HISTORY

OF THE

ARABS AND THEIR LITERATURE

before and after the Rise of Islam

within the Limits of their Peninsula and beyond it.

An Outline

for the Use of the Pupils of the Khediyiah School

oompiled from Arab and European Sources

by

Edward A. van Dyek.

Printed by Ig. v. Kleinmayr & Fed. Bamberg in Laibach
1894 .

9-

Preface.

Many  pupils in the Khediviah School know but little
about tlie Literature of the Arabs. This deficiency makes itself
markedlj felt during the practical exercises in translation. The
name of a noted Arab author, the titie of a standard work,
or a quotation to justify the use of a word, are often found
to arouse no echo in the pupihs mind, for the simple reason
that he has ncver yet hcard of them.

An attempt was, therefore, made about three years ago
by the teacher of translation to furnish the liigher classes in
the school with some notions concerning the leading Arabic
tvor k s, the time of tlieir appearance, and the names of their
authors. This had to be done bv the most hurried dictation of
the scantiest notes.

The teacher soon painfully felt his own lack of clear and
precise acquaintance with the wide field of Arabic Literature.
He then applied to the learned Arabist and Khedivial Librarian
Ur. Vollers,  who most willingly set him on the right track,
and further lent him an Article on Arabia, which contained
a short and masterly view of the subject. This article, in the
German language, was translated into Arabic by the teacher.

The latter, with the help of a literary friend, since gone
to his last rest, went on adding to the stock already in hand.
The two co-workers soon found, however, that a sketch of
Arabic literature pre-supposed a degree of acquaintance witl>
the history  of the Arabs heyond what could be expected of
the bulk of pupils.

Tkey, therefore, enlarged the original design by prefixing,
to the history of each period of literature, a purely historical
chapter. Thus a book grew up under their hands which, after
receiving the approval of a committee of scholars, was priuted
at the Bulaq Press for the Ministry of Public Instruction; this
History of the Arabs and their Literature  was most
favorably reviewed in several of the Cairo Arabic periodicals.

When the instructor in translation was called upon to
teach the history of the Arabs, in the English language, to the
class of the Third Year, he thought he could do no better than
to take that Arabic book as a b a s i s.

The present Outline runs nearly parallel with the Arabic
model, the mam difference between them growing out of the
difference in the scope and aim of each. For whereas the
Arabic model is primarily a history of literature, the English
paraphrase is intended before ali else to be a sketch of the Historv
of the Arabs. Ali quotations from Arab writers, whether prose
or verse, that grace the pages of the former, are of necessitv
omitted in the latter; the short biographical sketches too had
to be left out. On the otlier hand, whilst the Arabic model
stops short, in its historical chapters, with the downfall of the
purely Arab Caliphates of Bagdad, Cordova, and Cairo, the
English paraphrase has a lengthy Appendix on the history of
Egypt since the overthrow of the Fatimites.

An outline cannot be a pragmatic history: it cannot seek
out the causes that led to the events, nor the motives that
actuated the actors. This remark, although applving to the
whole book, is particularly true concerning the section on the
Rise of Islam, where the foreign writer has eschewed looking
into the Faith and the Book, lest he unwittingly offend con-
fessional susceptibilities. The last section too, on the history
of the reigning dynasty, has often assumed the form of a bare
epitome, rather than an outline, and has been abruptly closed,
lest the political conscience be wounded.

v

Arabia and the Arabs before  their union under the
banner of Islam, have been intentionally dwelt upon ratber
fully, so as to inform the pupil reader on that period of Arab
history which experienee has shown bim to be most ignorant
of, and which is generally passed over in a very cursory
manner in most other books he is likely to bave access to.

Many pages of this Outline literally bristle with proper
names. This too is intentional, and will, it is boped, render
the pupil a double  service: first, it will familiarise his eye
with a consistent (?) method of transliteration that be would not
otherwise meet with throughout his school course; second, most
of the names are either sucb as he has heard in the tales told
him in his childhood, or they are names of historical places,
heroes, and eminent personages, such as he reads of or hears
mentioned by his native teachers — both classes of names floating
vaguely before him, until they receive real entity by being
restored in this outline to their proper plače, time, and sphere
of action.

The plan is simple enough: the Arab Prophet is the
central figure in the history of the Arabs and their literature;
the pre-Islamic period is preceded by a sketch of the Arabian
peninsula; the period from the Rise of Iškim to the downfall
of the three chief Arab kingdoms is supplemented by a sketch
of the foreign dynasties that bave ruled over Egypt since the
overthrow of the Fatimites. The literature of each period is
dealt with usually after the historical chapter. Whole sections,
on the dynasties contemporary with the Arab Caliphs, have
been inserted in a s m ali er type: most of these, as well as
some of the Summaries, have been taken almost word for word
from Stanley Lane-Poole’s ‘Mohammadan Dynasties’.

The whole, in its present English garb, \vith its defects
and any good points it may have, is now placed before the
pupil in the hope that he will be led by it to try and learn
more of the history and literature of the great Semitic nation

VI

whose language is his own mother tongue, and whose great
deeds in the past fill up one of the highly interesting chapters
of liistory.

If such an interest be awakened by it in the pupiFs
mind, the result will more than repay the long labor and
considerable outlay it has cost

Cairo, February 1894.

the Author.

P. S. August 1894. — Mr. Th. M. Chinn has revised the proof-sheets,
and thus saved the author from overlooking many an error, whether in spelling
or in wording.

Introcluction.

Arabia.

Geography.

Arabia is a peninsula belonging to the continent of Asia.
It lies between 12° 45' und 30° 25' N. L.; and between
32° 30' and 60° E. Longitude from Greenwich. Its shores are
washed on the W. by the Red Sea, on the S. and S. E. by
the Indian Ocean, and on the N. E. by the Persian Grulf; on
the North it borders upon Egvpt, Palestine, the Syrian steppe,
and the Euphrates Yalley. The eastern coast-line, from the
mouth of the Euphrates to Cape Mušandam, is about 1500 kms.
long, and thence to Ras-el-Hadd about 600 kms. From that
point to Bab-el-Mandab, the Southern coastline is about 2200 kms.
long. The western line, from those straits to Suez, measures
about 1900 kms. If we adopt, as the imaginary northern
boundary, a line from Suez to Bušrah — about 1500 kms. —
the area of Arabia, including the Sinai peninsula, will be about
3, 156, 558 scjuare kms., nearly six times as large as France.

Orography (mountains). Most of the mountains of Arabia
come close up to the coast; there are, however, two plains of
considerable extent that run along the shore: 1 0  the Tihama,
extending from Yanbu’ (W.) to the Yaman; and 2 0  the Biitna
in 'Uman. From Midian in the north-west to Hadramaut in
the soutli there runs an unbroken mountain-chain, at times in
parallel ridges, at others broadening out into liigh table-land.
The chief groups of t.his long chain are: Jabal Shafa, with
peaks 2000 m. liigh; Jabal Radwa, about 1800 m.; Jabal
Qura, rich in pasture land, about 1600 m.; the lofty and craggy
ridges of Asstr, and the fruitful highland plains of Yaman,

2

with ridges and mountain passes, called naqil,  towering above
them to a height exceeding- 2000 m. According to Jaqut,
there extends from Syria to Madinah a row of 28 harras (vol-
canic regions), one of which, near Khaibar, was stili active in
historic times, Extinct volcanic cones are plentiful near Aden
and Bab-el-Mandab, and on the island of Tayr in the Red

Sea. The coasts of this sea abound in coral reefs that are

dangerous to navigation.

But little is as yet known about Hadramaut. It lies in
the Southern part of Arabia, and is a plateau, having a mean
altitude of about 1000 m., with here and there peaks rising
to the height of about 2000 m. From Ras Fartak, 62° east
of G-reenwic.h, to Ras-el-Hadd, the coast is at times mountainous,
as at Jabal Kamar and the like; at others the sandy inland
wastes come down to the seashore. In the wide inlets of the
coastline lic several large islands, such as Kurian - Murian and
Muszera.

In 'Urnan a chain, called el-Jabal-el-Akhdar, from the

color of its rock, rises to a mean altitude of about 1000 m.,

with peaks as high as 2000 m. or even higher. Beyond this,
and as far as Katar, the coast is mostly steep, with deep
narrow inlets which afford convenient hiding places for pirates
and wild tribes; on the islands there are extensive pearl fisheries,
giving employment to 6000 boats with about 70,000 divers,
and yielding pearls to the value of nearly 12 million francs
a year.

From Katar to Quwayt the coast is mostly Hat; and
before it (in front of it) lie the two islands of Bahrain.

Inner Arabia seems to be, in the south, a low and fiat
waste; it is called el-Ahqaf or al-Rab ’a-al-Khali. The northern
half, on the contrary, called Kajd (= Highland), is a moderately
fertile table land, sloping gently down from the west toward
the east and north, and is separated from the eastern coast
as well as from the Syria.n steppe and the stony waste of
Hammad by broad sandy wastes having here and there a few
grazing districts, such as the Dahnit and the Nufud. Peculiar

3

to the Dahna are the afltig (singular fulg). Tliese are basin-
shaped hollows, varying in depth from 70 to 100 and even
to 200 m., wliich have mostly been formed by the action of
water. The Southern part of the Highland, i. e., Najd, in the
narrower use of the name, is surrounded and overlooked by
the mountain chains of Tuwayq and ’Arid, 1500 to 1800 m.
high; in the nortli it is separated by a broad valley, called
Qassim, from Shammar, where the parallel chains of Aga and
Salma rise above the surrounding sands. Beyond the northern
Nufud lies the depression or oasis of el-Jauf, which is United
with Damascus by the long cultivable valley called Wadi
Sirhan.

Arabia  lias no large rivers and no lakes.

Climate. Arabia lies within the region of the southwest
monsoons (mawsams or seasonal winds), and these, blorving
over from Africa, govern the quantity and distribution of the
rainfall throughout the peninsula. Yaman is the most favored;
Hijaz and the other northern regions belong to the driest tracts
of the Earth. In Yaman artificial means for the irrigation of
the fields have been known and practised from antiquity;
'Uman has similar arrangements, called feleg, plur. aflag, appa-
rently borrowed from Persia; in the North and West they are
wholly lacking, notlnvithstanding the frequent recurrence of
bitter suffering. By the monsoons, Navigation was early
awakened and developed, first along the coasts, and then further
on to East Africa, East India, and Further India. The mean
yearly temperature in Najd and Hijaz is from 28 n  to 30° C.;
whereas in ’Uman, at Aden, at Makalla, and in the Tihama,
the month of April shows 40°, and the Summer even 50° C.

Little is as yet kown of the Geological Formation
of Arabia. It seems, however, to be of a very simple nature:
a granite crystalline substratum (with traprock, discovered on
the east coast of the Gulf of ’Akabah), covcred by layers of
palaeozoic sandstone and limestone, and broken through by
volcanic rock (observed on the east coast of the Red Sea, near
Aden). On the Southern coast chalk formations, along with

i*

4

crystalline rocks, appear. Near Khor-al-Sham trias appears,
which is probablv very \videly extended tbroughout ’Uman.
A broad strip of tertiary rock runs ali along the Southern coast
and along a part of the eastern coast of Arabia. Agate, Cornelian
and Obsidian are sometimes found in abundance. Palaeontologic
remains are almost wholly lacking.

Flora and Fauna. Arabia is poor in species peculiar to
itself. The chief desert plants are: the Sidr, Zizyphus Lotus;
the Nabq, Chadara tenax; the Ghada, a kind of Euphorbia;
the tree called athl or tarfa, Tamarix orientalis; in Yaman,
the talh (gum acacia), the myrrh and incense tree. The coffee-
plant of Yaman lias always been renowned; but the yearly
export hardly reaches 150,000 kgms. The following are grown in
the interior: Wheat, maize, barley, hirse or millet, the grape-
vine, cotton, tobacco, and above ali the date-palm which abounds
in an almost endless variety of species, each having a special
name. The number of palm trees in the eastern region of
el-Hasa alone is estimated to be over three millions.

The chief animals  are: the lion, the panther, the leopard,
the hyaena, the jackal, and the fox; antilopes, wild oxen,
gazelles, wild asses, and ostriches; on the coast innumerable
eagles and vultures; a dangerous bane to mankind are the
many snakes and poisonous spiders; the locusts are often a
plague in the eastern parts; for trade, transportation and the
desert-life, the camel and the horse are the indispensable com-
panions of the Arab. The noble steed and the Ship of the
Desert are most plentiful in Najd.

Arab geographers divide Arabia into Five great Regions:

1. Yaman, so called because it is on the right h and
side  when one stands at Mekka with his face towards the east.
It includes Yaman in the narrower sense, Hadramaut, Mahrah,
'Urnan, Shihr and Najran.

2. The Hijaz, so called because it separates  Tihamah
from Najd.

3. Tihamah, having Yaman on the south and the Hijaz
on the north.

5

4. Najel. This is the liigliland region which extends to
Syria on the north, to the Euphrates Valley called el-’Iraq on
the east, to the Hijaz on the west, and to Yamamah on the
south; it is the most fertile and healthy part of Arabia.

5. Yamamah. It lies between Najd and Yaman, and is
also called el-’Arud, for it is wedged  in  between those two
regions.

To those five  must be added the Sinai Peninsula, with
Mt. Hurib, where Moses received the two tables containing
the Moral Law. Special mention should also be made of Wadi
Musa or Arabia Petraea, a rocky delile, between the Arabian
gulf of Elah and the Dead Sea; in it was the Capital of the
Edomites and Nabataeans, whose houses and temples are cut
into the solid rock of the cliffs.

Chief Cities. Šan’a was the ancient Capital of Yaman and
is now the residence of the Ottoman governor. To the southeast
of Šan’a stood the city of Ma-rib, near which European anti-
quarians found, in 1875, ruins bearing inseriptions in the ancient
Himyarite chai^cters. Another of the cities of Yaman is Najran,
in which was a great dome that could shelter 1000 persons.
Whoever resorted to it would have his wishes realised. The
Arabs called it the Ka’abah of Najran, for they used to make
pilgrimages to it, as well as to the Ka’abah of Makka. The
latter is too well known to require any further mention. In
Najd is a plače called Jabal 'Akad, the only part where the
Arabic language stili preserves its purity after the prevalence
of Islam and during the lapse of ages.

The Inhabitants of Arabia are of three classes: The
nomads or Bedouins, the half-nomads, and the settled population,
dwelling in houses and towns. They number about nine millions.
In the Southern parts of Yaman and Uman aro a few pariah
tribes, known as the Akhdam or Servants, and the Shumur;
they are perhaps descendants of the primeval Kushites who
were at one time numerous in Arabia; ali the others are Semites.

Most of the caravan rontes throughout Arabia meet in
the Hijaz. They are: 1. From Bagdad to Ha’il, thence to

6

Hanakiyyah, thence to Yathrib which is al-Madinah. 2. From
Ma’an, toTabbuk, to Hijr, to Madinah. 3. From 'Akir, to Riyad,
to Dhat-’irq, to Makka. 4. From San’a to Zadah to Tabbalah
to Makka. The pilgrims who go by sea, land either at Widjh
or at Yanbu’, or lastly at Jiddah.

The present Political Geography of Arabia is well worth
a short sketch. The Wahhabites, whose authority a century
ago was very great throughout nearly ali Arabia, are now
limited to the N ajd region.  This part is divided into nine
districts: 1. Al-’Arid, with its chief city Riyad, which has a
population of 25,000. It is the city that was destroyed in
1817 A. D. by the army of Muhammad-Ali Pasha. — 2. Iqlim-
Sudayr, whose chief town is Majma’. — 3. Iqlimu-1-Yamamah;
chief town al-Mansukhah. — 4. Al - Hariq; chief town al-Hawatah.
— 5. Iqlim-al-Aflag, chief town al-Kharfah. — 6. Dawasir, about
which nothing is known. — 7. Iqlim-Sala-il. — 8. Iqlim-al-Wasm,
chief towns Duramah, Shaqra and el-Quwayt. — 9. Qassim,
chief towns, ’Unayzah, Burayda’h, and Ras.

The chief town of Jabal Shammar is al-Ha-il, with a
population of 15,000. The emir resides here.

West of Shammar are

the two Oases of Tayma and Khaybar; and north of
Shammar is the

great Oasis of al-Jauf, in which is the town called al-Marid.

The Western Shores of Arabia are under Ottoman rule,
at least nominally.

Yathrib has about 16,000 people; Makka about 45,000.
The region embracing these two cities is the Haram, the hallowed
or sacred precincts, which none may tread but Muslims.

Yanbu’ is the seaport of Madinah. Its population is about
7,500. Jiddah, the seaport of Makka, has about 17,000 in-
habitants.

The places of greatest historical interest are: Jabal Uhud;
Badr, near Mount Šubh; Mount 'Arafat; 'Ukaz, and Ta-if,—
ali in the Ilijaz.

7

South of Hijaz is Jabal 'Asir; chief town Kilakh, having
two seaports : Layth and Qunfudah. In the interior are the
fortress called Bija or Baja and the town called Tathlith.

On the seacoast of Yaman are the following 4 places:
Abu-’Arish, Lahyah, Hudaydah and Mukha. The most im-
portant towns in the interior of Yaman are: San’a-a, the Capital,
2130 m. above the sea-level, with a population of 28,500;
’Amran; Kaukaban; Ta-if; and Khumar.

East of Yaman is the region called Jauf, the ancient
Capital of which is Ma-rib. To the nortli lies the Land of
Najran. — The following places are under British rule:’Adan;
Lalnj; and the islands of Pirim and Qamaran. — Opposite
Pirim is the island of Shaykh-Sa’id, which belongs to the French.

The chief places in Hadramaut are: The seaport of Mi-
kallah; and in the interior the following places: Shibam, Tharim
and ’Ainat.

There are in Hadramaut the remains of ruined towns,
with many rocks and stones bearing inscriptions in the ancient
Himyaritic character. Such places are: Naqb-el-Hajar, Hušn-
Ghurab, and Ubnah.

The tribes of Mahr, who dwell east of Hadramaut, or at
least some of them, stili speak a language called the Ahkili,
which is supposed to be a dialect of the old Himvaritic tongue.

The chief seacoast- town in ’Uman is Masqat, the Capital,
with 30,000 inhabitants. Other seaports are: Matrah, Barqa,
Zuhad, and Shinas. Behind the Jabal-el-Akhdar is the region
of Iqlim-el-I)ahirah, with the town of Burayma. — On the pen-
insula of Qutur is the town of Bida.

The following places have been in the hands of the Turks
since the year 1870: el-Hasa, el-Hufuf, el-Mubarraz, al-Qatif,
al-Quwayt.

Ethnography. With the exception of a few semi-barbarous
tribes in the South, the inhabitants of Arabia are pure and
genuine Šemi te s.

8

Genealogical Table,

Noah

!

Sem — Ham — Japheth

I

'Elam — Ashshur — Arphakshad — Lud —Aram

J

Šalah

„ I

'Aber

Falig and Jaqetan or Qalitan
Ra’ou Hadramaut, &c.

I

Sarug According to the Arabs Qabtan

I

Nahor Ya’rub

Tarah Yashjub

I I _

Abraham — Nahor — Haran Saba

I I

Lot Himyar — Kahlan

l . —-—

Ammon and Moab from them are descen-

ded the Yamanite
Ismael fm. Hagar, and Isaac fm. Sarah Arabs of the south

Jacob

I

twelve sons

l

the Jewish People, the Hebrevvs.

Ismael married the daughter of el-Mudad, king of Hijaz

00

P

£

O H

P

<D

'CD

’Adnan

l

’Akk — Ma’add; from these are descended the Ismaelite Arabs  of
the  n or  th.

Nizar &c.

9

The Arabs traced their descent from the one or tlie other
of' two great stocks: 1. the Southern or Qahtanide or Yamanite
Arabs; and 2. the northern or IsraaSlite Arabs, called also the
'Adnanites. The most prominent of the tribes descended from
Qahtan and from Isma’il respectively, beginning with the ear-
liest and coming down to the more recent, were:

His pedigree was as fo]lows: 'Adnan — Ma’add — Nizar — Mudar —
el-Yas — Mudrika — Khuzeimah — KinAna •— el-Nadr — MAlik — Qureish (also
called Fihr) — GhAlib — Luwayy — Ka’b — Murrah — Kilab — Qušayy —
'Abd-manaf — HAshim — ’Abd-ul-Muttalib — 'Abdullab — MUHAMMAD.

Abu-Bakr was also of the Quraish; but his pedigree branched off after
Murrah thus : Taim (brother of Kilab) — Sa’ad — Ka’b — ’Amr — 'Amir —
Abu-Quhafah — Abu-Bakr and his daughter 'Aisliah.

’Umar was also of the Quraish; his pedigree branched off after Ka’b
thus: ’Adiyy (brotber of Murrah) — Kazali — Qurt — 'Abdallah — RiyAh —
’Abd-ul-’Uzzah — Nufail — el-Khattab — ’Umar.

'Uthman was also of the Quraish; his pedigree branched off after
'Abdmanaf thus: ’Abd-shams (brother of Hashim) — Uraayyah —■ ’Abd-ul-’Aši
— 'Affan — 'Uthman.

’Ali’s pedigree is simple, thus: Abu-TAlib (brother of Abdallah) and
then ’Ali.

10

Mu’awiyah’s pedigree was the same as 'Uthman’s as far as Umayyah;
it then branched otf thus: Harb (brother of Abdul-’Aši) — Abu-Sufyan —
Mu’awiyah.

Marawan’s pedigree now becomes easy; he too was an Umayyade,
and his pedigree branched off after 'Abdul-’Ačy thus: el-Hakam (brother of
'Affan and of Abu-Sufyan) — then Marawan himself—then his son Abdul-
'Aziz — then 'Umar, &e.

The predigree of the 'Abbaside Khalifahs branched off after 'Abdulmut-
talib, the Prophefs grandfather, thus: el-’Abbas (brother of 'Abdallah and of
Abu-Talib) — Abdallah — 'Ali — Muhammad — then Abul-’Abbas C0 — then his
brother Abu-Ja’afar el - Manšur O)— then his son Muhammad el Mahdi (*) —
then his two sons Musa el Hadi C 4 ) ■—and Harun el-Rashid®, &c.

The History of the Arahs falls naturally and of itself
into two great Periods. The first is the history of the Arabs
w i t h i n their own Country; it is derived mostly from their
poems and the tales of their heroes. — The second period is
not so much the history of the Arabs within their native land,
but rather the history of the Conquests  made by the Arab
Race and of their Settlements  beyond the limit  s of their
mother Country, and lastlv the history of the Kingdoms they
founded  in their newly-acquired homes. On the dividing
line between these two great periods stands the Pito P H ET
MUHAMMAD himself.

Part Pirst:

The pre-Islamic Period, or the Days of Ignorance,

i. e. Roughness.

The history of the earlier portions of the pre-
Islamic period is mostly lost in the darkness of the remote
Past. What little the Greek and Roman historians have to
say about the old Arabs refers chiefly to the wars and com-
mercial dealings between the countries (conquered by those
nations) that bordered on Arabia and between the Arabs; hardly
a word is said by the Greeks and Romans about the events
that took plače within Arabia itself.

The earliest mention made of Arabia seems to be in the
days of Queen Hatshepset-Makera’, sister of Thothmes II and
III of the XVIth Egyptian Dynasty, when she sent a fleet to
the Land of Punt. Long before her time the Egyptians knew
of Arabia and called it the Land of the Gods; but they do
not appear to have had intimate dealings with it.

The Assyrian kings tried once or twice to conquer Arabia.
Alexander the Great and the Ptolemies attempted the same
thing; but they only attacked the Nabathaeans of the north-
west. Antiochus, king of Syria, was equally unsuccessful.
In 24 B.C., when Egypt had become a Roman province, the
lst Roman governor of Egypt, Aelius Gallus, accompanied by a
large army, landed at Moilah, marched down along the coast,
and penetrated through Najran to Mariaba, but was forced to
return without accomplishing much, his army having been
decirnated by disease and excessive heat, and by the Arabs
who hovered around the rear-guard of the retreating enemy.
In 105 A.D., Trajan conquered Nabataea (Wady Musa), took
the Capital Petra, and made that part a Roman Province.

12

The traditions gathered and recorded by the Muslini
hi  s tor  ia  n s about the pre-Islamic period are a mixture of
fable and fact, so interwoven that it is hard to sift the fact
and the truth from the fabulous and imaginary.

Most historians divide the ancient Arabs into two classes:
the lost tribes and the tribes that survived.

The lostArabs  were probably a rude people; the chief
tribes that perished were: ’Ad; Thamud; Suhar; Jasim; Wabar;
Tašm; and Jadis. They are supposed to have dwelt in the
parts of Arabia called 'Uman, Bahrayn and Yamamah. If the
Thamud tribes are the Thamudeni, the classical (i. e. Greek
and Roman) historians placed them in the region which extends
from Khaybar northwards to Wadi Musa, which is Petra. Ali
these tribes became extinct (perished) such a long time ago
that ali correct and accurate information about them bas been
lost; and if they left any monuments or other traces of their
civilisation, such remains have not as yet been discovered by
modern researchers. Tliey seem to have been, one and ali,
descendants of Sem, the son of Noah.

The home of the 'Adites was in the Southern desert of
el-Ahqaf called also al-raba’-al-khali. The patriarch Ad, who
gave his name to the whole tribe, was succeeded by his son
Shaddad. See Qur-an, Surah el-Fajr,  verses 7 and 8.

The Thamudites first dwelt in Yaman, whence they were
driven out, by the Yamanite kings perhaps. They then mig-
rated and settled in el-Hijr, on tlic confines of Syria. The
Qur-an says that the Thamudites and 'Adites dwelt in caves
and among the rocks and had excavated for themselves houses
in the precipices. Such rock-cut dwellings stili exist at Petra
in Wadi Musa.

The Tašmites and the Jadisites settled bet\veen Makka
and Yathrib, in ali the level country.

Ali the lost tribes “perished by the wrath of God for
their wickedness”. Thus the ’Ad and the Thamud had forsaken
the worship of the true God and had taken to the worship of
idols. So God punished them with a three years’ famine; but

13 —

stili they did not mend their ways. Thereupon He sent. to
the 'Adites, the propliet Hud, to exhort tliem to return to tlie
right path. Very few, however, believed; the obstinate un-
believers perished in a dry burning wind, tbat blew continuously
for three days and three nights, which was followed by an
earthquake that destroyed tbeir houses and broke to pieces
their idols. — Luqman was the most famous of the kings of
’Ad. He was one of the few who believed and were saved.
From these survivors were descended the tribe called the second
or surviving 'Adites. But they too scorned the bounty of God
and increased in evil-doing, until He at last metamorphosed
them into low brutes. — The prophet Hud himself went to
Hadramaut where he died.

The Thamudites also served idols. God sent to them the
prophet Šalih. Perhaps Šalih is the son of Arphaxad (see above,
Genealogical Table). Or he may be the son of Peleg, the
brother of Qahtan or Joktan. Šalih exhorted the Thamudites
to return to the true Faith. But they wanted of him a sign
or wonder, or miracle; and demanded that he bring out of the
rock a she-camel big with young. Šalih beckoned to a rock
near by, and a she-camel came forth followed by her foal.
For ali this few only believed, and the others slaughtered the
camel, dividing the flesh amongst them. Thereupon they were
seized with trembling and fell down dead. See Qur. Sur.
A’araf, v. 71 and Sur. Hud,  v. 64.

The reason for the destruction of the tribe s of Tašm and
Jadis must be here passed over in silence for moti ves of
decency.

The Surviving tribes  of the Arabs traced their
descent back to one of two stocks, either to ’ A d n a n or to
Qahtan.  From the Himyarite branch of the Qalitanites arose
a long line of vvarlike kings, called the Tababiah. Some
historians have thought that the Hyqsos, who invaded Egypt
in the XXI century B.C., were Qahtanite Arabs.

Ali the Arabs of the pre-Islamic period of Ignorance,
vvhether 'Adnanites or Qahtanites, belonged to one or the other

14

of two great classes: they were either n o m a d s, or dwellers
in houses;  they were either camel-herds or settled and civilised
people.

The Q,ahtanites separated into two great Branclies, — the
Ya’rubites and the Jurhumites. The descendants of Ya’rub
founded the first and greatest kingdom in the Yaman. And
the descendants of Jurhum founded a kingdom in the Hijaz.
Perhaps these two branclies are the descendants of Hadoram
and Yarah who are mentioned among the 12 children of Joktan,
see Gen. x, 26 ff.

The 'Adnanite Arabs are those who traced their descent
from ’ A dna n back to Ismael, the son of Abraham.

The Qahtanites, who dwelt originally in the soutli  of
Arabia, were the older s točk,  and were therefore called
the Genuine or Original  Arabs. They are also known as
the Sabaeans, or Himyarites, the Yamanites or Kalbites. Those
who dwelt in the northern  half of the peninsula were of a
younger stock,  and were therefore called the modern or
naturalised  Arabs; they are also often spoken of as the
Ismaelites or 'Adnanites, and as the Ma’addites or Mudarites;
sometimes they are called the Qaysites. Of these are the
Mundhirites, who were kings in el-Hirali near the Euphrates,
and in el-’Iraq; of them also were the Emirs of the Hijaz,
see below.

Two Great Migrations of the tribes so mixed up the
Qahtanites and the 'Adnanites that they can no longer be clearly
distinguished. One of these migrations occurred at some time
between the first and the third Century B.C. The second
migration was the one which took plače during the great
Muslini conquests, in the lst and 2nd centuries after the Flight
of muhammad from Melika to Madinah.

The cause of the first migration seems to have been the
so-called Flood or In u n dat ion of 'Arini.  — 'Arini is the
name of any dam or dyke that is built across a valley to hold
back the water. The dyke here speciallv meant was built
across a valley in Yaman near the city ofMa-rib,  to store up

15

the water for watering tke plantations below it during tke drv
season. It was of very ancient date. About tke lst century
Vi.G.,  or perkaps later, i. e., in tke first cent. A.D., heavy rains
carried away tliis dam — and perkaps many otkers like it kut
not so huge and famous — tkus sweeping away ali houses,
plantations and kuman beings tkat were in tke valley below.
Many of tke survivors, linding tkemselves homeless, and witk
no water - supply for tke fields during tke coming season, aban-
doned their native valleys and migrated northwards in searck
of new komes. Tkus, after tke Flood of ’Arim, Qaktanite tribes
are found in tke north, — wliick is tke original kome of tke
Adnanites, — suck as tke Kindites in N ajd, tke Banu Lakkm
in Hira, tke Banu Grhassan near Damascus. Tke parts of
Arabia vvhich began to flourish and progress after tkis cata-
strophe were: Yaman, el-Hirak near tke Eupkrates, Hauran
soutk of Damascus, and tke Hijaz.

The Kings of Yaman: First Dynasty.

1. Qaktan, son of’Abir, a descendant of Arpkaxad, son
of Sem, son of Noak. He reigned perkaps about 1845 B.C.
If tliis be correct, he was contemporary with 'Ahmes, the first
king of the XVIth Egyptian dynasty, who drove out tke
Hyqsos. His Capital was probably at San’a in Yaman.

2. Ya’rub. He conquered Hijaz and set his brotker
Jurkum as governor over it. Ya’rub is said to have built
great palaces, and to kave raised the Arabic tongue from a
mere spoken dialect to a cultivated and written language.

3. Yashjub, a weak ruler.

4. ’Abd-Shams, surnamed Saba, was a great warrior and
conqueror. It is said tkat he invaded Egypt, returning witk
great booty and many captives. He founded Ma-rib, and made
it kis residence, built a great dam, and led the waters to it
from seventy different springs. He is said to have reigned
about 800 B.C. Others say tkat ke must kave lived at a muck
later time, about 100 BC.

16

5. Himvar. Ho founded many cities, and extended his
conquests to the far East, some say even to the borders of
China! He expelled the Thamudites from Yaman, and made
them settle in the Hijaz. It is said of him tliat he was the
tirst who composed Arabic poetry.

6. Wa-il or Wathil.

7. Saksak.

8. Ya’far.

9. On Ya’far’s death, his son el-Nu’aman was either a
minor or had not yet been born, i. e., he was a posthumous
child. So ’Amir the son of Bazan, the son of ’Auf, the son
of Himyar, usurped the throne. — 'Amir was surnamed Dhi-
riyash, because he loved to dress in fine and costly clothes.
He sought to kili the young heir to the throne, so as to bequeath
the kingdom to his own offspring. But the chiefs and nobility
of the Himyarites remained loyal to el-Nu’aman. After much
tighting between both parties, the usurper Zi-Rayash was totallv
defeated. He had ruled 10 years.

10. El-Nu’aman, the legitimate king, was a just ruler and
a wise man as well as a conqueror.

11. Asmah.

12. Shaddad, the son of’Ad, of the descendants of Saba,
was also a great conqueror who extended his conquests to the
far West.

13. Luqman, son of ’Ad, brother of No. 12.

14. Dhu-Sadad, brother of Nos. 12 and 13.

15. El-Harath or el-Harith, son of Qays, son of Šifi, son
of Saba the younger. He is the first Tubba’ king.

16. El-Sa’ab, surnamed Dhu-1-Qarnayn, i. e., the two-
horned, for he wore two plaits of his hair hanging down over
his temples. He was a great warrior and conqueror.

17. His son Abrahali, surnamed Dhu-l-Manar. He invaded
the Soudan and subdued its inhabitants. He was the first who
introduced the eustom of setting up sign-posts (manar) at the
fork of a desert road, to guide him on his way back.

17

18. Afriqush, who is said to have invaded West Africa
and to have founded a great citv somewhere on the very
confines of the inhabited world.

19. 'Amr, brother of the preceding, surnamed Dhu-l-Az'ar.
An unjust, cruel and overweening monarch. The Himyarites
threw off their allegiance to him. His reign lasted 10 years.

20. Shurahbil, son of ’Umar, son of Ghalib, son of Al-
Muntab, a descendant of al-Saksak, son of Wa-il, son of Himyar.
A just and brave ruler. He built the palače of Ghumdan,
back of Sana’a in the Yaman; a palače with many wonderful
rooms, called mihrabs, and standing seven storeys high. This
ruler’s residence was at Ma-rib, southeast of San’a; it continued
to be the residence of his successors. Shurahbil reigned 20 years.

21. El-Hadhad. Hc gave himself up to ease and luxury,
to pleasure and dissipation.

22. His daughter Balqis, Queen of Saba. Her contem-
porary was Solomon, son of David, king of the Children of
Israel. His residence was at Jerusalem. On hearing of
Solomon’s wisdom, she visited him, bringing with her rich
presents, as was the wont of royal personages. He received
her with ali due honor. During her absence, the cruel and
unjust Dhu-1-Az’ar, whom the Himyarites had ceased to obey,
found a good opportunity to gather a force and usurp the power.
On her return to Yaman, Balqis had to oppose him with force
of arms. After much fighting, in which he was the more
successful of the two, she ended by marrying him and living
with him about one month, when she succeeded in giving him
a cup of poison which brought about his death, thus leaving
her undisputed sovereign of Yaman. She ruled justly for
13 years. Tliere must have bcen two queens of this name,
one contemporary with Solomon, about 950 B.C., and another
about one century only before Christ.

23. Her paternal uncle Malik, a descendant of al-Muntab,
surnamed Nashir-un-Ni’am, for his bounty, and because he re-
established law and order. He reigned 85 years!

2

18

24. His son Shamar-Yar’ash, one of the most powerful
of Arab monarchs. He marcbed eastwards; and after invading
Southern Mesopotamia, called al-’Iraq, he subdued Persia, going
as far as the city of Safad, which the Persians ever afterwards
have called Shamar-Kand, for these words mean in their language
“Shamar has destroyed it.” Samarkand, a famous city in
Farghanah, is now under Eussian rule. It is said that in a
ruined building there, a column has been found with an in-
scription, in the musnad or Himyaritic character, which when
translated reads thus: “This did Shamar-Yar’ash set up for
the Lady of the Sun.” A door with iron plates was found
there also, having a Himyarite inscription to the effect that
the distance from Samarkand to San’a is one thousand para-
sangs. His ambition carried him further stili. On his way
to China both he and his army perished of thirst in a sandy
and waterless waste. He ruled 37 years.

25. His son Abu-Malik also thought to go to China, to
take vengeance for his father’s death at the hands of the guides
who had led him astray in the wildernesses of central Asia.
But on hearing of the existence of emerald mineš in Western
Africa, his cupidity led him in that direction, where he too
perished, together with the greater part of his army.

26. On the death of Abu-Malik, the kingdom passed out
of the hands of the descendants of Himyar, son of Saba, into
the hands of a family of the descendants of Kahlan, the brother
of Himyar. The tirst king of this branch was 'Amran son of
'Arnir of thetribe of Azd. He was a priest, divinerand soothsayer.

27. His brother, 'Amr son of ’Amir, better known in
history under the title of Muzayqia, succeeded to the power
in the year 86 (or 68) after Christ.

28. At his death the kingdom reverted again to the
Himyarite stock, namely to al-Aqran, son of Abimalik, who
reigned fifty-three years.

29. His son Dliu-Jayshan, the last of the first dynasty
of kings in Yaman. He died about 175 A.D. This line of
rulers covered a period of nearly 2020 years! So there must
be great gaps somewhere.

19

Second Dynasty of Kings in Yaman,

from 175 to 529 A.D.

1. Tubba’ First, son of el-Aqran of the brst dynasty,
ascended the throne in the year 175 after Christ. He ruled
15 years.

2. His son Malki-Karih (or Malik-Yakrib) attained to
power in 190 A.D., and reigned thirty years.

3. As’ad son of ’Amr, a descendant of Dhi-Jayshan. He
acceded to power in the 220th year of the Christian Era, and
is known as Tubba’ the Central (between two others of the
same name). To satisfy his love for war and conquest, he
brought upon the Himyarites such hardsbips and exposed the
flower of their youth to so many dangers that they killed him,
in 238 A.D. They then disagreed about his successor, but finding
none better than his son Hassan, they set him upon the throne
in his father’s stead.

4. Hassan, son of Tubba’, at once set about to seek out
and kili, one by one, those who had murdered his father, where-
by he made himself so unpopular that the Himyarites went
over to his brother ’Umar and swore allegiance to him, should
he succeed in killing his brother Hassan. The latter ruled
from 238 — 250 A.D.

5.  Wlien ’Umar assumed the power, instead of his brother
Hasslin, he was “befallen with disease, and became bed-ridden,
so that he had to give up ali thoughts of war or raiding.” He
was therefore called el-Muthaban, which in the Himyarite dialect
of the wide-spread Arabic Tongue means “the Sedentary”; for
he used to sit on a carpet. He came to power in the 250th
year of the Christian Era.

6. Then followed four kings, whose very names have
passed into oblivion and whose reigns extended till about
271 A.D.

7. At last al - Šaha obtained the. ascendancy, but ruled
only one year, from 272 — 273 A.D.

20

8. He was succeeded by ’Abd-Kalal, tlie son of Dhi-el-
A’adad, from 273— 297 A.D. 'Abd-Kalal was of the Christian
Faith, devout and of upright conduct.

9. Tubba’-Hassan, or Tubba’ the Youngest, who ruled
from 297 — 313 A.D.

10. Al-Harith son of ’Amr-Dhi-l-A’adad, whose reign
lasted from 313 — 321 A.D.

11. Marthad son of 'Abd-Kalal, from 321 — 345 A.D.

12. His son Waki’ah. An unpopular monarch, who in-
clined greatlj to the Jewish religion, but often wavered be-
tween it and Christianity. In his days the kingdom was in an
unsettled state, and severa! tribes rebelled against him. His
reign was from 345 — 370 A.D.

13. Abrahah, son of al-Šabbah, a generous and popular
sovereign. 370—399 A.D.

14. Šahban, son of Muhrith. He was brave and warlike,
and was killed in one of his raids by al-Saffah al-Taghlib! in
the battle of Hazzaz. Šahban ruled from 399 — 440 A.D.

15. Al-Šabbah, son of Abrahah, an indefatigable and
brave warrior, who sought to avenge the blood of his prede-
cessor at the hands of the tribe of Taghlib. Kulayb, of the
tribe of Wa-il, gathered ali the fighting men of the great
branch of the descendants of Ma’add son of ’Adnan, to oppose
king Sabbah son of Abrahah. After many fights al-Šabbah
was defeated. He ruled in Yaman from 440 — 455 A.D.

16. Hassan Second, or according to some historians
Abrahah son of Sabbah. He did not try to interfere with the
great tribe of Banu Ma’add, son of 'Adnan, knowing them to
be too povrerful. In his day occurred the famous war of Basus
between the Bakr and Taghlib tribes, a war that lasted olf and
on for forty years. At last ’Amr, son of Hind, brought about
peaee between them. Hassan Second ruled from 455—478 A.D.

17. Dhu-1 - Shanatir, or Dhu-1-Aqrat, Shanatir in the
Himyaritic dialect meaning the earrings, which he wore as
ornaments. He was not of direct royal descent, but came from

21

a brancli-line of princes. Being of a črnel and licentious nature,
lie was assassinated after ruling from 478 — 480 A.D.

18. Dhu-Nawas, known also by the name of Dhar’ah-ibn-
ka’ab the Himyarite, a descendant of el-Harath el-Rayish. He
used to wear his hair in long locks upon his shoulders, and
was tberefore called Dhu-Nawas. He came to power in 480 A.D.

Dhu-Nawas was once at Yathrib, where be came in
contact with some Jews, and was so pleased with their religion
tkat he embraced that Faith and took the name of Joseph.
Most of the people of Yaman followed his example. Only the
tribes of Hadramaut and Adnan did not. So he raided them,
killing nearly alk He then called upcn the Arabs to become
Jews, and whoever refused was punished. He was so much
feared that many changed their belief to escape his wrath.
But the chiefs of the Himyarites hated him and regretted having
set him upon the throne. Some of them plotted against him,
but he discovered the plot and punished them most cruelly.

