the inhabitants of Constantinople, even in that city’s decadence, believed themselves to be supreme.

Agriculture was widely practised; by a skilful system of cultivation the merit and reputation of the fruits and flowers of Persia were greatly enhanced, and the wines of Shiraz, Yed, and Ispahan became staples of commerce throughout Asia. Mines of iron, lead, and other minerals were carefully exploited, beautiful fabrics were manufactured in the cities of Irak and Syria, and remarkable progress was made in every branch of mechanical art. The sciences, letters, and decorative art were actively cultivated, as were architecture and music; while, though a check was placed upon sculpture and painting in their highest form by the _Koran_, which forbade the reproduction of the human figure or that of the Godhead, a number of magnificent monuments were erected in the cities of Mesopotamia and Mawarannahar. The passion for letters displayed by Europeans during the Renaissance scarcely equalled that of the Arabs at this period. The best Greek writings brought from Constantinople were immediately translated, a school of interpreters was opened at Baghdad, and fifteen thousand dinars were devoted yearly to educational institutions. Libraries were founded, and enlarged from century to century by the ruling princes, and the Arab tongue became the universal language of Asia, gradually supplanting the more ancient idioms. There were hospitals, wherein physicians were obliged to submit to several examinations before being allowed to practise their profession, and laboratories for experiment with medicinal plants, of which several had been recently discovered. The Arabs were, in fact, the creators of modern chemistry, and though they erred in leaning too much toward alchemy and astrology, their very errors indirectly contributed to the progress of the science.

Great as was the contrast between the literary culture of the Arabs and the profound ignorance of Europe during the Middle Ages, the luxury and magnificence displayed by the Abbasid dynasty forms a no less curious spectacle. Sole depositaries of the natural wealth of many and vast provinces, and without a permanent army to support, they disposed freely of enormous revenues, which were expended in a truly fabulous manner. Gold and precious stones were fairly strewn through palaces, mosques, and gardens, and the gifts lavished on friends and favourites reached a stupendous amount. It is said that Al-Mahdi expended six millions of dinars during a single pilgrimage to Mecca, and that Zobaida, the wife of Harun, made use of no utensils save golden ones set with gems, and wore no stuffs save those woven with silver threads. In Al-Mamun’s palace were sixty thousand rugs and pieces of tapestry, many of which were embroidered in gold; and on the occasion of the reception of a Greek ambassador, he caused to be erected in the audience chamber a tree of solid gold bearing pearls to represent fruit. Mutasim’s stables in Samara were said to contain accommodation for a hundred thousand horses; and when he founded that city, he had the entire site artificially constructed without regard to the cost of so gigantic an undertaking.

GRADUAL DECLINE OF ARABIAN DOMINION IN THE EAST

[Sidenote: [786-892 A.D.]]

Charlemagne, having heard much of the power of the Baghdad sovereigns, determined to enter into relations with them, and despatched one Jewish deputy and two Franks to Irak with presents for the commander of the faithful. Harun, who feared an alliance between the Frankish king and the Omayyads of Spain, responded with alacrity to this advance, and sent ambassadors with splendid presents to Charlemagne in return. Not only in Europe, but in China and among the Hindus and the Tatars, the Arab potentates were looked upon as the richest princes in the world, and exaggerated ideas prevailed as to their power.

Indeed at a casual glance it might seem that centralisation had drawn into unity all their various provinces, and that a long and prosperous future lay before the nation; but to an observant eye the signs of approaching decadence were already apparent. In the material order of things, that a sovereign should have supreme rights over the property of his subjects necessarily destroys all impulse towards emulation and progress among the latter. A people so governed is bound to die out in discouragement and decay. Under the earlier caliphs no injustice or spoliation was to be feared; but when the brutal and astute Turks took the reins of power, the law of the _Koran_, by which supreme authority centred in one individual, the representative of God on earth, was certain to work irreparable harm. In the moral and religious order the same unfortunate conditions prevailed. Gifted minds, irresistibly drawn towards science while still bound by the letter of Mohammed’s books, had need of a deliverer who should free them from the yoke of principles too rigid for the times. Al-Mamun, and after him Mutasim and Wathik, attempted some modification of doctrines formed for primitive times, but their efforts were set at naught by the blind obstinacy of the doctors of the Moslem faith. The _Koran_ now being established as the direct word of God, its laws were held to be beyond appeal, and all the prerogatives of absolute despotism were still accorded to monarchy even against the judgment of those in whom it was vested. If the later Abbasid princes had been men of high attainments and solid virtue, they would doubtless have wielded their unrestricted power entirely for the good of the people, and the golden age might again have been ushered in; but unfortunately during the second half of the ninth century we see on the throne only crowned and sceptred slaves. The contempt they inspired broke the springs of government; anarchy reached its height, and numerous factions, long suppressed, took up arms once more and spread abroad disorder and dread.