When his authority became firmly established, the Jcws
induced him to invade Najran, to oppress the Christians wlio
were numerous in that region. As tliey refused to become
Jews, lie killed their king, ’Abdullah son of Tamir, and caused
a long deep trench to be dug, and tire to be kindled in it,
into which many were thrown. This trench was the famous
Ukhdud. Among the few who escaped was a chieftain called
Daus, son of Tha’alaban. He fled and took refuge with the
Negus of Abyssinia. The Negus wrote to the Emperor of the
Byzantines asking authority to send cavalry into Yaman. The
Emperor instructed the Negus to leave Daus in charge of
Abyssinia and to himself proceed at the head of his army into
Yaman and depose Dhu-Nawas the Himyaritc. The king of
Abyssinia started with fifty thousand horse. Dhu-Nawas pre-
pared to defend himself, distributed arms to his men, and
started to meet the invader. They met on the plain of ’Aden.
The Negus addressed his followers, saying that behind them
was the sea, and in front of them were the swords of Himyar,
so that their only hope was in fighting bravely for victory.

22

After a bloody battle, in whicb the Abyssinians gained the day,
the Himyarites fled and were pursued. Dhu-Nawas preferred
drowning to captivity in the Sudan; so he spurred his horse
into the sea, and was lost in the billows of the deep. He ruled
from 480 — 628 A.D.

19.  Dhu-Jadan the Himyarite then tried to oppose the
Abyssinians, but was repeatedly defeated by them. He, too, at
last sought death in the waves of the sea, after liaving led
the Himyarites for about one year, from 528 — 529 A.D.

20. Dhu Yazan the Himyarite and the father of Sayf was
the last of the Kings of Yaman of the Second Dynasty. After
him the country of Yaman came under Abyssinian rule.

The Abyssinian Dynasty in Yaman. Sayf.

The supremacy of Abyssinia over Yaman lasted from
529 to 601 A.D.

The first Abyssinian governor of Yaman, 529 — 549 A.D.,
was Aryat, the leader of the army of the Negus, and also his
cousin. Aryat favored the chiefs, the povrerful men of influence,
and oppressed the poor and the weak. This caused disatfection,
especially among the rank and file of his army. Abraha, one
of the army leaders, put himself at the head of a revolt against
Aryat the governor. In a fight between the two parties Aryat
was killed.

Abraha el-Ashram was so called on account of a rent in
his ear, or as some say because he was hare-lipped, or lastly
because one of his nostrils was slit. Both the Arabs and the
Abyssinians who were in Yaman acknowledged his authority.
He administered the affairs of Yaman from 549 to 589 A.D.
He died near Makka, whither he was proceeding with an army
for the purpose of pulling down the great temple called the
Sacred House of God. He thought that by destroying that
ancient sanctuary of the Arabs he would divest Mekka city
of its importance, and get the Arabs to perform their yearly
pilgrimage to a church he had built in the Yaman, and vould

23

thus divert the Commerce of the countrj as well as the religious
fcelings from the Hijaz to Yaman. He had in his invading
army one or more elephants.  This attempt to take Mekka
fell between the years 569—571 A.D. The year of attack is called
the Year of the Elephant.  About this time the Prophet
Muhammad was born. (See Story of the Saracens, Chapter IV.)

After Abraha had perished in the attempt to take Makka,
his son Yaqsum succeeded him, and administered the affairs
of Yaman, iinder the supremacy of the Negus of Abyssinia,
from the year 589 to 601 after Christ.

After Yaqsum’s death, his brother Masrua assumed the
administration of Yaman, in 601 A.D The people of Yaman
were not at ali pleased to see their country come more and
more under the permanent domination of the Abyssinians.
About that time Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan  the Himyarite had
grown to years of manhood. The people came to him, saying
that his grandfather Dhu-Nawas had been the cause of the
Abyssinian invasion which had turned into a permanent sub-
jugation of the land by the hated oppressors. With the aid of
the Persian king, Kusra Anushirwan (Chosroes the Europeans
call him), who furnished him with a few hundred men, Sayf
ibn Dhi Yazan drove the Abyssinians out of Yaman, after they
had held it about 70 years. (See Riwayatu-1-Aghani, II, 52.)

Sayf thus sat upon the ancient throne of his forefathers
in the palače of Ghamdan. He tlien went around to ali the
towns of his kingdom. Wherever he found any Abyssinians
secreted, Le killed them. A few only he spared, and made
them slaves to serve his person. One day, when he was out
in the desert on a hunting excursion, these enslaved Abyssinians,
about one hundred in number, surrounded him and pierced
him with a spear. Thus ended the Himyarite Dynasty of
Yamanite native rulers. He was deeply mourned throughout
Yaman, and his body was buried in the sepulchre of his an-
cestors at Šan’a. He had reigned over Yaman seven years
only. When Chosroes Anushirwan of Persia heard of Sayfs
death, he sent Wahraz son of Kamjar to be king over Yaman.

24

Thus the Persian Dynasty of the Sassanides  gained the
ascendancy in Yaman, which remained under their rule till
the year 634, ivhen the Muslims took it during the Caliphate
of Abu-Bakr.

Arab Kings in ’Iraq: Lakhmites.

They ruled over Hira and Anbar, after the great migration
of Southern Arabs caused by the flood of Arini, from 210 to
634 A.D. This dynasty is called the Mundhirs. They were
the descendants of 'TJmar the son of ’Adiy the son of Našr
the son of Babfiah, the Lakhmite, of the Southern tribe of
Lakhm. (Qahtanites.) They were governors over the Arabs
of ’Iraq, and vassals under the suzerainty of the Sassanide
Chosroes of Persia. Hira was their residence; it lay to the
southwest of the ruins of ancient Babylon, and not far from
the Euphrates river. The distance between Hira and Kufa is
about one parasang. A parasang, or farsakh, is about 3 miles.

1. The first Arab ruler over the Arabs of that region
was Malik son of Fahm of the Qahtanite Arabs. He began
to rule about the year 210 A.D. His residence was at el-
Anbar. Suleimah son of Malik killed him witk an arrow let
loose from a bow. Anbar was an old town on the Euphrates,
about ten parasangs west of the site where Bagdad was after-
wards built.

Anbar was the birthplace of Muramir son of Murrah,
the famous originator of Arabic writing, which spread thence
and was rapidly adopted by nearly ali the Arabs, first by the
Hirites and then by the Hijazites. The Quraysh Arabs said
that this form of writing was introduced from Hira into their
country by Harb son of Umayyah son of ’Abd-Shams son
of Abd-Manaf the Qurayshite. It had been introduced only
a short time before Islam.

2. Amr the son of Fahm and brother of Malik.

3. Jadhimah, the nephew of No. 2. He came to power
in 230 A.D. and resided at al-Hirah. He was surnamed el-

25

Abraš, the Leprous. Jadhimah was the brst Arab to use tbo
Manjaniq or battering-ram in war. He extended his authority
over the Sawad, i. e. the Dark Land, of the 'Iraq, over the
villages around Hira and Anbar, and over the places bordering
on the Arab Desert. (The diminutive form is Judhaimah.)

At that time the ruler over Mesopotamia and the Upper
Euphrates Valley was ’Amr the son of al-Zarb, the son of
Hassan the Amalekite. 'Amr and Jadhimah were constantlv
figliting one another. At last ’Amr was defeated and killed
by Jadhimah. Na-ilah, the daughter of 'Amr, succeeded her
father and resided in a palače she had built on the bank of the
Euphrates. She was called al-Zabba, because of the profusion
of her hair. Wishing to avenge her father’s death, she sent
messages to Judhaimah offering him her hand (in marriage).
He fell into this trap and came to her, whereupon she killed
him. The three above - mentioned kings were descendants of
Kahlan. See pp. 8, 9.

4. The kingdom then passed over to 'Amr the son of
'Adiy, and to his descendants after him, of the tribe of Bani
Lakhm. 'Amr’s mother was the sister of Judhaimah, and he
succeeded his uncle on the mother’s side, in 268 A.D. He
reigned 33 years.

5. Al-Qays the First, son of 'Amr, succeeded his father
in 301 A.D. His mother was Maria of the Azd tribe. Reign,
about 33 years.

6. 'Amr Second, son of al-Qays, succeeded his father in
334 A.D. He was a poet.

7. The kingdom then passed, in 369 A.D., to Aus son of
Qallam the Amalekite.

8.  It then came back, in 374 A.D., to Imri-1-Qays Second,
the son of 'Amr Second.

9. In the year 400 after Christ, al-Na’aman First, sur-
named the One-eyed, succeeded his father Imri-1-Qays II. Al-
Na’aman built the palače of al-Khawarnaq near al-Krifa, and
the palače called Qašru-l-dayr in the 'Iraq. He invaded Syria
several times, carrying away great booty and many captives.

26 —

10. Al-Mundhir, son of al-Na’aman, čarne to power in
430 A.D. His mother was Hind tlie daughter of Dhid-manat
tlie Ghassanite. The Ghassanite kings, near Damascus, will
be mentioned hereafter.

11. Al-Aswad, son of al-Mundhir, succeeded his father
in 473 A.D. He defeated the Bani-Ghassan, took their king
and several princes captive, and killed most of tihem, in revenge
for his cousin, whom they had killed. His reign lasted 20 years.

12. Al-Mundhir, son of al-Mundhir, son of al-Na’aman
the One-eyed. He was the brother of al-Aswad. 493 A.D.

13.  ’Alqamah al-Dhumaili. He was one of the descendants
of Lachm.

14.  Al-Na’aman II., about 500 A.D.

15.  Abu-Ja’afar, about 504 A.D.

16. Imri-1-Qays III., son of al-Na’aman son of Imri-1-Qays
the Muharriq, succeeded to the throne in 507. He raided the
tribes of Bani-Bakr, particularly in the fight called “yaum
awarah”, in their own regions. This king built the fortress
called al-Sinbarr. About this time Christianity had spread
greatly in Persia and in ’Iraq.

17.  Al-Mundhir son of Imri-1-Qays III. His mother
is said to have been the daughter of Rabfah the Taghlibite,
and the sister of Kulayb and Muhalhal. She was called Ma-
il - Sama for her great beauty; and he is better known as the
son of Ma-il-Sama. He succeeded his father in 520 A.D.

18.  Al-Harith son of ’Amr son of Hijr the Kindite came
to power in 523 A.D. He is the king who said: “nahnu
naqsimn bayna-l-nasi wa naruddu ’ala-l-fuqara-i huquqahum
mina-l-aghniya-i,” which means that he was one of those just
rulers who would not let the rich deprive the poor of their rights.

19. ’Amr son of al-Mundhir seized the power in 564. He
raided the Bani-Tamim. This king brought about peace be-
tween the Tribes of Bakr and Taghlib, after they had nearly
destroyed each other in the weary wars known as the War of

27

Basus, whicli will be spoken of later on. He was afterwards
killed by ’Amr, the son of Kalthum tlie Taghlibite, and was
sncceeded by

20. His brother, Qabus son of al-Mundhir, in the year 576;
a weak and dissipated prince who ruled 8 years and was mur-
dered by a man of the Bani Yashkur.

21. Al-Mundhir IV came to povver in 584 A.D.

22.  His son al-Na’aman, 588 A.D., surnamed Abu-Qabus,
was a man of mean stature and florid complexion, as well as
of a bad and vindictive temper. He killed the “Scourge of the
Arabs” in the battle of yaum Busah. The Scourge of the Arabs
was the surname of ’Ubayd the son of el-Abraš of the Azdites.
He favored Christianity and built many churches. Abrawayz
Chosroes caused al-Na’-aman to be put to death, for the latter
had killed ’Adiy, the son of Zayd of the ’Abbady tribe, the
interpreter of king Chosroes the Persian betvveen the Arabs
and Persians. The killing of al-Na’aman gave rise to the War
of Dhi-Qar between the Arabs and the Persians, a war which
began soon after the appearance of Islam. Al-Na’aman ruled
in Traq 22 years.

23. After al-Na’aman was killed, Abrawiz Chosroes king
of Persia appointed in his stead, at Hira, one named Ayas the
son of Qabišah of the tribe of Tay. This was about 611 A.D.
Ayas was a man of high birth in his tribe. His poems are
nearly ali epic and heroic in nature.

24.  Dharawayh, in 617 A.D. During his time the War
of Dhi-Qar broke out, in wbich the Arabs defeated the Persians
and put Dharawayh to flight, thus bringing back the dominion
to the former rightful owners; and thereupon

25.  Al-Aswad, son of Mundhir the brother of king al-
Na’aman, assuined the power. During his time a certain man
named al-Harath son of Kildah of the Thaqif tribe became very
popular as a physician. He had learned medicine from some
persons in Persia.

26. Al-Mundhir V, son of al-Na’aman, surnamed al-
Maghrur, i. e. the Beguiled or Deluded, acceded to power in

28

634 A.D., and continued to rule over el-Hira till ho was killcd
atBahrayn in the battleof Ju-atha. He is the last oftheLakhmite
kings (who were the vassals of the Persian Chosi'oes) of the
Arabs in the ’Iraq. After him Khalid son of Walid became
the governor, under the banner of Islam.

The Arab Kings of Ghassan, near Damascus.
Duration of their Kingdom: from 37 to 636 A.D.

The Ghassanites were Arab kings who ruled over a part
of Syria. They came originally from Yaman, and were descended
from Qahtan, tracing their descent back through the two closely-
related tribes of Aus and Khazraj. The flood of ’Arim was the
immediate cause of their migration towards the north-west and
final settlement in the regions of Hauran and Balqa. They took
possession of a well-watered spot near Damascus, called Ghassan,
whence the name by which they are best known in Arab
history. After a time they subdued a part of Syria, driving
out the petty kings, or muluk-al-tawa-if, of Šalih, known as
the Daja’imah. The latter were descendants of Nizar, son of
Ma’add, and of Fihr son of Malik, or of Qalammas son of ’Amir,
and thus traced their descent to the kings of al-Hijaz and
Tihamah. That is to say that Southern Qahtanides drove out
northern 'Adnanites. There were 32 Ghassanite that is to say
Mazinid kings, as follows.

1. Jafnah, a descendant of Muzayqia, overcame the Daja’imah
kings and established his authority over a part of Syria. He
erected several monuments in Damascus. This king ruled from
37 — 87 A.D.

2.  ’Amr, his son, from 87 —104 A.D.

3.  Tha’alabah, son of ’Amr, from 104 —124 A.D. He
built the tower or pavilion of Ghadir, on the borders of Hauran,
near el-Balqa.

4.  Al-Harith, son of Tha’alabah, from 124 — 134 A.D.

29 —

5. Jabalah, son of el-Harith, from 134—144. He built
al - Qanatir and Adruh and Qastal in the Laja.

6. Al-Harath, son of Jabalah, 144—147. His mother
was Maria wbo owned the pair of earrings so renowned for their
beautj and great value. His residenee was in the region called
Balqa. To him is ascribed the founding of the city of al-Hafir
and the building of the water-reservoir near it.

7. Al-Mnndhir-al-akbar, son of al-Harath, from 147 to
162 A.D.

8. Al-Na’aman, brother of the preceding, from 162 to
175 A.D.

9. Al-Mundhir the Younger, brother of the tvvo preceding,
from 175—209 A.D.

10. Jabalah II, from 209—212 A.D.

11. Al-Ayham, from 212—238 A.D.

12. ’Amr II assumed the power in 238 A.D. He built
several palaces in Damascus and its dependencies. These palaces
were of unrivalled beauty.

13. Jafnah the Younger, son of al-Mundhir the Senior (or
Greater), acceded to power in 268. This is the Ghassanite king
who burned the city of al-Hira and was for that reason sur-
named “al-Mukriq”.

14. Al-Na’aman the Younger, son of al-Mundhir the
Senior, in 269 A.D.

15. Al-Naaman, son of 'Amr son of al-Mundhir, in 296 A.D.
He built the palače of Suwayda, now the Capital of the Jabal-
ul-Duruz. His father, ’Amr, was not of the royal family, but
of a noble House.

16. Jabalah, son of the preceding, succeeded his father
in 312. He was fond of passing part of the year at Saffin,*
not far from the Lake of Tiberias. This king is the hero of
the battle called ‘yaum ’ain abagli’, in which he defeated the
Bani Lakhm and Bani Nizar.

* Perhaps Safed.

30

17. The royal dignity then passed over in 334 A. D. to
al-Na’aman Fourth, son of al-Ayham son of al-Harath.

18. His brother, al-Harath III son of al-Ayham, 371 A.D.

19. Al-Na’aman, son of al-Harath III, followed after his
father in 389. He repaired the water - reservoirs at Rašafah,
which had been broken up by one of the Lakhmite kings of
al - Hira.

20. His son al-Mundhir, 408 A.D.

21. His brother ’Amr Third, 441 A.D.

22. His brother Hijr, 453 A.D.

23. Al-Harath, son of Hijr, 479 A.D.

24. Jabalah son of al-Harath, from 496 — 517 A.D.

25. Al-Harith, son of Jabalah, in the year 517. This
king defeated the Bani-Kinanah. He resided sometimes at Jabiah
and sometimes at 'Amman in the region now called al-Balqa.
He often fought the Arab tribes and made raids upon them.
Owing to his fondness for giving gifts, he was entitled al-
Wahhab = the Bounteous. It is said that there were more
poets at his Court than at the Court of any other king of that
period. The famous poet Hassan son of Thabit the Anšari was
strongly attached to king al-Harith and composed many verses
in his praise. Reign 37 years.

26. His son al-Na’aman, entitled Abu-Karib, and also
al-Qattam, succeeded his father in 554 A.D. He was a just,
brave and bountiful monarch, was fond of learning and favored
the learned more than the noble among his subjects. He is
said to have been a zealous propagator of the Christian Faith.
This king was killed in a raid in the year 581.

27. Al-Ayham son of Jabalah son of al-Harath succeeded
the forcgoing in 581. He took possession of Tadmor (Palmyra)
in the Desert, and built Qasr Barakah in the Laja, and Dhat-
amnar.

28. His brother al-Mundhir IV in 594.

29. His brother Shurahil in 616.

30. His brother 'Amr IV in 629.

31. Jabalah V, a nephew of No. 30, in 633.

31

32. The last of tlie Ghassan Dynasty was Jabalah son
of al-Ayham son of Jabalah. He succeeded Jabalah Fifth in
636 A.D. This is the ruler who founded the town of Jabalah,
on the coast of Syria, between Tripoli and Latakia. He accept-
ed the Muslini Faith, in the days of the Khalifah ’Hmar son
of al-Khattab, at the conquest of Syria, and then went on a
pilgrimage to Makka, accompanied by two hundred of his friends
and followers. On approaching al-Madinah he put the crown
upon his head, and decked the horses’ necks with gold and silver
chains. When the Khalifah 'Umar heard of his approach, he met
him with a large party and treated him with great honor. On
the day of the tawaf, which is the ceremony of going around
the Ka’abah seven times, and while Jabalah was performing these
circumambulations of the House, a man of the tribe of Fizarah
stepped on the edge of his wrapping-sheet, whicli was thus
loosened and fell ofif. Jabalah was so vexed that he hit the
Fizarite a blow and broke his noše. The Fizarite seized hold of
him and dragged him before ’Umar, the blood from the noše
streaming down the Fizarite’s face. 'Umar said to Jabalah:
“Thou hast thy choice: either that the man hit thee as thou
didst hit him, or that thou make amends for the blow with
money.” Jabalah said to 'Umar: “Is not kingdom (or royalty)
higher in your estimation than [camel-] driving?”—• 'Umar
replied: “Not at ali; both are one before the law” (or botli are
one as to their rights). Jabalah was so displeased that when
night came on he gathered his followers and went to Syria,
and thence to the Emperor of Byzantium.

Most of the Ghassan rulers were vassals of the Byzantine
Emperors; whereas most of the kings of 'Iraq were vassals of
the Persian kings or Chosroes and ruled at Hira. This is why
both were forced so often to take part in the wars that were
repeatedly waged between the Byzantines and Romans on the
one side, and the Persians on the other.

32

The Qahtanide Tribe of Kindah founded a Kingdom
in Naj d which lasted from 450 to 530 A.D.

Arab Kings of Kindah in Kaj d. They ruled over Najd
and Hijaz from 450 — 530 A.D.

1. Hijr son of’Amr entitled akil-ul-murad. His pedigree
vvas traced back to Kahlan son of Saba. Before Hijr, the Banu
Kindah had no king over them, and the weak vvere a prey to
the strong. But he established lavv and order, and reigned 20 years.

2. His son ’Amr, surnamed al-Maqšur, because he limited
himself to his father’s kingdom and did not go beyond it, reigned
a long time and was finally murdered by al-Harath son of
Shamar the Ghassanite.

3. Al-Harath, son of the foregoing. He vvas killed in the
Valley of Mušhulan by the tribe of Banu-Kalb. Before his death,
al-Harath had set up his five sons over the Arab Tribes: his
son Hijr over Banu Asad and Ghatafan; his son Shurahbil, who
vvas killed at the Battle of Kulab, over ali the tribes descended
from Bakr son of Wa-il; his son Ma’adi-Karib over the tribes
of Banu Taghlib, of al-Nimr son of Qasit and Sa’ad son of Zayd-
Manat, and also over the clans of Banu Darim and of al-Šaqa-ia’;
his son 'Abdullah over the Banu-’abdi-l-qays; and his son
Salamah over the Banu Qays. Hijr ruled despotically, exacting
such heavv contributions that the Banu Asad rebelled while
he was absent in Tihamah, which is an extensive region between
the Ilijaz and the northern borders of Yaman. He marched
against the rebels with a force consisting of men from the tribe
of Rabfah and of an army gathered for him by his brother.
He defeated them, confiscated their goods, and made them
remove to Tihamah. Two men of note were taken captive by
him, namely 'Ariir son of Mas’ud the Asadite, vvho vvas the
chief of his tribe, and ’Ubayd the son of al-Abraš, the famous
poet. Thereupon ali the Asad clans united and went off to meet
Hijr, who was coming against them vvith the men of Banu
Kindah. The two parties met and fought betvveen two hills called
to this day the hills of Hujr. Hijr vvas killed and the Banu
Kindah lost ali power.

33

Various Other Arab Kings.

1. ’Umar or 'Amr the son of Lahi, of the descendants
of Kahlan son of Saba, was a famous king in the Hijaz during
the Period of Ignorance. The Khuža’a tribe traced their de-
scent from him. He came to power in the year 207 after
Christ. It is said that he introduced idols into Mekka, having
brought them from Syria and set them up in the Sacred House,
thus encouraging the people to worship them. One of these
idols vvas the statue of a man, and was called Asaf. Another
was the tigure of a woman, and was called Na-ilah. 'Amr
placed tliese two idols on the hills of Safa and Marwa near
Makka, and used to slaughter the sacrifices near them, opposite
the Kaabah. 'Amr denied the resurrection of the Dead and
the Judgment Day, and used to say: “ Hayatun, thumma
mautun, thumma hashrun: hadithu zurafatin ya umma 'Amri.”

2. Another Arab king was Zuhayr son of al-Habbab
the Kal bite, who was entitled the Priest (or Seer), because of
his correct judgment. He was fortunate in his wars and raids.
Once he went and paid a visit to Abraha al-Ashram, who
honored him above ali the Arabs, and appointed him to be
emir over the tribes of Bakr and Taghlib. (See p. 22.)

3. Kulayb, son of RabPah son of al-Harath, was the Chief
of the Rabi’a tribe, who never moved their encampments, or
set up new ones, but at his connnand. He became so haughty
and overbearing that none durst graze his cattle where Kulayb
had reserved the pasture for his own; and none durst hunt
wild animals on his reserves. The sign or mark of a reserve
or p reserve was a small howling dog at each end of the land.
Kulayb was at last murdered by Jassas son of Murrah of the
Bakr tribe, and this gave rise to the famous war of Basus
betvveen the Banu Bakr and Rabfah. (See p. 36.)

4. Al-Muhalhil, son of Rabi’ah, and brother of Kulayb,
is so famous as one of the heroes in the Basus wars, which
lasted off and on for forty years, that his name need only be
mentioned here. (See p. 37.)

34

5. Zuhayr, son of Jadhimah son of Rabfah of the tribe
of 'Abs, lived and led his people about 564 after Christ. He
was killed in an attack tbat he made upon the tribes of
Ghanavvivvin, Hawazin, and Bani-’amir.

6. Qays, son of Zuhayr of the 'Abs tribe, was one of
the great Arab warriors. He succeeded his father (No. 5);
wishing to avenge the death of the latter, he gathered a large
force from among the tribes allied to his own and attacked
the Banu-’amir. But failing to overcome them, he was content
to remain quiet in his own regions until the outbreak of hosti-
lities, between the Banu-'Abs and the Banu-Fizarah, which
arose out of the horse-races. (The horses Dahis and Grhabra.)
He is said to have been a Christian. (See p. 38.)

The Hijaz was from the earliest times under the dominion
of Qahtanide kings, descended from Jurhum, the second son
of Qahtan. The following is a list of the names of The Kings
of al-Hijaz, who were descendants of Jurhum:

1. Jurhum, son of Qahtan, the first king of the Hijaz
after it was conquered by Ya’rub.

2. 'Abd-ya-lil, son of Jurhum.

3. Judsham, son of 'Abdyalil.

4. 'Abdu-l-Madan, son of Judsham.

5. Nughaylah or Nuqaylah, son of No. 4.

6. 'Abdu 1-Masih, son of No. 5.

7. Fudad, son of No. 6.

8. 'Amr, son of Fudad.

9. Al-Harith.

10. 'Amr, son of No. 9.

11. Bishr.

12. Mudad, son of 'Amr, son of Fudad. See page 8.

After the decease of Mudad, the last king of the Jur-

humite Dynasty, the Hijaz was ruled by a line of kings from
the tribe of Q,uda’ah, one of the descendants of Qahtan. Their
names are lost. But it is known that they were theKeepers
or Guardians of the Ka’abah  down to about 406 after

35

the Christian Era, whereupon the guardianship of that aneient
temple passed over to Qušayy of the Banu Quraysh. This
Qušayy was the tifth forefather of the Prophet. He it was who
greatly enlarged Makka and raised it to importance among
the cities of Arabia. (See p. 9.)

The Einirs who ruled over Hijaz, after the Dynasty of
Quda’ali, were of the descendants of Isma’il, the son of Abra¬
ham the Hebrew. The first of them was 'Adnan,  whose
pedigree (through 40 generations) goes back to Isma’il. The
following are their names with the dates of their accession to
the dignity of emir in Hijaz:

Common Bonds of Union.

The Arabs were divided into Branches and subdivided
into tribes and clans, into stocks and families, and were widely
scattered over a pcninsula six times the size of France; notwitk-
standing this they were more or less held together, much like the

3 *

36

ancient Greeks, by a common language and by common rites
of religion, ceremonies, and customs. These points of common
union, wbich had in tkem the germs for the future revolution
and religious reform that were to unite the whole nation, were:

fir stly,  the ancient custom of pilgrimage to the time-
honored Ka’abah;

secondly,  the four months wherein warfare was for-
bidden;

thirdly,  the great fairs, such as the fairs of’Ukaz and
of Dhi-l-Majaz, the fair of Mijannah and others, to which the
Arabs came from the remotest corners of the land, to trade, to
recite poems, and to emulate one another in feats of strength;

fourthly  the great spread of Judaism and Christianity,
side by side with the idolatry of the earliest times;

fifthly  the introduction of the inspired or revealed books
of those two religions; and

lastly  a language, which, however diversified by dialectic
ditferences, was in its main features a purely Semitic and
thoroughly organic development of a homogeneous and indige-
nous speech, free from foreign influence.

The Character of the Arabs, and their Customs
and Usages  must be here passed over in silence, for want
of space and lack of time. (Cf. the Arabic original.)

The Wars of the Ancient Arabs deserve mention, for
they formed the subject of many a heroic tale and poem that
to this day are among the finest specimens of Arabic Literature,
although they were not collected and reduced to writing till
long after the spread of Islam. The wars were generally called
Battle-Days, and were designated by the name of the plače
where  the fights took plače. Of the 1700 Battle-Days mention-
ed by the historian Abu-l-Faraj, of Ispahan, two only can be
here given.

1. The BasusWar,  between Bakr and Taghlib, which
lasted forty years, counted an innumerable number of fights.
Both opposing parties were 'Adnanite tribes. It lasted from
490—530 A.D., and arose out of the murder of Kulayb, son

37

of Rabfiah, in the following mannor. Al-Basus, the aunt of
Jassas, who killed Kulayb, was of the Tamim. Her neighbor
was Sa’ad son of Shammar of the Banu-Jarm. This neighbor
had a she-camel which he called Sarab. Kulayb had reserved
a piece of grazing-land. Sa’ad’s she-camel Sarab one day
vvandered, while grazing, into Kulayb’s preserve; so he shot
her with an arrow, whereupon she ran off to her master’s tent
bleeding profusely. When Sa’ad saw his wounded camel, he
cried aloud. His neighbor, the woman al-Basus, ran out of
the tent and said, in v e r s e, that Jassas was a coward who
could not defend his own, much less could he protect a poor
man who was his neighbor. Jassas said to her: “Woman,
to-morrow shall a h e - c a m e 1 be killed much greater than thy
neighbor’s she-camel.” Kulayb had a fine he-camel called
’Ulayyan; so when he heard of this threat, he laughed with
scorn. But Jassas watched Kulayb and followed him one day.
Al - Harath, son of Ka’ab, suspecting mischief, followed him;
but on approaching he found Kulayb already wallowing in his
own blood, and was met by Jassas, who ran up to him and
then ran off to his own father’s tent. The father, seeing his
son out of breath and greatly excited, asked him what was
wrong. He replied: “I have just dealt a blow that will make
ali the old hags of the Wa’il tribe dance the funeral wake.” —
“What is it?” — “I have killed Kulayb!” — “Woe be to thee,
thou hast thereby but bereaved thine own mother.” (See p. 33.)

They at once prepared to defend themselves against the
avengers, who would surely come. When the murder of Kulayb
became known throughout the tribe of Wa-il, his brother al-
Muhalhil, one of the bravest of the Arabs, undertook to avenge
this outrage and take revenge upon the Banu Bakr. Ali the
Taghlibite warriors joined him; and thereupon ensued the long
war of el-Basus, with its many fights, in which al-Muhalhil
was generally the victor, he not being thoroughly defeated but
at the battle of al -’Aqabah, on which day he was taken captive.
After 40 years of hostilities, the two parties had nearlv extirpated
one another; whereupon ’Amr, son of Hind, the king of the

38

Arabs, intervened and got them to make peace. (See No. 19,
p. 26.) Manj heroic poems and tales arose out of this war.

2. The War of the Horse-race  was between Banu ’Abs
and Banu Fizarah. It arose thus. Dahis was a full-blooded
horse belonging to Qays son of Zuhayr, the Chief of the Banu
'Abs; and al-Ghabra was an equally noble mare belonging to
Hudhayfah son of Badr, the Chief of the Banu Fizarah. Qur-
wash son of Hani the 'Absite, and Hamal son of Badr made
a bet or wager on the two steeds respectively, and sent them
to the racing-ground. Hamal had secretly put Zuhayr son of
'Amr the Fizarite to lie in ambush along the race-course, so
that if the horse Dahis should outrun the mare, the hidden
man was to jump up and make the horse shy, thus allowing
the mare al-Ghabra to eome in first. Ali this did take plače,
as was pre-arranged. There ensued between both parties a
great discussion over the foul play, and the quarrel grew into
a bloody war which lasted from 568 to 608 A.D. At last
the 'Abs and the Fizarah tribes made peace. But Qays separ-
ated himself from the Banu 'Abs, went off to the region of
'Amman, near Jarash and 'Amman, and there turned Christian.
This war too is the subject of heroic poems and tales. (See p. 34.)

The Armies of the Arab kings must be here passed over
in silence, for want of space. (Cf. the Arabic original.)

The Religion of the Arabs was chiefly Sabaeism, or the
worship of the heavenly bodies; and Idolatry, or the sacrifice
of olferings to statues and idols.

Himyar worshipped the Sun.

Kinanah specially revered the Moon.

Mišam worshipped the five stars in Taurus.

Lakhm and Jadharn worshipped the planet Jupiter.

Tayy worshipped the constellation Canopus.

Qays worshipped the Dogstar, Sirius.

Asad worshipped the planet Mercury.

Thaqif worshipped a house, on the top of a palm-tree,
which they called Allat. This house was near the town of
al-Ta-if. There are 2 Ta-ifs, one in Hijaz and one in Yaman.

39

Ghatafan worshipped al-’Uzza, an Arabian idol, or perhaps
the planet Venus, which they call al-Zuharah. This goddess
was worshipped under the form of a Sant-tree, the Acacia
Kilo ti ca.

Quda’ah and Hudhayl worshipped Manat, which was a
great stone or altar for sacrifices.

Banu Kalb worshipped Wadda under the form of a statue
having the shape of a man. Perhaps this was the personiiication
of the vast expanse of the heavens. Cf. the Egyptian Neit.

Hamdan worshipped Sawwa’, which seems to have been
a female goddess.

Midhaj worshipped the god Baghuth under the form of
a lion.

Banu Murad worshipped Ya’uq under the form of a horse.

Himyar worshipped the eagle as well as the sun.

Havrazin and Auf worshipped an idol which they called

Jihad.

Bakr and Taghlib worshipped an idol called Awal, which
was also the idol of the Banu Daus.

The idol called al-Hubal al-akbar, which stood on the
Ka’abah, was the greatest of ali the gods in the times of
Ignorance. This statue stood on the roof of the Ka’abah.

Other gods were:

Isaf, an idol on Jabal al-Safa.

Na-ilah, an idol on Jabal al-Marwah.

Ya-layl and Madan were other gods or idols.

Habhah or Habhabah was a large holy altar on which
camels were sacriflced.

Nušub (plural Anšab) was the name given to many idols,
statues or altars, set up for worship or sacrifice, to which
the Arabs brought presents, offerings, and sacrifices.

The House at Mekka, and the Ka’abah in it, were filled
with idols and statues, among which were the statues of Abra¬
ham and his son Ishmael, holding the arrows for divination
(knowing what would happen).

40

The Black Stone was worshipped in the Days of
Ignorance; but since Islam it is only thought to be a means
for obtaining the blessing of the one true Grod.

The ancient Arabs used to perform the pilgrimage to the
House in the stated month,  and the TJmrah, or visit, at
any time  of the year: they also performed the tawaf seven
times, the ceremony of circumambulating the Ka’abah; and
they ran between Safa and Marwah. They also “stood in
waiting” for orders, which is the act called talbiyah, &c., &c.
They also ali respected the four sacred months in which it
was not lawful to fight; except the tribes of Tayy and Khath'am
and the Banu Harath son of Ka’ab, who observed none of these
rites and ceremonies, not even the pilgrimage.

Quraysh used to keep the 'Ashura before the Islamic times.

Many of the Arab tribes around al-Hira became Christian-
ised. Indeed both Christianity and Judaism were quite pre-
valent in many parts of Arabia.

Language and Literature of the Arabs.

What we now call the Arabic Language was at first
confined to the n ort h er n half of the peninsula; in the Southern
half the people spoke other dialects (Minaean, Sabaean and
Himyaritic) vvdiich, though akin to the Arabic, differed from it
in several respeets.

The Arabic language is one of the finest languages of
o ur globe, and this in two respeets;—first as regards the
richness of its vocabulary; and se c on d as regards the fullness
of its literature.

As to the vocabulary, any dictionary will show the wealth
of the Arabic tongue in root-words; and any grammar will set
forth the almost endless forms of derivative words that can be
birilt, both in the noun and in the verb, from the simple root-
word. The lexicographer, the late Butros Bustani, used to say:
from 7,000 to 13,000 roots, and from 80,000 to 120,000 de-
rivatives.

41

As to the literature, the number and importance of the
Works stili extant, in the Arabic language, on almost every
branch of human knovvledge, as well as the collections of poems
and “beli e s lettres”, are so great that one is bewildered
by a mere reference to the lists (or fihrists)  of the authors
and the titles of the books. This subject will be more fully
dealt with later on under the respective dynasties.

The Arabic is a Semitic tongue. To this great Family of Languages

belong:

I. The southera group:

North Arabic, or ’Adnanite;

South Arabic, or Sabaean or Himyaritic;

Ethiopic, or Geer;

II. The northern group:

Canaanaean:

Hebrew; Phoenician;

Assyrian and Babylonian;

Aramaean, comprising Syriac, and many other dialects.

The Arabic, until about the year 650 after Christ, was
the speech of the 'Adnanite tribes. But about 30 years after
the Flight, it spread, by and through the conquests of the
Muslims, over nearly ali the countries that were taken by the
Arabs. The Qahtanite form of Arabic, called the Himyaritic,
has almost wholly disappeared; and if stili spoken, is to be found
only among the people of Mahrab, betvveen Hadramaut and
TJman. Inscriptions in the Himyaritic character are found on
stones and columns in the ruins throughout Hadramaut and
Yaman. This character the Arabs call al-khatt-al-musnad.
Perhaps it is the language of the lost  Arab tribes. The
Quraysh dialect of the Northern or 'Adrian ite Arabic Language
has, since the Muslim conquests, prevailed over ali other forms
of Arabic Speech.

Writing. It is not known exactly at what time writing
was first used by the 'Adnanites. So much is, however, cer-
tain, namely that shortly before Islam the ’Adnanites used the
characters which had been for some time prevalent at Hira
among the Arab kings of Traq. The Arab historians say that

— 42

the one who first “invented” Arabic Writing was Muramir son
of Murrah the Anbarite (al-Anbar, an ancient town on the
Euphrates, ten parasangs north-west of Bagdad); and that he
had taken it or modified it from the Himyarite Musnad cha-
racter then in use among the Lakhmites, who were of the
Southern Qahtanite Stock. From Anbar it spread to Hira.
The Arab historians further say that Harb son of Umayyah
son of ’Abd-Shams son of ’Abd-Manaf of the Quraysh had gone
to Hira, whence he returned to the Hijaz and to Makka,
bringing with him the writing he had there learned. Others
say that the first who wrote  Arabic were the Yamanite tribe
of Hud, and that the characters they used were the Himyarite
Musnad, in which each letter stood alone and unjoined,
and that they did not teaeh it to the masses, but confined it to
the privileged Few; but that at last Muramir, son of Murrah,
and two others of the tribe of Tayy, learned it; and after
modifying it more or less, called it “al-jazm”, because it was
‘juzima’ or abbreviated from the Himyarite Musnad character;
that these three men then taught it to the people of Anbar, whence
it spread throughout Arabia. After the Muslim conquests and
the founding of Bušrah and Kufa, this writing was called the
Kufic.  It was devoid of vowels and dots. These vowels
and dots, or diacritical points as they are called in grammar,
were first introduced (perhaps in imitation of the Hebrew and
Syriac diacritical points) into Arabic writing by al-Aswad-
al-Du-ali during the time of Mu’awiyah. It is said that the
use of dots and double dots was introduced in the days of
’Abdul-Malik son of> Marawan by Našr son of ’Asim, to avoid
ambiguity.

The Musnad  is a very ancient writing whose origin
is unknown; it may. possibly have been derived from the
Phoenician, or from some Indian character.

The Literature of the Arabs in the Days of Ignorance
was mostly poetry and very little prose. The poetry was
recited “from mouth to mouth and ear to ear”. The poems found
among the tribe of Rabfiah (i. e., Wa-il) have for their subject

43

the wars, between Bakr and Taghlib, that arose out of the affair
of the woman called Basus. The poems current among the
Qays people have for their subject the wars and combats be-
tween 'Abs and Fizarah that started out of the race between
the horse Dahis and the mare G hab ra. What has been pre-
served to our day of those heroic and epic poems is contained
in the collection called Jamharat-ul-’Arab which was made by
Ibn Durayd, and in the book called al-Aghani 1-il-Ispahani, or
also in the book called al-’Iqd-al-farld 1-ibn 'Abd-Rabbu; in
the book gathered by al-Maidani which he took mostly frorn
the author called al-Mufaššal; in a book written by Ibn-l-Athir;
in another book by al-Nuwayri; and lastly in the great collec¬
tion called al-Hamasah. In Ibn-1 -Athir’s book, that of al-Nu-
wairi, and the collection called al-Hamasah there are other poems
also, relating to the wars between the Byzantines and Persians,
namely the wars between Chosroes Anushirwan and the Emperor
Justinian in which the Arab kings of Hira and Ghassan were
involved. (See bottom of p. 31.)

The oldest  Arabic literature that has come down to
our day are the proverbs of Luqman.* These are prose with
rime but without poetical measure. The n e x t oldest specimens
we stili possess of Arabic literature are the poems of t,wo men,
namely 'Amir son of Hulays and the younger Muraqqash.

The most famous of the poets of the period of
Ignorance  are those who flourished during the 6th century
after Christ (from 501—600); they are: Imri-1-Qays; Tarafah
son of 'Abd the Bakrite; al-Harith son of Hilizzah; 'Umar son
of Kulthum; 'Anatarah the 'Absite; Zuhayr son of Abi-Salma;
Labid son of Rabi'ah; al-Nabighah-al-Dhubyani; A’asha Qays;
al-Muhalhal; 'Ubayd son of al-Abraš; and Umayya son of
Abi-Šalt. Ali were poets of the highest class.

Yaqut says, in his book called al-mu’ajam, that the poems
of the Arabs were of different kinds (according to the measure
and the nature of the subject), such as the following:

* This is doubtful; for some suppose them to have been in faet vvritten
by a monk. (See No. 13, p. 16.)

44

The Šumut; — the Mujamharat;— the Muntaqayat; — the Mudhah-
habat; — the Mashubat; — the Malhamat; — and the Marathi or Lamentations.

The Other, but less celebrated poets of the 6th cent
(501—600) after Christ, were about 15 in number.

The book entitled al - Muzhir says that the poems known
as al-mu’allaqat, were written on Coptic linen or papvrus in
golden ink; that they used to be hung up on the walls of the
Ka’abah. Each mu’allaqah was the best poem which the poet
had composed. They were considered so eloquent that for
about 150 years they were revered as sacred, until the higher
eloquence of the Qur-an threw them into the shade. The
authors of the mu’allaqat are seven: see below.

The most celebrated Meeting Plače  of the Arabs for
poetical and literary intercourse was the Suq or Fair of ’Uk;iz.
It was a fair for trade and barter, held in a desert plain be-
tween the towns of Nakhlah and al-Ta-if, beginning on tbe
new moon of Dhi-1 -Q,i’adah and lasting from 20 to 30 days.
Arabs from ali parts and of ali tribes resorted to it, some for
buying and selling, some for racing and feats of strength, and
others for emulation in poetry or the recital of heroic tales
concerning their great battle-days, and the like. Their kings,
chieftains and warriors would appear, the multitude would
assemble, the poet would ascend a raised spot and recite his
most eloquent production, and so on, one poet after another.
Al-Nabighah al-Dhibyani was the umpire as to who should
speak first and who next, &c.

Poets of the First Rank.  Imri-1-Qays, the great
poet, was one of the kings of Kindah. His name means “the
man of strength”. His famous mu’allaqah opens with the strophe:
Qifa nabki &c. Hujar his father, was king over the Bani-
Asad and was killed treacherously. Imri-1-Qays then fled and
sought the aid of the Byzantine Emperor, but the latter did
not help him. He died, on his way back from Constantinople,
near Jabal 'Assib, in 538 A.D. (See No. 3, p. 32.)

45

Tarafah son of ’Abd was a Bakrite. He was also one
of tlie poets of tke first rank. He was born at Bahrayn. His
great mu’allaqah rhymes on the syllable di; tke opening stropke
runs tkus: li-kkawlatin atlalun, &c.

His sister, called Khirnaq, was also a great poetess.
Tarafah was killed by ’Amr son of Hind for having composed
a satire upon kis brotker Qabus. Tkis was akout 70 years before
tke appearance of Islam, i. e., in 552 A.D. (See No. 20, p. 27.)

Al-Harith son of Hilizzah of tke Yaskkar tribe. His
mu’allaqak opens tkus: azanatna bi-baynika, &c.

He composed it extemporarily, (on tke spur of tke moment),
in tke presence of tke king ’Amr son of Hind, wkile leaning
upon kis bow. He lived to a verv old age and died in 560 A.D.

'Amr son of Kultkum, of tke Tagklib tribe, and one of
tke poets of tke first rank, was from al-Jazirak. His mu’allaqak
consisted of over 1000 verses, but not ali kave been preserved
to our time; it opens thus: Ala kubki, &c. He died in tke
year 570 after Ckrist.

'Antarah al-’Absi, surnamed Abu-l-Mugkallis, was born
somewhere in Najd. He too is a poet of tke first rank, and
one of tke tkree famous Arab heroes of tke period of Ignorance.
Tke otker two are Kkufaf son of Nudbak and al-Sulayk son
of Sulakak. 'Antarah was tke bravest warrior of ali the Arabs,
and at the same time one of tke most generous and kind-
hearted of men. He was a poet of the first rank. His mu’-
allaaah is well-known. 'Antarak was 90 years old when lie
was murdered by al-Asad son of Ahyaš, in the year 615 after
Christ.

Zuhayr son of Sulmak tke Muzanite was a wealtky man.
He was one of the tkree poets who were considered to surpass
ali others in tke beauty or grace of their poetry. The other
two were Imri-1-Qays and al-Nabighah al-Dhibyani. Tke Caliph
Abu-Bakr considered Zuhayr as the chief of ali poets, for his
language was ckoice and chaste. His mu’allaqah is well known.
He used to take 4 months to compose a poem, 4 more to re-
vise and improve it himself, and lastly 4 other months to sub-

46

mit it to the best crities among his intimate friends, before
publishing it. He died in 631 A.D., 9 or 10 years after the flight.

Labid son of Rabfah. He was an inhabitant of the ’Iraq-
el-’Arabi. He lived to see the times of Islam and embraced
this Faith. It is said that he collected the chapters of the
Qur-an. He was a great poet. He died towards the end of
Mu’awiyah's caliphate, about 680 A.D.

Al-Nabighah-al-Dhibyani, also one of the famous poets
of the first rank, was a native of the Hijaz. He was called
al-Nabighah for his fluency in poetry (to flow, to gush = nabagha).
At the fair of 'Ukaz a tent of red leather used to be set up
for him, and in it the poets met. He died in 604 A.D.

A’asha Qays, was of the Asad tribe and a native of
Yamamah. He too is the composer of a mu’allaqah. He used
to cliant or sing his poems, and was therefore entitled Sannajatu-
l-’Arab, which means the cymbal of the Arabs.  The open-
ing strophe of his mu’allaqah is as follows: waddi’ harirata, &c.
He lived to see the beginning of Islam. He went once to
meet the PROPHET and praised him in a qašidah (ode). After
accepting the new Religion he went to a village in Yamamah;
there his camel shied and threw him off. His neck was broken
by the fall. This oceurred in the 7th year after the Flight,
629 A.D.

Al-Muhalhal the Taghlibite, a native of Najd, was a
famous hero, warrior, and poet and the brother of Kulayb
Wa-il, whose murder ga ve rise to the wars between Bakr and
Taghlib. He was very fond of conversing with the Fair Sex,
so his brother Kulayb gave him the nick-name “Sitter with
women”. His poetry too was of the very best and very heroic
or warlike. He died in 500 after Christ.

'Adiyy son of Zayd of the 'AbbMi tribe was a native
of the city of Hira, a poet of the lst rank, and a Christian.
He wrote a fine hand and was both scribe or secretary, and
interpreter, to the Persian king Abrawiz Kusra (Chosroes).
He was killed in prison at the instigation of al-Mundhir, in
582 A.D. (See above, Kings in 'Irhq, No. 22, p. 27.)

47

’Ubayd ibn al-abraš of the Asad tribe and a native of
Najd was of the lst rank. He lived to a good old age but
was killed by al-Nu’aman son of al-Mundhir in 605 A.D.

Umayyah ibn abi-Salt of the Tlmqif tribe, and a native
of Ta-if, was a chieftain in his tribe and a pious man of the
times of Ignorance, believing in the Day of Resurrection.
Although he lived to see the eommencement of the Islamic
Call, he did not embrace the new Faith. He died in 627 A.D.
— Ali the foregoing were poets of the lst Rank.

Poets of the Second Rank  were: Al-Shanfari of
the Azd tribe and a native of Yaman. He was thick-lipped.
He died 510 A.D.

Abu Du-ad Hanzalah the Iyadite a native of the wilder-
ness of ’Iraq. His poetry was chiefly devoted to the description
and praise of horses. He died in the year 520 after Christ.

Salamah son of Jandal of the Tamim tribe and a native
of Yaman was a great warrior and poet. He died in 520 A.D.

Al-Muthaqqib al-’Abdi, a native of the ’Iraq, was a con-
temporary of ’Amr son of Hind. He lived to see al-Mundhir
son of Na’aman and died about 520 A.D. (See p. 26.)

Al-Barraq son of Rauhan of the tribe of Tamim. In
his childhood he used to accompany the camel-herds, milk the

she-camels, and take the milk to a monk, who in return for

the kindness tauglit him to read the Gospels (New Testament).
He died in 525 A.D.

Ta - abbata Sharran. His real name was Thabit son of

Jabir son of Sufyan of the Fahm tribe. He was killed in

the land of Hudhayl during a raid, in the year 530 after Christ.

Samuel of the Aus tribe, a native of the Hijaz wilder-
ness, and one of the chief Jews of the town of Yathrib. In
one of his poems he says: “If a man soil not his person with
evil, any robe he may wear is becoming.” He died in 560
of the Christian Era.

’Alqamat-al-Fahl of the Banu Tamim and a native of
Najd was one of the lords of his tribe. d. 561 A.D.

48

Al-Harith son of 'Abbad of the Bakr tribe and born in
’Iraq was a ckief and was present at many of the fights during
the Basus Wars. d. 570 of the Christian Era.

Khidash son of Zuhayr al-’Amiri, a native of Najd, died
in 570 A.D.

’Urwat ibn al-Ward al-’Absi, a native of Najd, was both
a poet and a warrior. He was killed, during a raid, by a
man of the Tahiyyah elan, about 26 years before Islam, i. e.,
in 596 A.D., when 80 years old. His son Zayd became a
Muslim.

Al-Aswad son of Ya’fur of the Darim tribe was a native
of 'Iraq. d. 600 A.D.

Hatim al-Ta-iy, a native of Najd, was a Christian. He
died 605 A.D.

Aus son of Hajar (or Hijr) of the tribe of Tarnmi was
a native of Yaman. He died about the first appearanee of
Islam.

Durayd son of al-Sammah of the tribe of Jusham was
a native of Najd. He is said to have made 100 raids during
his lifetime, without once failing to bring back spoil and booty.
He did not accept Islam. He went out with his followers, on
the great battle-day of H u n a y n, to aid the polytheist.s by his
counsel in war, and was killed, in the year 630 A.D.

Al-Khansa, daughter of ’Amr son of al-Rashid, one of
the chieftains of the clans of the Sulavm tribe, and a native
of Najd, was a poetess of the second rank. No Arab poetess,
before or after her, has rivalled her in poetry. Most of her
verse is lamentations over the death of her two brothers Mu’-
awiyah and Sakhr. She embraced the Muslim religion. She
died in the year 24/646.

Poet s of the Third Rank:  Laqit son of Zararah of
the Darim tribe was a native of Yaman. He was killed in
the fight called yaum sha’ab Jabalah, forty years before the
Flight. There are about a dozen others of this rank.

Part Second:

History of the Arabs since the Rise of Islam.

Frora Polytheism to Monotheism.

(See pp. 8, 9, 10, and 35.)

MUHAMMAD was born at Makkah in the year 892 after
the death of Alexander, the great Macedonian conqueror.* When
lie was two years old, his father ’Abdullah died, and he remained
with his mother Aminah, daughter of Wahb, for six years.
On her death he was taken by his grand-father ’Abdu-l-Muttalib.
The latter took the lad with him, when nine years old, to Syria,
probably on a trading journey. On the way they passed through
the ancient town of Bušrah in Hauran, south of Damascus.
There a Christian monk, a diviner or astrologer, named Bu-
hairah, came, it is said, out of his hermit’s celi and, passing
through the crowd, went on till he reached the lad, whom
he took by the hand saying: Great things sha.ll come of this
boy, and his farne shall spread throughout the East and
West.

When MUHAMMAD reached the age of 25 years, a noble
lady of some wealth, named Khadijah, offered to send him in
chai^ge of her merchandise to Damascus. He accepted and
went. She afterwards took such a liking to him that she
offered him her hand, and they married when she was 40 years
of age. They lived together at Mekka for 22 years, till her

* B.C. 323 plus 569 A.D. = 892 after Alexander’s Death.

50

death. Before her death, kowever, and when he had attained
the age of 40 years, he began to preach and proclaim kis
Call to the Faith.  After the death of his paternal uncle
Abu-Talib, and after Khadijak’s death also, the Quraysh elan
inereased their persecutions against him and his monotheistic
followers so greatly that he left Mekka and went away to the
city of Yathrib, the birthplace of his mother. This event occurred
on the night of the 4th of Rabia the First (about June 20th)
in the 622nd year of the Christian Era. The year in which
it took plače is the first year of the Era of the Hijrah.

In the first year of his Flight many Arabs rallied around
him and allied themselves with him against the Mekkans. These
allies were thenceforth called al-Anšar.

In the 2nd year of the Flight he went out in person in
the raid of Badr, where a great fight took plače in which he,
together with only 318 of the Muslims, put to flight 1000 of
the polytheistic Mekkans. It was in this second year that the
“fronting”, or Qiblah in prayer, was changed from the sanctu-
ary, or Solomon’s temple at Jerusalem, to the Ka’abah at Makka;
in it also the fast during the month of Ramadan — an ancient
custom — was confirmed (qiblah, orientation).

In the third year of the Flight he went out from Medinah
to the raid of Uhud, in which the polytheists put the Muslims
to flight, the PROPHET receiving a wound in the face and
kaving his finger broken.

He attacked the Banu-1-Nudayr, who were Hebrews, in
the 4th year of the Muslini Era, and forced them to emigrate
to Syria. In that year also many Arabs from various tribes
unit.ed  with the Mekkans and went in a body against Yathrib
(al-Madinah). So they were called al-Ahzab, plural of hizb,
which means the troops or the partisans. These confederates
encamped over against the city. MUHAMMAD went out to
oppose them. Seeing that the Muslims were in great fear, he
caused a trench to be dug around the town. The two opposing
parties lay inactively watching each other for about 24 days,
till at last one of the idolaters challenged the adversary to

51

single combat. Thereupon 'Ali son Abu-Talib charged him and
killed him together with another. Alarm at once spread among
the Confederates, and they fled precipitously, although they
vastly outnumbered the Believers.

In the fifth year oecurred the raid at a plače called Dumat-
ul -Jandal, and also the raid on Banu Luhyan. — The PROPHET
again went out in person, in the sixth year, to the raid on
Banu-1-Muštaliq, taking many of them captive.

The seventh year he attacked the town of Khaybar,
whose inhabitants were Jews. It is reported, on the authority
of 'Ali son of 'Abu-Talib, that he tore off one of the city gates
and used it as a shicld or buckler.

The conquest of Makka oecurred in the eighth year after
his flight from it. He exhorted and charged the Muslims who
entered the city to kili none of its inhabitants, save those who
should fight them. He promised safety to ali who should enter
the house of worship, shut themselves up peaceably within
their own houses, or seize hold of the curtain of the Ka’abah,
excluding from this amnesty those only, who liad unrelentingly
persecuted him before his flight. — In the nintli year oecur¬
red the attaek upon Tabbuk, on the outskirts of Palestine and
a dependency of the Byzantine Emperors.

He performed his farewell pilgrimage in the tenth year
of the new Era. In that year a false prophet, Musaylamah
by name, arose in the region of Yamamah and began to preach
or harangue the crowds in rhyme, imitating the Koranic style
of diction.

MUHAMMAD fell ill with fever in the eleventh year, and
was “taken away”, at Mekka, on the Monda,y, two days before
the end of Šafar, at the age of 63 years. Those Mekkans
who had fled before and after him from Mekka to Madinah
wanted to convey the body to his native city; the people of
Madinah and the Allies were for burying it in the town which
had received him and which was the starting point of his
vietories. Stili others advocated removing the body to the
sanctuary at Jerusalem, that being the burial plače for Prophets.

4 -*

52

They finally agreed to entomb it in the very chamber where
be had expired. Of ali his children, from bis several wives,
only bis daughter Fatimah had survived him, and even she
for tbe short space of 3 to 6 raonths.

Remark: Tbe history of MUHAMMAD’S life is the history
of the rise of Islam; his deatb is tbe epocb of the downfall of
idolatry in Arabia. Amidst the polytheism so universal among
tbe ancient nations, the Hebrews alone had preserved tbe know-
ledge of the one and only true God; from Abraham, 2100 B.C.,
to the Roman Emperor Tiberius, 37 A.D., they were the only
monotheistic people. After the 30th year of the Christian Era,
Christianity began to rise; during the six follovving centuries,
till the Flight in 622, it had overthrown and almost wholly
supplanted idolatry throughont most of Europe and North Africa,
Egypt, Syria, and Asia Minor. MUHAMMAD, \vhen 40 years
old, broke wholly with the ancient polytheism of his forefathers
and proclaimed the Unity of the invisible God. This Faith
was botli new and old. It was new, for he was the apostle
who taught it; it was old, for Abraham had believed in God
XXVII centuries earlier, and his belief had been counted unto
him for righteousness. From the time when MUHAMMAD
first called the Arabs to Islam down to his death, only 23 years
had elapsed. In them he had united most  of the Arabs under
its banner. Thus a deep and thorough change had come over
them: idolatry fell, they became one united people, having one
God and His apostle, speaking one tongue, and having one
great task to perform — the spread of the Faith. Herein lies
the life and soul of the history of the Arabs after the Rise
of Islam.

53

The Elected Caliphs,

or the Successors who followed the Right Way.

Period of Conguest and Colonisation.

A.H. A.D.

11 — 40. The Orthodox Khalifahs. 632 — 661.

11 Abu-Bakr. 632

13 ’Umar. 634

23 'Uthman. 644

35 — 40 'Ali (and al-Hasan). 656 — 661.

(They were succeeded by the Umayyads.)

1. The Caliphate of Abu-Bakr. — Upon the Prophefs
death, the Allies and those who had left Makka before and
after his flight, at once assembled to offer fealty to whomsocver
should be his successor. Three different views were held on
the question of the succession. First, ’Umar and most of the
Mekkans, wished the successor to be c h o s e n, but only from
among the oldest of the Companions and by them alone; the
Suhaba to elect one of the Suhaba. Second, 'Ali and his uncle
al-’Abbas advocated the right of succession by inheritance;
a Hashimite as legitimate hereditary successor. Third, the people
of Madinah desired an elective Caliphate also, but wished the
choice to be limited to one of their fellow-citizens; the successor
to be one of the Anšar.  The old population of Madinah,
however, was made up of two tribes, the Aus and the Khazraj,
each desirous that its chieftain obtain the dignity. The con-
fusion and clamor was great. Thereupon 'Umar rose up and
said to Abu-Bakr: “Stretch forth thine hand that I may swear
fealty to thee.” He did so; 'Umar gave him the hand-grip
of allegiance, whereupon both the Allies and the Fellow-
Emigrants from Mekka did likewise. The tumult ceased.
Allegiance to the venerable and aged Abu-Bakr was thus
sworn in the month of Rabfa First in the eleventil  year
after the Flight, which corresponds to 632 of the Christian Era,
on the very day of the Prophefs burial, and in the shed of the
Banu-Sa-’idah. He was the first successor or Khalifah in Islfim.

54

When MUHAMMAD’S decease became known throughout
Arabia, large numbers fell away from the Faith back to their
former religion, stopping the contribution of Zakat or alms for
the nse of the commonwealth of the Believers. The Muslim
believers in Madinah were thereby thrown into great dismay.
Abn-Bakr commanded Khalid son of Walid, surnamed the
Sword of God, to assume authority over the people who had
seceded, sending with him 4500 armed men. Khalid set forth,
and marched till he fell in with the revolters or renegades.
A few skirmishes ensued in which he captured the children
and took much spoil, which he divided among his followers.

About this time the two f a 1 s e prophets Musaylamah and
al-Aswad al-’Absi were deluding the people; al-Aswad had
established his authority over San’a, Mafazah and Hadramaut,
as far as the borders of Ta-if and to Babravn, claiming to be
a prophet; Yaman too had conformed with his designs. This
movement became so threatening that Abu-Bakr sent a force
which succeeded in killing al-Aswad, thus relieving the Cause
of Islam of one of its chief adversaries. Musaylamah too
stirred up a serious insurrection in Yamamah, going so far as
to have his name mentioned in the call to prayer and require
the people to acknowledge him as prophet when they repeated
the formula of Faith. Abu-Bakr sent Khalid son of Walid with
a strong force which put an end to this man also. Thence Khalid
proceeded to the Traq, attacked al-Hira, near the Euphrates, and
'took it by treaty’, the inhabitants surrendering -vvithout fighting.

Before this event Abu-Bakr had despatched Abu-’Ubaydah
son of al-Jarrah with a force of over twenty thousand men to
Syria. Information of the appearance of Arabs in Syria had
reached the Byzantine Emperor Heraklius; so he sent against
them the Patriarch Sergius, at the head of an army numbering
five thousand men. When Khalid had taken Hira, Abu-Bakr
wrote ordering him to march into Syria and join Abu-’Ubaydah,
which he did. The Arabs and the Romans (Byzantines) met
at Ajnadin. In the battlc that ensued the Romans were routed
(defeated), and the Patriarch Sergius was killed.

55

The troops ot the Byzantine Emperors that fought the Arabs are some¬
times called Syrians, in view of their native country; sometimes they are
called Greeks, with reference to their being of the Orthodox Greek Church,
and sometimes they are called Romans, with reference to their being the
armies of the Eastern Roman Empire, whose Capital was Constantinople, the
ancient Byzantium.

Abu-Bakr began the great work of having the various
chapters of the Q,ur-an taken down in writing  from the
inouths of such as had heard them from the mouth of the great
Apostle and had committed them to memory. But he did
not live to complete the collection. He died at the age of 83
(or 63) years at Madinah in the 13th year of the Flight, after
having ruled as Khalifah, or Successor, for 2 years and
4 months.

2. ’Umar, so n of al-Khattab, succeeded Abu-Bakr, the
Believers in Madinah having sworn fealty to him on the very
day of Abu-Bakr’s death, to wit, on Monday the 8th (or 9th)
of Jamada Last, in the year 13 of the Fl. = 634 A.D. He
was called the Commander of the Believers, to avoid the cumber-
some title of “The Successor of the Successor of the Prophet.”
He continued the work of conquest. ’Umar at first sent Abu-
’Ubayd son of Mas’udah with one thousand warriors and Sa’ad
with thirty thousand, to complete the conquest of the ’Iraq.
The Persians marched to meet them. The two armies en-
countered each othcr at al-Hijab and fought from noon till
sundown, when the Arabs rushed ali together upon the enemy
and killed Mihran, their leader, whereupon the Persians Hed,
retreating to Persepolis which is Istakhr (or to Ktesiphon, which
is al-Madayin, the Capital of Persia on the Tigris river).

During ’Umar’s Caliphate, Abu-’Ubaydah and Khalid took
Uamascus, after a siege of seven months, the inhabitants of
that city hnally surrendering by treaty. The people of Tiberias,
Caesarea and Baalbek surrendered. During ’Umar’s reign the
following places also were taken: Himš; Baha; Mardin; Tripoli
of Syria; Askalon; and Jerusalem. This last plače, however,
did not surrender till ’Umar came in person; he rcmained
tliere only a few days, going back very soon to Madinah.

56

The mosque el-Aqša, i. e., the Distant Mosque,
is so called because of its position with regard to Malčka.
Ncxt to the Ka’abah, it is the most sacred of ali Muslini shrines.
Its most ancient part is the remnant of a Christian Basilica
erected in Jerusalem by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in
the VIth century. When 'Urnar took Jerusalem in 636, he
prayed in that Basilica. Nearly one and a-half centuries
later, al-Mahdi, the tliird 'Abbaside Caliph, found it in ruins
and ordered it to be rebuilt.

The great leader 'Amr son of al-’Aš took Egypt, first
conquering Pelusium, then the fortress of Babylon (near Old
Cairo) then Memphis, and lastly Alexandria, the latter city
after a long siege. In the years 19 and 20/640 and 641.

’Umar began to count the years and date time from the
Era of the Fliglit. He organised the various branches of govern-
ment and divided the empire into provinces.

’Umar was assassinated by Abu-Luluat, a Magician, in
the mosque, on Wednesday the 25th or 26th of Dhu-l-Hijjah
24/644, after a reign of 10 years, 6 months and 8 days,at
the age of 63 years.

3. 'Uthrnan son of ! Affau, the third of the Caliphs. The
Believers in Madinah gave him the hand-grip of allegiance on
the lst day of the 24th year = 644 A.D.—■ He was a mild
and gentle ruler. During his reign northivest Africa as far as
Qairawan was conquered by ’Abd-Allah son of Abu-Sarh, the
Caliph’s foster-brother; Walid son of 'Ulcbah subdued thePersian
province of Azerbaijan; and Mu’awiah took the island of Cyprus
and the city of Angorah. During this reign also ’Abd-Allah
son of ’Amir punished the rebels in Fars and conquered the
city of Persepolis, penetrated to Khorasan and went as far as
the river Oxus.

'Utliman recalled Amr son of al-’Aš from Egypt, where the
latter had been acting as governor ever since he had conquered
it in the previous Caliphate, and sent as governor over the Nile

57

Vallej Iris foster-brother, or half-brother, 'Abd-Allah son of Abu
Sarh. This Caliph also changed the governors of Bašrah and Kufa.

Indeed 'Uthman favored those who were of the Umayyah
Branch of the Quraysh tribe, giving them the highest offices
and rather neglecting those who were of the Hashim Family.
This caused so much dissatisfaction that many Arab warriors
and leaders came from ali parts of the newly-established empire
and encamped at one parasang’s distance from Madinah, the
seat of the Caliphate; they then sent a committee on their part
to remonstrate with 'Uthman, saying that imless he changed
his policy they would secede. Talhah, Zubayr and Lady
'A-ishah were the most zealous in this movement against
'Uthman. He, indeed, yielded to their wishes and wrote
saying that he would undo ali that they disapproved and would
“repent unto God”. They, however, for some reason, mistrusted
his promise; and after a time he found himself besieged for
twenty days in his own house. Finally three men climbed
the wall and killed him while he was seated with the Book
in his hand. This occurred in the 12th year of his Caliphate
and in the 80th year of his age.

4. The Caliphates of 'Ali and Hasan. When 'Uthman
was murdered, Talhah and al-Zubayr, the fellow-emigrants and
the allies, assembled and went to 'Ali son of Abu Talib, to
offer him their allegiance or fealty. But he refused, saying
that it was better for him to be wazir, i. e., adjutant, than
Commander. They, howevcr, urged him strongly to accept,
saying that they knew no one who had a better right than he
to be the Successor. He was at last prevailed upon to accept;
so they ali proceeded to the mosque, and there the common-
wealtli swore him fealty on the Friday, the 24th or 25th of
Dhu-l-Hijjah of the 35th year = 656 A.D.

Al-Zubayr son of al-’Awwam and Talhah pretended that
coercion and intimidation had been used at the election, and
they sought to annul the choice of 'Ali as the Commander of
the Faithful. 'Ali opposed them with force, and Talhah was
killed; al-Zubayr was killed later on at Munšarifah.

58

The fight in which Talhah was killed is called the battle
of the camel;  it was thus named because 'Aishah, raounted
on a camel, led the main body of the troops of Bašrah. 'Aishah,
Talhah, al-Zubayr and ali those who opposed 'Ali had gone
away from Madinah to Bašrah; 'Ali with his troops had pursued
them thither, and the battle of the Camel took plače near
Bašrah. 'Aishah was taken prisoner; 'Ali treated her with
ali due respect and sent her back to Madinah under escort.

After this battle, Mu’awiyah, who had been for years
governor of Syria at Damascus, United the Syrian Muslims to
fight against 'Ali. Mu’awiyah claimed that 'Ali k n e w who
were the murderers of the late Caliph 'Uthman but yet did
not bring them to account for the murder. 'Ali gathered his
forces and started from Kufa, going up along the Euphrates.
Mu’awiyah and his army encountered them on the plain
of Siffin.* After long parleying and much hard fighting
they made a temporary peace, each army returning to its
country (Aug. 2. 657). The agreement was that 'Ali and
Mu’awiyah were to appoint deputies who were to settle the
question of the caliphate. Hardly had the treaty been con-
cluded when 12,000 of the 'Iraq warriors gathered together
and demanded of 'Ali that he denounce the agreement as
invalid. These disaffected persons were called the Khawarij;
they took up a s ep ar ate camp when 'Ali returned to Kufa.
'Ali, nevertheless, sent Abu-Musa to the frontier of Syria, to
confer with 'Amr son of 'As, Mu’awiya’s delegate, and agree
with him, according to the stipulations of the treaty, upon the
final award of the Caliphate. Not long after, tliree obscure
men swore secretly to kili ali three pretenders, 'Ali, Mu’awiah
and 'Amr son of al-’As, and thus put an end to the rivalries
over the succession. Fridav the 22nd of Jan. 661 was fixed
as the day on which 'Ali, Mu’awiah and 'Amr, while praying
before the people (or leading the prayer) in the mosques of

* This Siffin near tlie Euphrates must not be confounded with another
plače of the same name in Palestine and situated about half-way between
Tiberias and Nazareth. The foot-note on page 29 is an incorrect surmise.

59

Kufa, Damascus and Fustat* respeetively, should be stabbed,
each by one of the assassins. — Shabib and Ibn-Mulhim stabbed
'Ali mortally in tbe mosque at Kufa; lie died the third day,
Jan. 24. 661; —Mu’awiah at Damascus escaped with a slight
wound; on that day ’Amr happened not to go down to the
mosque at Foštat, and his rcpresentative was murdered by the
assassin, who did not know 'Amr personally. Before dying,
Ali called his sons Hasan and Husayn and charged them not
to covet the good things of this world, but to act rightly and
justly. His Caliphate lasted 4 years and 2 months.

Al-Hasan, on ’Ali's death, was proclaimed Calipli by
the people of Kufa in 40/661.

Mu’awiyah  was proclaimed Caliph by the people at
Damascus.

Al-Hasan proceeded from Kufa to Ctesiphon, called in
Arabic al-Madayin, on the Tigris, where he remained several
months. He then sent word to Mu’awiyah that he would waive
his claim to the Caliphate. Mu’awiyah agreed to grant al-Hasan
for lifetime a yearly allovvance of several million drachms, and
amnesty for ali his friends, relations and partisans. Hasan
disbanded his troops, publicly abdicated the Caliphate, and
withdrew to Madinah, after a reign of 6 months. Mu’awiyah
held a triumphal ent.ry into Kufa and was acknowledged as
Caliph on the 24th or 25th of Rabfa First 41 = September
661 A.D.

The successors of the PROPHET who had followed the
right way had ruled from the year 11 to the year 41 of the Fl.,
from 632—661 A.D. Theirs was the period of Conquest
and Colonisation.

* At the time of invasion 'Ainr had encamped on the higli ground
overlooking the island of Rodah. On his going northvrards to besiege Alexan-
dria, his tent, or fuštat, was left standing on the high ground; and after
that eitj was taken, he retumed to his former head-quarters. A city grew
up around the tent, and vvas hence called al-Fustat. Nowadays it is knovvn
as Old Cairo.

60

Snmmary: On the death of the PROPHET in 11/632, his father-in-
law Abu-Bakr was elected Head of the Muslims, with the title of Successor.
Three or four other Caliphs — 'L'mar, 'Uthman, ’Ali, and his son al-Hasan
were similarly elected in turn, without founding dynasties; these are the
Orthodox Caliphs.

On the murder of 'Ali in 40/661, Mu’awiyah, a descendant of Umayyah
of the PROPHET’S tribe of the Quraysh, assumed  the Caliphate, and
founded the dynasty of the Umayyads.

At the accession of the first Orthodox Caliph, Abu-Bakr, the rule of
Islam comprised no territory outside  Arabia; but during his brief reign
of two years the tide of Arab Muslim conquest had already begun to swell.
In 12/633 the Battle of the Chains, or the Treaty of al-Hirah, follovved by
other victories, admitted the Muslims into al -’Iraq - ul -'Arabi (Chaldaea), and
gave them that eity. In 13/634 the Battle of the Yarmuq, or that of Ajnadin,
opened Svria to their weapons.

Damascus fell in 14/635; Hims, Antioch, and Jerusalem in 636; and
the conquest of Caesarea completed the subjugation of Syria in 17/638.

Meanwhile the victory of Qadisiah or al-Hijab in 14/635 was followed
by the conquest of al-Mada-in (Seleucia-Ktesiphon), the old double Capital of
Chaldaea, in 16/637; Mesopotamia, al-Jazirah, was subdued, and the cities
of al - Bašrah and al - Kufah were founded; and Khuzistan and Tustar were
annesed in 638 — 640. The decisive Battle of Nahawand near the el-Burz
mountains, in 21/642, put an end to the Persian Sasanid dynasty, and gave
ali Persia to the Arabs. By the year 41/661 they were at Herat in western
Afghanistan.

On the West their progress was equally rapid. In 20/641 Egypt was
conquered, and by 26/647 the Barbary coast was overrun up to the gates
of Roman Carthage; but the wild Berber population was more difficult to
subdue than the luxurious subjects of the Sasanids of Persia or the Greeks
of Syria and Egypt.

To the North, the Greeks retained Anatolia, which never belonged to
the Caliphate.

Language and Literature of Period of Conquest and Colonisation.

Before Islam the speech of the Arabs consisted of manj
dialects, the most wide - spread of which were the dialect of
Quraysh and that of Himyar, the former in and around Makka
and the Hijaz, and the latter in Yaman. But after the pre-
valence of the Qur-an, which was delivered in the Quraysh
speech, this dialect superseded and supplanted both the Him-
yarite and ali the other dialects, at least in the written language

61

and poetry. Within thirty years after the Flight, it had overrun
nearly ali of the countries conquered by the Muslims. Tliese
conquered countries were:

firstly, Yaman, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia and Egypt;
secondly, Persia and Transoxania.

In the lirst group of countries the Arabic language rapidly
superseded and supplanted the original tongues, which almost
wholly died out, such as the Coptic in Egypt, which continued
to be used only in the Church Liturgies, or such as the Syriac
and Nestorian in Syria and Northern Mesopotamia.

In the second group of countries, it did not take the
plače of the original language of the conquered races, but only
became the language of religion, law and learning, and in some
parts the language used in commerce also. — In the days of
the Caliph 'Ali son of Abu-Talib it was feared that the Arabic
tongue might lose its purity by the contact of the Arabs with
the conquered peoples speaking a foreign tongue. So 'Ali
asked Abu-1-Aswad al-Du-ali, one of the chief of the devoted
followers and disciples of Islam, to lay down rules for the
language, after having dictated to him that speech is composed
of one of three  parts, namely noun, verb and particle. This
was the origin of the whole system and Science of Arabic
G ram m ar.

The Literature  which prevailed, from and after the
time of the great Apostle down to the end of the period of
the rightly-guided Caliphs, was: the Qur-an; the poetry of the
poets contemporary with him;  and the sayings or aphorisms
of the PKOPHET.

As for the Qur-an, it is said to bo the iirst Arabic pro-
duction that was reduced to writing in rolls or books. Down
to the time of Abu-Bakr the Qur-an had remained preserved
in the memories  of those who had heard it uttered or deli-
vered by the great Apostle. This Caliph took pains to have
it gathered and inscribed on palm leaves, skins, bones of animals
and the like. He deposited this collection with Hafšah, at the

62

suggestion of ’Umar son of al-Khattab, lest much of the Book
should pass from tke memories of the Muslims and be lost on
the death of the Companions of the PROPHET. Zayd son of
Thabit was charged with the work of collecting it. Then,
during the reign of 'Uthman, some disagreement arose between
those who had committed it to memory as to the true and
correct readings or versions. Whereupon Hadhifah son of al-
Yaman came to the Caliph and reported the difficulty. 'Uthman
appointed a committee of four, namely Zayd son of Thabit
aforesaid, 'Abd-Allah son of al-Zubayr, Sa’id son of al-’Aš,
and 'Abd-Allah son of al-Harith son of Hisham, and instructed
them to gather the vvritten parts, or pages, and copy those that
were under the čare of Hafšah, into books or rolls, directing
them that whenever they disagreed about a reading they were
to give the preference to the Quraysh dialect. Whenever they
finished copying a piece it was returned to Hafšah. The Caliph
then caused copies of this corrected and collated text to be
made and sent to ali parts of the Muslim world, ordering ali
other texts and versions to be burned. These revised copies
were probably vvritten in the Hira ckaracter,  for the Kufic
writing had not then yet come into use. They must have been
written on parchment (skin), for the Arabs knew not the use
of paper. — Specimens of the style of the Qur-an, which I strongly
recommend every young man in this room to look up and
read, are: Chapter Baqarah, v. 38, 77, and 171; — chap. Al
'Imran, v. 90; — chap. al-Nisa, v. 85;—chap.  Bani Isra-il,
v. 33 and 34; — chap. al-Sijdah, v. 44; — chap. al-Rahman,
v. 59; — chap. al-Duha, v. 4 to 11; and chap. al-Zilzal, v. 7
and 8.

The poetry  composed between the Era of the PROPHET’S
Flight and the close of the period of the Well-directed Successors
is of two kinds: The first kind was poetry composed by the
poets who are called the Muliadrimun. The Muhadrimun were
the Anšar or allies of the PROPHET. Most of their poems
are praise of the great Apostle or Religious Love Songs.
The chief poets of this class are: 'Abdullah son of Duwaha

63

or Ruwahah ; Malik son of Nuwayrah ; al-’Abbas son of Mirdas;
Munjim son of Nuwayrah; Ka’ab son of Zuhayr; and Hassan
son of Thabit.

The other poets who flourished during the period of
Conquest and Colonization are: ’Amr son of Ma’di-Karib; al-
Nimr son of Taulab; Abu-Dhu-ayb; al-Nabighah al-Ja’adi;
Tamim son of Muqbil; and Abu-Mihjan. Their poetrv bas for
its subjects: Apostacy and Re-conversion, Conquest, Revolt and
Rebellion, and the like. This is the second kind.

The Umayyade Caliphs at Damascus.

A H  The Umayyad Khalifahs. A -D.

41 — 132. 661 — 750.

a) Goncord and Harmony.

41 Mu’awiyah I. 661

b) Highest Glory.

60 Yazid I. 680

64 Mu’awiyah II. 683

64 Marawan I. 683

65 'Abdu-l-Malik. 685

86 al-Walid I. 705

c) Oivisions and Beginning of Decline.

96 Sulayman. 715

99 'Urnar. 717

101 Yazld II. 720

d) Further Decline, and Downfall.

105 Hisham. 724

125 al-Walld II. 743

126 Yazid III. 744

126 Ibrahim. 744

127 —132 Marawan II.. 744 — 750.

(They \vere succeeded by the 'Abbdssids in Asia, and by the Umayyads of Cordova in Spain.)

Umayyah was the son of 'Abd-Shams, son of 'Abd-Maniif,
one of the descendants of 'Adnan. 'Abd-Shams, the father of
Umayyah, was the brother of Hashim, who was the great-
grand-father of the PROPHET. Umayyah was the patriarch of
the famous elan or family of the Ummayyads, which belonged
to the great Quraysh tribe. Over a dozen ot the members of
this elan ruled as Caliphs at Damascus;  Later on many

64

of them ruled as Caliphs in Andalusia, now called Spain.
The seat of the Rashidin Caliphs was Madmah; but it seems
as thongh ’Ali and al-Hasan had thought of removing it to Kufa.

1. The first Umayyade Caliph was Mu’awiyali son of
Ahu - Sufyan son of Harb son of Umayyah. He assumed the
Caliphate in 41 Fl. = 661 A.D. The Muslims swore fealty to
him upon the abdication of al-Hasan. That year was called
the year of Union and Concord,  for in it harmony was
restored, after the rivalries of several pretenders to the dignity
of Caliph. — Under the previous Caliphs, Mu’awiyah had been
governor of Syria for nearly 20 years. He, after that, reigned
at Damascus as Caliph from 41 — 60 Fl. = 661—680 A.D.

In the year 50 (= 670 A.D.) he sent a great army and
a fleet to attack Bvzantium, Constantinople. During his reign
the Muslims founded the city of Qayrawan in North Africa.

2. Yazid succeeded his father Mu’awiyah in the year 60.
When Mu’awiyah died at Damascus, his son Yazid happened
to be absent at Himš. Ali acknovvledged him as Caliph, except
al-Husayn son of 'Ali and 'Abd-Allah son of al-Zubayr. Yazid
sent an army against Husayn, who was killed on the plain of
Kerbelah near the Euphrates, lOMuharram 61 == lOth Oct. 680.
His head was cut off, the body was interred at Mashhad Husayn.

'Abd-Allah, the other disputer of Yazid’s right to the
Caliphate, withdrew to Makka, fortified the House or Sanctuarv,
and prepared to resist. Al - Hušavn son of Numayr marched
against him and was preparing to besiege the city and attack
the walls with battering-rams. Indeed the curtain or covering
of the Ka’abah was torn. Before al-Hušayn had done much,
however, he received information of the death of Yazid at
Damascus. At once al-Hušayn the besieger, proposed to
'Abd-Allah, son of Zubayr, the besieged, that they become
reconciled — which was done. Yazid died in the month of
Rabfa First 64, after a reign of 3 years and 8 months.

3. Mu’awiyah II son of Yazid succeeded his father, ruled
only three months, and then abdicated, preferring to retire and

65

live a life of piety and devotion. — ’Abd Allah son of Zubayr
(on learning that Yazid was dead), re-asserted bis claim to
the Gali phate, and called upon tbe people to give tbeir allegiance
to him. He succeeded in bringing many countries under his
sway; his authority was acknowledged throughout Hijaz, Traq,
and Khorassan, Yaman, Egypt and a great part of Syria, except
the region of the Jordan river in Palestine. Hereupon many
Muslims rallied around

4. Mara\van I son of al-Hakam, one of the Umayyah
Family, and swore allegiance to him as the rightful Calipli.
This was done in the region near the Jordan. Marawan son
of al-Hakam had been the Secretary of ’Uthman the Caliph.
He entered Damascus, and his authority was acknowledged
throughout Syria. ’Abd Allah son of Zubayr sent al-Dahhak
at the head of an army to put down Marawan. The opposing
armies met and fought in the plain or meadow of Marj-Raliit,
called also al-Ghutah, a few miles east of Damascus. Al-Dahhfik
son of Qays was killed. Afterwards, in 64 (April 683), Marawan
was murdered at Damascus by his own wife, having reigned
only 9 months.

5. He was succeeded by his son 'Abdu-l-Malik, to whom
allegiance was sworn in the year 65/685 at Damascus. — The
son of Zubayr, however, sent his own brother Muš-’ab with
an army into the ’Iraq. Muš’ab came to the city of Bušrah,
whose inhabitants submitted. Indeed Muš’ab took possession
of the two ’Iraqs, the Arab and the Persian. Afterwards the
Caliph ’Abdu-l-Malik son of Marawan marched against Muš’ab.
The two encountered one another* and a battle was fought in
which Muš’ab was killed, upon which the ’Iraq again recognised
the authority of the Umayyade Caliph. The leader of the
Caliph’s army was al-Hajjaj son of Yusuf of the r Lhaqif tribe.
'Abdu-1- Malik was so well pleased with the perseverance and
success of this leader that he sent him with an army against
'Abdullah son of Zubayr. Al-Hajjaj completely defeated ’Abd-

* In November 690 near Maskan on an arm of the Tigris.