The Alids had several times renewed their pretensions to the throne. Once Al-Mamun was on the point of abdicating in their favour, thus recognising the justice of their claims; but a revolt was immediately raised in Baghdad by the house of Abbas and its partisans, which forced Al-Mamun to relinquish the idea of dispossessing his whole family. Though their ambition was not yet fulfilled, the Alids were emboldened by the caliph’s attitude toward them, and henceforth lost no chance of profiting by the divisions that necessarily arose in a state possessing no definite law of succession.

Under Harun and Al-Mamun the Arabian empire in the East attained its greatest degree of splendour; we shall now observe its gradual dissolution.

From the reign of Wathik (846) onwards, we see the caliphate becoming the sport and prey of anarchy, and Baghdad fell under the yoke of a series of cruel or implacable despots. Mutawakkil, whose reign ushered in the new order of things, was guilty of atrocities that surpass those of Nero. He took vengeance on a vizir who had offended him by causing him to be thrown into a furnace lined with points of steel; and fearing that a plot was being formed against him, he invited to a festival all the important officers of his court and had them massacred by his soldiery. The horror which his cruelties inspired armed against him the hand of his own son, Muntasir, who himself died of sorrow and remorse within a year of his accession to the throne (862).

Mustain, grandson of Mutasim, was chosen to succeed him, to the exclusion of four brothers, two of whom, Mutazz and Mutamid, subsequently came to the throne. Mustain reigned little longer than three years, and was replaced by Mutazz, whom a faction raised to the caliphate in 866. A second faction deposed him in 869 and a son of Wathik, Muhtadi Billah by name, was proclaimed caliph. This prince’s projects of reform aroused hatred in many quarters, and he was murdered in his own palace. After him Mutamid enjoyed the exceptionally long reign of twenty-two years (870-892), thanks to the ability and devotion of his brother, Muwaffak, who frustrated all attempts at revolt. Most of the perpetual disorders from which the country suffered were caused by the Turks whom Mutasim had raised to the position of body-guard. In permanent garrison at Baghdad, and in close proximity to the person of the sovereign, these slaves had from the first been guilty of such excesses that Mutasim was obliged to leave the capital and retire to the little village of Samara. Their number and influence had constantly increased during the reign of Wathik, and at the time of his death they had become such a power in the state that they had no difficulty in placing Mutawakkil on the throne.

The danger that can arise from the establishment of alien bodies, organised to be the instrument of the will of a sovereign who is himself the first victim, is plainly apparent. With interests distinct from those of the native Arabs, and subject to no control save that of the caliph himself, these unruly Turks made brute force the agent by which they obtained their desires. They became accomplices of the parricide Muntasir out of revenge for some slight suffered at his father’s hands, and forced him to exclude his brothers and appoint Mustain to the throne. A delay in the distribution of their pay was sufficient to excite a revolt, and oblige the caliph to sign his abdication. Muhtadi met with a still sorrier fate for having desired to subject his redoubtable body-guard to some sort of discipline; and Muwaffak’s only means of diverting them from dangerous enterprises at home was to employ them on distant missions.

(Based on decorations in the Alhambra)]

[Sidenote: [819-879 A.D.]]

The troubles which surrounded the caliphate in Baghdad wrought the most serious consequences throughout the empire. The governors of provinces, sole depositaries of power during the intervals of government, aspired to complete independence and sold their submission to each successive sovereign. The provinces themselves, regretting the riches that went from them to swell the disorders of the capital, encouraged the pretensions of their governors, until these latter finally succeeded in reducing the caliph to a purely nominal supremacy.