5

66

ullah*, killed him, skinned tke corpse, stuffed the skin with straw,
and had it crucified. — ’Abdullah’s revolt and pretensions to the
Caliphate had lasted nine years, from the death of Mu’awiyali
to the 6th year of ’Abdu-l-Malik’s Caliphate. During most of
that time he had resided at Makka, the PROPHET’S birthplace
and the central point of Islam, where he exercised great in¬
fluence over the pilgrims assembled yearly from ali parts; and
for a time the Umayyads had discouraged the Believers from
resorting thither and urged them to substitute a pilgrimage to
the Holy City of Jerusalem for the Mekka Hijj. — Al-Hajjaj
then occupied the regions of the Hijaz and Yarnamah; the people
of Makka also swore allegiance to the TJmayyad Caliph ’Abdu-l-
Malik son of Marawan.

In the year 83 Fl., al-Hajjaj, the army leader, founded
the city of Wašit between  Kufa and Bušrah.— ’Abdu-l-Malik
died in the year 86/705, at the age of sixty, his Caliphate,
since the death of the pretender 'Abdullah son of Zubayr, having
lasted about thirteen years. He is the first of the Muslini rulers
who coined money  (76 FL). After that, the coins of the
Umayyade Caliphs were much prized and became current.

The Qubbat es-Sakhrah, i. e., the Dome of the Rock,
is the most beautiful and interesting of ali the buildings in
Jerusalem. The Caliph TJmar began it; according to the
inscriptions on the walls, this shrine was completed by 7 Abdu-l-
Malik about 686 A.D.

6. Al-Walid I son of ’Abdu-l-Malik was recognised and
proclaimed Caliph in the year 86 Fl. on the day of his fatheFs
decease, 705 A.D. He built several mosques in Damascus.
Down to his day the Christian clerks in the employ of the
government had kept the books and accounts in the Greek
language; al-Walid stopped this custom, and thenceforth ali
registers were kept in Arabic. He is the founder of the
Amawy Mosque**  at Damascus (Dhi-1-Qi’adah 86 Fl.), but it

* In October 692 near the Mekka Sanctuary.

** The roof took tire in October 1893, and this ancient building was
thereby almost destroyed.

67

was not completed till the days of his brotlier, the Caliph
Suleyman. He included within the mosque a part of the old
(■hristian church of Saint John. The total amount expended
on this house of prayer was 400 boxes or chests full of coins,
each of these four hundred containing 28,000 dmars. In it were
600 golden chains for hanging the lamps. These chains
remained there till the reign of 'Uniar the son of ’Abdu-l-’Aziz,
who took them and used them for the treasurv of the Baytu-1-
mal, substituting otliers of brass and iron. Al-Walid also built
the great dome called Qubbat-al-Sakhra at Jerusalem; he too
repaired and enlarged the Prophet’s mosque at Madinah, so tliat
it took in the tomb.

It was in this Caliph’s reign that T a r i q crossed over
from Africa to Spain, tlien called Andalusia,  and was
opposed by Roderik king of the Visigoths. The two armies
met on the banks of a small river, called wadi Bakka,  near
the river Guadalete. The Visigoths, after a week of fighting,
Bed, and soon ali Andalusia became one of the dominions
subject to al-Walid.

In his reign the empire was considerably extended. Tlius
Kuteibah was victorious beyond the river Oxus; Maslamah,
the Caliph’s brother, advanccd into Armenia and Asia Minor;
Muhammad son of Qasim fouglit victoriously in India; Tariq
and Musa conquered North Africa and the greater part ot
Spain.

Al -Walid died at Dayr Marawan in the year 96/715 and
was buried in the cemetery outside the Small Gate of Damascus.
He left 14 sons.

7. He was succeeded by his brother Suleiman, who chose
his cousin ’Umar son of A.bdu-1 -’Aziz to be his wazir. He sent
his brother Muslimah with an army against Constantinople.
Suleiman himself encamped in Marj Dabiq. Maslamah (or
Muslima), his brother, spent a whole winter trying to besiege
Constantinople. On receiving information of Suleiman s death,
Maslamah abandoned the siege and returned. Suleiman died
in Sept. or October 717 A.D. = 99 after the Fliglit.

5 *

68

8. ’Umar son of ’Abdu-l-’Aziz was designated Caliph by
Sulayman, before the latter died. ’Abdu-l-’Aziz, tbe fatber of
'Umar, bad been for many years tbe governor of Egypt.
’Umar was tbe cousin of the deceased Calipb. He ruled only
2 years and 5 months, and died by poison, at a plače called
Dayr SinTan, in Feb. 720.

9. Vazi d Second, son of ’Abdu-l-Malik, was proclaimed
Calipb in 101/719 or 720. During his reign, Yazid son of
Muhallab of tbe Mudarite tribe beaded a rebellion at Bnšrah
and Wašit, and was proclaimed Caliph. Soon the Umayyade
Calipb Yazid Second sent an army from Syria, under his brotber
Maslamab. Tbe two armies met at ’Akr, near Kufa, on the
left bank of the Euphrates, wbere Maslamab gained a great
victory. Yazid tbe son of Muhallab and his brothers fell in
the battle. About the same time, during tbe years 720 and
721 A.D., Samah bad led the Muslim troops across the Pyrenees
into France; they were defeated near Toulouse. Yazid Second
reigned only 4 years and died in Hauran. Before his death
be had designated his brotber Hisham as his successor - elect.

10. Hiškam was proclaimed Caliph on the day of his
brother’s death, in the year 105 Fl. = Jan. 724 or Dec. 723 A.D.
—• The great difficulty in his way was, that since the days of
Suleiman, the ruling and conquering race, that is the Arab
Muslims, had again become divided into two great parties,
namely the Yamanites and the Mudarites.  Trouble arose
in Traq and in Khorassan between the two parties. There
was also war in Azerbaijan; Maslamah, the Caliph’s brotber,
fell in battle there in the year 732 A.D. From 725 — 726
there was war in Asia Minor against the Byzantines. The
Berbers of North Africa revolted against the Arab conquei - ors.

In Spain the Muslims again crossed the Pyrenees in vast
numbers, in 732 A.D., penetrated to Bordeaux, took that city,
crossed the river Dordogne, destroyed Libourne and Poitiers,
and advanced towards Tours. Here they were met and opposed
by Duke Eudo and Charles Martel.  After severa! days’
fighting the Arabs retreated. Meanwhile the Spanish pro-

69

vinces of Catalonia, Arragonia, and Navarra were in revolt.
After these provinces were redueed, ’Uqbah, tke Arab leader,
again invaded France (tken called Gallia), in 734. Tke Arabs
occupied Arles, Avignon, Valence and Lyons. Charles Martel
again drove the Arabs back, in 739. Thus on ali sides Hisham
had trouble. After a reign of about 20 years, in 125 Fl. =
Feb. 6. 743, he died in a stronghold  near Damascus which
he had built for kimself, and which he had named al-RaSafah.

11. Al-Walid Second, son ofYazid, son of'Abdu-l-Malik,
assumed the dignity of Caliph in 125/742 or 743. When
Hisham died, al-Walid was absent from Damascus in the desert
country. He hastened to the Capital and assumed the power.
He lived to enjoy it but one year only. He was killed in
the year 126 Fl. = April 16. 744.

12. Yazld Third, son of al-Walid, assumed the power
in 126/744. He reigned only 5 months and a few days, and
died of the plague in the year 126 = October 744.

13. Ibrahim, the brother of Yazid, was proclaimed Caliph
in 126 Fl., but reigned only seventy days. For as soon as
Marawan, son of Muhammad son of Marawan, heard of Yazid
Third’s death, h e hastened from Harran towards Damascus
with a strong army. Suleiman, son of Hisham, with kis army,
met Marawan and his army at ’Ain-al-Jarr, a small plače on
the road between Ba’albak and Damascus. The battle lasted
ali day. Suleiman’s army suffei - ed such a severe defeat that
he and Ibrahim found themselves forced to flee from Damascus.
Ibrahim, after reigning seventy days, was deposed.

14.  Marawan Second was proclaimed Caliph in 126/744.
He reigned about five years, 126 —132 = 744 — 749 or 750 A.D.
He first put down a rebellion in Syria and Palestine. — Suleiman
son of Hisham was proclaimed Caliph by certain troops, who
marched with him to Qinnisrin, near Aleppo. Marawan entered
the field and marched against Suleiman. Near Qinnisrin,
Marawan totally defeated Suleiman, and tlien marched against
Rakka, drove back the rebellious Kharijites, and forced them
to retreat to Musul on the Tigris.

70

Two brothers, 'A b d ali ah Abu-l-’Abbas and Abu-
Dja’far,  descendants of al-’Abbas one of tke Prophet’s uncles,
kad long lived in seclusion in tke 'Iraq. Tkeir party grew
stronger day by day. Tke ckief army leader of tke 'Abbaside
party was Abu-Muslim. He succeeded in taking tke following
cities one after tke otker: Merv, Nisabur, Hamadan, and Neha-
wend. He then divided kis victorious troops into two bodies,
marched westwards, crossed the Tigris and tken tke Eupkrates,
near Kerbela. Here tkey were met by the Svrian army of
Marawan. In August 749 the Syrians were completely defeat-
ed. Hereupon Kufa acknowledged tke 'Abbasides as tke
rightful Caliphs. Ibn Ilubeirah, wlio commanded the defeated
Syrians, retreated to Wašit. Marawan then gatkered an army
of 100,000 men and marched against the main body of the
'Abbaside troops. Tkese troops had gone through Kurdistan
to tke small river Zab.  Tkey were commanded by Abu-
’Aun; with him was ’Abdallah son of 'Ali, an nncle of the first
Abbaside Caliph Abul-’Abbas. Marawan built a bridge over
the Zab and hoped to defeat Abu 'Aun before ke should receive
reinforcements from Khorasan and 'Iraq. He was disappointed.
In Januarv 750 the Syrian army was defeated. Marawan fled
to Harran and tkence to Damascus. In Damascus a revolt
against kini forced kim to flee again. 'Abdallah Abu-l-’Abbas
entered Damascus on tke 22nd of April 750 and the Black*
Standard  of tke 'Abbasides waved over the gate of the Capital
city and residence of the Umayyades. (Cf. p. 75.)

Summary : The Umayyade Dynasty had made the ancient
city of Damascus their residence. The history of this dynasty
may be conveniently divided into four periods, namely:

I. Mu’awiyah as sole Ruler or Monarch. Concord.

II. The Period when the Umayyades had reached their
highest Glory, — from Yazid I to Walid I.

III. Divisions in the Empire and Beginning of Decline,

— from Sulayman to Hisham.

IV. Further Decline and Downfall of the Umayyades,

— from Walid II to Marawan II.

* Black, for they mourned the killing of al-Hasan.

71 —

Oenealogical Talile of the Umayyades.

Qušayy

I

’Abd-Manaf

’Abd-Shams

I

Umayyah

Hashim

I

'Abdu-I-Muttalib

Abu-l-’Aaš

'Affan

I

644 'Uthman

Hakam

I

683 Maravran I.

Harb

Abu-Sufyan
661 Mu’awiyah I
680 Yazld I
683 Mu’awiyali II
and K h<11 id

706 ’Abdu-l-Malik

’Abdu-l-’Aziz

I

717 ’Umar II

Muhammad

l

744 Marawan II

706 Walid I 716 Suleyman

744 Yazld III

744 Ibrahim

720 Yazid II

I

743 Walid II

724 Hisham

I

Mu’awiyah

I ‘

’Abdu-l-Rahman

Chalifate of Cor-
dova in Spain.

Marawan Second, when he fled from Damascus ?  passed
through Palestine and hurried on to Egypt, so closely pursued
by the 'Abbasside party, that ho had no time to gather a fresh
army, and was at last killed in a church near Abušir on the
6th of August 750 A.D.

He had ruled 5 years, from 126 —132 Fl. = 743 to 749,
or from 744 — 750 A.D.

General Ilemarks on the Umayyad Dynasty.

Firstly. Although the Seat of the Caliphate had been
removed from Madmah to Damascus, the central point of the
Political Power continued to be in Arabia, or at least among
the Arabs. The army-leaders, the governors of provinces,
the high officials, were ali taken from the Arabs.

72

Secondly. The chief Conquests under the Umayyades
were: Andalusia by Tariq son of Ziyad during the reigns of
Walid I and ’Abdu-l-Malik; during the reign of the latter,
Muslimah son of Abdul Malik conquered part of Asia Minor;
Muhammad son of Qasim of the tribe of Thaqif took part of
India. — At that time the Arab dominions extended from the
river Tagus in Spain to the river Scinde in India, and from
the Caspian Sea to the Asuan cataracts of the Nile.

Thirdly. Settlement, Colonisation and Founding of Cities.
Mu’awiyah First began to build the city of Qayrawan. In the
year 83 after the FL, al-Hajjaj son of Yusuf of the tribe of
Thaqif founded W;lšit, between Bušrah and Kufa. Al-Walid
built the great Amawite mosque at Damascus; in his day was
built also the Qubbat-al-Sakhrah at Jerusalem; he also repaired
the Prophetfs Masjid and enlarged it. In Hisham’s day Ri ša¬
la h was founded.

Fourthly, Luxury. The earlier Caliphs had been dis-
tinguished for simplicity of habits and frugality of life. The
Umayyades were fond of splendor and luxury. Mu’awiyah son
of Abu-Sufyan wore rich clothing, dwelt in palaces, surrounded
himself with a body-guard and court officials; and so did ali
the Umayyade Caliphs, excepting ’Umar son of ’Abdu-l -’Aziz.

The Language and Literature of the Umayyad Period.

After the conquests, many Arabs settled in the newly-acquired
countries and mixed more or less with the subdued races.
By contact with foreign peoples and tongues, the pure dialects
of the ancient Arab tribes were more or less corrupted, especially
the spoken language of every-day-life. This is the cause which
gave rise to the making of rules and books on grammar &c.
As for the Literature, it consisted mostly in explanations of
the Qur-an and the Hadiths, and in poems.

Caligraphy  also and Orthography  at the commence-
ment of Islam were not highly perfected among the Arabs;
'Uthman son of ’Affan ordered the copies of the Book  to be
written and distributed throughout ali mosques, and these copies
continued to be used for over forty years, to the time of

73

’Abdu-l-Malik son of Marawan. After tkat time many other
copies were made and spread throughout ’Iraq. Hereupon
al-Hajjaj son of Yusuf of the tribe of Thaqif, then governor
of Bušrah on the part of ’Abdu-l-Malik, introduced the system
of using dots and double dots in the ambiguous letters. Al-
Nadr son of ’Ašim perfected this systeni, which has been
followed ever since.

The Poetry  of the Umayyade period continued to be
much the same as it had been in the old days. Many poets
flourished during that period. Yazid son of Mu’awiyah “learnt
eloquence and the composition of verse in the wilderncss among
the Banu-Kalb tribe”. A.bdu-1-Malik son of Marawan was a
man of letters. Al-Walid son of Yazid son of Abdu-l-Malik
was one of the most eloquent men of his day, and a great
Arabie scholar as well as a poet. Among the poets and authors
of that period are: A’asha Hamadan ; — A’asha the Taghlibite;
— Aasha of Banu - al - Bi’at; — al-Qitami: — al-Akhtal; — al-
Parazdaq; and others. The greatest preacher of the khutbah
at the Friday noonday prayer was Ibn-khuma’ah.

The most learned in the Law was al-Nu’aman son of
Thabit, who is better known as Abu-Hanifah. Time and spacc
do not allow of speaking here of any of the foregoing save of
Abu-Hanifah.  He is the greatest of ali Muslim jurists.
He was born in 80 Fl. His first occupation was that of a
weaver and dealer in silk stuffs. He then read and studied
law for over ten years with or under Hammad son of Abu-
Suleyman. He was very fond of talking on legal topics. If
asked a legal question, he would wax eloquent and his words
would flow like a strearn. His system of Law is of the highest
authority in arriving at a conclusion by analogy, and his views
are most sound and correct. He was the first who laid down
the many great principles of Law, classified legal questions
into subjects and branches, and explained the principles on
which Law is based. He too first laid down the principles of
inheritance and the rules of contracts. Abu-Hanifah died at
Bagdad in 150 Fl. = 768 A.D.

The 'Abbasides in Asia.

The 'Abbasid Khalifahs.

a)  Period of ('larv.

A.H.

132 — 656.

A.D.

750 — 1258.

132 al-Saffah

136 al-Manšur

158 al-Mahdi .

169 al-Hadi .

170 al-Rashid .

193 al -Amin

198 al-Ma-mun

218 al-Mu’atašim

750

754

775

785

786
809
813
833

b)  Commencement of Decline, and Rise of Independent Dynasties.

227 al -Wathiq. 842

232 al-Mutawakkil. 847

247 al-Muntašir. 861

248 al-Musta’in. 862

251 al-Mu’atazz. 866

255 al-Muhtadi. 869

256 al-Mn’atamid. 870

279 al-Mu’atadid . 892

289 al-Muktafi. 902

c)  Full Decline, to tlie Entrance of tile Buyids iuto Bagdad.

295 al-Muqtadir. 908

320 al-Qahir. 932

322 al-Radi. 934

329 al-Muttaqi. 940

d)  The 'Abbasids urnler tlie Biiyid Sultans

333 al-Mustakfi.

334 al-Muti’a.

363 al-Ta-i’a.

381 al-Qadir.

e)  The 'Abbassids nnder tlie Snpremacy of the First Saljnqs.

422 al-Qa-im. 1031

467 al-Muqtadi. 1075

487 al-Mustažhir . 1094

944

946

974

991

f)  The More or Less Independent Caliplis during the Times
of tlie Last Salju<i Sultans and of the Khuwarizni Princes.

512 al-Mustarshid. 1118

529 al-Rashid . 1135

530 al-Muqtafi. 1136

555 al-Mustanjid. 1160

566 al-Mustadi. 1170

575 al-Našir. 1180

g)  Downfall and Overthrow of Baghdad Caliphate.

622 al-Žahir. 1225

623 al-Mustanšir. 1226

640 — 656 al-Musta’šim . 1242 — 1258.

(During this period arose: Idrisids; Aghlabids; Tuliinids; Tahirids; Šaffarids; Buwayhids;
Hamdclnids; Ghaznarvids.)

75

The Periods in the Historj of the House ot' 'Abbas are:

I. The Glory of the 'Abbasides, from Abu-1-'Abbas al-Saffah to al-
Mu’atašim-billah.

II. Commencement of Decline of Caliphate, and Rise of Independent
Dynasties, — from the Accession of al-Wathiq to the Peath of al-Muktafi.

III. Full Decline of the Caliphate, — from al-Muqtadir to the Entranee
of the Buyides into Bagdad.

IV. The 'Abbasides under the Bfiyid Sultans.

V. The 'Abbasides under the Supremacy of the first Saljuq Sultans.

VI. The more or less Independent Caliphs, during the times of the
last Saljuq Sultans and during the times of the Princes or Emirs of Khmvarizm.

VII. Downfall and Overthrow of the Caliphate of Bagdad.

There were three brothers: Ibrahim, the eldest; 'Abdallah
Abu-1-'Abbas, the voungest; and al-Manšur abu-Ja’afar, the
second. They were the sons of Muhammad son of 'Ali son of
'Abdullah son of al-'Abbas son of 'Abdu-l-Muttalib, who was
the Prophet’s grand - father; they were, therefore, not only of
the Quraish tribe, but also of the Hashim family. Ibrahim,
the eldest, had been murdered by order of one of the Umayyade
Caliphs. The youngest, 'Abdallah abu-l-’Abbas, was the son
of their father by his wife who was of the respectable tribe
of Banu Harith; tvhereas al-Manšur abu-Ja’afar, the second
and middle brother, was the son of their father by a slave-girl.
This may explain why the youngest brother took precedence
over the second as the Head of the House, after the murder
of the eldest. (Cf. p. 70.)

1. 'Abdullah abu-l-’Abbas was surnamed al-Saffah,
which means the Blood-shedder, because he killed so many of
those who were opposed to his House. The opposers of the
'Abbaside claims to the Caliphate were of two great parties,
tirst the Umayyades and their partisans, and second those who
wanted to bring the Caliphate into the hands of the descendants
ot 'Ali son of Abu-Talib. 'Abdallah abu-l-’Abbas al-Saffah
killed many of both parties. He killed Abu-Salamah, the wazir
of Muhammad’s Family, because he favored the Alawiyyin.
He instructed his uncle 'Abdullah son of 'Ali to gather ali
the members of the Umayyade House and invite them to give
their submission and allegiance, promising them not only full

— 76

amnesty but restoration of their property. But when they
obeyed and came together they were killed — three score
Umayyades perished ali together. One escaped, 'Abdu-l-Rahman
son of Mu’awiyah son of Hisham son of 'Abdu-l-Malik son of
Marawan son of al-Hakam son of Abu-l-’Aš son of Umayyah.
This is the ’Abdu -1 - Rahman who went to Spain and there
founded in 756 A.D. another Umayyade Dynasty of Caliphs.

Al-Saffah was born at Humaymah in 108 Fl. He assumed
the Caliphate in 132 F. = 750 A.D. at the age of 23 or 24.
He removed his residence from al-Hirah to al-Anbar, where
he died in 136/June 9th 754 at the age of 28, after a reign
of only 4 years, and was succeeded by his elder half-brother

2. Al-Manšur abu-Ja’afar, who ruled 22 years, from 136
to 158 Fl. = 754 — Oct. 7th 775. On his younger brother’s
death, two other claimants to the succession arose, — first the
uncle 'Abdullah son of ’Ali, and second the cousin 'Isa son of
Musa. The uncle, ’Abdullah son of 'Ali, commanded a large
army on the northern frontiers of the empire, which army had
been put there to protect the frontier against the incursions
of the Byzantines. — Al-Manšur had to choose an army leader
to send against this uncle. He chose Abu-Muslim, because
the latter was popular among the Chorassanites; for there were
many of these troops in the army under 'Abdullahs command,
and al-Manšur knew they would refuse to fight Abu-Muslim.
When the uncle 'Abdallah learned who had been sent against
him, he killed ali the Chorassanites in his army, about 17,000
men; his other troops were Syrians and Mesopotamians. He
led them to Nišibin and took up a fortified (or strong) position
on the Euphrates. Abu-Muslim, however, defeated 'Abdullah
son of 'Ali in November 754.

Al-Manšur is the Caliph who founded Bagdad  and made
it the seat of the Caliphate. Bagdad is on the west bank of
the Tigris, and about fifteen miles above the ancient city of
Ktesiphon. Hashimiyyah had been for a time the residence
of al-Saffah.— Al-Manšur went on a pilgrimage to Makka and
died at Bir-Maymunah, not far from that city, in the 63d year

77

of his age. His Body-Guard consisted mostly of Turks and
Ohorassanites, for ke no longer trusted kis Arak troops.

He introduced Persian, Byzantine and Indian Science
and learning  at kis Court; and under kis reign arose tke
first Arab works (books) on tke Hadiths, tke Law, Theology,
History, Geography, Grammar, Lexicograpky, Matkematics,
Astronomy, and even Medicine; wkereas till tken ali Arab
learning had been only orally handed down. Poetry had of
course existed long before al-Manšur’s time; but under him
the first attempts were made to rix and lay down the rules
of prosody.  Tkis made tke verses more rkytkmical and
correct, but the poetry lost its vigor, its freshness and tkat
wonderful soaring of word and thought that is tke outcome
of the feelings of the inmost soul and whick can never be
taught or learnt, but can only be poured forth by the warm
heart. In kis time too the older poems were collected and set
down in writing.

The Empire of the Caliphs at its widest extended from the Atlantic
to the Indus, and from the Caspian Sea to the cataracts of the Nile. So vast
a dominion eould not be long held together. The first step towards its dis-
integration began in Spain, where 'Abd-ul-Eahman, a member of the recently
suppressed Umayyad family, was acknowledged as an independent  sove-
reign, in 138/755, and the 'Abbasid Caliphate was there renounced for ever.

3. Al-Mahdi assumed the Caliphate in 158/775. He was
tke son of al-Manšur. In kis reign a man arose in Transoxania
who was styled al-Muqanna’, the Veiled One. He taught the
doctrines of the transmigration of the soul and the incarnation
of the Deity. Thus he preached tkat God had first appeared
in Adam, then in Noah, and so on from prophet to propket,
through MUHAMMAD, ’Ali, Abu-Muslim, and at last in him,
himself. A great many followed this deluder of men. At last,
in 779, an army besieged these rebels in a fortress called
Sanam; al-Muqanna’ poisoned himself and kis followers, set fire
to tke fort and ali the treasures in it, and perished.

Al-Mahdi sent an army in 165 Fl. to invade tke Byzantine
Empire. He himself accompanied it as far as Aleppo. Thence
bis son H aru n al-Rashid  led it, in the years 781 and 782

78

of tlie Christian Era, as far as Chrjsopolis (Ushkodra, Scutari)
opposite Olcl Constantinople. Hereupon the Byzantine Empress
Irene, the widow of tlie Emperor Leo Fourth, had to make
peace at any priče. The conditions of the treaty of peace were:

Free return of the Muslims with ali their booty and
captives; Feeding of the Muslini army during ali its return-
march; and the Payment of a yearly T r i b u t e of seventv thou-
sand dinars. Harun-al-Rashid on his part aecepted these condi¬
tions and set free the ambassadors of the Queen who had been
imprisoned.

In 776 Tsa had renounced his clairns to the Caliphate;
and al-Mahdi made the Muslims swear allegiance to his son
Musa al-Hadi as his successor-elect. Six years later lie appointed
his second son, Harun, as the second or next successor-elect.

Al-Mahdi died at a plače called Ma-Saydhaban on the 7th
of August 785 = 169 Fl., in the 43d or 48th year of his age,
after a reign of 10 years.

4. Musa al-Haili, Harun’s elder brother and son of al-
Mahdi, succeeded his father in 169/785. He wished to rule
alone;  he did not wish to do as his father in his later years
had done. The father had allowed great influence in govern-
ment affairs to his wife Khaizaran. Musa al-Hadi ordered his
late father’s widow to keep to her palače, among her slave-
girls, and work at her spindle, and to desist from meddling in
the affairs of the State. Musa further sought to designate his
own mi nor son Jaafar as his successor-elect and to divest
Harun of his right to the succession. He treated Harun so
badly that the latter retired to his country palače. Khaizaran
was greatlv displeased, for Harun was her favorite son. Musa
al-Hadi was going to make the Muslims swear allegiance to
his son Ja’afar as his successor-elect. But Yahya son of Khalid
the Barmakide remonstrated with him for so disregarding the
father’s wishes and the oaths. Musa imprisoned Yahya and
then went on a journey to Musul. He fell ill, was nursed by
some of Khaizaran’s slave-girls, and died suddenly on the 15th
of Sept. 786/170 Fl., after a reign cf 1 year and 3 months.

79

It is supposed that his own rnotlier Khaizaran had cliargcd her
slave-girls to do away vvith him.

During Musa-el-Hadi’s short reign a revolt of the 'Ala-
w iyyi n  oceurred in Makka and Madinah. It was soon put
down. One of the leaders of this revolt was Idris son of
Abdullali; he escaped and fled tlirougli Egypt to Western
Africa. There he was afterwards poisoned by order of Hanin
al-Rashid; Idris is here mentioned because his descendants
established later on an independent kingdom of theldrisides
which soon extended, from Walilah, over Fez and Morocco.

Idris was a great-grandson of the Caliph 'Ali, and was therefore
equally at variance with 'Abbasids and Umayyads; he founded a 'Alid dynasty
in Morocco, with Tudgha for its Capital, 172/788.

5. Harun al-Rashid the younger brother of Musa-l-Hadi
succeeded his brother in 170 Fl. (786 A.D.). He was the fifth
Abbaside Caliph. Their father al-Mahdi liad designated him
as the successor-elect of the elder brother. Harun’s birthplace
was al-Rayy. Khayzaran was the rnotlier of hoth. Early in
his Caliphate he led the people on their pilgrimage to Makka.
In the year 172 he designated his eldest son 'Abdullali al-
Ma-mun as the successor-elect after al-Amin the second son.
He appointed 'Abdullali to be governor over Khorassan and
the adjoining regions as far as Hamadhan, surnamed him al-
Ma-mun, and entrusted him to the tutelage of Jaafar son of
Yahya the Barmekide. (See last paragraph in this section on
Harun's reign.)

In Harun’s reign the Muslims invaded Asia Minor as far
as Ephesus. Iduniayd son of Ma’yub was the admiral of the
fleets on the Syrian coasts and coasts of Egypt. In the year 187
the Byzantines deposed the Empress Irene and set Nicephoros
on the throne. Irene had highly respected Harun and had sent
him many regalia (royal gifts). But when Nicephoros assumed
the power he sent word to Harun that he would no longer
pay the tribute. Harun led his army against the Byzantines,
invaded the country and penetrated as far as Heraklea in
Bythinia on the Black Sea. Nicephoros had to agree to pay

80

the tribute, and Harun withdrew. In 803 A.D., Nicephoros
again broke the peace; Harun again crossed the Taurus range,
defeated the Byzantines in Phrygia, and forced them to accept
a truce. Harun had to go to Khorassan to help hi s governor
there in putting down a revolt. While so far away, he learned
that the Byzantines had rebuilt certain forts, which the Muslims
had pulled down, and were making raids into Muslini territory.
So in 806 he gathered an army of 135,000, invaded Asia
Minor, took Heraklea and several other fortified places, enslaved
many women and children, and took immense spoil. The fleet
captured seventeen thousand Christians of the island of Cyprus.
Nicephoros had not only to agree to pay tribute but also to
pay a poll-tax.

Harun’s most dreadful deed, liowever, was his extirpa-
tion of the Barmekides.  These were a family, descended
from Barmak, that had emigrated from Persia and had embraced
Islam under the Umayyades. Khalid son of Barmak had become
the wazir of al-Saffah, after the murder of Abu- Salamah who
had favored the Cause of the Descendants of 'Ali as the rightful
successors. Al-Manšur had made Khalid first Finance Minister
and then governor of Mušul. Yahya, Khalid’s son, was governor
of 'Azerbaidjan in the days of al-Mahdi, and then Harun’s
secretary, and aftenvards secretary of Harun when he assumed
the Caliphate. Yahya had opposed al-Hadi in his designs of
depriving Harun of the right of succession, for which Harun
greatly honored (favored) him, made him wazir, and appointed
his four sons as well as other relations to high offices. Harun
was especially fond of Ja’afar, one of Yahya’s sons and a brilliant
man. It seemed that Harun even thought of giving his sistei'
’Abbasah to Ja’afar in marriage, if only in name not in fact.
X X X X X X X But when Harun was once at Makka he saw
a child which was supposed to be the child of ’Abbasah; and
from its resemblance to Ja’afar, Harun concluded that he was
the father. Ja’afar’s head was cut off, his body was hung up
at the gate of Bagdad. ’Abbasah and the child were, it is
said, buried alive. Ibrahim, one of Ja’afar’s friends, was killed.

81

Every male descendant of Barmak was put to death, the liouses
were plundered and left to the bat and the owl. Soon after
the destruction of the House of Barmak, Harun removed hi s
residence to Rak k ah.

In Qayrawan and Tunis the governor, Ibrahim son of
al-Aghlab, who had been appointed to put down the revolts
there, revolted and founded a dynasty called the A g h 1 a b i d e s;
later on they took Sicily and ruled over Qayrawan and Tunis
till they were overthrown, in 909, by the Fatimites. The
Idrisides ruled in the far west of Africa. (See p. 82.)

North Africa, as well as Spain and Morocco previously,
was practically lost to the Abbasid Caliphate wlien Ibrahim
Aghlab the governor established himself atQayrawan in 184/800.

Rali’ son of al-Layth had revolted, and ali the country
beyond the Oxus had followed him. His head-quarters were
at Samarqand. In 192/808, Harun started from Raqqah,
passed through Bagdad, and reached Tus in Jorjan, on his
way to put down the revolt. Here he fell ill in the Spring,
in the month of Safar. He sent forvrard his son al-Ma-mun
to Merv  with the army and generals. Harun died at Tus,
and was buried there in 193/809, in the 24th year of his reign,
and in the 47th of his age.

Harun had three sons. The eldest, al-Ma-mun, was the
son of a Persian slave -girl. The second, al-Amin, was the
son of his wife Zubaydah, who was the grand - daughter of
abu-Ja’afar al-Manšur. The youngest son was Qasim. — Al-
Amin, Zubaydah’s son, was to be the first successor; al-Ma-mun
was to be the next; and Qasim the third. No. 1 was to be
the Caliph, but was in point of fact to rule over ’Iraq, Syria,
Egypt and Africa only. No. 2 was to govern the entire East,
from Hamadan to the Indus and Jaxartes. No. 3 was to govern
northern Mesopotamia and the fortresses on the frontiers of
Armenia and Asia Minor.

N.B. The sections in smaller type on the <lynasties eontemporary with
the Caliphs are digressions and amplifications to be omitted in consecutive
reading-. They have been taken from Stanley Lane-Poole’s most recent work,
The Mohammedan Dynasties, Westminster, 1894.

82

A.H. A.D.

172 — 375. The Idrisids in Morocco. 788 — 985.

In the year 168/785 an insurrection of the partisans of the family of
'Ali took plače at al - Madinah. Among those who took part in it was Idris
b. 'Abd-Allah b. Hasan b. Hasan b. 'Ali b. Abi-Talib. On the suppression of
the revolt Idns fled to Egypt, and thence to Morocco, where he founded an
>Alid dynasty in the region about Ceuta. His coins bear the naraes of the
towns of Tudgha and al-Walila. The dominions of the Idrisids reached
their greatest extent about 246/860, and gradually dwindled until the extinc-
tion of the dynasty in 375/985. Some of the dates are not recorded by
Ibn Khaldun.

172 Idris I.788

177 Idris II son of Idris I.793

213 Muhammad son of Idris II.828

221 'Ali I son of Muhammad.836

234 Yahya I son of Muhammad.849

. . . Yahya II son of Yahya I.

. . . 'Ali II son of 'Umar son of Idris II.

. .. Yahya III son of al-Qasim b. Idris II.

292 Yahya IV son of Idris b. 'Umar.904

310 al-Hasan.922

(They were followed by the Miknasa Berbers.)

A.H. A.D.

184—296. The Aghlabids in Tunis and Sicily. 800—909.

Ibrahim b. al -Aghlab was govemor of the province of Zah, east of
the Tigris, for the Caliph at the time of the confusion whieh followed upon
the death of Yazid the 'Abbasid governor-general of Afriqia  (i. e. Tunis) in
170/787, and was appointed to the government of the whole Afričan province
by the Caliph Harun al-Rashid in 184/800; but did not interfere with the
authority of the Idrisids in the far west. His dynasty was practically in-
dependent, and the Aghlabids seldom troubled themselves to put the names
of the Caliphs on their coins in token even of spiritual suzerainty. They
were not only enlightened and energetic rulers on land, but employed large
fleets on the Mediterranean, harried the coasts of Italy, France, Corsica, and
Sardinia, and eonquered Sicily in 827 — 78; which island remained in Muslim
hands until the conquest by the Normans in 484/1091. The Aghlabid domination
in Africa when at its best was indeed the period of the greatest ascendancy
of the Arabs in the Mediterranean: their corsairs (quršan) were the terror of
the seas, and besides Sicily they took Malta and Sardinia, and even invaded
the suburbs of Eome. The incapacity of the lat er Aghlabid princes, however,
and the growth of sectarian dissaffection under the fostering influence of
the S h i ’ i t e Idrisids in the west, paved the way for the Fatimid triumph
in 296/909. (See p. 97.)

83 —

A.H. A . D .

184 Ibrahim I. . . 800

196 'Abdullali I.' ^ ^ 811

201 Ziyadat-Allah I. 816

223 Abu ’Aqal al-Aghlab. 837

226 Muhammad I . 840

242 Ahmad. 856

249 Ziyadat-Allah II. 863

250 Muhammad II. 864

261 Ibrahim II. . . 874

289 'Abdullah II. 902

290 — 296 Ziyadat-Allah III. 903 — 909.

(They were overthrown by the Fatimids.)

6. Al-Amin, son of Zubaydah, ruled 4 years and 8 months,
193 —198 Fl. — He wrote a letter to liis elder brother al-Ma-mun,
requiring tbe latter to acknowledge him as the successor
and assume the governorship of Khorassan. He wrote to his
younger brother Šalih and to his late father’s wazir, al-Fadl
son of Rabfah, ordering them to lead the army back to Bagdad.
Al-Ma-mun was at Mer v; al-Fadl son of Rabfah led back
the army from Tus, instead of going to put down the revolt
in Khorassan. Ibn Sahl advised al-Ma-mun to raise an army
in Khorassan. Al-Amin chose al-Fadl son of Rabfah as his
counsellor. Both brothers were hardly 24 years old. One
was of Arab descent, the other had Persian blood from his
mother in his veins. The rivalry between the two soon
became a war between the Arab and the Persian nationalities,
betvveen the East and the West. Al-Amin appointed his brother
Qasim governor over a small province; and designated his
own son Musa as the successor after al-Ma-mun. — Al-Ma-mun
acted as independent ruler in Khorassan. Al-Amin, in 810,
sent an army of 50,000 men into Persia against al-Ma-mun;
it was defeated. Al-Ma-mun then proclaimed himself Calipli,
and ordered Tahir to marcli upon Bagdad. Tahir again defeat¬
ed al-Amin’s second army near Hamadhan, and advanced un-
opposed as far as PIulwan. The alarm in Bagdad was great.
Tahir advanced upon the Capital from the south, passing
tlirough Khusistan, Bašrah andWašit; Harthamah led another
part of the army by the nearest route, through Khanniqin and
Nahrawan. The decisive battle was tought near Nahrawan,

6 *

84

twelve miles from Bagdad. Tahir occupied Sarfar, nine miles
south of the Capital. In March 812/197 Tahir took part of the
city on the east side. In Sept. 813 the entire eastern part
was occupied. On the night of Sept. 24, al-Amin crossed the
Tigris in a boat, but was caught and beheaded by some Persians,
on the evening of Friday, 23d Muharram 198.— The 'Ala-
wiyyin profitting by ali this civil war, seized Raqqah, Kufa,
Bašrah, Wašit and ali Arabia; and in 815 they even occupied
Mada-in, which is Ktesifon or Taisafun.

7. Al-Ma-mun was proclaimed Caliph in 198/813, at
Bagdad. — Harthamah soon defeated the 'Alawiyyin. During
the civil war, the siege of Bagdad and the putting down of
the ’Alawiyyin, al-Ma-mun had continued to reside at Mer v.
Harthamah went to Merv to advise the Caliph to come to
Bagdad and remove the governor, Hasan son of Sahl, who was
a Persian and, as such, not liked by the Arabs of Traq. But
al-Ma-mun imprisoned Harthamah; and soon Fadl, brother of
Sahl, killed him in the prison. — A revolt occurred in Bagdad,
July to August 816, which was soon put down. Al-Ma-mun
wanted to conciliate the 'Alawiyyin. So lie gave his daughter
in marriage to 'Ali son of Musa, a descendant of 'A 1 i; and in
April 817 al-Ma-mun, through the governor of Bagdad, pro¬
claimed this son-in-law 'Ali to be his successor-elect. But a
large party in Bagdad did not want a 'Alawy as Caliph. So
they chose Ibrahim son of al-Mahdi as the successor-elect.
After riots and debates Ibrahim, son of al-Mahdi and uncle of
al-Ma-mun, appeared publicly in the mosque, on the 24tli of
July 817, as the Commander of the Believers.

When al-Mamun heard of this, he started from Merv
with his army. On the way he had both his wazir and his son-
in-law 'Ali killed. He then chose Ibrahim, a brother of 'Ali,
as governor of Yaman and leader of the caravan of pilgrims.
Ibrahim, son of al-Mahdi and uncle of al-Ma-mun, abdicated
in 819; al-Ma-mun soon after entered Bagdad, and was greeted
by ali parties as the rightful Caliph.

Babek rebelled in Persia, and eontinued to hold northern
Persia ali through al-Ma-mun’s reign. In 217/832 al-Ma-mun
led an army into Egypt and tliere put down a revolt, driving
out some Andalusians from Lower Egypt.

In 822 Tahir had made himself almost independent ruler
of Khorassan. Tahir’s descendants were the lords of Khorassan.
'Abdullah son of Tahir was the friend of Abu-Tammam,
the author and collector of the famous diwan of poems called
al-Hamasah. (See below, Persian Eevival, d.)

Leam  in  g. The study of History, Philosophy, Theology,
Jurisprudence and Medicine had been begun under al-Manšur
and eontinued under al-Mahdi and Harun. This study bore
its hest fruits under al-Ma-mun. He studied the Greek philo-
sophy, because he was himself inclined to the teachings of the
Mu’atazilah. He gathered Greek manuseripts and had them
translated into Arabic. Works on Mathematics and Medicine
were translated, such as Euclid, Ptolemy, Hippocrates and Galon.
The traditions — hadiths — were collected. Isma’i'1 son of Mu-
hammad from Bokharah, a contemporary of al-Ma-mun, gathered
and carefully sifted the hadiths, and called the collection “the
genuine” or authentic sayings. Ahmad son of H a n b a 1 was
a contemporary of al-Ma-mun. He dared to oppose publicly the
Mu’atazilite theology of al-Ma-mun’s Court.

Al-Ma-mun died on the 7th of August 833/218, at the
age of 49 and in the 20th year of his reign, and was buried
at Tarsus in Cilicia, whitber he had gone to fight the Byzan-
tines. — Qasim, Harun’s third son, had been killed soon after
al-Amin. So the Caliphate passed to another brotber, namely to
8. Muliammad [some say Ibrahim] abu-Ishaq surnamed
a 1-Mu’at  asi  m. At first some of the troops proclaimed Abbas
son of al-Mamun. But 'Abbas swore allegiance to his unclc
al-Mu’atašim,  whom ali then recognised as the rightful
Commander of the Eaithful, 218/833.

He no longer relied on the Arah and Persian elements
in the army, but chose his body- guard from the Mameluka,
and even formed the main body of his troops out of seventy-

86

thousand of these foreign slave  s. Tliis so displeased the
people of Bagdad that Mu’atašim built the city of Surra-man-ra-a,
near Bagdad, and transferred his residence thither in 220/835.

Several revolts broke out in the first vears of his reign.
An ’Alawi pretender was recognised in Khorassan; the prince-
general 'Abdullah son of Tahir was fully occupied in opposing
him. Babek and his followers in Persia revolted; the Turkish
general 'Afshin had ali he could do to put them down. The
Zat, a tribe who had emigrated from India and settled on the
lower Euphrates between Bašrah and Wašit, revolted; ’Ujayf
son of ’Anbasa, a distinguished Arab army- leader, was seven
months in bringing them under subjection.

Theophilus son of Michael the Byzantine  Emperor
thonght the moment favorable. He marched in the year 223/837
into the region of the Upper Euphrates, ravaging and destroying
the country and the cities. In the Spring of 224/838 Mu’atašim
gathered his army and marched into Asia Minor. At Tarsus
in Cilicia his army divided into two bodies. Afshin went east-
wards into small Armenia; the Caliph with other generals ad-
vanced through the Cilician Passes. Theophilus with his army
was in Cappadocia; he first advanced against Afshin, but was
defeated and had to flee. The Muslini army united and marched
in three columns upon the city of 'Amorium. Theophilus took
up a strong position near Dorylaeum. The garrison of 'Amorium
defended the city. But after a siege of 50 days it fell into
the Caliph’s hands and was totally destroyed, 224/838.

The Caliph had promoted and preferred the generals of
foreign  origin: the neglected Arab army-leaders were jealous.
A plot was formed to depose him and proelaim 'Abbas  as
Caliph. The plot or conspiracy was discovered in time, 'Abbas
was confined and died of thirst; ’Ujayf son of 'Anbasa and
other Arab generals were killed.

The chief judge or Qadi about tliis time was Ahmad ibn
abi-Dawud, and under him was the well-known philosopher
al-Kindi, a very learned Arab, wlio translated and explained
several of the Greek works on philosophy and mathematics.

87

Mu’atašim is the Caliph who insisted upon the doctrine of the
creation of the Qur-an. He died in 227/Jan. 5. 842, and is
called the “Eightman”, for he left 8 sons and 8 daughters, ruled
8 years and 8 months, attained the age of 48 years, had been
born in the 8th month of the year, left 8,000,000 dinars, and
8,000,000 dirhams, and carried on 8 wars. These are:

1. against the ’Alawi in Khorassan;

2. against Babek;

3. against the Zat tribe;

4. against the Byzantines;

5. against the prince of Tabaristan;

6. against the sub-governor of Azerbaijan;

7. against the Kurds in Mesopotamia; and

8. against Mubarqa’ in Palestine, who gave hiraself out to be a
descendant of the Umayyades.

After Mu’atašim the Caliphate began to decline.

9. 227—232  H. = 842 — 847 A.D. His son Harun-
al-Wathiq-billahi was proclaimed Caliph at the city of Samira.
The history of his reign is a series of revolts, which were put
down mainly with the help of Turkish troops. The Umayyades
were again active in Syria. The Khawarij agitated the people
in the Traq. The Bedouin Arabs, always unruly, moved in
Arabia; the Kurds in the Persian Traq. — Al-Wathiq died in
232/Aug. 10. 847 at Samira, Surra-man-ra-a. He was succeeded
by his brother Ja’afar al-Mutawakkil ’ala-Allah.

10. 232/847. Ja’afar al-Mutawakkil was 26 years old
when he assumed the power. He was a most strict Sunnite.
— In 238/853 a Greek Byzantine fleet went to Damietta in
Egypt and lan ded troops, who ravaged that city and the neigh-
boring country.* In Sejistan a revolt broke out which was put
down by the army-leader and prince ’Abdullah son of Tahir;
this revolt is here mentioned because it was the commencement
of the rise of the Saffaride  supremacy, which afterwards
extended over the entire far East. — The Nuba and Bija, a
Berber tribe in the desert between Egypt, Nubia and Abyssinia,

* The governors over Egvpt at tiiat time were ’Abd-ul-Wahid b. Yahya
b. Manšur, from 236—238, and 'Anbasa b. Is-haq b. Shamir, from 238 — 242;
see Wiistenfeld, Statthalter v. Aegypten, p. 51.

88

made inroads and raids upon Upper Egvpt, so that Mutawakkil
had to send 20,000 men against tkem. (See Wiistenfeld, Statt-
halter v. Aegypten, p. 52.)

He was killed by Wašif and Bogha, the leaders of the
body-guard. Wašif and the Caliph’s eldest son Muntašir were
disaffected, because the Caliph had wanted to divide the king-
dom among his three sons. The chief of the body-guard ad-
mitted the murderers by night into the Caliph’s bed - chamber;
they killed him in the night between Dec. 9 and 10, 861 —
Shawwal 247 Fl.—He had ruled nearly 15 years.

The next morning Wašif proclaimed the eldest son of
the murdered Caliph as the successor.

11. 247/861. Muhaminatl al - Muntašir. The Persians
and the Yamanites among the troops gathered together and
attacked the palače of al-Muntašir, but his Turkish and Western
troops drove them back. Six months aftenvards he died, in
the 26th year of his age, 248/June 5th 862 A.D. — His mother
was a Greek slave-girl.

12. 248/862. The Turkish and Western troops then
proclaimed Ahmad  son of Mubammad son of al-Mu’atašim as
Caliph, and he assumed the title of al - Musta’in at S a m i r a.
His reign was a period of trouble and disturbance. One of
the sons of 'Abdullah ibn Tahir was governor of Bagdad, and
had forced the inhabitants of that city to recognise al-Musta’in’s
Caliphate. The Caliph rewarded him by appointing him as
governor of ’Iraq and Arabia. Muhammad ibn Tahir was about
that time the fourth governor of Khorassan of the Tahiride
House, which at this period extended its authority over
Khawarism, Herat, Tabaristan, and a part of Transoxiana.
As the Tahirides ruled over the far East, so did Atamish, the
younger Bogha and Wašif hold the power in the nearer East.
— After ruling less than three years al - Mustahn was deposed
by the Turkish troops, in the year 252/Jan. 4. 866, when only
thirty-one years old, and Abu-’Abdullah Muhammad son of al-
Mutawakkil was proclaimed Caliph, and assumed the title of
al-Mu’atazz. (See p. 81, N.B.)

89

Persian Revival.

Between the IXth and the XItli centuries of tlie Christian Era tliere
a rose about ele ven dynasties, who ruled in Persia and the province “Beyond
the River” Oxus (Ma-wara-l-nahr, or Transoxiana) until the great inroad of
the Saljuq Turks. This is the period of Persian Revival against Arah
supremacy.

The Caliph al-Ma-mun, whose raother was a Persian slave, had attained
to the Caliphate, and dethroned his half-brother al-Amin, by the aid of P e r s i a n
troops raised in Kliurasan; his power was mantained by his Persian adherents;
and his poliey was unlimited conciliation of Persian national
aspirations.  The result was a Revival of Persian Influences at the ex-
pense  of the old Arab polity, and the eonsequent \veakening  of the State.
The great offieers, governors, and generals, in tlie provinces, began to acquire
a dangerous degree of power, which al-Ma-mun and his successors in the
Caliphate were unable to cnrb; and vaiious Persian dynasties, professing
merely nominal dependence upon the Caliphs, sprang up, just as the Arab
tribes of Mesopotamia further west asserted their authority against the decrepit
Caliphate. Some dynasties, such as the Buwayhs, were not even orthodox
(Sunnis), but professed the Shi’ite tenets, which have always been popular
in Persia, as they are at this day. Although the period is eharacteristically
Persian,  it is not to be assumed that ali the dynasts were Persians by
race: Abu-Dulaf, for example, was an Arab; Hasanwayh was a Kurd; whilst
the ilak Khans were Turks. The c h i e f dynasties, however,were of Persian origin.

A.H. A.D.

c. 210 — c. 285. a)  The Dulafids in Kurdistfm. c. 825 — c. 898.

Abu Dulaf al-Tjli was an officer of the Caliph al -Amin, and received
the govemment of Hamadhan, in which he was succeeded by his son 'Abd¬
ul-’Aziz and his grandsons. 'Umar b.'Abd-ul-'Aziz increased his doininions
by the acquisition of Išpahan and Nahavvand in 281/894. They were suc¬
ceeded by other governors of the Caliphs.

c. 210 Abu Dulaf al-Qašim b. Idris al-’Ijli ....  c. 825

228 'Abdul-'Aziz. 842

260 Dulaf. 873

265 Ahmad. 878

280-c. 285 'Umar. 893 —c. 898.

(Superseded by 'Abbasid Governors.)

A.H. A.D.

266 — c. 318. b)  The Sajids in Adharbijan. 879 — c. 930.

Abu-s-Saj Divdad was govemor of al-Kufa and al-Ahvvaz at the time
of his death in 266/879. At that date his son Mukammad was govemor of
the Hijaz; but was transferred to al-Anbar in 269/882; and then to Adhar¬
bijan in 276/889, to which was added Armenia in 285/898. On his death
his brother Yusuf, who had been Wali of Makka in 271/884, succeeded to
the government of Armenia and Adharbijan, setting aside Muhammad s son
Divdad. Yusuf invaded al-Rayy in 306/918, and was imprisoned by the
Caliph al-Muqtadir in the follovving year, but was restored to his appointments
in 310/922. He annexed al-Rayy in 311/923, and waged war upon the
Carmathians (Qaramitah). In 319/931, one year before al-Muqtadir \vas
beheaded, the government of Adharbijan was vested in Muflih, a freedman
of Yusuf’s.

90

A.H. A.D.

in 266 Abu-s-Saj Divdad died . 879

276 Muhammad al-Afshin b. Divdad. 889

288 Yusuf b. Divdad. 900

315 — c. 318 Abu-l-Musafir al-Fath b. Muhammad ....  927 — c. 930.

(Superseded by 'Abbasid Governors.)

A.H. A.D.

250 — 316. c)  The 'Alids in Tabaristan. 864 — 928.

A line of Imams of the 'Alid or Zaydite sect of the Shfites was
founded at Sa’ada in the Yaman  by al-Hadi Yahya, grandson of al-Qasim
al-Kassi, a schismatic of the time of al-Ma-mun the 'Abbasid Caliph; this
line bas lasted down to the present day. Other branches and members of
the same family, descendants either of al-Hasan or al-Husayn, the Prophefs
grandsons, long maintained their rights to the Imamate or Caliphate in the
provinces bordering the Southern shore of the Caspian,  in Daylam, Taba¬
ristan, and Gilan. A list of the merely spiritual pontilfs (imams), or sporadie
rebels, is beyond the present purpose; but in 250/864 the 'Alids gained
possession of Tabaristan, beeame a power, štručk coins, and held sway over
the province for sixty-four years, until expelled by the Šamani  ds. After
this event, severa! rival Houses of 'Alawiyyin continued to maintain them-
selves in Gilan and Daylam, and at least one of them, Abu-1-Fadl Ja’far
al-Tha-ir fi-llah, exercised the royal privilege of coinage.

250 al-Hasan b. Zayd. 864

270 Muhammad b. Zayd. 883

287 Samanii Government . 900

301 al-Našir Hasan b. 'Ali al-Utrush. 913

304 — 316 al-Hasan b. al-Qasim. 916 — 928.

(They were supplanted by the Samanids and Ziyarids.)

A.H. AD.

205 — 259. d)  The Tahirids in Khnrasan. 820 — 872.

Tahir dhu-l-yaminayn, “Ambidexter”, the celebrated general of al-
Ma - mun, descended from a Persian slave, was appointed by that Caliph to
the government of Khurasan in 205/820, where he and his dynasty beeame
practically independent, though holding their authority by patent of the Caliphs
and with express acknowledgment of vassalage. They did not attempt to
extend their power much beyond the borders of their province; and after
half a eentury they collapsed tamely before the attack of Ya’qub b. Layth
the Šaffarid. (See above, the 6th and 7th Caliphs.)

205 Tahir dhu-l-yaminayn, “Ambidexter”. 820

207 Talha. 822

213 'Abdullah.  828

230 Tahir II. 844

248 — 259 Muhammad. 862 — 872.

(Overthrown by the Šaffarids.)

91

AH. A.D.

254 — 290. e)  The Šaff&rids in Persia. 867 — 903.

Ya’qub, tile son of Layth the Šaffar, i. e. the ‘Coppersmith’, 'was by
a freak of fortune promoted from the leadership of a band of outhuvs to a
post of trust at the Court of the Caliph’s govemor of the province of Sijistan
(or Nimruz), whom he eventually succeeded, sometime before 255/868. By
that year he had annexed Herat and occupied Fars, including the Capital
Slnraz, to which he soon added Balkh and Tukharistan, and in 259/872
took Khurasan from the Tahirids. After an expedition into Tabaristan, wiiere
he defeated Hasan b. Zayd the ’Alawi, he openiy revolted against the Caliph
al-Mu’tamid, and advanced through Shiraz and al -Aliwaz upon Baghdad; but
was routed by the Caliplds brother al-Muwaffaq, and died in 265/878. His
brother and suceessor ’Amr was confirmed in the governments of Khurasan,
Fars, Kurdistan, and Sijistan. The Caliph, hovvever, distrusting ’Amr’s in-
creasing power, induced Ismall the Samanid to attack him in 287/900, when
the Saffarid was defeated and made prisoner. His grandson Tahir succeeded
him in Sijistan; but, endeavoring to re-establish the power of his House in
Fars, was imprisoned in 290/903. Two other members of the family vainly
sought to recover its lost territory. In 296/908 Sijistan was granted to the
Samanids, but the Šaffarids continued for nearly a century to aim at the
possession of this province, and several of them succeeded in holding it for

a time. (See above, the lOth Caliph.)

254 Ya’qub b. al-Layth al-Šaffar. 868

265 ’Amr b. al-Layth. ° , ,

287 — 290 Tahir b. Muhammad b. ’Amr.J00 —JU3.

(Overthrown by the Sclmanids.)

A.H. ^ A D '

261 — 389. f)  The Samanids in Transoxiana and Persia. 874 — 999.

Šaman,  a Persian noble of Balkh, being aidecl by Asad b. ’Abd-
Allah, the govemor of Khurasan, renounced Zoroastrianism, embraced Islam,
and named his son Asad after his protector. Asad’s four sons ali distinguished
themselves in the Service of the Caliph al-Ma-mun, and vvere rewarded about
204/819 with provincial governments: Nuh had Samarqand; Ahmad, Farghana;
Yahya, al-Shash; and Ilyas, Herat. Ahmad took the lead among his brothers,
and not only succeeded Nuh at Samarqand, but incorporated Kashghar in
his dominions. His second son Isma’il took Khurasan from the Šaffarids in
290/903, defeated Muh. b. Zayd the ’Alid of Tabaristan, and brought under
his sway the whole territory from the Great Desert to the Persian Gulf, and
from the borders of India to near Baghdad. His power^ was most firmly
established in Transoxiana, ma-wara-l-nahr, where Bukhara and Samar-
qand  became the centre of civilisation, learning, art, and scholarship for a
Jarge part of the Muslim world. His successors vvere weakened by rebellions
in Khurasan and Sijistan and by the grovving power of the Buwayhs.  In
half a century they vvere restricted to little more tlian lransoxiana and
Khurasan, vvhilst the real power fell more and more into the hands of the
Turkish slaves with vvhom they filled their Court. One of these, A1 p t i g i n ,
founded the dynasty of the Ghaznawids,  which in 384/994 succeeded to
the Samanid territory south of the Oxus. North of the river their power
was curtailed by the ilak khans  of Turkistan, who had acquired the
leadership of the Turkish tribes from Farghana to the borders of China, and,

92

after invading Transoxiana and taking Bukhara in 380/990, finally put an
end to the Samanid dynasty in 389/999; though Ibrahim al - Muntašir con-
tinued to fight for the throne till 395/1004.

A.H. ' A.D.

261 Našr I b. Ahmad.874

279 lsnaa’il b. Ahmad.  892

295 Ahmad b. Isma’il.907

301 Našr II b. Ahmad.913

331 Nuli I b. Našr.942

343 ’Abd-ul-Malik I b. Nuh.954

350 Manšur I b. Nuh.961

366 Nuh II b. Manšur.976

387 Manšur II b. Nuh II.997

389 'Abdul-Malik II b. Niih II.999

(They were overthrown by the tlak khans of Turkistan, and bv the Ghaznawids of
Afghanistan and Panjab.)

A.H. A.D.

c. 320 — c. 560. g)  Tlie ilak  Kliiins of Turkistan. c. 932 — c. 1165.
The history of these khans is very meagrely recorded. They appear

to have United the Turkish tribes east of Farghana under their authority
towards the end of the Xth century, wlien thev had already become Muslims.
Their Capital was at first Kaslighar; but after the conquest of Transoxiana,
ma-vrard-l-nahr, from the Samanids in 389/999, ilak Našr  ruled his tribes-
men, who roamed from the Caspian as far as the borders of China, from
Bukhara. An attempt to seize the provinces south  of the Oxus was signally
defeated by Mahmud of Ghazna in 398/1007; and hencefortli the ilak  khans
were restricted to Transoxiana, Kaslighar, and Eastern Tartary. ITnder their
rule, many tribes established themselves in ma-wara-l-nahr and were after-
wards pressed forward into Persia: such as the celebrated Turkoman tribe
of the Saljuqs.  The suceession and chronology of the khans of Turkestan
are very uncertain. The list of names is, therefore, liere omitted.

A.II. A.D.

316 — 434. li)  The Ziyarids in Jurjan. 928 — 1042.

The Southern shore of the Caspian had never been well affected to
the Caliphate, and the 'Alawiyyun had repeatedly established their heterodox
power in these regions (see above, ‘the 'Alids in Tabaristan’); nor were the
Samanids more successful than the Caliphs in maintaining their authority
there. Taking advantage of this, Mar d a vrij b. Ziyar,  descended from a
long line of princes, made himself independent in Tabaristan and Jurjan, and
even oeeupied Išpahan and Hamadhan, and pushed his forces as far as
Hulwan, on the Mesopotamian frontier, between theyears 316 — 319/928 — 931.
He was the patron of the Buwayhs,  and gave 'Ali b. Buwayh his first
appointment as governor of Karaj. Mardavvij held his dominions as titular
vassal of the 'Abbasid Caliph al-Muqtadir: his brother and successor Wash-
magir paid nominal homage to the Samanids as well. After the rise of the
Buwayhids  in 320/932, the authority of the Ziyarids scarcely extended
beyond the borders of Jurjan and Tabaristan; and Qabus was even exiled
for 18 years, 371 — 389, by the Buwayhid Mu-ayyid-ul-dawlah. On his return,
however, he recovered Gilan as well as his former provinces, in which his
sons suceeeded liim, until dispossessed by the Ghaznawids  of Afghanistan
and Panjab.

93

A.H. A.D.

316 Mardawij b. Ziyar. 928

323 Zahir-ul-dawlah Abu Manšur Washmagir ....  935

356 Bistun.   967

366 Shams-uI-Ma’ali Qabus. 976

403 FaIak-ul-Ma’ali Manuchahr . 1012

420—434 Anushirwan (Dara?). 1029 — 1042.

i)  The three Hasanwayhid Knrds in Kurdistan, from 348 — 406/959
to 1015, are here omitted, as being unimportant.

k)  The Buwayhids in Southern Persia and al-’Iraq are the most
prominent of ali the eleven dynasties in the period of Persian Kevival.
They are fully noticed below, at the close  of al-Muqtadir’s Caliphate.

l)  The tvvo Kakwayhids, a brancli of the Buwayhs, in Kurdistan,
398 — 443/1007—1051, are also passed over for tlieir insignificance.

13. 252/866. Al-Mu’atazz al-Zubayr. Hc caused the
deposed al-Musta’m to be killed, and his own brother al-Mu-
ayyid to be secretly murdered. At tbis time Ya’qub, son of
Leith the Saffaride, was master of Sejistan. (See p. 91.) —
Al-Mu’atazz appointed A hm a d son of Tulun  as governor
of Egypt; the descendants of this Ahrnad are the Tulunides
who ruled in Egypt several short generations. (See below p. 97.)

In 255/July 13. 869, the Caliph was deposed by the
troops. The Turkish mercenaries clamored for their back-pay;
he had not enough money to satisfy their demands. So some
of them čast him into a subterranean chamber, whero he died
on the third day, at the age of 23 years.

14. 255/869. Al-Mulitadi. The ehief of the murderers
and revolters was Šalih. They chose abu-’Abdullah Muhammad
son of al-Wathiq as Caliph, and he assumed the title of al-
Muhtadi-bi-llah. Witliin a year of his accession to the dignity
of Caliph, the Turkish troops killed him, in llajab 256/June
21. 870.

15. 256/870. AI-Mu’atainid 'ala-AUali, the paternal cousin
of his immediate predecessor. His full name is Ahmad son ot
al-Mutawakkil son of al-Mu’atašim. He was proclaimed Caliph
£it Sam ir a. Being a weak man, he allotved his energetic
brother al-Muwaffaq Talhah to take the direction of the affairs
of State. Tlie residence of the Caliph was brought back again

94

to Bagdad. He led the Friday prayer, or ratlier the Khutbah
was made in his name; the coins too were štručk with his
name, while Talhah  liad the authority over the troops. The
Turkish troops had quarrelled amongst eacli otlier, and tlius
Talhah got back the power into the hands of’ the ancient House
of Hashim.

But  the  provinces were  in  rebellion. The ’Ala-
wiyyin and the Kliawarij revolted. The Tulunides of Egypt
and Syria threatened the Chaliphate on the west; the Saffarides
menaced it from the far East; in the south and north-east there
was disturbance. Ahmad son of Tulun took possession of
Damascus, Hims, Hamah, Aleppo, and Tarsus, invaded northern
Mesopotamia, and took Raqqah and Harran. (See below p. 97.)

About this time the Saffaride Ya’qub son of Layth took
Balkh and Cabfd, Bost and Herat, and then not only took
Nisabur, but further seized the Tahiride prince Muhammad son
of Tahir, thus putting an end to the supremacy of this House
in Khorassan (873 A.D.). Ya’qub then took Tabaristan and
Farsistan; and in 875 he advanced to Ahwaz and to Wašit.
— The Caliplfs troops were commanded by his brother Talhah
al-Muwaffaq. They met Ya’qub’s forces a few miles south of
Bagdad; and in April 876 a bloody battle ,was fought. Neither
party was victorious; but Ya’qub had to go back to Khorassan
to put down a revolt of some Tahirides. Al-Muwaffaq, the
Caliph’s brother, then drove the Saffarides out of Fars, Kerman
and Khorassan. The Samanides helped him to overcome the
Saffarides. The Samanides were a line of rulers, descended
from Asad son of Šaman, who had occupied high positions and
offices in Transoxania, since the days of al-Ma-mun. Ismai'1,
one of the Samanides, grew so powerf'ul that he became govern-
or of Transoxiana, Cliorassan, Tabaristan and Jorjan. (See
above, Persian Revival, f. p. 91.)

The Caliph al-Mu’atamid had stili other rebels to put
down. ’Ali son of Muhammad, from the region of Rayy,
pretended to be a descendant of Adi son of Abu-Talib, and
was called Lord of the Zanj. He robbed and plundered around

95

Bašrah and took that city in 871. When driven out tlience,
he went and drove away the Caliplfs governor of Khuzistan.
After a few years this Lord of the Zanj again came to Bašrah
and Qadisiah, and even took Wašit in 877. Al-Muwaffaq drove
kim out of that city in 880, and the Lord of the Zanj retired
to the mouths of the Euphrates. Al-Muwaffaq pursued him
thither. He defended himself behind the strong walls of al-
Mukhtarah; it was not till the year 883 that al-Muwatfaq took
the plače by storm and beheaded the Lord of the Zanj, who
had been the terror of the Caliphate and of Islam for 14 years.
The general al-Muwaffaq died in June 891. His son Abu-b
Abbas, one of the generals of al-Mu’atarnid, treated this Caliph
as a prisoner. This Abu-1-'Abbas aftenvards became Caliph
under the name al-Mu’atadid. Al-Mu’atamid died in Shawwal
279/Oct. 15. 892.

16. 279/892. A b u -1 -’A b b a s son of al-Muwaffaq

succeeded his paternal uncle al - Mu’atamid, and assumed the
title of al-Mu’atadid bi-Hali. About this time the Isma"ilides
began to appear. They were a branch of the 'Alawiyyin sect.
From the IsmaTlides sprang the Qaramitah and the dynasty
of the Fatimides who afterwards grew so strong in Tunis and
Egypt. The IsmaTlides are that sect of Shi’ites who regard
IsmaTl, the seventh in descent from 'Ali,  as the trne Imam,
and the descendants of IsmaTl after him as the rightful success-
ors. They believed that seven of thcse imams would teacli
publicly; but that after that, the others would live a retired
life, until their teachings should prevali throughout Islam by
means of secret  missionaries.* One of the missionaries, who
founded a secret School and taught the expected coming of
the Mahdi, was 'Abdullah son of Maymun, in the days of al-
Ma-mun. His son continued the secret teaching and converted
many, but his chief convert was Hamdan son of Qarmat.
Another of the missionaries of the IsmaTlides from Taman was
Abu-’Abdullah Hasan son of Ahmad, who afterwards overthrew

* D ?i ’ i, preaeher, missionary.

96

tlie dynasty of Aghlabide rulers in Tunis and placed upon the
tlirone there the Fatimi te Ab u-’Ubayd-Allah.  The mission-
ary Abu -'Abdullah settled among the Berbers of North Africa
during the reign of the 'Abbaside Caliph al-Mu’atadid. This
Caliph died in Rabi’a Second 290/April 5. 902, in the 46th
year of his age and the tenth of his Caliphate, and was
succeeded by his son ’Ali Abu Muhammad, surnamed al-Muktafi.

17. 290/902. Al-Muktali. The Qaramitah sacked Hims,

Hamah, and Baalbek in Syria, threatened Damascus and
Aleppo, cut off the Communications on the route followed by
the pilgrimage caravans, and plundered everywhere. The
Caliph sent armies against them under the general Muhammad
son of Sulayman, who overcame them in 904 and then soon
after drove the Tulunides out of Egypt. (See below.) — Other
Qaramitah in the neighborhood of Ivufa and Qadisia plundered
the pilgrim caravan on its way back from Mekka. The Caliph’s
troops put them down in 907, killing their chieftain Zakaruyah.
In Transoxiana the wild Turkomans began to make inroads;
and the Samanide prince Isma’il had to send to Bagdad for
troops to keep them off. (See above, Persian Revival, f.)

The Byzantines made war upon the Caliphate and pene-
trated as far as Aleppo. The Muslims sent a fleet to Salonique;
their troops landed, storm ed that wealthy and flourishing city,
and carried away thousands of captives. In the year 907
Arab troops invaded Cappadocia, penetrated as far as Qoniah,
and took the Byzantine army-leader Andronicus captive. Here-
upon the Byzantines sued for peace.

Al-Muktafi died Aug. 13. 908, after a reign of six years,
and was succeeded by his brother (18.) Abu-1-Fadl Ja’afar
al-Muqtadir, under whom the Caliphate ded line d rapidly.
Al-Mucjtadir was only thirteen years old on his accession;
palače intrigues, riots of the people, revolts of the soldiers,
and the influence of the women in the harrm took the plače
of law and order. But before going on with the history of
this 'Abbasid, a whole section  must be here devoted to
the Tulunides. (See above, the 15th Caliph.)

97

A.H. A.D.

254 — 292. The Tulunides in Egypt and Syria. 808—905.

254 Ahmad b. Tftlun. 808

270 Khumaravvayh b. Ahmad. 883

282 Jaysh Abu-l-’Asakir b. Khumarawayh. 895

283 Harun b. Khumaravvayh. 896

292 Shayb;in b. Ahmad. 904 — 905.

(They were Governors, over Egypt and most of Syria, under the 'Abbasid Khalifahs.)

Tulun, the fatlier of Ahmad, vvas a Mamluk whom Noali son of Asad
son of Šaman liad presented as a gift to the Caliph al-Ma-mun in tlio
year 200 H. His son Ahmad was bora of a slave-girl. His otlier son was
Musa. Tulun died in 240. His son Ahmad grevv in favor vvitli tlie Caliphs.
The 13th Caliph al-Mu’atazz put Ahmad  in charge of the deposed Caliph
al-Musta’ln, ordered him to kili the latter, and promised to bestow upon him
the governorship of Wašit as a recompense for the murder. But Ahmad was
too conseientious to commit such a erime. Afterwards the providenee of God
rewarded Ahmad; and instead of the small prefecture of Wašit. he got the
supremacj- over Egypt, Syria and many frontier eities. (See the 13th Caliph.)

a)  Abu-l-’Abbas Ahmad son of Tulun came in Ramadan 254 to Egypt
as goveraor, sent by the Caliph al-Mu’atazz, to represent the Turk Makiyal,
his mother’s husband. He resided in Egypt as goveraor of the land. Alter-
wards lie took Damascus and ali Syria, Antioeh and the frontier tovvns.
This happencd while the Caliph’s brotlier, al-Muwaffaq Talita, was engaged in
putting down the Lord of the Zinj. Ahmad maintained his snpremacy over
ali these countries till his death. But during his absence in Svria his son
al-’Abbas rebelled, went to Barka in north Africa and sent word to Ibrahim,
the Aglilabite ruler, saying that the Caliph al-Mu’atamid had appointed him
over ali North Africa. Ibrahim the Aghlabite vvas not deceived, but sent a
small army, under one of his trusted servants called Baliagh, and further
instructed the goveraor of Tripoli to help Baliagh against al-’Abbas the son
of Ahmad ibn Tulun. The tvvo marched against the rebellious son and
defeated him, so that he had to retura to Barka in 267. His father Ahmad
then gathered an army, in Egypt, 100,000 strong, and started front Alexandria.
A1 'A bbas tvas again defeated, and taken prisoner. His father Ahmad then
took him to Fustat, in 268, and had his ltands cut off.

About this time the 'Abbaside Caliph al-Mu’atamid had appointed as
his successor- elect, not only his own son, but his energetic brother, the army-
leader al-Muwaffaq son of al-Mutavvakkil, jointly vvitli his son Ja’afar al-
Mufawwid, and had divided the kingdom betvveen the tvvo. Just then the
’Alawi of Bušrah had revolted, and al-Muwaffaq had to go to put him dovvn.
This occupied al-Muwaffaq nearly 16 years. The relations betvveen Ahmad
son of Tulun and al-Muvvaffaq vvere not IViendly; they liated eaclt other.

08

This state of affairs eontinued till Ahmad’s death. Soon al-Muwafifaq too
died, after vvliich the Caliph al-Mu'atamid appointed as kis suecessor in the
Caliphate liis nepliew al-Mu’atadid Abu-l-’Abbas. Ahmad son of Tulim died
in the year 270, at the age of 50, after ruling 16 years. He had 17 sons.
— The mosqueof Ahmad ibn Tulun  stili stands, but is unfit for use.

h)  Abu-l-Hcisein Kliamarawayli. On the death of Ahmad, the troops
assembled, killed his eldest son aI-’Abbas, and set up Khamarawayl), his
second son, who was then 20 years old. This was during the Caliphate of
al-Mu’atamid the 'Abbaside. In the year 276 Fh, Afsliin Muhannuad, son
of Abu-l-Saj,* started from Armenia and the Tanrus mountains at the liead
of a numerous army, intending to invade Egypt. Khamarawayh met him at
Thaniyyah near Damascus, defeated him, and took most of the army captive,
the defeated troops having thrown down their arms and sued for mercy.
Khamarawayah then advanced to the Euphrates; his troops oeenpied Eaqqah.
He thereupon returned to Egypt. His authority extended from the Euphrates
to the regions of Nubia above Ašuan.

On the death of the 'Abbaside Caliph al-Mu’atamid and the aceession
of al-Mu’atadid, Khamarawayh sent him presents. The bearer of these royal
gifts was al-Hasan grandson of al-Jaššaš al-Jawhari. The Caliph al-Mu’atadid
aceepted the presents and confirmed Khamarawayh as governor over the regions
under his authority. Khamarawayh further proposed to give his daughter
Qatr-ul-Nada (Dewdrop)  in marriage to al-Muktafi, the heir-apparent
to the Caliphate. But the Caliph al-Mu’atadid said he would marry her
liimself, whieh he did in the year 281. Her dowry from Khamarawayh, her
father, was one million dirhams (drachms of silver eoin). This large sum
drained Khamarawayh’s treasury; indeed it is said that the Caliph’s objeet
in marrying her was to impoverish the Tulunides. He moreover made it a
eondition that Khamarawayh was to send him every year 200,000 dinars
(denarius), besides defraying ali the espenses of the government of Egypt and
the pay of ali the troops there. Khamarawayh fultilled the conditions ali his
life long, till he was killed at Damascus by his own body-guard in his bed,
after having ruled over Egypt and Syria for nearly three years. His body
was removed to Egypt and buried on the side-hill of the Muqattam mountain.
Khamarawayh was succeeded by his son Abu-l-’Asakir Jaysh.

c)  Jaysli returned from Damascus to Egypt and resided at Fustat
eight montlis only, when the troops rose against him and killed him. They
then set up his brother Abu-Musa Harun ibn Khamarawayli.

d)  Harun was at that time only ten years old. The real power and
authorit.y was held by the Turk Abu-Ja’afar ibn Abali. Harun continued to
rule over Egypt until the 'Abbaside Caliph al-Muktafi sent an army against
him under Muhammad son of Sulayman al-Katib. When this army entered

* See above, Persian Kevival, b, p. 89.

99

upon Egytian territory, Harun went out and encamped at ’Abbasiah. The
fleet of the Caliph al-Muktafi arrived at Taniš under the command of Damian,
a Greek, and entered the Nile. Harun sent troops against them; but Damian
defeated tlie Egyptians. Soon after this defeat, Shayban son of Alimad
assassinated Harun in Šafar 292.

e)  The troops tlien set up Abu -1 - Manaqib Sliaybfin son of Alimad,
whose rule lasted only 12 days. For Muhammad son of Sulayman al-Katib
tlien entered the Egyptian Capital, at the head of the arniy of the ’Abbaside
Caliph al-Muktafi, towards the close of the montli of Šafar in the year 292.
He arrested ali the Tfilunides, about 20 in number, and sent them to Bagdad.
Muhammad became the g o ve mor on the part of the ’Abbfiside
Caliph al-Muktafi.  Toghj son of Guff the Farghanite was sent as gov-
ernor of Qinnisrin, near Aleppo, and the TCilunide Dynasty became extinct,
after having ruled from 254 — 292, or about 39 lunar years.

Summary. Tfilun was a Turkish slave, who had been sent by the
Samanid ruler of Bukhara as a present to the Caliph al-Ma-mun. This slave
attained favor and high rank in the Court at Bagdad and Surra-man-ra-a.
His son Ahmad  succeeded to his father’s dignity in 240/854, and was
appointed in 254/868 deputy-governor of Egypt, where he soon made himself
practically independent. In 264/877 he was allowed to incorporate Syria
in his government, and the two countries remained in the possession of his
dynasty until its extinction in 292/905. The Tulunids were renowned for
the wealth and luxury of their Capital, al-Qata-i’a,  between al-Fustat and
the later Cairo, and for their puhlic works.

To r e tur n, after this digression, to the ’Abbaside Caliphate.

18. August 908/296 Fl. — Al - Muqtadir, only 13 years
old (see p. 96). The real power was in the hands of his 'vazlr
'Abbas ibn Husayn. The troops murdered the wazir; and in
December 908 they proclaiined 'Abd-allah son of the late ( aliph
al-Mu’atazz as Caliph.

[19.] ’Abd-allah  was a learned man, an orator and a
poet. Soon after, 'Abdallah was killed ; and al-Muqtadir re-es-
tablished  his authority as Caliph. But the power was virtually
hcld by his wazirs. One of these was the famous caligraphist,
poet and grammarian Ibn-Muqlah.

In March 929 another revolt was follovved bv the depo-
sition of al-Muqtadir and the proclamation of his brothcr al-
Qahir  as Caliph. But other troops reinstated  al-Muqtadir
for the second time. In October 932 he was again attaeked
beheaded.

7 *

100

19. Then, betvveen 318 and 320 = 932 and 934, al-
Qaliir was reinstated, only to be again deposed and have bis
eyes put out.

The 'Abbaside power was r a p i d 1 y declining. It is
necessary to go back a few years and show how the F a t -
imite dynasty  grew up in Western Africa. In 902 Abu-
’Abd-Allah, the missionary who preached the doctrine of the
Mahdi among the Berbers, got hold of the cities of Tassrut
and Meilah. Two vears later he defeated the army of the
Aghlabites. In 912 he took the city of Arbes. He then
attaeked the fortress of Sajalmasa and released ’Ubayd-Allah
ibn Muhammad, who was supposed to be the grandson of
Isma’i'1 the descendant of ’Ali. ’Ubayd-Allah was proelaimed as
the Mahdi. This was the beginning of the F a ti mi te dynasty.

During the 25 years of the reign of al-Muqtadir, the
’Abbaside Caliphate lost ali North Africa, except Egypt; the
connnanders of the troops assumed the title of Emir-ul-umara.

During the time of al-Qahir, the Ikhshid  dynasty was
established in Egypt; and the power of the Buyides  began
to grow in Persia. (See p. 81, N.B.)

ah. The Buwayhids or Daylams, in Southern a.D.

320 — 447. Persia and al-'lraq. 932 — 1055.

(See above, “Persian Revi val”,  p. 93.)

Buwayh, reputed to be a descendant of the ancient [Sassanidej
Kings of Persia, was the chief of a warlike elan of the highlanders of
Daylarn; and, like most of his countrymen, had taken part in the frequent
wars which disturbed the provinces bordering on the Caspian. Like
them, also, he had transferred his Services from the Samanids to the
rising chieftain Mardavvij the Ziyarid about 318/930; and his eldest son
’Ali, aftervvards 'Imad-ul - dawlah, had been granted by Mardavvij the
government of Karaj. ’Ali, with the help of troops from Daylam and
Gilan, soon extended his authority southwards, occupied Išpahan for a
time, and annexed Arrajan in 320/932 and Nubandijan in 321, vvhilst his
brother Hasan, afterwards Rukn  - ul-dawlah, drove the Arab garrison out
of Kazirdn. The two brothers then pushed on eastvvards; and, joined
by the third, Ahmad, aftervvards Mu’izz-ul-dawlah, seized Shiraz, in 322.
The Caliph al-Qahir was forced to recognise them as his lieutenants;

101

and when Mu’izz - ul - dawlah, vvorking his way westwards from Kirman,
and reducing the province of al-Ahwaz or Khuzistan, entered Bagdad
itself in 334/945, the Caliph al-Mustakfi, No. 22, not only bestowed the
honorific titles of 'Imad, Rukn, and Mu’izz-ul darvlah on the three brethren,
but granted Mu’izz the rank and style of Amir-ul-U m ara,  or Premier
Noble, a dignity which was held by many subsequent members of the
family. It is a mistake to say that they were ever given the title of
Sultan;  for they never styled themselves so on their coinage, but used
the titles Amir and Malik.  Their authority, nevertheless, was as ab-
solute as any Sultan’s in Baghdad; and the Caliphs were their abject
puppets, though treated with outward homage, in spite of the Buwayhids’
Shfite proclivities. How the brothers and their descendants divided Persia
and al-’Iraq among themselves is shown in the following tables, as well
as the intricate history of the dynasty permits. Division among the
princes encouraged aggression, and the wide dominions of the Buwayhids
fell piecemeal to the Ghazna\vids of Afghanistan and Panjab, to the Kak-
wayhids of Kurdistan, and to the SaljQqs who swarmed over Persia,
Mesopotamia, Syria, and Asia Minor.

102

A.H. 2. Kirman. A.D.

403 Qiwam-ul-Dawlah Abu-1-Fawaris. 1012

419 Tmad-ul-dln (of Fars)  . .. 1028

440 — 448 Abu-ManžOr Fullad Sattun. 1048 —1056.

c)  Buwayliids of al-Rayy, Hamadhfin, and Išpaban.

320 Rukn-ul-Dawlah Abu-’Ali Hasan. 932

366 — 373 Mu-ayyid-ul-Dawlah Abu-Manšur (Išpahan

only) . 976 — 983

366 Fakhr-ul-Dawlah Abu-l-Hasan 'Ali (adding

Išpahan  373). 976

387 — 420 Majd-ul-Dawlah Abu-Talib Rustam (deposed

by Mahmfid of Ghazna) . 997 —1029

387 Shams-ul-Dawlah Abu-Tahir (Hamadhan

only) . 997

c.412 — 414 Sama-ul-Dawlah Abu-l-Hasan (deposed by

Ibn-Kakwayh).c. 1021—1023.

(The Buyides were succeeded by the Kakwayhids of Kurdistan, the Ghaznawids of

Afghanistan and Panjab, and the Saljftq Turks who overran ali Western Asia.)

20. 323/934. Abu-l-’Abbas son of al -Muqtadir was
proclaimed Caliph and assumed the title of al-Radi. In his
day the Hamdanites  were almost independent rulers over
Mušul and Diarbakr; the Bujides  took Chuzistan and
Farsi stan; the Fatimides  had Africa; the Ikhshids  ruled
in Egypt and Syria; the D ay la ra s had Tabaristan and Jorjan;
the Samanides  stili ruled over Khorassan and Transoxania;
Bahrayn and Yamamah were in the hands of the Qaramitah.