The dismemberment of Spain and Africa had been the first blow struck at the unity of the Moslem states; when the Abbasid caliphs had invested the Aghlabites with the government, they had not regarded it as an act of final abdication on their own part. In Asia the work of disintegration had gone on more slowly. The Tahirites, whom Al-Mamun had established in Khorasan by giving full control of that province to his general Tahir, maintained amicable relations with the caliphs until their realm in turn became torn by dissensions, and they were finally overthrown by the power of the Saffarids. Yakub, the leader of this family of Saffarids, wished to push his victories further, and advanced to the attack of Baghdad (874). Muwaffak, who was in command of the city, met and defeated him at Wasit, but did not feel sufficiently strong to follow up his advantage by pursuit. Yakub retired to his own dominions, and having by the following year regained all his losses, would shortly have visited the caliph with complete destruction, had not his life been suddenly cut short (879).

[Sidenote: [819-913 A.D.]]

The establishment of the dynasty of the Saffarids in Khorasan, Sistan, and Tabaristan cut off all communication between the centre of the empire, Khwarizm, and the Mawarannahar, and Ismail, the governor of those provinces, declared his independence in full assurance of impunity. In 819 the sons of Asad ben Saman had obtained from Al-Mamun the command of Samarcand, Ferghana, and Balkh respectively; one of them, Akhmed, transmitted his power to his eldest son Nasr, who, by taking possession of Bokhara, became later sovereign over all Transoxiana. Suspecting his brother Ismail of complicity with the Turks and Saffarids, against whom he was obliged vigorously to defend his province, Nasr pursued him with an armed force (888), but was himself taken prisoner. On this occasion, Ismail revealed the magnanimity of his character; he caused all the deference due his rank to be paid to his brother, and up to the time of the latter’s death in 892 saw that his authority was respected. When he was at last free to act as sovereign, Ismail forced the Turks to retreat beyond the Jaxartes, and laid a solid foundation for the Samanid dynasty.

Other principalities were springing into power in the remaining parts of western Asia. The city of Bassora was seized by an adventurer who successfully resisted all attacks during the reigns of Mutazz and Mutamid, and nearly the whole of Arabian Irak was under the dominion of the Zengians. To Muwaffak is due the glory of retaking these provinces--and Bassora likewise in 882. He was not so successful in his enterprise against the Tulunids, who detached Egypt and Syria from the Arabian empire. Akhmed ben Tulun, one of the Turks educated at the court of the caliph, had distinguished himself by ability and courage, and was considered worthy of the post of governor of Egypt and Syria. Once established in these provinces he had no difficulty in maintaining his authority, supported as he was by the whole force of the Turkish militia; and he resolved to declare himself independent. In 877 he claimed the right of collecting taxes, thus openly cutting himself off from the caliphs, who, knowing their own weakness, incited the emirs of Syria to revolt against the Tulunids. Akhmed overcame all these difficulties, and when he died, in 884, left behind him a consolidated power. His son Khumaraweih succeeded him, and quelled the opposition of the few hostile parties that remained.

The rule of the Tulunids was on the whole advantageous to Egypt and Syria. Akhmed loved science and was withal liberal-minded, generous, and charitable. At Fostat, the capital of Egypt, he caused a superb mosque to be erected, which is known to-day as the mosque of Tulun, and also built palaces and laid out market-places for the accommodation of the traders of different nations who flocked to Egypt at that time. Khumaraweih was distinguished for his luxury and magnificence; he was said to have built an immense menagerie, in which the animals were lodged in splendid cages, having water brought to them in bronze canals. The bed in which he slept was said to be gently rocked and supported by a tiny lake of quicksilver, on which it rested. His death was by assassination, and with him perished the splendour of the Tulunids.

[Sidenote: [908-946 A.D.]]

No new dismemberments occurring during the reigns of Mutadid (892-902), Muktafi (902-908), and the first part of the reign of Muktadir (908-913), it might have been thought that the caliphs would retain the extensive empire that remained to them. Indeed, many circumstances arose which materially increased their power. Shortly after his accession to the throne Mutadid received tribute from Khumaraweih, and subsequently repulsed the tribes of Arabs and Kurds who had swarmed out of the Syrian deserts with the intention of overpowering Mosul. Muktafi was even more successful; he attacked Harun by sea and land and immediately received the submission of all the emirs. In Egypt the descendants of Tulun were deserted by the very supporters whom they had formerly laden with benefits. About this time the Saffarids likewise disappeared, overthrown by the Samanids, against whom they had been pitted by the artful policy of the caliphs. In addition to their newly-gained province of Khorasan the Samanids were given the investiture of Tabaristan and Sidjistan, Muktafi thus replacing two rival princes in his immediate neighbourhood by a single ruler whom the Turks did not allow to become dangerous. Muktafi’s successor, Muktadir Billah (908-932), did not succeed, as Muktafi had done, in keeping his dominions intact. Powerless in his own capital, he was little respected outside, and on all sides arose disturbances that his predecessors had temporarily kept down. After Muktadir, Kahir (932-934), Radhi (934-940), Muttaki (940-944), and Mustakfi (944-946) lost their few remaining provinces, and the temporal power of the caliphs in Baghdad was forever at an end.