The Caliph was helpless; so he called Muhammad ibn
Ra-iq, who held Wašit and Bašrah, and made hira Emir-ul-
Umara, i. e. commander in chief of the troops.

The Buyides or Banu Buwayh were, it will bo remcmbered,
the descendants of Shujah-Buwayh, who was the chieftain of
a horde of warriors composed mostly of Daylamites. Buwayli
had three sons; they were aftervrards known by the honorary
titles bestowed upon them by the Caliph. These titles were:
Tmad-ul-Dawlah (the Prop of the State); Rukn - ul - Dawlah
(Pillar or Cornerstone of the State); and Mu’izz - ul - Dawlah
(Strengethener of the State). Between 934 and 940 there were
wars between them and the Caliph’s troops in Traq.

103

Muhammad Ibn Toqaj liad been appointed by al-Muqtadir
as governor of Egypt. He was a descendant of tlie princes
of Farghana, and bore the title of Ikhshtd,  whieh bas tho
same import as the Turkish title Kbaqan. Tbis Muhammad
al-Ikbslud took possession of Svria and paid no tribute to the
Caliph. The Calipb al-Radi died in 328/Dec. 940, and was
succeeded by his brother Abu-Ishaq Ibrahim, wlio assumed
the title of Al-Muttaqi-bi-l-lah. (See p. 81, N.B.)

A.H. Al).

323 — 358. The Ikhshidids in Damascus and Egypt. 935 — 969.

323 Muhammad al-Ikhsh?d b. Tughj. 935

334 Abu-1-Qasim ungur b. al-Ikhsbid. 946

349 Abu-l-Hasan 'Ali b. aMkhshid. 960

355 Abu-l-Misk Kafur(aeunuch) . 966

357 — 358 Abu-I-Fa\varis 'Ahmad b.'Ali. 967 — 969.

(They were suporseded by the Futimids.)

After a brief interval — since the extinction of the Tulflnid dynasty
— during which the governors of the 'Abbasid Caliphs again held precar-
ious sway in Egypt and Syria, Muhammad al-Ikhshld established another
quasi-independent dynasty in these two countries. Al-Ikhshid was the
generic title  of the rulers of Farghana, beyond theOxus; and Tuquj,
the fatlier of Muhammad, was the son of a Farghanian officer in the
Service of the Baghdad Caliph. This Tuquj rose to be governor of
Damascus, but fell into disgrace and died in prison. Muhammad retrieved
his father’s misforlune and became in turn governor of Damascus in
318/930, and governor of Egypt in 321/933. lle did not take over the
Office, however, till 323/935. In 327/938 he assumed the title of al-
Ikhshtd; and in 330/941 Syria was added to his dominions, together with
Makka and Madinah in the following year.

21. 328/940. Al-Muttaqi Ibrahim. More troubles. The
Caliph liad to flee to the Hamdanites and then go to Raqqah.
Muhammad the Ikhshid of Egypt came to Raqqah to help the
Caliph. The latter then retumed to Bagdad, llere the Turkish
commander of the troops put out liis eyes and dethroned hitrt
in 333/Oct. 944. The Turkish Commander then set up, as
Caliph, the cousin of the one deposed, namely al-Mustakfi the
son of al-Muktafi. (See p. 81, N.B.)

104

The Arab Period in Syria and Mesopotamia.

(Xtl> — Xllth Cent.)

The dynasties founded by Arab  t rib  e s in Syria and Mesopotamia,
previous to the invasion of the Saljuq Turks, form a group which sprang
up in somewhat the same way as the group of Persian dynasties further
east that have been noticed under the section on the Persian Revival.
The two were geographically divided; for the mountains of Kurdistan and
the Zagros range form a natural boundary between Persia and Mesopo¬
tamia, which, at least in the earlier centuries of Muslim history, was
seldom overstepped. The Buwayhs indeed combined Lower Mesopotamia
with their Persian empire; but, as a rule, a dynasty which ruled in
Diyar-Bakr or al-Jazirah did not extend its sway beyond the mountains
to the east, though it frequently spread into Syria. The two groups are
not only geographically  distinct; they form, each one, an ethno-
logical  class. With the exception of the Marwanids, who were Kurds,
the dynasties of the group now under consideration were ali pure  A rab  s.
The Arab tribes which had migrated from their native Arabian deserts
northwards into Syria and Mesopotamia had always been a political
power with which the Caliphs had to reckon; and on the rapid decay
of the central authority at Baghdad the various clans which roamed the
Syrian Desert and Euphrates Valley began to form permanent settlements,
occupy towns and forts, and found dynasties. Thus the Taghlib tribe
furnished the Hamdan  dynasty in al - Musil, Aleppo, and other cities;
the Banu Kilab set theMirdasids  on the throne of Aleppo; the Band
’Uqayl  established their rule in Diyar-Bakr and al-Jazirah (Mesopotamia)
and part of al-’Iraq (Chaldaea); and the Banu Asad set up the powerful
Mazyad  dynasty at al-Hillah. Yet while they exercised authority over
cities, districts, and even whole provinces, these Arab chiefs did not
abandon their national life, but for the most part continued to dwell in
tents with their tribesmen, and wander as the needs of their flocks or
their predatory instincts suggested.

A.H, a)  The Hamdanids in al-Mušil, Aleppo, a.D.

317 — 394. and Elsewliere. 929 —1003.

This family, descended from the ancient Arab tribe of Taghlib,
had settled in the neighborhood of al-Mušil; and Hamdan b. Hamdun
had taken a prominent part in the political events of that city as early
as 260/873. In 281/894 Muhammad b. Hamdan was in possession of
Maridin, but was expelled by the Caliph al-Mu’tadid; in 292/904 Abu-1-
Hayja 'Abdullah b. Hamdan was appointed governor of al-Mušil and its
dependencies; and from that time the power of the Hamdanids greatly
increased. In 307/919 Ibrahim b. Hamdan was made governor of Diyar-

105

Rabi’ali, vvhere lie was succeeded by his brother Davvftd in 309/921;
Sa’id b. H. became governor of Nahavvand in 312/924; and several other
members of the family received appointments. 'Abdullah made his son
al-Hasan his lieutenant at al-Mušil, vvhich, vvith an interval from 317 to
319, the iatter held, together vvith Diyar-Rabi’ah and Diyar-Bakr, until
his deposition by his son Abu-Taghlih in 358/968. In 330/941 he was
given the title of Našir-ul-Davvlah by the Caliph al-Muttaqi; and at the
same time his brother 'Ali was named Sayf-ul-Dawlab. The Iatter, after
governing Wašit, took A 1 e p p o from the Ikhshidids in 333/944, and won
a great reputation in his vvars against the Greeks or Byzantines. The
Hamdanids were Shi’ites; and Sayf-ul-Dawlah paid homage to the
Fatimid Caliphs of Egypt. After the deaths of these two brothers, the
povver of the dynasty rapidly declined. The F a t i m i d s absorbed the
dominions of Sayf-ul-Dawlah’s grandsons in Syria, and the Buwayhs
ousted Abu-Taghlib from Mesopotamia in 367 — 9/977 — 9. The recovery
of al-Mušil by his brothers al-Husayn and Abu Tahir was but a tempor-
ary and brief revival.

A.H. 1. Hamdanids of al-Mušil.

317 Našir-ul-Davvlah Abu Muhammad al-Hasan . . .

358 — 369 ’Uddat-ul-Dawlah Abu Taghlib al-Ghadanfar . . .

„ 7 . / Abu Tahir Ibrahim ).

I Abu 'Abdullah al-Husayn /

(They were followed by the Buwayhs and the ’Uqayls.)

2. Hamdanids of Aleppo.

333 Sayf-ul-Dawlah Abu-l-Hasan 'Ali.

356 Sa’d-ul-Dawlah Abu-1-Ma’ali Sharif.

381 Sa’id-ul-Dawlah Abu-l-Fada-il Said.

692 ( Abu-l-Hasan 'Ali.

394 1 Abu-1-Ma’ali Sharif.

(Followed by the Fatimids.)

A.H.

414 — 472. b)  The Mirdasids in Aleppo. H

Asad-ul-Dawlah Abu 'Ali Šalili b. Mirdas, of the Arah tribe of
the Banu Kilab, raided the neighborhood of Aleppo vvith his Bedouins
as early as 402/1011; and in 414/1023 the inhabitants revolted against

• he Fatimid governor, and delivered the city to Stilih, vvho ruled Aleppo

until killed in a battle vvith the Egyptians in 420/1029. His son Shibl-
ul-Davvlah Našr succeeded him, but vvas also killed by the Fat mid army
in 429/1037; and it vvas not until five years later that another son,
Mu’izz-ul-Dawlah Tarnal, vvho had governed al-Rahba, recovered Aleppo
from the Egyptians. In 449/1057 Tarnal again abandoned Aleppo to
E gypt, vvhilst his brother'Atiyah occupied al-Rahba. This fresh latimid

A. D.

929

968—979
981 — 991.

944

967

991

1001

1003.

A.D.

106

rule over Aleppo was terminated in 452/1060 by the concjuest of the city
by Rashld-ul-Dawlah son of Shibl-ul-Dawlah; but he was expelled in the
following year by his uncle Mu’izz-ul-Dawlah, who died in 454/1062, and
bequeathed Aleppo to his brother ’Atiyah. Rashid-ul-Dawlab, however,
recovered the city in the same year, and ’Atiyah seized al-Raqqa, whence
he was expelled by the ’Uqaylid Muslim b. Quraysh in 463/1070. Rashid
was succeeded in 468 by his son Jalal-ul-dawlah, who took Manbij from
the Greeks, and whose brother Sabiq or Shabib held Aleppo until its
conquest by the ’Uqaylid Muslim in 472/1079.

A.H. A.D.

386—489. c)  The ’Uqaylids in al-Mušil and Elsewhere. 996—1096.

The Banu ’Uqayl, a very large Arab elan, formed one of the five
divisions of the Bani Ka’b, of the Mudar tribes of Arabia, (see above
Introduction ‘Ethnography’); and after their adoption of Islam their sub-
clans spread over parts of Syria, al-’Iraq, and even North Africa and
Andalusia. In the early days of the ’Abbasid C.alipbate, al-’Iraq was full
of ’Uqaylids. The Banu Muntafiq, one of their sub-clans, migrated to the
marshy country about al-Bašrah, called the Batihab, ‘The Swamp’, under
the family of Ma’riif; the Banu Khafaja for centuries occupied themselves
in looting caravans in the deserts of al-’Iraq, as late as 1327; while the
Banu 'Dbadah inhabited, with the Banu Muntafiq, the country belween
Kufa, Wašit, and Bašrah, and eventually furnished the Line of ’Uqayl
princes of al-Mušil. In the fourth century of the Flight, the TJqaylids
of Syria and Traq were tributary to the powerful Arab dyiiasty of Ham-
danids, but on the fall of these princes, the ’Uqaylids attained independent
sovereignty. Abu-Dhawwad Mohammad was granted by the last of the
Hamdanids the cities of Našibin and Balad in 379/989, to which he added
al-Mušil in 380, but was expelled by the Buwayhs in 381. His brother
Muqallad was more successful; he took al-Mušil in 386/996, and was
eonfirmed in the government, together with Kufa, al-Qašr, and al Jamfan,
by Baha-ul-Dawlah the Buwayhid, on condition of tribute; to which were
presently added al-Anbar, al-Mada-in, and Daquqa. In the time of Muslim
b. Quraysh, the dominions of the ’Dqaylid of Mušil extended from the
neighborhood of Baghdad to Aleppo. On his death, the principality
speedily decayed in power; and al-Mušil, its capital, was conquered by
a Turkish adventurer, Qawam-ul-Dawlah Karbuqa* in 1096/489, and merged
in the Saljuq empire. After the destruction of their power in Mesopotamia
the ’Uqaylids returned to their old camping grounds in al-Bahrayn. They
were superseded by the Saljuqs.

* In the lst Crusade he led a large army against the Crusaders
who had taken Antioch.

— 107 —

A.H. A.D.

380—489. d)  Tlie Marwfuiids in Ilivar-Bakr. 990—1096.

On the death of Bad, governor of Hušn-Kayfa, in 380/990, liis
sister’s son, Abu 'Ali b. Marwan, a Kurd by race, sueceeded to his
dominions, which ineluded the chief towns of Diyar-Bakr, such as Amid,
Arzan, Mayyafariqin, and Ivayfa. His successor paid liomage to the
Fatimid Calipli of Egypt, and was rewarded with the government of
Aleppo, as the Caliph’s officer, for a time, in succession to the expelled
Hamdanids. The Marwanids also acknowledged the suzerainty of the
Buwayhs; but vanished upon the invasion of the Saljuqs.

A.H. A.D.

403 — 545. e)  The Mazyadids in al-Hillah. 1012 -1150.

The Banu Mazyad, a tribe of the Banu Asad, after leaving Arabia,
spread over the deserts to al-Qadisiyah on the left bank of the Tigris.
The fourth of the dynasty, Šadacjah*, built his new capital of al-Hillah
on the site of the town of al-Jami’an in 495/1101; and the beauty of
its buildings and extent of its trade were long celebrated. Šadaqah is
one of the great heroes of Arab history, extolled by poets and chroniclers.
The dynasty declined after his death, and in 558/1162 the Calipli al-
Mustanjid atlacked the tribes of Bani Asad in al-’Iraq and killed 4000 of
their lighting men, so that they disappeared from the Euphrates country.
The Banu Muntafiq of the Batihah sueceeded to part of their territory;
the Zangids  replaced them in power.

22. 333/944. ’AMallah al-Mustakfi. His authority cxtend-
od only over Bagdad and its suburbs. The Buyides bad
advanecd to Wašit; the Hamdanites had come as tar as Hit.
The Buyide, Mu’izz-ul-Dawlah, took Bagdad, and the ( aliph
had to give him the title of Sultan and allow the coins to be
štručk in his name. The Calipli, however, stili lioped that
the Turks and Hamdanites might lielp him. But the Buyide
sultan Mu’izz ul Dawlah put out his eyes and deposed him
334/946. Tlius there were three deposed Caliphs, ali with theii
eyes put out, namely al-Qahir, al-Muttaqi, and al-Mustakfi.
The powerful Buyide sultan Mu’izz ul Dawlah set up al-Mutia
son of al-Muqtadir. Ali power was in the hands of the Buyides.

* See be!ow, Calipli No. 29.

108

Caliphs.

23. Al-Muti’a. 334/946

24. 'Abdul-Karim al-Ta-i’a 363/974

25. Al-Qadir. 381/991

26. Al-Qa-im bi-amri-llah 421/1031
In his day Ihe Saljucjs appear;

tbe Byzantines penetrate into Upper
Mesopotamia; the Fatimites in Egypt
since 970.

In 1028 the Ghaznawides froin
India conguer a great part of Persia.

Buyide Sultans.*

Mu’izzul-Dawlah. 333/945

Bukhtur (See p. 101) . . . 967

’Adud-al-Dawlah. 976

In 983 tbe brothers Semsarn-

el-Dawlab and Sharaf - al - Dawlah
quarrel and fightoverthe succession,
and the Buyides become weak.

Baha-ul-Dawlah. 989

Musharrif-ul-Dawlah . . . 1020

Jalal-ul-Dawlah. 1031

The Salj uq Turks came originally from the land of the
Kirgis in Asia. They then came to Bokhara and there
embraced the Muslini religion. Arslan, one of the Saljuqs, led
his Ghuzz hordes towards Ispahan and Azerbaijan. Toghrul-
bey and Jaghir bey, other Saljuqs, settled with their followers
ncar Merv. They took Mer v, Nisabur, and Herat from the
Ghaznawidcs of India. Toghrul bey then took Jorjan, Tabar-
istan and Khowarism. His brother Ibrahim-Inal took Hamadhan
and Hulwan. The Saljuqs further conquered Rayy and Ispahan.
Thence they went to Azerbeijan and Armenia. They were
Ghuzz and Turkoman hordes. In 1048 —1049 they penetrated
to Erzeroum and defeated the Byzantines. The Buyides had
become weak. (See below, The Saljuqs in Western Asia).

Toghrul bey then came to ’Iraq. He asked permission
of the Caliph to enter Bagdad. His request was granted, and
he entered the Capital in Dec. 1055. After a few days a fight
arose between his Ghuzz followers and the people of Bagdad.
Toghrul bey and his followers seized the town. The Caliph
al-Qa-im, No. 26, bestowed upon him the title of “King of the
East and West”. The Buyide power came to au end, and the
Seljuq Toghrul bey held the Caliph in his hand. In 1063
Toghrul died in the seventieth year of his age, and was succeeded
by his nephew Alp-Arslan, wlio had been for some time
governor of Khorassan.

* See p. 101, b. Buwayhids of al-lraq, al-Ahwaz, &c.

109

Alp-Arslan in 1068—1069 d rove back the Bvzantine
Emperor Diogenes Romanus, who had attacked Northern Syria
with a large army. In 1071 the Byzantine Emperor again
appeared in Armenia with an army. Alp-Ai-slan defeated him
and took him prisoner. The Emperor had to purchase his
release by the payment of a big ransom, promising a yearly
tribute and binding himself to release ali Muslini captives.
Alp Arslan’s son and afterwards his successor, Malik-Shah,
married the daughter of the prince of Samarqand. The wed-
ding festivities were held at Nisabur. Alp-Arslan then went
to Transoxania to put down a rebellion tliere, but was stabbed
in 1073 by the commander of one of the fortresses. Two
years later, the Calipli al-Qa-im died (April lst 1075/468 El.).
He was succeeded by his grand-son Abu-1-Qasim surnamed
al-Muqtadi.

27. 468/1075. Al-Muqtadi. He lived 19 years, till

487/1094. Alp-Arslan, the real ruler, was followed bv his
son Mali k-Shah.  The wazir was Nizam-ul-Mulk. The
kingdom grew, and was strengthened under Malik Shah, who
developed a great activity in four respects: first, the finances
were regulated, and the roads were repaired; second, the rights
and freedom of individuals and the security of property were
npheld and respeeted; third, schools, mosques and observatories
were established. This was the good done in the interna!
affairs of the State; fourth, the frontiers were extendcd, so that
on the east they bordered upon China, and on the west they
extcnded over much of Asia Minor and ali Mesopotamia and
even took in most of Syria and Palestine, where petty princes
or at times the Fhtimides had thitherto ruled. This was the
activity developed in the external affairs. But the Saljuq power,
like that of the Buyides, was soon undermined by disunion
among the various members of this tribe; and finally the same
fate overtook them which had befallen ali the preceding dynasties
of Islam. (See bclow, the section on the Saljuqs.)

In 1071 the Saljuq Chieftain Ansiz took Jerusalem and
Ramleh. In 1077 he advanced to Egypt and besieged the

110

Capital, but had to retire. — In 1080 Suleyman, another chief-
tain, took Iconium (Quniah), and in 1084 lie took Antiock.
Malik Shali took Aleppo and appointed, as commandant of tke
fortress there, tke emir Qasim-ud-Dawlah Aq-sunqur, tke grand-
fatker  of Nur-ud-din, who was tke uncle of tke famous Salah-
ud-din ibn Yusuf. Malik Shali then put down tke revolts in
K er man and Farsistan, in Kkorassan and Transoxania, took
Samarqand, and forced tke prince of Kashgar to pay him tribute.

The wise wazir Nizam-ul-Mulk advised Malik Skali to
appoint tke eldest son Barqi-yaroq as kis successor; but tke
Sultanak Turkan - Khatun wanted the succession to go to her
four - year - old son Mahmud. She sowed discord between tke
sultan Malik Sliah and kis wazir Nizam-ul-Mulk. The latter
was at last dismissed, and her favorite, Taj-ul-Mulk, was appointed
to tkat higli ofiice. Malik Shah died in 1092; kis widow
Turkan - Khatun caused her son Mahmud to be proclaimed in
Bagdad as tke successor, and then took tke lad off with ker
to Ispahan, where Malik Skah had resided during tke later
years of kis life. She further causcd tke eldest son Barqi-
Yaroq to be imprisoned, but kis partisans soon delivered kini.
He soon gathered an army at Rayy and attacked Ispahan.
Tke wazir Taj-ul-Mulk was defeated and taken captive near
Burujerd and killed; Turkan - Khatun had to submit. Barqi-
Yaroq then came to Bagdad, and the Calipk al-Muqtadi kad
to let kis name be mentioned in the Friday kkutbah (Feb. 3.
1094). The next day tke Calipk died suddenly.

28. 487/1094. Abu-l-’Abbas Akmad al-Mustažliir, tke
son of al-Muqtadi. — Tutush, tke brotker of tke late Malik Shali
and uncle ot Barqi -Yaroq, kad gathered an army, conquered
Azerbaijan, and marcked to Hamadhan. He defeated kis nepliew
Barqi-Yaroq, wko had to fiee to kis younger brotker Mahmud in
Ispahan. The Caliph kad the name of Tutush proclaimed in
tke Friday klmtbali. Mahmud died of tke smali-pox, and tke
Ispahanites took the part of Barqi-Yaroq against his uncle Tutush.
A battlc was fought in kebr. 1095 near Rayy, in which tke
uncle 1 utush was killed. Barqi-yaroq did not, kowever, reign

111

in peace. H is uncle Ar slan -Arghun revolted in Khorassan;
Anaz, governor of Farsistan, did the same; and liis brother
Muhammad advanced as far as Rayy * In 1099 and 1100 they
fought one against the other. In 1101 Muhammad fled to liis
brother Sinj  ar  in Khorassan. Finally they made peace on these
terms: Barqi-yaroq was to be entitled Sultan and Lord of ’Iraq;
Muhammad was to be styled Malik and was to rule over
Mesopotamia and Azerbaijan.—In 1104 Barqi-yaroq died. His
partisans proclaimed his son, Malik-Shah Second, as Sultan;
hut Muhammad sought this title for himself. War broke out
again. In Febr. 1105 Muhammad was victorious.

About this time the Assassins  appearcd. They were
a branch of the Isma’elides, from whom were descended the
Fatimides who conquered North Africa and then Egypt and
Palestine. The Buyides were themselves Shi’ites; and with
their overthrow the power of the Fatimides began to decline
bofore the growing power of the Saljuqs, who were Sunnites.
So the less the Ismahlides could achieve by open warfare, the
more they sought to spread their teaching and belief by s e c r e t
missionaries. These missionaries were called Fida-i, because
they would risk  their lives for the Cause of their faith.
Hasan ibn Sabbah, one of the missionaries, was the founder
of the Order of the Assassins. He first introduced the use of
narcotic plants, such as the well-known hashish (canopus Indicus),
among his disciples at their religious meetings. This name,
al-Hashshashin, at first meant no more than “secret Isma’ilides”;
hut it afterwards became synonymous with “traitor" and “mur-
derer”. Thcy were very numerous in Persia, and also in Syria.

In April 1118 the Saljuq Sultan Muhammad died, and
was succeeded by his son Mahmud, then only 14 years old.
On the 6tli of August 1118/512 the Caliph al-Mustažhir also
passed away and was succeeded by his son Abu-Manšur, called
al-Mustarshid. The power of the Saljuqs waned and the in-*
fluence of the Caliplis rose again  for a time.

* Thus Barqiyaroq could not lielp the \vestern Saljugs against
the first Crusaders.

112

A H. The Saljuqs in Western Asi a. a.d.

429 - 700. (XIth-XIIth cent.) 1037 — 1300.

The advent of the Saljuqian Turks forms a notable epoch in
Muhammadan history. At the time of their appearance the Empire of
the Caliphate had vanished. What had once been a real m, united
under a sole Muslim ruler, was now a collection of scattered dynasties,
not one of which , save perhaps the Fatimids of Egypt (and they were
scliismatics), was capable of imperial sway. Spain and Africa, including
the important province of Egypt, had long been lost to the Caliphs of
Baghdad; northern Syria and Mesopotamia were in the hands of turbulent
Arabchiefs, some of whom had founded dynasties; Persia was split up
into the numerous governments of the Buwayhid princes (whose Shfite
opinions left little respect for the puppet Caliphs of their time), or was
held by sundry insignificant dynasts, each ready to attack the other and
thus contribute to the general weakness. The prevalence of schism in-
creased the disunion of the various provinces of the vanished Empire.

A drastic remedy was needed, and it was found in the invasion
of the Turks. These rude nomads, unspoilt by town life and civilised
indifference to religion, embraced Islam with ali the fervor of their uncouth
souls. They came to the rescue of the dying State, and revived it.
They swarmed over Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Asia Minor, devast-
ating the country, and exterminating every dynasty that existed there;
and, as the result, they once more reunited Muslim Asia, from the vvestern
frontier of Afghanistan to the Mediterranean, under one sovereign; they
put a new life into the expiring zeal of the Muslims, drove back the
re-encroaching Byzantines, and bred up a generation of highly zealous
Muhammadan warriors, to whom, more than to anything else, the Crusaders
otved their repeated failure. This it is that gives the Saljuqs so import-
ant a plače in Muslim history.

The Saljuqids were the descendants of Saljuq b. Yakak, a Turkoman
chieftain in the Service of one of the khans of Turkistan. Saljuq migrated
from the Kirghiz steppes with ali his elan to Jand in the province of
Bukhara, vvhere he and his people enthusiastically embraced Islam. He
and his sons and grandsons took part in the wars between the Samanids,
the llak Khans, and Mahmud of Ghazna; and the brothers Tughril Beg
and Chagar Beg eventually became strong enough to venture upon the
* invasion of Khurasan at the head of their wild Turkoman tribes, and
after several vietories over the tihaznarvid armies succeeded in taking
the chief cities. In 429/1037 the public prayer — khutbah — was said in
the name of Chagar Beg Dawdd, ‘ King of Kings’, in the mosques of Merv,
while his brother Tughril Beg was similarly proclaimed in Nayshapur.

113

Balkh, Jurjan, Tabarislan, and Khuwarizm were speedily annexed; the
Jibal, Hamadhan, Dinawar, Hulwan, al-Rayy, and Išpahan followed,
433 — 437; and in 447/1055 Tughril Beg entered Baghdad itself, and had
bis name proclaimed as Sultan in the city of the Caliph al-Qa-im.

Other Turkish tribes came to swell their armies; and the whole
of Western Asia, from the borders of Afghanistan to the frontier of the
Greek Empire in Asia Minor and of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt,
became united under the rule of the Saljuqs before 470/1077.

Tughril Beg, Alp Arslan, and Malik Sbah held supreme sway over
the whole of this vast Empire; but after the death of the last, civil war
sprang up between the brothers Bargiyarftq and Muhammad, and separate
branches of the Saljuq family attained Virtual independence in different
parts of the widely scattered dominions, although the main line stili
preserved a nominal suzerainty down to the death of Sinjar, the last
‘Great Saljuq’ (vvhose rule was almost confined to Khurasanl, in 552/1157.

The Saljftqs of Kirman, of al-’Iraq, of Syria, and of al-RCtm or
Asia Minor, were the chief sub - divisions of the family; but individual
members of it ruled in Adharbijan, Tukharistan, and other provinces.

In the East, the Saljuq Empire succumbed before the attack of
the Khuwarizm Shah ; in Adharbijan, Fars, Mesopotamia, and Diyar-Bakr
it was supplanted by dynasties founded by SaljCtq officers, orAtabegs;
but in al-Rum it survived until the beginning of the power of the ’Uth-
manli Turks in 1300.

A.H. A.D.

429 — 552. a)  Great Saljugs.  1037 —1157.

429 Rukn-ul-dln Abu Talib Tughril  Beg  . . . . 1037

455 'Adud-ul-din Abu Shuja’a Alp-Arslan.  . . . 1063

465 Jalal-ul-din Abu-l-Fath Malik Shah  I . . . . 1072

485 Našir-ul-dln Mah m ud. 1092

487 Rukn-ul-d!n Abu-l-Mužaffar Bargiyaruq  . . . 1094

498 Malik Shah II. 1104

498* Ghiyath-ul-din Abu-Shuja’a Muhamm  ad  . . . 1104

511 — 552** Mu’izz-ul-din Abu-l-Harith Sinjar .1117 — 1157.

* Muhammad had been at open war with Bargiyaruq for many years before the
latter’s death.

** Sinjar had been governor of Khurasan for twenty years before his accession as
Great Saljuq.

(They were succeeded by the S h a h s o f K h u w a r i z m.)

8

114

A.H. . A - D -

433  — 583. b)  Saljuqs of Kirman. 1041—1187.

433 ’[mad-ul-din Qara-Arsian Qaward Beg. 1041

465 Kirman Shah. 1072

467 Husayn. 1074

467 Rukn-ul-din Sultan Shah . 1074

477 Turan Shah. 1084

490 Iran Shah. 1097

494 Arslan Shah I. 1100

536 Mughlth-ul-dln Muhammad I. 1141

551 Muhyi-ul-din Tughril Shah. 1156

( Bahram Shah

Arslan II Shah i (rivals) . 1167

l Turkan Shah J

583 Muhammad II. 1187.

(They were succeeded by the Ghuzz  Turkomans.)

A.H. A.D.

487 — 511. c)  Saljuqs of Syria. 1094 — 1117.

487 Tutush b. Alp-Arslan. 1094

488 Rudwan b. Tutush (at Aleppo)  Ist Crusade . 1095

(Duqaq b. Tutush at Damascus  488 — 497.)

507 Alp-Arslan al-akhras b. Rudwan. 1113

508 — 511 Sultan Shah b. Rudrvan.1114—1117.

(Succeeded by the Burids and the Ortuqids.)

A.H. A.D.

511 — 590. d)  Saljuqs of al-’Iraq and Kurdistan. 1117 —1194.

511 Mughtth-ul-din Mahmud (See Caliph No. 29) . . 1117

525 Ghiyath-ul-d!n Dawud. 1131

626 Tughril I. 1132

527 Ghiyath-ul-din Mas’ud. 1133

547 Mu’in-ul-d!n Malik Shah. 1152

548 Muhammad. 1153

554 Sulayman Shah (See p. 122). 1159

556 Arslan Shah. 1161

573 — 590 Tughril II (See p. 122). 1177 — 1194.

(Succeeded by Shahs of Khmvarizm.)

115

A.H. A.D.

470 — 700. eJ  Saljuqs of al-Rum, or Asia Minor. 1077 —1300.

470 Sulayman I b. Qatlumish. 1077

479 Interregnum  :. 1086

485 Qilij-Arslan I Daw0d (IstCrusade)  . . . . 1092

500 Malik Shali 1. 1106

510 Mas’ud I .. 1116

551* ’Izz-ul-din Qilij Arslan II. 1156

584 Qutb-ul-din Malik Shah II. 1188

588 Ghiyath-ul-din Kay-Khusru I. 1192

597 Rukn-ul-dln Suleyman II. 1200

600 Qilij-Arslan 111. 1203

601 Kay-Khusru I(restored) . 1204

607 ’Izz-ul-din Kay-Kawus I. 1210

616 ’Ala-ul-din Kay-Qubad I. 1219

634 Ghiyath-ul-din Kay-Khusru II. 1236

643** ’Izz-ul-din Kay-Kawus II. 1245

655 Rukn-ul-din Qilij-Arslan IV. 1257

666 Ghiyath-ul-din Kay-Khusru III. 1267

682*** Ghiyath-ul-din Mas’ud II. 1283

696 — 700 'Ala-ul-din Kay-Qubad II. 1296 — 1300.

* Qilij Arslan II ’Izz-ul-din survived till 588, but divided his dominions among
his sons some years earlier.

** In conjunction with his brothers Qilij-Arslan III and Kay-Qubad.

*** Mas’Qd was allowed, by the Mongol Abaga, to govern Siwas, Arzanjan, and
Erzerum, from the death of his father Kay-Kawus in 677, during the nominal sovereignty
of his cousin Kay-Khusru III, whom he succeeded in 682. Mas’ud appears to have been
restored to his kingdom on the deposition of his nephew Kay-Qubad in 700, and to have
reigned for four years; but the last four Saljuqs were merely governors under the Mongols
of Persia.

(Succeeded by the Mongols, the 'Uthmanli Turks, and others.)

A.H. f)  The Džinishmandids in Siwas, Oaesarea, a.D.

c. 490 —560. and Malatia. c. 1097 —1165.

Whilst the SaljQqs were extending their einpire in Asia Minor,
another Turkish chief, Gumishtigln son of Danishmand, established his
povver in Cappadocia over the cities of Slvvas (Sebaste), Qayšariyah
(Caesarea), and Malatia (Melitene), near which last plače he inflicted a
sanguinary defeat upon the Franks. His successors played a distinguished
part in the wars of the Crusades, but the dynasty was soon absorbed in
its greater Safjhq neighbor of al-Rum.

8 *

116

29. 512/1118. Al-Mustarsliid al-Fadl. Tlie waning Saljuq
power was concentrated in Khorassan. For the first time, since
the preponderanee of the Buyides, the Calipli again took the
direction of affairs into his own hands and also drew the sword
to protect his own rights. ■— Masud, the Lord of Mušul, and
brother of the sultan Mahmud, advanced into ’Iraq and occu-
pied the Capital, while Mahmud was absent in Persia, but had
soon to evacuate it on the arrival of troops under Mankburs,
a grandson of Alp-Arslan.

But Sinjar,  the young Sultan’s uncle, was a more
dangerous adversary. He claimed for himself the Leadership
and supremacy over ali the Saljuqs. Wars again broke out.
Mas’ud again fought against his brother Mahmud but was
defeated. The poet al-Tughra-i was executed for stirring up
Mas’ud. In 1124 the Cr usad  er  s besieged Aleppo. — Dubays
son of Sadaqah and Lord of Hillah,* an Arab by descent,
availed himself of the death of the Saljuq sultan Mahmud, in
Sept. 1131, to intervene in the fortunes of the Caliphate. The
Caliph recognized Saljuq son of Muhammad as sultan. But
Zangi, son of Ak sunqur, then Lord of Mušul, wanted the
dignity of sultan to be bestowed upon Mas’ud. Zangi was
defeated and fled to Armenia to Najm-ul-din, the founder of
the Ayyoubite dynasty of rulers. Hereupon Dubays and Zangi
joined with Sinjar, but were defeated by the Caliph al-Mustarshid.
He then advanced upon Hamadhan, but was in his turn defeated
and taken prisoner. Assassins entered the prison-tent and killed
him, 1134. Public opinion suspected Mas’ud of Mušul and
Sinjar of instigating the murder of the Caliph. They accused
Dubays of the dastardly deed and had him killed (Sept. 1135).
Thus two great and leading men of Arab descent — al-Mustar¬
shid the Caliph and T)ubays the emir — lost their lives; they
were the only two Arabs who, since a long time past, had
endeavored to check the power of the foreigners; but instead of
uniting, they had been fighting eacli other. Both were poets and
men of learning. Dubays is mentioned by al-Hariri in his Maqamahs.

* See above, The Mazyadids in al-Hillah.

117

30. 530/1135. Al - Rashid Manšur son of al-Mustarshid.
The envoy of Mas’ud the sultan wished to use force against
this Caliph. But al-Rashid put himself at the head of some
devoted troops, drove the envoy out of Bagdad, and proclaimed
Dawud the son of Mahmud as Sultan (Nov. 1135). Thereupon
Mas’ud invaded Traq with a large army. The Caliph fled with
Zangi son of Ak-sunqur to Mušul. The Sultan Mas’ud entered
Bagdad, gathered the Law-Doctors /Ulema), and made them
give an opinion (fatwa) to the effect that the Caliph ought to
be deposed, because unfit and unworthy of the office. Here-
upon his uncle al-Muqtafi was appointed Caliph (Ang. 1136).
The deposed Caliph al-Rashid was murdered about two years
later (June 6. 1138) near Ispahan by some Hashshashin.

The Ata-begs, or SaljOq Officers.

(XIIth and XIIIth Cent.)

The Saljuq Empire was a military power, and the anny on which
it depended was commanded by Turkish slaves. Free men could not be
trusted with the highest commands or the rute of distant provinces; it
was necessary to rely on the fidelity of purchased slaves brought up at
the Court in close relations with the Saljuq princes. Every Saljttg had
a following of mamluks, generally brought from Kipchak, who tilled the
chief offices of the court and camp, and eventually won their manumission
by hard Service. The inevitable result of this system was the supplanting
of the senile master by the virile slave. As the Saljhqs grew weak and
their empire broke up into sub-divisions, their mamluks, who had fought
their battles for them, became the guardians or regents (Ata-begs) of their
youthful heirs, and speedily exchanged the delegated function for the
privileges of sovereignty.

In this way Tughtigin, a mamluk of the Saljftq Tutllsh, was
appointed Atabeg over his youthful heir Duqaq, and on his death assumed
full sovereign powers at Damascus. Tmad-ul-dln Zangi,  founder of
the Atabegs of al-Mušil and Aleppo, was the son of a slave of the third
Saljuq Sultan Malik Shah; the Adharbijan Atabegs sprang from a Kipchak
mamluk of Mas’ftd the Saljflq Sultan of al-’Iraq; Anushtigin, ancestor of
the Khuwarizm Shahs, was cupbearer to Sultan Malik Shah; Ortuq and
Salghar, founders of dynasties in Diar-Bakr and Fars, were Saljflq officers;
and the Begtiglnids, Hazaraspids, and Qutlugli Kbans were officers of
the slaves of the Saljilqs. In the XIIth century the whole Saljuq empire,
save Anatolia, was in the hands of these caplains of their hosts, who
form a distinct group of dynasties.

118

A.H. A.D.

497 — 549. a)  The Buriils or Atabegs of Damascus. 1103 — 1154.

Tughtigln — one of the numerous officers who held command in
the Saljutj armies, became Atabegs or regents of the younger Saljuq
princes, and eventually usurped their power — was an enfranchised
mamluk of Sullan Tutush one of the Saljuqs of Syria, and afterwards,
in 488/1095, was appointed Afabeg of his son Duqaq, the Saljuq prince
of Damascus, whom he succeeded. The Atabegs of this dynasty are six
in number. They were succeeded by the Zangids of Mesopotamia and Syria.

A. H. b)  The Zangids or Atabegs of Mesopotamia A.D.

521 — 648. and Syria. 1127 — 1250.

The Atabeg Tmad-ul-din Zangi was the son of Aqsunqur the
hajib (Chamberlain), a Turkish slave of Malik Shah, and from 1085 to
1094/478 — 487 lieutenant of Tutush at Aleppo, against whom he rebelled,
and was slain. Zangi was appointed governor of al-’Iraq, including
Baghdad, in 521/1127, and in the same year he annexed al-Mušil, Sinjar,
al-Jazirah and Harran, and then in 522 Aleppo and other Syrian cities.
He especially distinguished himself as the Champion of the Muslims
against the Crusaders, and was the true forerunner of S a la din the
Ayyubid. On Zangi’s death his dominions were divided between his
sons Ndr-ul-din Mahmfld,  another famous anti-crusader, who held
Syria, and Sayf-ul-din Ghazi,  who ruled in al-Mušil and Mesopo¬
tamia. In the next generation the Syrian branch died out; but a new
offshoot had been established at Sinjar; vvhilst a fourth sub-dynasty
sprang up somevvhat later at al-Jazirah. The Sinjar line gave plače to
the Ayyubids  in 618/1221; the others came under the rule of Lu-lu,
the slave and wazir of the last Mdšil Zangids, until ali vvere absorbed
in the empire of the Mongols.

There were eleven of these Zangids in Mušil; two in Syria, one
of whom was Nur-ul-din Zangi; four in Sinjar; and three in al-Jazirah.

A.H. A.D.

539 — 630. c)  The Begtiginids or Atabegs of Arbela (Irbil). 1144 —1232.

In 539/1144 Tmad-ul-din Zangi  son of Aqsunqur appointed one
of his Turkish officers, Zayn-ul-din 'Ali Kuchuck b. Begtigin, to be his
viceroy at al-Mušil, and in 544/1149 placed Sinjar and aftenvards Harran,
Takrit, Irbil (Arbela), &c., under his authority. On Zayn-ul-din’s death
at Irbil in 563/1167, his elder son Mužaffir-ul-din Kukburi fled to Harran,
whilst Irbil passed to the younger son Zayn-ul-din Yusuf, under the
tutorship of the amir al-Mujahid-lil-din Qa-imaz. On Yusuf’s death in

— 119

586/1190, SaladiD, who then exercised supreme influence over Syria and
Mesopolamia, appointed Mužaffar Kftkburi as his brother’s successor at
Irbil and Shahrazur, but gave his former governments of Harran, al-Ruha
(Edessa) and Sumayšat to his own nephew Taqiy-ul-din ’Umar. Kukburi
died in 630/1232, and being without sons bequeathed Irbil to the 'Abbasid
Caliph Mustansir.

A.H. d)  The Ortugiils in I)iyar-Bakr, A.D.

495 — 712. als« Saljuq Offlcers. 1101 —1312.

Ortuq b. Aksab, the founder of this dynasly, was a Turkoman
officer in the Saljdq armies, and was appointed governor of Jerusalem
when the Holy City was conquered by his commander Tutush the SaljCkj
Sultan of Damascus. Ortuq’s sons Sukman and il-Ghazi, both famous
in the wars with the Latin princes of Palestine, succeeded to their father’s
post in 484/1091, until the city was annexed by the Fatimid Caliph in
489/1096, when they retired to Edessa (al Ruha) and al-’Iraq respectively.
In 495/1101 il-Ghazi was appointed prefect of Baghdad by the Saljucj
Sultan Muhammad, and in the same year Sukman was made governor
of Hišn Kayfa in Diyar-Bakr, to which he added Maridin a year or two
later. In 502/1108, however, Maridin was transferred to his brother
il-Ghazi, and henceforward there were two collateral lines of Ortuqs, at
Kayfa and at Maridin.