In 930 a descendant of the emir, Hamdan, who had asserted his independence, took several strongholds in the province of Jezira, and pushing on as far as the northwest of Syria, founded there an important principality of which the capital was Mosul. The establishment of the Hamdanites in Jezira facilitated the rebellion of Egypt. Since the fall of the Tulunids the caliphs had committed the blunder of allowing Egypt and Syria to remain united, thinking that a frequent change of governors was all that was necessary to maintain peace. But one of these governors, Ikhshid the Turk, won over a large party of supporters, and when the order came for him to relinquish his rule to another, he refused to obey. Thus Egypt and Syria were finally lost to the Abbasids in 936.

In the neighbourhood of Baghdad the Raikites and the Baridians disputed the possession of Bassora, Wasit, and the province of Ahwaz, and sought to play an important part in the politics of the capital. The lords of Armenia and Georgia ceased to pay a tribute that was no longer demanded, and the two provinces commenced at that epoch to separate into distinct realms. In the provinces bordering on the Caspian Sea the same tendency was to be observed. During the reign of Muktadir a chief named Merdawij had conquered the province of Gilhan, wrested Tabaristan away from the Samanids, and subdued the greater part of Aderbaijan. The glory of founding a new dynasty, however, fell not to him but to three brothers who fought in his army and who claimed descent from the old Sassanid kings, although their father, Buya, was only a simple fisherman. Struck by their courage and ability, the people flocked to their standard, and to the provinces already gained by Merdawij they added Kerman, Mekran, Laristan, and many others (933-940).

Baghdad being now surrounded by independent principalities, the dominion of the caliphs was limited to that city itself, and even in that small realm their authority was purely nominal. Owing to court intrigues and the rebellions that were constantly breaking out in the city, the history of the later Abbasids is nothing but a panorama of executions of generals, vizirs, sovereigns, and pretenders. Out of fifty-nine commanders of the faithful thirty-eight came to violent ends, and suffered calamities worse than death. That the blood of the family of Mohammed might not be shed, many were made to die of starvation; others were walled up or cast into glaciers. Kahir emerged from his imprisonment with blinded eyes, and for the rest of his life begged alms at the doors of mosques. His successor, Radhi, to escape the tyranny of the Turks who were now in charge of every branch of the government, created the post of emir of the emirs. This dignitary, to whom was given command over the army and control over the public finances, soon came to be the real sovereign, Radhi, who withdrew to strict seclusion, reserving not a vestige of authority to himself. But instead of setting, as he thought, a master over the turbulent Turkish guard, Radhi’s act had simply augmented the power of its chiefs. One of these, Bajkam, irritated at the rise of Ibn Raik, got possession of the person of Radhi and forced him to appoint him, Bajkam, emir of the emirs. The death of this ambitious politician in the second year of Muttaki’s reign was the signal for fresh disturbances. Claimants, whose pretensions the Turks were obliged to combat, sprang up on every side, and the post of emir of the emirs came to be as hotly contested as that of caliph had formerly been. Muttaki, having no alternative but to sanction the acts of the stronger side, thought for a moment of placing himself in the hands of the Ikhshidites; but Turun ordered him to be put to death and proclaimed Mustakfi caliph. Exasperated by this terrible abuse of power, the inhabitants of Baghdad called to their aid the Buyid princes, who had recently established themselves in the provinces of the former Persian Empire, and in 945 the Turks were finally driven from the city. Muiz ad-Daula set upon the throne a caliph who was a mere tool to his desires, and reserving the post of emir of the emirs for himself, became the first of that series of Buyid emirs which continued for more than a century.