The Kayfa branch, after the warlike exploits of Sukman against
Baldwin and Jocelin, settled down into tranquil obscurity, hastened to
pay homage to Saladin, when his povver became threatening, and were
rewarded with the addition of the city of Amid to their territory in
579/1183, until their line was suppressed by the Ayyubid al-Kamil in
629/1231. A minor branch of the Kayfa family governed Khartapirt
(Quart-Pierre) in Diyar-Bakr from 521/1127 — 620/1223.

h-Ghazi, the founder of the Maridin line, and one of the most
redoulable of Muslim warriors against the Crusaders, gained possession
of Aleppo in 511/1117, and in 515/1121 was also invested with the
government of Mayyafariqin, in Diyar-Bakr, by the Saljuq sultan Mahmud.
Maridin and Mayyafariqin continued to be held by his descendants, the
latter until 580/1184, the former until their submission to Timttr and
absorption by the Qara-Quyunli in 811/1408; but the amirs of Maridin
ceased to be of importance after the Ayyubid supremacy was established
in Syria and Mesopotamia. Aleppo fell in^517/1123 to another Ortuqid
chief, Balak b. Bahram, who had also held Ana (497) and Khartapirt (515),
and was a prominent leader in the wars with the Crusaders.

The Kayfa Ortuqs were supplanted by the Ayyubids in 629/1231;
the Maridin Ortuqs were overthrown by the Qara-Quyunli in 811/1408.

120  —

A.H. A.D.

531—622. e)  Atabegs of Adharbijan. 1136 —1225.

fldigiz, a Turkish slave from Ivipchak, rose iD favor at the court
of Mas’Qd, the SaljtUj sultan of al-’Iraq, and was finally granted the
government of Adharbijan, together with the Sultan’s widowed sister-in-
law. His son Muhammad was the Virtual ruler of the Saljftq kingdom
of al-’Iraq, as well as of his own province. Muhammad’s brother, Q i z i 1
Arslan,  who had acted as his deputy in Adharbijan, succeeded to his
authorily, and was created Amir-ul-Umara;  but on his claiming
sovereign rights, he was assassinated; and his two nephews, who followed
him. moderated their ambition. They were succeeded in 622/1225 by
the Shah of Khuwarizm.

A.H. A.D.

543—686. f)  The Salgharids or Atabegs of Fars. 1148 —1287.

Salghar was the chief of a band of Turkomans who migrated into
Khurasan, and after a career of rapine attached themselves to the Saljuq
Tughril Bey, \vho appointed Salghar one of his chamberlains (hajib).
One of his descendants, Sunqur b. Modud, made himself master of the
province of Fars in 543/1148, and founded a dynasty which lasted nearly
a century and a half. Atabeg Sa’d became tributary to the Shah of
Khuwarizm, to whom he surrendered Ištakhr and Ashkuran; and Atabeg
Abu Bakr, in his turn, paid homage to Ogotai Khan the Mongol, and
was rewarded with the title of Qutlugh Khan. The later Atabegs were
merely vassals of the Mongols of Persia, and the last of them, the princess
'Abish, was the wife of Mangu-Timur, a son of Hulagd. The poet Sa’di
lived at the court of the Atabeg Abu Bakr. Most of the Salgarids used
the title Mužaffar-al-din. They were succeeded by the Mongols.

A H. g)  The Shfihs of Khuwarizm, originally a. D.

470 — 628. Saljuri Offlcers. 1077 — 1231.

A Turkish slave of Balkatigin of Ghazna, in weslern Afghanistan,
named Anushtigln, rose to be the cup - bearer — saqi — of the Saljuq
Sultan Malik Shah, \vho made him governor of Khuvvarizm (Khiva),
a post to which his son succeeded with the title of Khuwarizm Shah.

Atsiz vvas the first of the line to show any ambition for independence,
but his revolt in 533/1138 was punished by his expulsion from Khuwarizm
by Sultan Sinjar. Atsiz, however, shortly returned, and henceforward
the Khuwarizm Shahs enjoyed sovereign power. Atsiz extended his
authority as far as Jand on the River Sihun (Jaxartes).

Tukush added Khurasan, al-Rayy, and Išpahan to his dominions,
589 — 590/1193 — 1194, and his son, the celebrated ’Ala-ul-din Muhammad,

121

after a stubborn war with the Ghurids  in Khurasan, reduced the greater
part of Persia by the year 607/1210, subdued Bukhara and Samarqand,
and, invading the territory of the Gftr-khan of Qara-Khitay, seized his
Capital Otrar. In 611/1214 he entered Afghanistan and took Ghazna;
and then, having adopted the 'Alid heresy, in 614, he prepared to put
an end to the 'Abbasid Caliphate. His career of conquest was suddenly
cut short by the appearance of the Mongol hordes of Chingiz Khan on
his northern borders. Muhammad fled incontinently before this appalling
svvarm, and died in despair on an island of the Caspian Sea, 617/1220.

His three sons wandered for some time through the provinces of
Persia, and one of them, Jalal-ul-dln, even visited India for two years;
but after a decade of stirring adventures, during which he contrived to
hold Adharbijan, from 622 — 628, he was finally banished by the Mongols
in 628/1231. — At one time the rule of the Khuwarizm Shah was almost
conterminous with the Saljuq empire; but this period of widest extent

scarcely lasted a dozen years.

c. 470 Anushtigln. c. 1077

490 Qutb-ul-din Muhammad . 1097

521 Atsiz. 1127

551 11-Arslan. 1156

568 Sultan Shah Mahmud (f 589 y . 1172

568 Tukush  (See Caliph No. 34). 1172

596 ’Ala-ul-din Muhammad (See Caliph No. 34) . . . 1199

617 — 628 Jalal-ul-dln Mangbarti. 1220 — 1231.

(Supplanted by the Mongols.)

A .H. A.D.

619 — 703. h)  The Qutlugh Khfins in Kirman. 1222 — 1303

Buiak Hajib a native of Qara-Khitay, and an officer of ’Ala-ul-din
the Khuwarizm Shah, succeeded in establishing his power in Kirman in
619/1222, during the period of anarchy which followed the overthrow of
the Khuvrarizm Shah by Chingiz Khan; and his authoriiy was conllrmed
by the Mongol Ogotay, who conferred upon him the title of Qutlugh
Khan.  The dynasty kept within the limits of Kirman, and were loyal
vassals of the Mongols of Persia,  two of whom married daughters
of the family. The daughter of the last of the line married Muhammad
the Mužaffarid  of Fars. — They were succeeded, till 741, by Mongol
Governors, and then by the Mužaffarids.

31. 531/1136. Abu-'Abdullah Muhammad al-Muqtafl.

More wars between Sultan Mas ud and Zangi. Mas’ud died in
October 1152. His nepliew Malik Shah and then Malik Shah s

122

brother Muhammad were raised, one after the othcr, to the
dignity of sultan. But another party declared Suleyman Shah
uncle of Mas’ud to be sultan. At last Sulayman Shah entered
Bagdad; and the Caliph al-Muqtafi recognised him as sultan
(in Feb. 1156). Sulayman Shah was killed by the emirs of
the troops in 1159; and Arslan-ibn-Toghril was proclaimed
sultan by them. The Caliph al-Muqtafi died on the 12th of
March 1160/555, and was succeeded by his son al-Mustanjid-
b-illah. (See above, p. 114, Saljuqs of ’Iraq, &c.)

32. 555/1160. Yusuf al-Mustanjid-b-illah. — Ildeghiz,
the father-in-law and wazir of the sultan Arslan-ibn-Toghril,
defeated the Christian Prince George Illd of Armenia in 1163.
About this time the Fatimite dynasty in Egypt declined greatly.
— Al-Mustanjid was stifled in the bathroom by some of his
courtiers (Dec. 1170/566), and was succeeded by his son Abu-
Muhammad al-Hasan al-Muštadi.

33. 566/1170. Hasan al-Muštadi. The real  rulers at
this time were the wazir ’Adud-al-din and the army-leader
Kaimaz. They had nmrdered the preceding Caliph. — War
against the ruler in Kliuzistan. — Salah-ul-din son of Ayyub in
Egypt. — In 1177 the sultan Arslan-ibn-Toghril died, and was
succeeded by his son Toghril II. The Caliph al-Mustadi died in
1180 and was succeeeed by his son al-Našir-li-dini-llah.

34. 576/1180. Alnnad al-Našir. He united with Kizil-

Arslan, the disaffected wazir of the sultan Toghril, and tried
to weaken the power of the Saljuqs in western Persia. More
Wars. Toghril, the Sultan, resided at Hamadhan. About this
time Taqaj or Tukush was Shah of Khowarism. The sultan
Toghril was overcome and killed in March 1194 by Taqaj of
Khowarizm, who now held ali the Persian ’Iraq. He wanted
the Caliph al-Našir to proclaim him sultan in plače of the
Saljuq Toghril. The Caliph’s wazir, who was to bring the
diploma and robe of honor to Taqaj, wanted him to come on
foot and receive the gifts and then walk before him. Taqaj
vvould not submit to such a humiliation. In July 1196 Taqaj
defeated the Caliph’s troops near Rayy and made his own son

123

governor of Ispahan. In 1197 the Caliph al-Našir had to
appoint Taqaj Sultan of ’Iraq, Khorassan and Turkistan. The
Saljuq povver thus passed away. (See p. 120, Shahs of Khuvvarizm.)

In 1187, Oct. 2nd, Salah-ud-din entered Jerusalem.—
Muhammad, prince of Khovvarism, ruled over the whole country
from the Caspian Sea to the river Indus, and from the Jaxartes
to the gulf of TJman. He declared war against the Caliph.
He called the 'Ulema together and got them to render a f a t w a
or opinion deposing the 'Abbaside Caliph and proelaiming a
certain 'Ala-ul-Mulk as the rightful Alawi Imam. Al-Našir
began to fortify Bagdad, prepared to withstand a siege, and
appealed to Jingiz-khan  for help. Jingiz-khan attackcd
Muhammad of Khowarism. (See p. 125.)

Jingiz-khan  was the chief of ali the Mongols  or
Ta  tar  s,  and had conquered nearly ali of eastern Asia. He
came down to the Jaxartes river. Muhammad of Ivhowarizm
with his army met the Mongols in 1219 near Jund, north of
the Aral Lake. Muhammad was defeated and returned to
Khorassan. Jingiz-khan took Samarqand and Bukhara in 1220.
Other Mongols took Farghana and Khwarizm, and invaded
Khorasan. Muhammad fled to Qazwin, and thence to an island
in the Caspian Sea, where he died. Tke Mongols invaded
Azerbayjan and took Rayy and Hamadan; they overran Georgia
and reachcd the regions of Southern Bussia. Tliey even attacked
Poland, Hungary and Germany. Jingiz-Khan pursued Jalal-
ul-din, Muhammads son, as far as Ghazna, and forced him to
flee to India. In 1224 Jingiz came back to Ispahan. Al-Našir
died on the 6th of Oct. 1225/622, and was succeeded by his son

35. Muhammad al-Žahir, who, after ten months,  was
succeeded by his son abu-Ja’afar Manšur al-Muštanšir in July
1226/623. (Rapid decline.)

36. 1226 —1242 = 623 — 640. Manšur al-Mustanšir.
The Mongols made repeated raids into the region east and north
of Bagdad; the inkabitants of that city prepared to sustain a
siege. Al-Mustanšir died in 640/1242 and was succeeded by
his son al-Musta’šim. (The overthrow draws near.)

124

The Mongol T&tars: Their Career of Conquest.

The history of the Mongols begins practically with the great con-
queror Ghingiz Khan.  There are many traditions of his ancestors
current among his biographers; hut, as in the čase of many another man
of unexpected farne, his pedigree has been elahorated rather on the ground
of natural propriety than of fact. Ali that can safely be said about the
eai'ly history of the Mongols is that they were a elan among clans, a
member of a great nomad eonfederacy that ranged the country north of
the Gobi Desert in search of water and pasture; who spent their lives
in hunting and the breeding of cattle, lived on flesh and sour milk (kumis),
and made their profit by bartering hides and beasts with their kinsmen
the Khitans, or with the Turks and Chinese, to whom they owed allegiance.
The name Mongol was not known abroad until the Xth Century, and
probably came to be applied to the whole group of clans only when the
chief of a particular elan bearing that name acquired an ascendancy over
the rest of the confederaey, and gave to the greater the name of the lesser.

If not the founder of the supremacy of his elan, Yissugay was a
notable maintainer of it, and it was probably he who first asserted the
independence of the Mongols from Chinese rule. In spite, hovvever, of
conguest and annexation, the people who owned the sovereignty of
Yissugay numbered on!y forty thousand tents.

Yet it was upon this foundation that his son (aftervvards Chingiz
Khan)  built up in twenty years the widest empire the world has ever
seen. The father Yissugay died, in 1176 A.D., and Tamujin  his son,
a child of tbirteen years, and not yet called hy the high title of Chingiz Khan,
ruled in his stead over the tribes that wandered by the banks of the Onon.

A detailed chronicle of the career of conquest inaugurated by this
Asiatic Alexander is not a part of the present handbook: it is sufficient
to say that after thirly years of struggle against home foes,  in which
he succeeded in firmly establishing his authority over his own and the
neighboring clans, in face of powerful and treacherous conspiracies,
Tamujin found himself free to devote the twenty years that remained
of his active life to wider and more ambitious designs.

Having reduced ali the tribes north of the desert of Gobi, from
the Irtish to the Khing-gan Mountains, and having incorporated among
his subjects the Karaits, who had forfeited their independence by the
treachery of their king, Wang Khan, an old but perfidious ally of Yissugay
and his son, Tamujin  summoned in 1206 a Kuriltay or Diet of the
chiefs of ali the tribes; and a shaman,  or priest, announced to the
assembled leaders that a higher  title than belonged to others had been
decreed by Heaven to Tamujin, and henceforward his name should be
Chingiz Qaan,  ‘the Very Mighty King’. Thus at the age of forty-four
did Chingiz begin his undisputed reign.

125

Three years later, after receiving the submission of the Uighurs,
he began his invasion of China; and though it was reserved for his
grandson to complete the subjugation of the Celestial Empire, a great
part of the northern provinces, the ancient kingdom of Liau-tung, and
the Tangut Kingdom of Hia, were added, as subject provinces or feuda-
tory states, to the Mongol dominions during the great Khan’s own lifetime.

The next obsfacle in the palh to universal sovereignty was the
old Turkish kingdom of Qara-Khitay, which corresponded nearly to the
modern limits of Eastern Turkistan, and was ruled by a line of kings
called Ghur-kbans, who exacted homage from the border states of Persia
and Transoxiana. Chingiz and his horsemen, however, instead of paying
homage, speedily rode down ali resistance, and soon found themselves
masters of Kashgar, Khoten, and Yarkand, with the rest of the territory
of the Gur-kbans.

The Mongol dominions now marched with the wide kingdom which
had been recently conquered by the Shali of Khuvvarizm, or Khiva; and
this, therefore, became the next object of attack and the next example
of the futility of resistance. The Mongol armies, divided into several
immense brigades, swept over Khuvvarizm, Khurasan and Afghanistan,
on the one hand, and on the other over Adharbijan, Georgia and Southern
Russia, whilst a third division continued the reduction of China. In the
midst of these diverging streams of conquest, Chingiz Khan died, in
624/1227, at the age of sixty-four. The territory he and his sons had
conquered stretched from the Yellow Sea to the Euxine, and included
lands or tribes wrung from the rule of Chinese, Tanguts, Afghans, Persians,
and Turks.

It was the habit of a Mongol chief to distribute the clans over
which he had ruled as appanages among his sons; and this tribal rather
than territorial distribution obtained in the division of the empire among
the sons of Chingiz. The founder appointed a special appanage of tribes
in certain loosely-delined camping-grounds to each son,.and also nominated
a successor to himself in the supreme Kbanate. Beginning therefore with
the Khaqaans,  or supreme suzerains over ali the other Mongol cbiefs,
the following seems the natural order:

1. The Line of Ogotay, ruling the tribes of Zungaria; khaqaans,
till their extinction by the family of TulCty;

2. The Line of Tuliiy, ruling the home  clans of Mongolistan;
khaqaans  after Ogotay’s line, down to the Manchu supremacy;

3. The Persian Branch of the Line of Tuluy; H u I fi g fi and his
successors, the il-khans  of Persia;

4. The Line of .Tuji, ruling the Turkish tribes of the Khanate of
Kipchak, &c.

5. The Line of Chagatay, ruling Ma-wara-l-nahr, or Transoxiana.

126

n.

603 — 1043. The Great Mongol Khans. 1206 — 1634.

1. Line of Ogotay: Appanage, Zungaria; Supreme Khaqaans.

(1227 — 1248.)

By the will of Chingiz, Ogotay besides receiving his appanage in
Zungaria was appointed to succeed to the supreme authority; and it is
a singular teslimony to the reverence in which the intentions of the great
founder of Mongol power were held that Ogotay, although neither the
eldest nor the most capable of the sons of Chingiz. was suffered quietly
to assume the sovereignly over ali the chiefs of the family and tributaries,
and received their loyal homage at the general Diet held in 1229. His
reign was marked by a considerable extension of the Mongol dominions.
The Kin empire, or northern half of China, which had only been partially
reduced in the lifetime of Chingiz, was now (1234) entirely subdued;
(the Southern half, or Sung empire, resisted the invaders till the time of
Khubilay). Korea was annexed, 1241. The gallant and unfortunate
Jalal-ul-din,  son of the late Khuwftrizm  Shah Muhammad, \vas
hunted through the wide territory which had once owned his fatheris
rule. A great expedition into Europe  was conducted by Batit,  son of
Juji; the Mongols entered Moscow and Novgorod, penetrated to Hungary,
burned Cracow, and laid siege to Pesth. The opportune death of Ogotay
called for a general assembly of the family, and a reverse sustained at
Liegnitz, at the hand of the Grand Duke of Austria, saved Europe.

Meanwhile the internal affairs of the empire had been organised
and ably administered under the wise and just rule of the prime minister
Yeliu Chutsay, a Khitan, who did much to restore order and security to
the provinces, in spite of the incapacity of his imperial master, who was
given over to the prevailing Mongol vice of habitual drunkenness.

Ogotay’s death in 637/1241 was fo!lowed by an interregnum of
several years, during which his widow Turakina governed the empire as
regent for her eldest son Kuyuk, until he should return from Europe,
where he had been distinguishing himself in the invasion of Hungary
under his cousin Batu. He received the summons in Hungary, and on
his return to Karakorum in 1246 was elected Kh&qaan by a general
Kuriltay attended by most of the chiefs of the family, except the sons
of Juji, wlio were dissatisfied wilh the succession and excused themselves.
Kuyuk restored tranquility which had been disturbed during the rule of
his mother, and armies were now despatched to continue the work of
extension in China and Persia.

Kuyuk was the only  member of Ogotay’s family who succeeded
to the supreme throne, and on his death in 1248 the empire passed to
the Line of Tultty,  and neither Kuyuk’s sons nor any of his brothers

127

succeeded him. Under the first Kbaqaan of the new line, the family of
Ogotay offered no opposition to their dethronement; but when Mangtl
died and Khubil&y  was elected to the sovereignty by an informal
Diet held in China, the discontent of Ogotay’s descendants manifested
itself in immediate and general revolt, and a series of disastrous campaigns
ensued. Kaydfl, the grandson of Ogotay, fought no less than forty-one
battles with the supporters of Tulfty on the east, and fifteen with their
Kipchak allies on the west. But the struggle was unequal, and soon
after Kaydu’s death, about 701/1301, Ogotay’s family did homage to
Tulfly’s Line : their clans were dispersed among the tribes of Transoxiana
and Kipchak, and their chiefs lived in obscurity under the rule of the
Cbagatay Khans.

Once and again, in a period of confusion, some representative of
Ogot&y’s House was raised to the throne of Transoxiana; and it was the
fancy of the great TimOr to bring again to light the heirs of the heir
of Chingiz by setting up Suyurghatmish and his son Mabmftd in the stead
of the deposed House of Chagatay; but this was only a fictitious revival,
and these two ‘rois faineants' cannot be said to represent the original
Khaqaans.

2. Line of Tuluy: Appanage, Mongolistan; Khaqaans (1248 — 1634) in
three stages, to wit: (1) Yuen Dynasty in China (1248 —1370);
(2) Diminished Empire at Karakorum (1370 —1543); (3) Divided
Tribes and gradual submission to Manchus (1543 — 1634).

Mangtl,  Tuluy’s son, owed his accession partly to his personal
reputation as a warrior and general, and partly to the adherence of the
numerous tribes of Mongolia proper, the nucleus  of the Mongol armies
under Chingiz, which formed Tuluy’s appanage. In 1251 his inauguration
took plače, and in 1257 he died. Yet in this short reign there was room
for the beginning of two important changes.

Mangtl kept his court at the usual Capital Karakorum, north of
the desert of Gobi, and appointed his brother Khubilay governor  of
the Southern provinces: this was the beginning of the transfer of the
seat of government from Karakorum to Peking. The other change was
the despatch of another brother, HULAGU, to Persia, vvhere in the plače
of the shifting rule of provincial governors he set up his ovvn dynasty,
and thus Persia now possessed a line of kings of the royal House of
Chingiz, like the other great divisions of the Mongol empire.

Mangirs death in 1257 was the signal for a general struggle.
The Ogotay House laid claim to the supreme sovereignty, as has been
said; and Arikbuka, a brother of Mango and Khubilay, was the candidate
in the Mongol homeland. Khubilay was saluted Khaqaan by the chiefs
of the army in China; Arikbuka was elected by another Diet at Karakorum;
and Kaydd received the like title and homage from the tribes of Ogotay

128 —

and Chagatay further west. Juji’s Line in Ivipchak did not attempt to gain
the Khaqaanship, but supported the Tuluy House. The fine generalship,
large resources, and wide personal popularity of Khubiiay, carried him
safely through these early complications. Arikbuka was speedily routed,
and Kaydft was kept at a distance, though he did not cease from troubling
till after KhubilS.y’s death.

The Khaqaans of the blood of Chingiz now became a Chinese
dynasty. By 1280 Khubilay had conquered the Southern or Sung empire
ofChina; and, having thus United the whole eountry under his sole rule,
fixed his court at Khan Baligh (Cambaluk) or the ‘City of the Khan’,
now called Peking; whilst the old Capital Karakorum became a provincial
center during the first of the three periods into which the history of his
descendants may be divided.

This first period  includes the century which elapsed between
Khubilay’s founding of the Mongol empire in China and the expulsion
of the invaders under his tenth successor, Tughan Timur in 1370. The
Mongol Khaqaans of this period are known in Chinese annals as the
Yuen Dynasty.  With what sumptuous glory this dynasty began we
know from Marco Polo the Venetian traveller, d. 1323: the causes of its
decay — the extravagance of the court, the favoritism of the Lamas, the
poverty and sickness of the people, the plagues and famines, earthquakes
and other ‘signs’ — may be read in Sir Henry Howorth’s History of the
Mongols. The attempts of various pretenders were crowned by the
successful attack of Chu Yuen Chang, prince of U, the founder of the
M in g Dynasty, who assumed the royal title and seized Peking in 1368.
In two years China was rid of the Mongols; and the most prosperous
period of the history of the Great Khaqaans was over.

The second period  extends from the expulsion from China to
the temporary revival under Dayan Khan, 1370 —1543. This is the time
of the Diminished Empire,  when the Mongols were confined to the
steppes from whieh they first went forth to conquer, the camping-grounds
by the rivers Kerulon and Onon, north of the desert of Gobi. Even here
they were not wholly independent, The Ming armies surprised the Mongols
by Lake Buyur and totally routed them, capturing 80,000 prisoners, lifting
150,000 head of catlle, and carrying off immense booty. This defeat
effectually tamed the špirit of the Khaqaans, supreme now in name alone;
and they became actual vassals of the Ming emperors, who appointed
the rulers of the tribes by patents drawn up at Peking. — In the
XVth century a worse thing happened to them: many of the clans became
for a while subject to the Uirats. But at the end of the same century
Dayan Khan, the 14th Khaqaan in succession from Tughan-Timur, effected
a temporary union among the scattered tribes, and orgamzed them in
certain groups.

129

The third period is the history of the disastrous results of
Dayan’s decentralizing policy — civil war among the Divided Tribes,
and the consequent absorption of them, one by one, by the Manchu
power, which had risen newly on the ruins of the Ming in China.
Internat wars, separate dynasties, and universal disunion, soon brought
even the nominal sovereignty of the Khagaans to an end; and after
1634 the descendants of Khubilay were mere vassals of China.

A.H.  Great  K h a n s. A.D.

603 Chingiz Kban . 1206

624 Ogotay. 1227

639 Interregnum:  Turakina. 1241

644 Kuyuk. 1246

646 Mangu . 1248

Yuen Dynasty.

655 Khubilay. 1257

693 ftlja-itu. 1294

706 Ivuluk. 1307

711 Buyantu. 1311

720 Gegen. 1320

723 Yisun Timur. 1323

728 Rajipeka. 1328

729 Kushala, and then Jiyaghatu. 1329

732 Rintshenpal, and then Tdghan Timur  . . . 1332

Diminished Empire.

771 — 875 14 in ali, from Biliktu to Dayan . 1370—1470.

Divided Tribes.

951 —1043 5 in ali, from Bodi to Lingdan. 1544 —1634.

(They were absorbed by the Manchu  Tatars of China.)

A.H. A.D.

654 — 750. 3. The Mongols of Persia. 1256 — 1349.

It was in the reign of Mangu that Persia was given a royal dynasty
in the House of Hulagu  (of the Line of Tuluy), called il-kh&ns,  or
provincial khans, to indicate the homage they owed and invariably
acknowledged (very cheaply) to the supreme Khagaans. Hfllagh  had
little difficulty in establishing his authority over the country allotted to
him. The ambitious Shah of Khuvvarizm whom Chingiz had routed had
already cleared the way by conguering the better part of Persia, and
there were no formidable opponents to meet. Hulagu speedily drove
before him the small princes who were trying to build their little dynast.es

130

on the ruins of the great empire of Khmvarizm, 1256—1257; čarne to
Baghdad and cruelly raurdered al-Musta’šim, the feeble representative of
the once powerful 'Abbasid Caliphs, 656/1258; and found no serious
obstacle in his path of conquest till he was checked in Syria by the
valiant Mamluks of Egypt,* who kept him successfully at arm’s length.

Hulagu was now master of ali the provinces of Persia and Asia
Minor from India to the Mediterranean. His dominions marched with
those of Chagatay and Juji on the north, and with the territory of the
Egyptian Mamluk sultans on the South; and within these limits for nearly
a century his dynasty reigned in practical independence, whilst rendering
a certain feudal homage to the remote Khaqaan in China. Save for an
occasional contest over the succession, the country was quietly and
peaceabiy governed, and the il-khans sbowed a praiseworthy desire to
emulate the examples of earlier rulers of Persia in the encouragenaent
of Science and letters.

In the reign of Abu-Sa’id,  however, 1316 —1335, the dynasty
was undermined by the same  causes which had previously destroyed
the power of the Caliphs and the Saljuqs; and which were destined to
bring about the downfall of the Mamluks in Egypt: rival  amirs, generals,
ministers, and zealots, began to take a large share in the government
of the country, and in tkeir jealousies and animosities  lay the
prime danger of the il-khans.

After Abu Sa’id’s death the Persian throne became the toadstool
on which the puppet sovereigns, set up by rival amirs, seated themselves,
only to lind it crumbling beneath them. Two great Houses tore Persia
in sunder: that of Amir Chupan,  a favorite general of Ghazan,
694 — 703, and of his successors; and that of Amir Husayn the Jalayr,
also called the Ilkanian. Each of these had a son named Hasan, dis-
tinguished by the epithets Great and Little; Chupan’s son was “amir
Hasan kuchuk”, and the Jalayr’s son was “amir shaykh Hasan buzurg”.
Their power was immediately felt. Arpakhan,  a descendant, not of
Hulagu, but of Arikbuka his brother, was placed on the throne after
Abu Sa’id’s death, but was deposed the same year, 1336, by Musa,
who drew his pedigree from Baydu, the sixth il-khan and Ghazan’s
predecessor. Musa was quickly displaced by the nominee of the Greater
Hasan, whose rival of the line of Chupan presently set up an opposition
in the sovereignty in the person of Sati-beg,  a sister of Abu Sa’id,
who had been the wife first of Chflpan, then of Arpa khan, and was
finally married to Sulayman, who nominally supplanted her in the suprem-
acy. — After the troubled reign of Nushirwan, the Jalayrs  were

* i. e., the Bahrite Mamlftks al-Mužaffar, Baybars, and Qalawun,
betvveen 657 — 689/1259 — 1290.

131

the chief power in Persia; and the Hulagu dynasty became extinct.—
The Jalayrs, the Mužaffarids, the Sarbadarids, and others, made bavoc
of the country till the great Tlmflr came and swept them away,
782 — 797/1380 — 1395.

N.B. 4. Juji’s Line, and 5. Chagatay’s Line, are here passed over
in silence.

37. 641/Dec. 5. 1242. 'Abdullah al-Musta’šim, the last

of the 'Abbasides in Bagdad. His wazir was ibn-ul-’Alqami,
a Shi’ite; his secretary of State was Ei-bek. They accused
each other of treachery. The Sunnite historians accuse ibn-
al -’Alqami of having encouraged Hulagu, the chief of the Mongols
in Persia, to come to Bagdad.

Mangu was at that time the Great Khan of the Mongols
in Central Asia. He ordered his brother Hulagu  to advance
and conquer. So in January 1256 the latter crossed the Oxus
river with his army. He issued a proclamation to the emirs
of Persia, Asia Minor, and Mesopotamia, calling upon them to
submit and send liim auxiliary troops to fight the Assassins.
Ali obeyed the proclamation, except the Caliph, who thought
the Mongols were too far away to be feared. Hulagu spent
the winter in Balkh; in the Spring he came to Qazwin and
fully exterminated the Assassins. He then came to Hamadhan
and sent an embassy to the Caliph al-Musta’šim with a letter,
reproaching him for taking no interest in the war against the
Assassins, who were the most dangerous enemies of mankind,
and further requiring him to demolish (puli down) the forti-
fications of Bagdad. The Caliph replied that ali the Believers
would fight against the enemies of the Commander ol the Faith-
ful. Hulagu  ordered his generals Jurmagun and Bayju to
march from Asia Minor and Armenia to Mušul, and there to
cross the Tigris, so as to attack Bagdad from the west; he
himself advanced from Kirmanshah and Hulwan. Thus Bagdad
was shut in. The Caliph sent his sons to Hulagu to sue for
mercy. Hulagu  required of the Caliph that he order ali in
Bagdad to lay down their arms. He took the city, and then let
his followers plunder it. On the 2 1 st of March 1 258/656,
the Caliph and many of the House of Abbas were killed
at Hulagu’s command. 9*

132

From, abu-l-’Abbas-al-Saffah to al-Musta’sim, 37 Calipbs in ali. What
the earlier 'Abbasides had done to tlie Umayyades, Hulagu did to their
posterity. The survivors of the 'Abbasside family fled to Egypt, and were well
received there by Baybars al-Bundukdari, and after him by the rulers of the
two Mamluk dynasties. The dignity of Caliph, without the worldly power,
passed in Egypt from one 'Abbaside to his successor through a period of
290 years after the fall of Bagdad; the last and seventeenth of them was
al-Mutawakkil Muhammad son of al-Mustamsik. In his day the Ottoman
sultan Šalim First took Egypt in 1517 A.D.; and in 950/1543 al-Muta-
wakkil died in poverty and obseurity at Cairo.

General Remarks on the 'Abbaside Caliphate: Summary.

The 'Abbasids overtbrew tbe TJmayyads by uniting against
tbem the various dissatisfied parties. Tbe Yamanite Party bad
been discontented, for tbe Umayyads bad neglected it and
favored tbe Mudarites. Tbe Hashimites thought that they had
tbe first right to the highest dignity, for they were of the
family of him wbo had founded botb tbe Faitb and the State.
Tbe Khawarij bad been opposed to the Umayyads ever since
the day when 'Ali b. Abi Talib bad signed tbe arbitration treaty
with Mu’awiyab. Ali tbis created discord among the Arab
tribes, who ougbt rather to have been working togetber for
upholding tbe Arab supremacy over the conquered dominions
of tbe vast empire that was bardly one century old. The people
of Persian nationality bated those of Arab blood; the Berber
race in North Africa was filled with tbe same feeling toward
the conquerors. Moreover many Muslims remembered that
tbe Umayyad Caliphs were descendants of those wbo had at
one time been tbe Prophet’s enemies. And even the individual
members of tbe House of Umayyah, instead of holding loyally
togetber, were mo ved by ambition for power and by jealousy one
of the otber. Thus the overtbrow of this dynasty, whicb had
done so much for tbe spread of Arab supremacy, was brought
about by a fearful coalition  of tbe most dissimilar elements.

It was, bowever, far easier for tbe United opposition to
overcome tbe one common adversary than it was to found a

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new supremacy (after lie was vanquished), which could fulfil
the expectations of ali. To effect a reconciliation between the
various races and nationalities was quite as difficult as to satisfy
the party upholding the right of succession by inheritance and
at the same time meet the wishes of the party advocating the
right of succession by election of the people. They could not
be adjusted Abu-1-’Abbas followed the simpler course of rooting
up what did not bend to his will. The Umayyads were, there-
fore, ali but wiped out; Abu Salamah, the leader of the ’Alawi
Party, and ali his followers were killed; ali opposition to the
new authority, whether in Khurasan, Syria, or Mesopotamia,
was stamped out. By the year 134/752 the Black Banner,
which color the 'Abbasids had worn in mourning for the be-
headed al-Hasan, lloated over ali forts from Mausurah in India
to the Atlantic and from Samarkand to the Gulf of ’Adan.
Fresh conquests were not then made; only the centre of gravity
of Islam had been removed from Syria to Mesopotamia.

But so vast a dominion could not long be held together,
neither from Damascus nor from Bagdad. The first great
step towards its disintegration began in Spain,  where the
Umayyad ’Abd-ul-rahman was acknowledged independent sove-
reign, in 138/755, andtherethe ’Abbasid Caliphate was renounced
for ever. Thirty years later Idr is, a great-grandson of the
Caliph ’Ali, and therefore equally at variance with 'Abbasids
and Umayyads, founded an ’Alawi dynasty in Morocco, with
Tudgha for its Capital, 172/788. The rest of the North Afričan
coast was practically lost to the Caliphate when the A g h 1 a b i d
governor established his authority at Qayrawan in 184/800.
In the following century, Egypt, together with Syria, had
attained independence under Ibn Tulun,  by the year 264/877.
It is true that, after the collapse of the Tulunids, governors were
again appointed over Syria and Egypt by the 'Abbasid Caliphs
for thirty years; but in 323/934 al-Ikhshid  founded his
short-lived dynasty, and thencefomard no country west  of
the Euphrates ever recognized the temporal authority of the
Baghdad Caliphs, though their spiritual title was generally

134

acknowledged on the coins and in the public prayer (khutbah),
except in Spain and Morocco.

In the East, the disintegration of the 'Abbasid empire
proceeded with equal rapidity. The famous general of al-Ma-mun,
Tahir dhu-l-yaminayn,  on being appointed Viceroy of
the East in 204/819, became to most intents independent; and
his House, and the succeeding dynasties of the Saffarids,
Šamani ds, and G ha z na wids,  whilst admitting the spiritual
Lordship of the Caliphs, reserved to themselves ali the power
and wealth of the eastern provinces of Persia and Transoxiana.
Fi’om the middle of the IXth century, the 'Abbasids had fallen
more and more under the baneful influence of mercenary
Turkish bodyguards  and servile ‘maires du palais’; and
the absorption of the whole of their remaining territory by the
Buwayhids,  who occupied even the ‘City of Peace’, Bagdad
itself, in 334/945, was little more than a change in their alien
tyrants. From this date until their extinction by the M o n -
golš  in 656/1258, the Caliphs merely held a court, first under
the Buwayhs, and then under the Great Saljuqs  after
447/1055, but governed no empire. Occasionally, however, as
in the Caliphate of al-Našir, they extended their authority out-
side the palače walls, and even ruled the whole province of the
Arabian Traq (Chaldaea).

The Language and Literature of the 'Abbaside Period.

When the Umayyades were overthrown and the 'Abbasides
got the power, Persian Civilisation and Persian Manners and
Customs began to take the plače of the Arab ways of life.
The ancient Arab families lost their power and influence in
the government. Other families of more recent origin took
their plače. Bagdad and western Persia became the central
point of Islam, and Arabia lost its importance. Many of the
Bedouin tribes of Arabia regained their ancient independence
and fell back into their old ways, so that the history of Arabia
became limited to the history of Mekka and Madinah.

135

In tlie cities and provinces, the language lost much of
its purity by the contact of the conquerors and settlers with
the subdued races among whom thev lived; only the Bedouins
of the desert kept on using the good old language. When
the foreign dynasties began to rise, sueh as the Daylams and
Saljuqs, and as they more and more gained the ascendancy
over the various provinces of the vast Caliphate, the Arabic
language became stili more corrupted; indeed it had nigh gone
down entirely, and would have been lost, had not the Muslims
ali along bestowed the greatest čare on the teaching of the
Qur-an and the Sunnah to their children in the schools attached
to the mosques. And later on, when the Mongol Tartars, who
were not Muslims and cared nothing for the Arabs, their
religion, or their language, conquered the East, the Arabic
language degenerated so much that it died out in the Persian
’Iraq, Khorassan, Persia and India, as also in Asia-Minor,
although the Muslim religion stili continues to be the prevalent
faith in most of those parts. It remained, however, as the
language of the people, in Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, and
most of North Africa. But even in these regions it is no longer
the pure, simple, elegant and yet powerful language that it
was in the earlier days of Islam.

The Qadi (judge) ibn Ahmad says that the Arabs, at
the rise of Islam, paid no attention to any of the Sciences,
save to the study of their language and the principles of their
law and religion 5 but he also States that some individuals among
them praetised the medical profession. He asserts that this
was the state of Science and learning under the Umayyade
Dynasty. But that wben the power passed into the hands of
the ’Abbasides, who were of the Family of Hashim, a great
intellectual awakening set in, which began with the second
Caliph of that dynasty, namely Abu-Ja’afar al-Manšur, who
was not only a študent of the Law but also a philosopher and
astronomer. Afterwards, on the accession of the seventh of
this dynasty, 'Abdullah al-Ma-mun, this Caliph continued the
work begun by his grand-father al-Manšur, and was so eager

136

in his search after knowledge tkat lie applied to the Byzantine
kings for copies of the philosophical works of the Greeks,
which they sent him, and which he caused to be translated
from Greek into Arabic by the best translators.

The late German Arabist Loth* divides Arabic Literature
into two great periods: pre-Islamic and post-Islamie. The pre-
Islamic literature of the Arabs is purely national  and  A rab
in its character, and consists almost wholly of poetry with hardly
any prose. Their post-Islamic literature is not limited to the Arab
race alone, but includes the literature in Arabic of the other
races  with whom the Arabs became intermingled after their
conquests and their settling in the conquered countries. Before
going on to speak in detail of each of the two periods, the
learned Arabist just named remarks that Arabic literature grew
and flourished for about seven - hundred years; that for about
400 years, out of those seven centuries, it liad reached a high
degree of maturity; and that for about 200 years out of these
four centuries it had attained its highest degree of perfection.

Of the pre-Islamic period of Arabic Literature enough has
been already said in the earlier pages of these notes, while
treating of the history of the Arabs in the times of Ignorance.

Arabic Literature after  the Prophet may be divided
into six periods, as follows:

Ist Period. Under the Umayyades of Damascus. This
part also has been already dealt with above (pp. 60 and 72).

2nd Period. Under the ’Abbasides during their Glory,
for about 200 years, fm. 132/750 to 339/950. In it books
appeared; the ’ulema, law-doctors, began to comment upon and
explain the Qur-an, and collect the hadiths or sayings of the
Prophet; the principles and rules of the Law (Jurisprudence)
were arranged and laid down. In this period also attention
was turned to the literature and Science of the Persians, Syrians

* MS notes preserved at the librarv of the German Oriental Societv,
Halle a./S.

137

and Greeks, from which the Arabs took muck. The ancient
Arab families of noble descent had begun to decay, and a new
aristocracy or nobility sprang up in their plače in and around
Bagdad, the new Capital ; and with them arose a set of poets
who were n o t of Arab origin. The Muslims further paid much
attention to the study and cultivation of their language, and
there arose the two great Schools of the Kufites and Bušrites.
Works were composed on almost every branch of learning.
The most illustrious authors of this great age were:

P o e t r y: Binshad - Abu - nawwas; — Abu -1 -’atahiyah ; —
Habib-ibn-Aus; — al-Buhturi; — ibnu-l-mu’atazz-al-’Abbasi; —
Ibn-Durayd (p. 43); — ibn-al-Ruini; — al-Mutanabbi.

Belles-Lettres:  ibn-’abd -Rabbihi; —Abu  -1  - faraj - al-
Ispahani; — as-Sabi.

Law or fiqh:  Abu-Hanifah (p. 73).

Gram  m ar:  Sibawayh.

Astronomy:  al-Ma-mun son of al-Raslnd ; — al-Farghani;
— Thabit-ibn-Qurrah ; — al-Batani.

Medicine:  Georgios son of Bakht-Yashu’a;—John son
of Masaway h; — Hunayn-ibn-Ishaq; — al -'Abbadi; — Ishaq-ibn-
Hunayn; — Abu-Bakr-al-Razi.

Hi s tor y: al-Waqidi; — al-Tabari.

Folklore and Tales:  al-Ašma’i.

Calligraphy:  Ibn-Muqlah. (Cf.Caliphs No. 18 and 19.)

Science:  Abu-Hamfah-al-Dmawari.

Geography:  Abu-Ishaq-al-Istakhri; — Abu-1-Qasim-
'Abdallah, the author of the famous work entitled al - Masalik
fid-Mamalik; — Muhammad-al-Jahani; — Abu-l-Faraj-al-Bagdadi.