Meanwhile, in singular contrast with the sanguinary turbulence of those who had usurped their power, the Arabs, weary of wars and civil strife, gave themselves up to the study of science and letters; the last of the Abbasids, in the closest seclusion their palaces would afford, sought consolation for the hardships of their lot in the society of scholars and literary men. The Buyid princes also followed the example set by Al-Mamun, and gave a great impetus to the study of astronomy and mathematics. They levied in their tributary provinces forces sufficient to enable them to maintain their supremacy against all rival factions, while the caliphs Muti, Tai, Kadir, and Kaim, deprived of their revenues and shorn of all authority and kingly state, played exactly the same part as was enacted by the Merovingian _rois fainéants_ under the tutelage of their mayors of the palace. Nevertheless, it was only from the hands of the caliphs that the greater part of the ruling families of Asia would receive their investitures, the Abbasids being still the legitimate sovereigns in the eyes of devout Moslems.

THE VARIOUS RELIGIOUS SECTS

[Sidenote: [750-945 A.D.]]

In all times the Moslem empire had been disturbed by a variety of religious sects. Under the Abbasids the Mutazilites had promulgated a lofty faith which had exerted great influence over noble minds. There were others which had confined themselves to protesting against the license of the times and demanding social reformation, while many had been made merely the instrument of personal ambition. Among the most prominent were the Rawandis, a fanatical sect who believed that to caliphs should be accorded the worship due to divinities, and who so importuned Al-Mansur with their adoration that he caused them to be cut to pieces by his guards. More formidable were the Zendians, who boldly maintained that the holding of property was a crime, and that man should not eat the flesh of animals. They were mercilessly pursued and exterminated. In 781 Mokanna incited the population of Khorasan to revolt, and in 834 Babik founded in Aderbaijan the sect of the Ismailians, who professed, according to Arab historians, the most pronounced materialism, and for four years resisted all Mutasim’s efforts to put them down. Of all the sects, however, none promulgated its beliefs with such rapidity and success as that of the Karmathians, who, in the tenth century, infested Arabia and wrested from the caliphs their spiritual and temporal power over the whole eastern part of the peninsula.

(Based on decorations in the Alhambra)]

Karmat retained most of the doctrines of the _Koran_, recognising Ali and the seven imams as direct descendants of Mohammed, and rejecting only the theory of revelation. He had devised a system of successive degrees into which his followers were to be initiated, and the last of these, according to Nowairi and Makrizi, was atheism. It is not likely that a belief of this nature would have found many adherents had not Karmat preached at the same time abolition of slavery. Fighting in the name of liberty, his partisans overcame all opponents; but having enriched themselves by pillage they fell into the most grievous excesses and incurred general contumely. The series of their victories commenced under the reign of Mutadid, when after defeating one of his generals they advanced on Cufa, and reduced and pillaged it. During the reign of Muktafi they carried their arms as far as Palestine, and even threatened Damascus. Their ablest chief, Abu Tahir, conducted them on another expedition against Cufa, as a result of which the city was totally destroyed; then drawing near to Baghdad he repulsed the attack of an army of thirty thousand men. “Are your master’s soldiers as devoted as mine?” asked Abu Tahir of one of the Moslem generals. He then commanded one of his men to plunge a sword into his own breast, another to leap into the Tigris, and a third to precipitate himself from the top of a high cliff; all of which commands were immediately obeyed. Some years previously (930) the Karmathians had besieged Mecca and massacred two thousand persons; they also destroyed the temple of the Kaaba, carried off the famous Black Stone, and choked up the well of Zemzem. In the Hamdanites and Ikhshidites they finally met adversaries who were their match; and after suffering defeat in several encounters they retired permanently to the deserts of Syria and Bahrain.

In addition to the powerful reformers who aimed at nothing less than the destruction of both the temporal and spiritual authority of the caliphs, there were numerous philosophers and ascetics who created schisms in the very heart of Islam. The most important of these minor sects was that of the Sufis, whose aim was to hold the soul in constant communication with God by destroying all natural sentiment and affection. Though frequently persecuted by the caliphs, the apostles of Sufism succeeded in spreading their doctrines through all Persia, thus hastening the extinction of Islam, which was every day losing more ground. The existence of the Shiites and the Sunnites was a further check on the growth of the Moslem faith; and the first Abbasids having failed to establish religious unity, the troubles resulting from such a confusion of creeds were constantly on the increase. Born enemies of the Omayyads though they were, the Abbasids, fearing to let the Alids or Shiites gain too much power, were avowedly on the side of the Sunnites and persecuted all who opposed their views.

[Sidenote: [900-1020 A.D.]]

After many vain attempts to gain the throne the Alids sought to found a dominion for themselves in some of the dismembered provinces. One of their number was for a short time ruler of Tabaristan, but was unable to maintain his supremacy. In Africa they were more fortunate, the Edrisites succeeding in establishing themselves in Mauretania, while in 908 Obaid Allah, who assumed the title of imam, rallied the whole Maghreb to his cause and overthrew the dynasty of the Aghlabites. Gradually extending his dominion further along the coast, he laid the foundations of the Fatimite rule in Kairwan and Mahdiya, and was already stretching out his hand toward Egypt when death cut short his plans. His immediate successors, Abul-Kasim (936-945) and Al-Mansur (945-953), were unable to shake the position of the adroit and valiant Ikhshid; but they placed themselves in communication with the Arabian Shiites in Hedjaz and Yemen, and gained many friends by means of largess wisely distributed. At Ikhshid’s death disputes arose as to the succession, and Muiz-lidinillah, who replaced Al-Mansur (953), penetrated into the interior of the country, received the submission of the emirs, and became the first Fatimite caliph in Egypt. From this period the Fatimites had the advantage in the spiritual struggle with the Abbasids. After founding Great Cairo (972) they conquered Syria and a part of Jezira, and their supremacy was acknowledged by nearly all the populations of Arabia, who hoped to find in them a defence against the Karmathians in future.

Thus three realms, which were governed respectively by the Fatimites, the Buyids, and the Samanids, formed the whole of the Arabian empire at the close of the tenth century; and the history of that period is most interesting, since it shows how centres of civilisation may shift; not at Baghdad but at Cairo were Arabian luxury and culture henceforth to shine with their brightest lustre.

Under the Fatimites commerce, industry, agriculture, the arts and sciences flourished in Egypt as they had flourished in Asia under the early Abbasids. Magnificent works were constructed to connect the little town of Fostat with Mesra, and splendid mosques were added to those erected by Tulun. It seemed to be the wish of the caliphs to efface from every mind the remembrance of the glories of Baghdad; and they were also most zealous in administering the government of their realm, giving their personal attention to the assessment and collection of taxes. Thanks to the remarkable fertility of the land, they were soon in receipt of a revenue nearly as large as those of Harun ar-Rashid. Muiz and Aziz were wise and moderate in their expenditures and just in their rule; but Hakim who succeeded them (996-1020) was like an evil genius on the throne. He reduced his subjects to a state of the most abject submission, and maintained a wonderfully organised system of police which kept him informed of the slightest occurrences, thus giving rise to the belief that he was omniscient. He was in fact worshipped as a divinity, and his sudden disappearance but confirmed the universal faith, inasmuch as it was publicly stated that he had ascended to heaven whence he would again descend to earth at a later day. One or two facts will serve to give an idea of the blind despotism of Hakim. He set fire to Cairo that he might enjoy the sight of the city in flames, and he tortured Jews and Christians to make them renounce their religion, then gave them permission to return to it again. Terror reigned wherever he appeared; yet he respected and encouraged learned men and caused the astronomical tables of Ibn Junis to be dedicated to him. He is supposed to have been assassinated by one of his sisters, who then assumed the regency in the name of his son Dhahir, who was still a child (1020-1036). On the death of Dhahir, Abu Temim Mustansir ascended the throne and held it for fifty-eight years. Being acknowledged ruler of Africa and Arabia and proclaimed their spiritual sovereign by the inhabitants of Baghdad, who were weary of the rule of Kaim-biamrillah, Mustansir was at one time on the point of re-establishing the universal caliphate; but he was shortly afterward punished for his ambitious schemes by the loss of the best part of Syria, and it was with difficulty that he could maintain his supremacy even in Palestine.

[Sidenote: [933-1094 A.D.]]

The Buyids, who had taken possession of Persia in 933, and were all-powerful in Irak-Arabia and Baghdad, did not continue to shine for so long a period as the Fatimites, but their era was ushered in a little earlier. During the last half of the tenth century, after the Turkish militia had been destroyed and the Hamdamites driven from Jezira and Mosul, the Buyids were without rivals in Asia, and the continuance of peace permitted them to carry on the work begun by Al-Mamun. Two of their princes, Adhud ad-Daula and Sharaf ad-Daula, revived the taste for literature by themselves becoming authors, and to them is due the credit of restoring upon a sound basis the school of Baghdad, which during their reign was to produce so many learned men. Adhud ad-Daula did not rest content with showering benefits on poets and scholars; he caused engineers of the highest merit to sink the bed of the river Bendemir in Persia, thus preventing the inundations which were so frequent and disastrous near Shiraz, and furnishing an improved water-way for commerce. A magnificent hospital was erected at Baghdad, and at its inauguration a festival was given which is still famous in the annals of the East. Unfortunately the Buyids succeeded no better than the caliphs in transmitting their power to their descendants by means of fixed laws; they actually paved the way for the dismemberment of the empire they had founded, and laid it open to revolution and disaster by the impolitic manner in which they distributed its provinces and dependencies among their children.

The dominion of the Samanids, after lasting for more than a century, came to an end at about the same time. Alp Tegin, a Turkish slave who had risen to a position of dignity under Abdul-Malik, failed in his attempt to get the reins of power into his own hands at the death of that monarch, and fled to Ghazni, where he gradually assumed control of public affairs, and for sixteen years successfully resisted all efforts of the Samanids to overthrow him.

Subuktigin, the wise general and councillor who succeeded him in 995, carried the Moslem faith and arms into India, ravaging the Punjab, founding the cities of Bast and Kasdar and defending the Samanids against the Turks who were invading the Mawarannahar. He designated his youngest son, Ismail, to succeed him; but the eldest, Mahmud, at the head of an armed force, proclaimed himself an independent sovereign and became rich with the plunder of India. He defeated the Samanids without difficulty and became master of Khorasan in 1000, thus extending as far as the Caspian Sea an empire that began at the Indus and Ganges and embraced the territories known to-day as Afghanistan, Herat, and Baluchistan. Mahmud was the first of the oriental princes to assume the title of sultan. Ghazni was his capital, hence the name “Ghaznevid” given him by historians, and the cities of Kanaiy, Lahore, and Delhi in India, where the greatest renown was gained, paid him tribute. He further devastated the kingdom of Guzerat and destroyed the pagoda of Somnath, the magnificence of which defies description. Two thousand Brahmans were employed in the service of this temple, and its idol was formed of a single stone fifty cubits high. Immense sums were offered to Mahmud as a ransom for this idol, which was the most revered in Hindustan, but he inexorably refused them all.

[Sidenote: [852-1055 A.D.]]

While Mahmud’s troops were swarming over India, Mawarannahar fell into the power of the tribes of Turkestan. The sultan committed the error of allowing these enemies to remain, and himself introduced into his dominions the Seljuk Turks, who had recently been converted to Islam, and demanded grants of land in Khorasan. Masud, who succeeded his father in 1028, tried to rid himself of these formidable neighbours, but was defeated and could do no more thereafter than remain on the defensive. Toghril Beg, grandson of Seljuk, soon gained a second victory more decisive than the first over the Ghaznevids and drove them back towards India. Turning westward he invaded Khawarizm, Jorjan, Irak-Djeni, and then invaded the dominions of the Buyid princes.

The greatest disorder reigned at Baghdad. To escape the troubles by which he was beset, the caliph Kaim had placed himself under the protection of Toghril Beg, and relinquished the temporal power over all the states of Islam to that prince, who had made great display of piety by erecting temples to Mohammed in all the conquered cities. The ceremony of the investiture took place in Baghdad. After kissing the dust before the caliph, who was clothed in the black garments of the Abbasids, Toghril Beg ascended the throne that had been especially prepared for him and received upon his head the two crowns which signified his sovereignty over the double realm of Persia and Arabia. To further cement this union of the East with the West, the sister of Toghril Beg was given to the caliph in marriage, and the title of sultan was introduced in the _khotba_, or official prayer.

No sooner had the Turks withdrawn, however, than a general uprising took place at Baghdad, and Abu Temim Mustansir, the Fatimite ruler of Egypt, was proclaimed caliph in place of Kaim. True to his conciliatory policy the sultan came to the rescue of the imprisoned Abbasid prince and replaced him on the throne.

While the Arab predominance was being destroyed little by little, the Greeks were making renewed efforts to regain some of the colonies they had lost. As early as 852 their fleets had carried destruction to the town of Damietta, and a century later they had penetrated as far as Aleppo and had pillaged the treasures of Saif ad-Daula, the Hamdanite prince. Two of their emperors, Nicephorus and Zimisces (963-976), had crossed the Euphrates and made Jezireh swarm with their troops, while a great many strongholds had been reconquered as well as the country Cilicia and the island of Cyprus.