Trave!  s:  Ibn-Fadlan travelled in Africa in the ninth
century of the Christian Era and describes it well (2nd or
3d cent. of the Flight).

Philosophy:  Ya’qub-ibn-Ishaq-al-Kindi; — and alTarabi.

Translation of Ancient Works:  Hunayn-ibn-

Ishaq-al-'Abbadi; — Ya’qub-ibn-Ishaq-al-Kindi; Ihabit-ibn-
Qurrah; — 'Alam-ibn-Farjan-al-Tabari; — Ishaq-ibn-Hunayn.

138

For full information upon the literature of the 'Abbaside
period, see Ibn-al-Nadim’s work, and the “Fihrist” of Ibn-
al-Athir.

3d Period. The Decline of Arabic Literature, from
339/950 to 656/1258, i. e., to the final Overthrow of the
'Abbaside dynasty in Bagdad. In this period the Caliphate at
Bagdad had greatly šunk in power; the emirs of the Daylam
and Buyide tribes or raees had acquired almost ali political
power and supremacy; and after them the Sultans of the Saljuq
Turk s overran and subdued the greater part of the Arab
Empire in Western Asia. The Saljuqs, as they grew weaker,
gave plače in their turn to the petty but independent kings,
who ruled over different regions and set up their own Courts.
To these Courts the poets and men of learning resorted; Bagdad
and its neighborhood was abandoned by them.

Toward the close of this third period, the Wars witk the
Christian Crusaders  of Europe began to exert a marked
influence upon Arabic Literature. The men of learning pro-
duced no new creations of their own, but limited themselves
to the perusal and study of the books already existing, and
were content with attaching explanations and commentaries on
the margins. Mystical or pietistic poetry appeared about this
time, such as the Diwan of Ibn - al - Farid. And when the
Mongols  took Bagdad, learning languished; for they were a
race of barbarians who cared little for the Muslim Faith, knew
nothing of the Arabic Language, and cared not for Science
and knowledge. — The eminent writers of the third period are:

Poetry:  Abu-Faris-al-Hamdani; — al - Khawarizmi; —
Badi’a-al-Zaman ; — al-Basti; — the philosopher Abu-l-’ila-al-
Ma’arri; —- al-Tughra-i; — al-abi-Wardi; — ibn-al-Nabih; — ibn-
al-Farid; — Baha-ul-din-Zuhayr ; — ibn-Matruh.

Belles-Lettres:  Abu-Manšur-al-Tha’alibi; — al-Qayra-
wani 5 — ibn-abi-l-Zandaqah; — al-Tartushi 5 — al-Qazwini.

Grammar:  ibn-Junayy.

Calligraphy:  ibn-al-Bawwab.

History:  ibn-’Asakir; — ibn-al-Athir.

139

Medicine:  ibn-Jazlah; — ibn-al-Tilmidh.

Philosophy:  ibn-Sina; — abu-l-faraj-ibn-al-tabib-al-Traqi;

— abu-l-rihan-al-Biruni.

A s t r o n o m y: abu -1 - Hashim; — al-khazin-al-Andalusi; —
ibn -Yunis.

Geometry:  abu-l-wafa-al-Budhajani.

Geography:  al-Mas’udi; — ibn-Hauqal; — ibn-Jubayr; —
yaqut-al-Hamawi; — ibn-al-Wardiy.

Jurisprudence:  al-Mawardi; — al-Shahristani; — ibn-
al-Jauzy; — al-Sohrawardi.

B o t a n y: ibn-al-Baytar.

Literature, Poetry and Language:  al-Hariri.

Science and Geography:  Abd-ul-Latif-al-Bagdadi.

In order not to break the continuity of this Sketch of Literature, the suceeeding
periods are made to follow here, although the history is thereby anticipated.

4th Period: from 656/1258 to 925/1517, i. e., from the
Fali of Bagdad into the hands of Hulagu the Moghul to the
entrance of the Ottoman Sultan Šalim I into Cairo, when
the last of the 'Abbaside nominal Caliphs made over the Dignity
of Caliph to the said Sultan. — In this period appeared Timur-
lang, who almost wholly stifled Arab culture, learning and
Science in Mesopotamia and Asia; but it stili continued to
flourish for a short time in Egypt under the Mamluk Dynasty.
Perhaps the Tales of the 1001 Nights were written during this
period (under the Mamluks?). — The eminent vvriters of this
4th period are:

Grammar:  ibn-Malik, and ibn-’Aqil.

History:  Abu-l-faraj-al-Malatti; — AbuTfida of Hamah;

— ibn-Khildun or Khallidun; — al-Maqrizi.

Geography:  ibn-Batuta.

Poetry:  Šafiyyu-l-dm-al-Hilli.

5th Period: from 906/1500 to 1215/1800. In it, Arabic
Literature decayed and ca m e to a dead-stop,  with the
exception  of the literary efforts of a few ulema at Constanti-
nople, who turned their attention to explaining and annotating

140

the older works. One of these Constantinopolitan savants was
Hajji-Khalifah; he made a sort of Encyclopedia of Literature,
or List of the titles of books and naraes of their autkors.

6th Period: from 1215/1800 down to the present time.
This is the period of earnest efforts to bring about a Revival
of Arab Learning, Literature and Science by the introduction
of modern European Science and Methods of Literary Research.
A great impulse in this direction was given, in Egypt, by the
Great Muhammad ’Ali Pasha, and has been kept up by his
successors; in Syria the impulse was first given by the American
missionaries, and has been carried on there both by the Jesuits
and the native ecclesiastical organisations. European influence
in this period is very marked. It is also the beginning of
a new era in the history of Arab Literature, for in it printing-
presses  ha ve been introduced at Constantinople, at Bulaq,
at Beirut, and in India, for the publication of Arabic books.
The dates of the founding of Arabic Printing Establish-
ments  are as follows:

Calcutta, India, in 1778.

Monastery of St. John at Shuwayr in Mount Lebanon,
Syria, in the year 1725,  — the oldest  Arabic printing
establishment in the East.

Bulaq near Cairo, 1822 (Mhmmd.-’Ali).

Beirut, Syria, 1827 (American Press).

Algiers, 1830.

In this 6th period, the centers of Learning are: for Egypt,
Cairo; and for Syria, Beirut and Damascus.

The eminent writers  of this short period, which has
only begun, and for which the future is full of hope and
promise, are, arranged according to countries,  as follows:

In Syria:  al-Shaykh Našif-al-Yaziji-al-Libnani, an
excellent grainmarian and a ripe, graceful poet; — Butros-al-
Bustany, a lexicographer, arithmetician, and journalist of great
merit; — al-Shaykh-Ibrahim-al-Yaziji, an erudite scholar of the
Arabic Language; — Cornelius van Alen van Dyck, a born

141

Citizen of the United States, but of purely Holland Dutch
descent, whose efforts in educating voung Syrians and whose
works on so many branches of learning and seience have made
liis name a household word in every corner of Syria and made
him one of the most generallv read writers from Aššiut to
Bagdad; — and in Aleppo, Francis-Fath-allah-Marrash, whose
poems are full of grace, sweetness and rhythm.

In Egypt:  Mahmud Pasha-al-Falaki; — Ali-Pasha-
Mubarak; — Rifa’ah-Bey-Badawi-Raii’a-al-Tahta\vi, the eminent
translator; — al-Shaykh-Abdu-l-IIadi-Naja-al-Ibyari, the well-
known poet.

In Tunis and Western Africa:  Kheiru-l-din Pasha.

At Constantinople:  Ahmad Faris, for so many years
the editor of the “al-Jawa-ib”; and many others  whom time
and space do not permit us to mention by name.

The Fatimite Dynasty, first in Tunis and afterwards

in Egypt.

(Por Chronological Table, see Summary on page 150.)

The Fatimites were so called because they claimed that
they could trače their descent back to Fatimah,  the PROPHET’S
daughter, by his wife Khadijah, and the wife of Ali son of
Abu-Talib, to whom she bore three sons, namelv al-Hasan,
al-Husayn, and Muhsin. The last named son died in infancy;
the descendants of al-Hasan and of al-Husayn were called al-
Sadat. Fatimah died three or six months after her father, and
was entitled al-batul,  for her having renounccd the world
and its fleeting vanities; she is also called al-Zahra, or Venus,
for her great beauty. There are three Fatimahs, famous in
the Muslim traditions, to wit: F. the PROPBET’S daughter; —
F. the mother of Ali son of Abu-Talib; — and P. the daughter
of Hamzah, the Prophet’s uncle.

The Fatimites ruled in North Africa, and conquered Egypt
and most of Syria. Their supremacy began in 297/909 and

142

ended in 568/1171. The founder of the dynasty was Abu-
Muhammad ’Ubayd-Allah, who claimed to be a descendant of
Fatimah; but most Sunnite bistorians maintain that be was
tbe grand-son of a Jew or of a Magician. It is further known
as tbe Dynasty of the Alawiyyins,  for tbe reason that its
founder was of the Alawiyyin party, wbo were equally op-
posed to both Umayyades and Abbasides. In ali there were
14 monarchs (or Caliphs) of this House, the same number as
tbe Umayyades of Damascus.

1. Abu-Muhamniad ’Ubayd Allali was born in 269/882.
He dwelt for a time in Syria as a preacber and missionary
of the ’Alawi party, who sougbt to convince the people that the
Abbasides had no right to be Caliphs, but that the dignity of
the Caliphate belonged to the descendants of Isma’il, the great-
great-grand-son of Fatimah, the Prophet’s daughter. The
Abbaside Caliph al-Muktafi-bi-llah sought to seize this danger-
ous emissary; he fled from Syria to the Hijaz. There he joined
some pilgrims, coming from the West of Africa, and accompanied
them on their return home as far as Egypt. Here they were
so taken with his learning and intelligence that they persuad-
ed him to go on with them to the West. There he moved
about from plače to plače, lest the emissaries of the Caliph
al-Muktafi should catch him; at last he was arrested and im-
prisoned at Segelmessa, in the extreme West. When the revolt
occurred, wliich ended in the overthrow of the declining dynasty
of the Aghlabite kings, the doors of ali prisons were thrown
open, and ali political prisoners were set free, Abu-’Ubayd-
Allah among them. He rose to a position of influence among
the party which had seized the power and overthrown the
Aghlabites. He soon became so popular that he assumed the
power, and called himself the Mahdi. He also subdued ali
the chiefs and emirs in North Africa who had thrown off their
allegiance to the Abbasides; so that his authority extended
from the Atlantic Ocean to the western frontiers of Egypt.
As his residence he cliose the city ofRaqqadah,  near the city
of Cyrene or Qayrawan that had been founded by the Muslim

143

conquerors of Africa in the early days of Islam. When he
had Consolidated his supremacy, lie founded a city, which lie
called al-Mahdiyyah, after the title that he had assumed,
on the sea-coast about 100 miles south of Tunis, making it
the seat of his kingdom. It was huilt upon the site of the
ancient Phoenician city of Hadrumetum, which had been a
Tyrian colony. Ali the Muslims of Western Africa acknow-
ledged his authority. He denounced the 'Abbaside Caliphs as
usurpers, and assumed the titles of Successor, or Caliph, and
Commander of the Believers. His fleets attacked the shores of
Italy and Sicily, and his armies attacked Egypt. On his death
he was succeeded by his son Abu-1-Qasim Muhammad.

2. 322/933. Abu-1-Qasim Muhammad entitled al-Qa-im
bi-amri-l-lah. In his reign a false prophet arose, who is known
as Abu-Yazid. He was originally an Abyssinian slave. Many
of the people of Western Africa were deluded by him, and he
became so powerful that he attacked al-Qa-im and e ven be-
sieged him in al-Mahdiyyah. During the siege al-Qa-im died,
and was succeeded by his son Ismall al-Manšur.

3. 335/946. Isma’11 al-Manšur found the kingdom on
the brink of destruction. After having routed Abu-Yazid the
usurper, he succeeded by courage, energy, and prudence in
regaining nearly ali the countries that his grand-father had
subdued. He Consolidated the Fatimite power, and prepared
the way for his son and successor al - Mu’izz, who afterwards
took Egypt and Syria.

4. 341/952. Al-Mu’izz-li-dlni-llah, perhaps the greatest
of ali the monarchs of the Fatimite dynasty. His first warlike
undertaking was directed by sea against the island of Sicily,
which was conquered. Egypt was conquered by his army-
leader J a w har in 356/968 (or 969—970). In Egypt there
prevailed a famine, and Kafur the wazir of the last Ikhshidide
had died; so that the inhabitants longed for a change of govern-
ment. Jawhar with his armv defeated the Ikhshids of Egypt
near Gizah, and entered Fustat (old Cairo) in 969. Soon after,

144

he conquered the greater part of Syria (970). Tlie Qarmathians,
however, soon retook Syria, penetrated into Egypt, and besieged
Fustat, the Capital; but Jawbar repulsed them. At last al-
Mu’izz  put down some revolts in Africa, then came himself
from Mahdiyyah to Egypt in 972, and removed the royal
residence from Fustat to New C a i r o, which Jawhar had laid
out and founded for him. The name of the 'Abbaside Caliphs
was no longermentionedin  the Friday khutbah in Egypt,
and for it was substituted the name of the Fatimite
monarch of the ’Alawi sect. (Great Schism,  see below
p. 149.)

Even the two holy cities of Makka and Medinah acknow-
ledged al-Mu’izz as the rightful Caliph.

He had appointed his other general Buluggin to be
governor of the province of north Africa and Mauretania; the
descendants of Buluggin ruled over a part of Africa till the
middle of the 12th century after Christ, and were called
the Ziride dynasty,  after al-Ziri the father of Buluggin.

The mosque of al-Azhar, “the Splendid”, was
founded by the Sicilian general Jawhar; but no part of the
original building stili remains. It was at first intended for
the use and convenience of the army and body-guard of the
conquerors from North Africa. The second Fatimite in Egypt,
al-’Aziz, made it a mosque for learning, or an university.
Subsequently it was enlarged by various sultans, especially by
al-Žahir Baybars (1270), by Qait-Bey (1470), by al-Ghuri, by
al-Sayyid Muhammad Pasha (1595), by Isma’i'l-Bey, by ’Abdu-l-
Rahman Kakhiah (1762), and by Said-Pasha (about 1855). It
is perhaps the most celebrated university  in the East. But
the Jadrni’ al-Amawi at Damascus is by far the older university.
In al-Azhar are now taught (primary and secondary education
is afforded in it): grammar, algebra, arithmetic, logic, philosopliy,
theologv, and religion  and  law  according to the four or-
thodox (Sunnite) rites or Schools of doctrine. Al-Mu’izz died
on the 24th day of Dec. 975, and was succeeded by his son
al-’Aziz.

145

5. 365/975 to 386/996. Abu-l-našr Nizar, entitled al-
'Aziz-bi-ll&h.  He sent J a w h a r with an army into
Palestine and Syria  against the Turkisli cliieftain Aftekin
who kad taken Damascus, ’Akka and Tiberias. Al-’Aziz tlien
gathered another army and joined Jawbar at ’Askalan. The
two then defeated Aftekin and his allies, the Qarmathians, near
Ramleh on the plain of Sharon near Jaffa. Al-’Aziz died in
October 996 at Bilbays, and was succeeded by his son al-Hakim.
Al-’Aziz had married a Christian girl, and set one of her
brothers as patriarch of Alexandria and the other as patriarch
of Jerusalem.

6. 386/996. Abu-’Ali Manšur, entitled al-Hakiin-bi-
amri-llah, was only eleven years old when he succeeded his
father. Hasan - ibn -’Ammar, a Berber of the Qitamah tribe,
became wazir or wašitah.  This was against the wish of
the deceased al-’Aziz, who had appointed the eunuch Bardjewan
as regent during the minority of al-Hakim. Bardjewan stirred
up Mandjutkin, the governor of Damascus, against ibn-’Ammar.
At last Bardjewan was made the wazir of al-Hakim. But
wken the latter was 14 years old, he got his slave Reydan to
kili Bardjewan (April 999). The young king then chose Husayn,
a son of Jawhar the conqueror of Egypt, as chief ot the army.

In al-HakinTs reign arose the serious revolt of Abu-Rakwa,
the water-carrier. Abu-Rakwa was a nickname given to Walid-
ibn-Hisham, an Arab descended from the Umayyades of
Damascus and a relative of the Umayyade kings of Andalusia.
Like most darwishes he carried his little rakwah or pot. He
had fled from Spain to Egypt and thence gone to North Africa,
where he claimed to be a descendant of the Caliph Abd-ul-
Malik. He seized Barqah, and then attacked Egypt, but was
defeated, and had to flee to Nubia. He was finally caught,
brought to Cairo, and killed (1007).

Al-Hakim was an extreme Sinite. Whoever prayed ac-
cording to the sunnite Rite or spoke well of Abu Bakr and
’Umar was killed. Jews and Christians in government oflices
were discharged and persecuted. Christians had to wear dark-

10

146

blue clothes; Jews, yellow gowns. Vegetables tbat had been
liked by Mu’awiyah or 'Aishah were forbidden; both these two
and tbe first tbree Calipbs were publicly cursed. Suddenly he
stopped ali tbese mad regulations and accorded toleration to
the Sunnites. Churebes and synagogues were demolished,
among them tbe Cburcb of the Resnrrection at Jerusalem
(in 1009). He bad a Christian as bis secretary; then he killed
bim. Ali tbe grape-vines in Egypt, especially in tbe Fayyum,
were cut down by bis orders.

After the year 1017 he became not only wild and mad,
but presumed himself to be a god, and bis Shi’ite minister to
be a demi-god. This minister or wazir was Ibn-Isma’i'l Darazi
or Durzi, tbe founder of tbe Druz religion. Darazi declared
that al-Hakim was tbe visible image of Glod on earth. Tbe
people rebelled; Darazi had to flee to Syria, where he preacbed
this religion. But Hamzah-ibn-Ahmad remained and preacbed
the same doctrine. When al-Hakim’s name was mentioned in
the Friday khutbah, every one had to stand up; in Cairo ali
had to bow tbe knee to him. Women were not allowed to go out
of tbeir bouses at ali. One night, as he was making his wonted
rounds through tbe streets of Cairo, he saw a female figure
leaning against tbe wall of a house. He ordered bis attendants
to strike down this woman wbo dared to appear in tbe streets.
They did so, but found it was only a figure of rags  in
whose hand was a letter. He took the letter and read it. It
spoke ali manner of evil against his unmarried sister Sitt-ul-
Mulk. He first punisbed tbe whole of tbe city of Fustat, for
this letter against tbe reputation of bis sister, by giving it up
for several days to plunder and murder by tbe soldiers; then
be bad part of it burned down. He also tbreatened bis sister
and reproached ber.—Al-Hakim was in the liabit of making
nightly visits, accompanied by one servant only, to Mount
Muqattam “to commune with unseen spirits”. He disappeared
on tbe nigbt of tbe 13th of Feb. 1021. After waiting a whole
week for bis reappearance, his sister Sitt-ul-Mulk proclaimed
bis son ’Ali as his successor.

147

His maltreatment of the Christiana in Egypt and Palestine
led them to appeal to Europe, and this was one of the causes
that gave rise to the Crusade wars.

7. 412/1021. Abu-l-Hasan 'Ali, entitled al-Žahir-li-
Pazaz-dini-llahi, was only 18 years old when his father dis-
appeared. Sitt-ul-Mulk, his paternal aunt, was in fact the ruler.
She died after 4 vears, and the real regent was the wazir
'Ali-al-Jarjarai. The Fatimite power began to decline. Under
him occurred a frightful f a min e in Egypt. He was succeeded
by his son Abu-Tannm-Ma’add.

8. 427/1037 or 1036. Abu -Tamim - Ma’add, entitled
al-Mustanšir-bi-llah, was only 7 or 9 years old on his accession
to the throne of his forefathers. His mother, originally a blaek
slave-girl, exercised great influence in the choice of the wazirs
who directed the affairs of State. His rule lasted sixty years.

His armv was composed mostly of Turkish mercenaries;
whereas his body-guard consisted of blaek troops. These two
rival and antagonistic elements often quarrelled and fought each
other. — The Saljuq Turks conquered Palestine and Syria;
Damascus and Jerusalem were taken by them in 469/1076.
In Jerusalem the Saljuq family of the Ortoqs  set up an in-
dependant principality. — His Turkish troops, under the Ham-
danite Našir-al-Dawlah, drove the blaek troops away from
Upper Egypt. The Turkish mercenaries continually inereased
their demands for pay, and al-Mustanšir, whose treasury was
empty, had to part with his valuables and jewelry at very low
prices to satisfy their demands. Some of the valuables were
of great religious and historical interest, having come down
from 'Aali, Husayn, Hamzah, and other heroes of the early
period of Islamism. The best manuseripts  were sold, and
many of them were taken away to North Africa.

9. 487/1094. Abu-1-Qasim-Ahmad, entitled al-Musta’li-
bi-llah, the brother of No. 8. — The real power and authoritv
was in the hands of the wazir al-Afdal  the son of Badr. —
In 491/1097 the Christian Cr usad  er  s penetrated into Asia
Minor. This obliged the Seljuq emirs everywhere to unite

10 *

148

against the comraon enemy and invader. Al-Afdal, the wazir
of Egypt, seized the opportunitv to reconcpier Jerusalem
(492/1098). He d rov e away the Ortoqs  who had occupied
it 20 years. But in the following year ;  493/1099, the Crus¬
ad  er  s took that sacred city. Al-Afdal gathered a large army
in Egypt and advanced into Palestine, intending to retake
Jerusalem. The Crusaders met him near Askalan, not far from
Gaza, and defeated him.

10. 495/1101. Al-amir-bi-ahkami-llah, the son of No. 9.—
He was stabbed on the Vthof October 1129 or 1130 by Assassins.
Having left no male issue, he was succeeded by his cousin.

11. 524/1129 or 1130. ’Abd-ul-Majid son of Muhammad
son of al-Mustanšir, entitled al-Hafiž-li-dini-llah. He appointed
as his wazir one of the sons of al-Afdal; the latter had been
murdered by Assassins during the reign of Al-amir. This ruler
caused several of his wazirs to be killed, among them his own
son. He was succeeded by his other son Isma’11.

12. 544/1149. Ismafil son of al-Hafiž was entitled al-
Žafir-bi-a’ada-i-llah. Although he ruled but little over 4 years,
yet he changed his wazirs often, for he dared not trust them.
The last wazir, 'Abbas, was of the North Afričan Berber tribe
of Sankajah. He killed the king (Fatimite Caliph) in April
1153 or 1154, and set the king’s minor son Tsa on the throne.

13. 549/1154. Tsa, entitled al-Fa-iz - bi-našri-llah, was
five years old when the Berber wazir set him on the throne
of his fatliers. This child died when only eleven years old.
Since the days of No. 8 the Fatimite dynasty had been rapidly
declining in power.

14. 556/1160. ’Abd-ullah son of Yusuf son of al-Hafiž,
entitled al -’Adid - li - dtni - Mali, was set upon the throne of his
ancestors (forefathers) by the wazir Šalih. The latter gave him
one of his daughters to wife. The other women of the harim
were jealous and had him murdered. Some consider him the
last  of the Fatimites; others say he was succeeded for a very
short time by his son Al-adil, who would thus be the fifteenth
and last of this blood - thirsty and ill - fated line of S h i ’ i t e
rulers over Egypt.

149

15. Al-’adil.— Egypt, during the reigns of the two last-
named, had been divided into two parties, one led by Dargham
and tbe other by Shawir. Tbese two leaders and rivals fougbt
over tbe wazlrate. Shavvir sought tbe help of Nur-ud-  din
tbe Kurd, who was then master of Aleppo and Damascus.
Nuruddln sent an army to Egypt under the lead of Shlrquh;
and Dargham’s power was broken. But Shavvir became jealous
of Shlrquh and called in the help (interference) of Amauri,
the Crusader and Christian (European) king of Jerusalem.
Amauri marched into Egypt and drove Shirquh the Kurd out
of the land. Nuruddln of Aleppo and Damascus soon gathered
another army, and sent it under Shirquh and his own nephew
Šalahu-d-dln  al-Ayyubi. Shirquh did not succeed; king
Amauri hoped to establish his authority permanently over Egypt
and add it to his kingdom of Jerusalem. This was not what
Shavvir vvanted; so he appealed again to Nuruddln, who sent
him a third army under Šalah-ud-din. They drove Amauri
and the Europeans out of Egypt; but Shavvir was killed.
Shirquh became governor of Egypt as the representative of
Nuruddln. The latter was a Sun ni te Muslini and favored
the party of the ’Abbaside Caliphs, vvhom he wished to gain
as his friends. So he vvrote ordering (instructing) Shirquh to
restore the name  of the  ’Abbaside Caliph al-Mustadhi
in tbe Friday khutbah  throughout Egypt, and depose the
Fatimite Shi’ite Caliph, which was done. Thus ended the great
Fatimite Schism  which had existed in Egypt since 358/970.
(See above p. 144, under the reign of al-Mu’izz, the fourth
Fatimite.) Sliirquh being very old, lived but a short time to
enjoy his successes. On his death Šalah-ud-dln  al-Ayyubi,
the nephew of Nuruddln, became governor of Egypt.. He was
stili quite a young man. He is the founder of the Ayyubide
or Kurdish dynasty, which ruled over Egypt from 1171
to 1250.

The Fatimites ruled from 297/909 to 567/1171; from
297/909 to 362/972 they resided in North-Africa; and from
362/972 to 567/1171 they resided at New Cairo.

150

Summary. The Fatimids, like the Idrisids in the far West, were
or pretended to be desoendants of the Lady Fatimah the Prophefs daughter.
The Idrisids had prepared the way for them, and numerous d a ’ i s or mission-
aries had impregnated the Berbers with Shi’ite doetrine, until the task of the
new ‘prophet’ 'Ubayd Allah,  who took the title of al-Mahdi, and claimed
to be Caliph and Prince of the Faithful, became simple: in 297/909, the
second year of the Caliphate of the 'Abbasid al-Muqtadir, he suppressed
the effete remnant of the Aghlabids and soon made himself master of ali
North Africa, with the exception of the Idrisid kingdom of Morocco. The
Fatimid Capital was the city of al-Mahdiyah,  near Tunis.

Half a century later they added Egypt and Syria to their dominions.
Jawhar the Fatimid general, a Sieilian captive, conquered the former country
from the Ikhshidid boy-king in 969/356, and founded the fortified palače
al-Qahirah,  which developed into the city of Cairo. Southern Syria was
taken immediately after Egypt, and Aleppo was incorporated in 381/991 into
the Fatimid Empire, whieh now stretched from the Syrian Desert and the
Orontes River to the eastern borders of Morocco.

The removal of the seat of government and royal residence from
Qayrawan and al-Mahdiyah to Cairo, however, cost the Fatimids the loss of
their western provinces (see above, the Aghlabids); and the Norman s gained
Sicily in 1071, Malta in 1098, Tripoli in 1146, and al-Mahdiyah and Qay-
rawan in 1148: but the power of the Fatimid Caliphs in Egypt and Syria
long continued undiminished, and their wealth and Commerce spread through-
out the Mediterranean lands. Saladin supplanted the last Fatimid Caliph

in 567/1171.

A.H. a)  Rise, (Jrovvtli, Extension. A.D.

297 al-Mahdi Abu Muhammad ’Ubayd Allah ....  909

322 al-Qa-im Abu-1-Qasim Muhammad. 934

334 al-Manšur Abu Tahir Isma’il. 945

341 al-Mu’izz Abu Tamlm Ma’add (Egypt, Syria, &c.) . 952

365 al-’Aziz Abu Manšur Nizar . 975

386 al-Hakim Abu 'Ali Manšur. 996

b)  The Decline begins.

411 al-Žahir Abu-l-Hasan 'Ali. 1020

427 al-Mustanšir Abu Tamlm Ma’add. 1035

c)  Rapid Decline.

487 al-MustaTi Abu-1-Qasim Ahmad. 1094

495 al-amir Abu 'Ali al-Manšur. 1101

524 al-Hafiz Abu-1-Maymun 'Abd-ul-Majid ....  1130

544 al-Žafir Abu-1 -Manšur A Isma’il. 1149

549 al-Fa-iz Abu-1-Qasim 'Isa. 1154

d.)  .Silirqlili and Saladin come to Kirvju.

555 — 567 al-’adid Abu-Muhammad 'Abd Allah; al-’adil, his son 1160 —1171.

(They were overthrown by the Ayyubids.)

151

North Africa,

from tlie VUIth Century to the XIIIth.

The narrow strip of habitable land between the Great Afričan Desert
and the Mediterranean Sea was always the nursery of schismatics. The
superstitious and credulous Berbers offered a favorable soil for the germination
of ali varieties of heresy from the Orthodoz Muslim Faith. Any would-be
prophet who found himself “without honor in his own country” had only to
go to the Berbers of North Africa to be sure of a vvelcome and an enthu-
siastic following; whilst the distance from the center of the Eastern Caliphate
and the natural turbulence and warlike character of the population predis-
posed the 'Abbasids to ignore the disloyally of provinces whieh profited them
little and cost them ceaseless energy and expense to control. Hence the
success in the establishment of ’Alawi dynasties such as the Idrisids and the
Fatimids, and hence also the success of such strange developments out of
trne Islam as the Murawidin and the Muwahhidin, and in our own time
the widespread authority of the Sanusi.

North Africa had been subdued by the Arabs with difficulty between
the years 26 and 80/647 and 700, and had since been ruled with varying
success by the lieutenants of the Caliphs, both TJmayyad and 'Abbasid.
So long as Yazid b. Hatim, the popular and energetic govemor of Qayrawan
for the 'Abbasids, lived, the tendency of the Berbers to foster rebellion and
schism was held in check; but on his death in 170/787, in the first year of
Harun al-Kashid’s reign, North Africa became a prey to anarchy, which was
only suppressed by allowing the local dynasties, whicli then sprang up, to
exereise independent authority. After the year 800 the 'Abbasid Caliphs had
no influence wh ate ver west of the western frontier of Egypt.

The Idrisids  in Morocco ha ve been already noticed; so also the
A g h 1 a b i d s, at the close of al-Rashid’s reign. The Aghlabids were over-
thrown by the Fatimids,  wlio belong rather to the Egyptian dynasties,
and to whom a full chapter has been devoted. The F&timid empire, whieh
at one time included the whole North Afričan coast from Egypt to the At¬
lantic, together with Sicily and Sardinia, became Split up into various king-
doms as soon as their removal of their seat of govemment from al-Mahdiyah
to Cairo in 362/972 weakened their control of the more western provinces.

Their lieutenant over Africa, Yusuf Bulukkin,  chief of the San-
haja  Berbers, soon declared himself independent and founded the dynasty
of the Z a y r i d s, whilst another dynasty, the Hammadids,  established
themselves at Bujaya in Algeria and restricted the Zayrids’ authority to little
more than the province of Tunis. Further west, in Morocco, various tribes
of Berbers — tlie Miknasa, Maghrawa, &c. — acquired independence, and
occupied the site of the Idrisids’ kingdom, but hardly attained to the dignity
of dynasties. These were in turn subdued by the Murawidin,  who also

152

took a large part of the leni tor v of tlie Hammadids of Alg-eria; but it vvas
reserved for the Muwahhidin  to reign in the capitals of Hammad and
Zayri (Šanhaja and Bujaya).

302 — 543. The Zayrids,  8 in ali, ruled in Tunis, and were supplanted'
first by Roger of Sicily, and then by the Mmvahhidin.

398 — 547. The Hammadids,  9 in ali, ruled in Alg-eria, and were
supplanted by the Muvrahhidin.

A.H. A.D.

448 — 541. a)  The Muratvidin or Murabitin, in Morocco, 1056 —1147.

Part of Algeria, and Spain.

In the middle of the XIth century the successes of the Christians in
Spain, the energv of the Genoese and Pisans in reccvering for Christendom
the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, and the valor of the Normans in Southern
Italy, had thoroug-hly weakened the power of the Arabs in the Mediterranean.
The Fatimids of Egypt alone stili maintained the aneient prestige of the
Saracens. The Zayrids of Tunis were incapable even of repressing the frequent
revolts which disturbed their restricted dominions; and the rivalry between
Zayrids, Hammadids, and Fatimids prevented any c o 11 e c ti v e aetion against
the Franks. It was time for a Muhammedan revival; and among a people
so easily excited to religious exaltation as the Berhers, a revival was always
possible if a leader could be found. The leader or would-be prophet appeared
in the tribe of Lamtuna in the person of ’Abd Allah b. Tashfin.  This
man preached a holy war or jihad for the glory of Islam; and the Berbers
liastened to follow him. His adherents called themselves Murabitin,  which
literally means ‘pickets who have hobbled their horses on the enemy’s frontier’,
and hence ‘Protagonists for the Faith’. The Spaniards corrupted the pro-
nuneiation into Al - moravides, and the French word ‘marabout’, or devotee,
is a further perversion. The Murabits acknowledged the supremaey of the
'Abbasid Caliphs. The Berbers of the Lamtuna tribe under ’Abd Allah b.
Tashfin were joined by the great elan of the Masmuda; and, led by Abu
Bakr  and his seeond eousin Yusuf b. Tashfin,  they reduced Sijilmasa
and Aghmat by the year 460/1068, founded the city of Marrakush, and in
the course of the next 15 years spread over Faz, Miknasa, Sabta (Ceuta),
Tanja (Tangier), Salee, and the west coast of Morocco.

In 479/1086 Yusuf b. Tashfin, whose great qualities both as general
and as administrator had seeured the devotion of the Protagonists, was entreat-
ed hy the 'Abbadids of Sevilla in Spain to come over and help them against
the assaults of Alfonso VI of Častile and Sancho of Aragon and the invincible
valor of the Cid Campeador Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar. Yusuf utterly crushed
the Castilian army at the battle of Zallaka, or, as the Spaniards call it,
Sacralias, near Badajoz, October 23, 1086; but he did not follow up his
victory. Leaving 3000 Berbers to support the Andalusians he returned to

153

Africa. But in 483/1090 the ’Abbadid king of Sevilla again prajed him to
come and help him against the Christians; and this time Yusuf annexed
the whole of Moorish Spain, with the exception of Toledo, which remained
in the possession of the Christians, and of Zaragosa, where the Hudids were
suffered to subsist. The success of the Murawids, however, was fleeting:
their hardy warriors soon beeame enervated in soft Andalusia, and offered
no adequate resistance to the steady advance of the Christians. They made
no attempt to recover command of the Mediterranean, and were content to
leave the Hammadids and the Zayrids in possession of most of Algeria, Tunis,
and Tripoli. The Murawid dynasty had lasted less than a century when
the enthusiastie rush of the Mu w ah h i din swept over ali North Africa and
Southern Spain, and left no rival house standing.

448 — 541. In ali 6 of the Murabits, in Africa and Spain 1056 —1147.

A.H. A.D.

524 — 667. b)  The Muwahhidin, in Ali North Africa. 1130—1269.

The Muwalihids or Unitarians were so called because their doctrine
was a protest against the realistic anthropomorphism of orthodox Islam.
Their teacher Abu ’Abd Al la h Muhammad  b. Tu  m ar  t,  a Berber of
the Masmuda tribe, began to preach the doctrine of the Unity of God —
al-Tawhid — and took the symbolic title of al-Mahdi at the beginning of
the XIIth century. Dying in 522/1128 he left the command of the Unitarians
to his friend and general ’Abd-ul-Mu*min,  who formally accepted the chief
authority over the Masmuda Muwahhids in 1130. In 534/1140 ’Abd-ul-
Mumin  began a long career of conquest. He annihilated the army of the
Murabits in 1144, captured Oran, Tilimsan, Faz, Ceuta, Aghinat, and Salee
in two years, and by the successful siege of Morocco in 541/1146 put an
end to the Murawid dynasty. Meamvhile he had sent an anny into Spain
(1145), and in the course of five years reduced the whole Moorish part of
the Peninsula to his sway. Master of Morocco and Spain, he next carried
his conquests eastwards, and in 547/1152 abolished the Hammadid rule in
Algeria; in 553/1158 he drove the Norman successors of the Zayrids out of
Tunis, and by the annexation of Tripoli united the whole coast from the frontier
of Egypt to the Atlantic together with Moorish Spain under his scepter.
The Holy War with the Christians in Spain was the chief anxiety of his
successors, and the disastrous defeat at Las Navas in 632/1235 was the signal
for the expulsion of the Muwahhids from the Peninsula, which was then
divided between the ever-encroaching Christians and the local Muslim dynasties,
among whom the Naš r id s of Granada offered the most stubborn resistance
to the common enemy, and held out until the fall of their city in 1492/898
delivered the whole of Spain over to Ferdinand and Isabella. Ihe loss of
Spain was quickly followed by the undermining of the Muvvahhids’ power in
Africa. Tripoli had long before been annexed by Saladin, 1172. Their

154

lieutenants in Tunis, the Hafšids,  threw off their allegiance and founded an
independent dynast.y in 1228; whose example was followed by the Z iy a n id s
of Tilimsan in western Algeria, in 1235; while, amidst the confusion ereated
by raany pretenders to the throne of Moroeeo, the chiefs of the mountain
tribe of the Marini  ds  pushed their way to the front and put an end to
the Mmvahhid dynasty by the conquest of their Capital, Morocco, in 667/1269.
There were in ali 13 of this dynasty.

Tliey were superseded by the Marinids, the Ziyanids, and the Hafšids.

The Arabs in Andalusia.

1. The Umayyads; —2. Otlier Muslini Princes in Spain.

Andalusia (Vandalicia) is a region in Southern Spain,
between the Sierra Morena mountains and the Mediterranean
Sea, on both sides of the river called al-Wadi-al-kabir; it
formerly included the four Moorish (Arab) kingdoms of Cordova
(Qartabah), Sevilla (Ishbilia), Granada, and Jaen. Its surface
is much diverisfied by mountains, valleys, and plains. Area,
27,153 square miles. Climate, salubrious and lovely, but rather
hot. Products: Orange, vine, olives, and splendid horses.
People: a mixed race descended from the Phoenicians, Cartha-
genians, Romans, Goths, Vandals, and Arabs. It is called
Vandalicia, or Andalusia, because it was overrun and peopled
by the Vandals,  a wild Germanic tribe, who in the begin-
ning of the Vth century pressed westwards into Gaul (France)
and into Spain, and thence passed over into Africa. In the
Middle Ages it was the cradle of Muslim Arab learning, arts
and industry in the far West. —Chief cities: Sevilla or Ishbilia,
the Capital; Cordova or Qartabah; Cadiz, or Qadis, the ancient
Phoenician holy  city in Hispania; Granada; Jaen or Jayyan;
Malaqqah; the chief seaports are Cadiz and Gibraltar.

Conquest by the Arabs. Musa son of Nušayr was an
emir in the West, and the governor of Africa on the part of
the Caliph al-Walid, son of ’ Abdul- malik son of Marawan,
the sixth of the Umayyades of Damascus. Nušayr 7 s residence
was at Qayrawan (Cyrene). Count Julian, the governor of
the fortress of Ceuta, on the Afričan side of the Straits of

155

Gibraltar, hated Roderic, Prince of the Goths, who held his
Court at Toledo, soutb of Madrid and on tbe river Tagus.
The Count paid a visit to Musa son of Nužayr and offered to
show him the way to conquer Spain. Musa sent Tarif, and
Tariq son of Ziyad of the Layth tribe, with 500 men, in Count
Julian’s four ships, to make a raid upon the Southern coast of
Andalusia. This was in the year 92/710. About 10,000 North
Afričan Berbers joined them. The invading army was divided
into two corps, the one under Tariq  son of Ziyad, and the
other under Tarif  son of Malik of the Nakh’a tribe. The first
corps landed at Jabal-tariq; the second at Tarifa. They threw
up intrenchments and earth-works to serve them as a buhvark
of defence. Roderic king of the Goths came down against
them with his army, in 711. The opposing armies met in
Wadi Bakka, on the banks of a creek in the plain called
Sharish. The battle lasted off and on for a whole week.
The Spaniards were totally defeated. Tariq  at once sent
messengers to Musa, telling him of his great victory. Musa
started from Qayrawan (Cyrene) with a large force, which he
collected from the Arabs and vassal Berbers, and came to the
gulf of Zuqaq, between Tangiers and the “Green Island”. He
entered Andalusia and joined Tariq. Musa then completed
the conquest of Andalusia, penetrating and conquering as far
as Barcelona on the north-east, and Cadiz on the soutli-west.
By order of the Caliph al-Walid at Damascus, Musa retumed
to Qayrawan, after having appointed his own son ’Abd-ul -’Aziz
governor of Andalusia, and having chosen Cordova (Qartabah)
as the chief seat of the newly-conquered territory. It remained
a province  of the eastern Caliphs, ruled by Arab governors
in the name of the Umayyades of Damascus and of the 'Abbas-
ides of Mesopotamia, from 94/712 till 138/756; after which it
became the kingdom  of the Western Umayyade Caliphs.

The Umayyades and Other Princes in Spain. 1 liree
Periods:

I. From Ahdu-1-Rahman First to al-Hakam Second;
the Founding of the Umayyade Dynasty in Spain, and their Glory.

156

II. From Hisham Second to Hisham Third; the Decline
of the Umayyades in Spain.

The Illrd Period is the History of Granada, or that part
of Spain which remained under Muslim Rule from and after
the Overthrow of the Umayyades till the fall of Granada in
1492 and the final  Expulsion of the Muslims from the Pen-
insula in 1610.

The Founding of the Western Umayyade Caliphate. —

After the overthrow of the Umayyades in Syria, at Damascus,
the supremacy over the Arah Empire passed into the hands of
the Hashimite House of 'Abbas, the flrst of whom was Abul-
'abbas al-saffah, 132/749. He and his successors after him
sought to extirpate (root out) the Umayyades. One of these,
’Ab d ul -Rahman,  aftervvards surnamed al-Dakhil,  son of
Mu’awiyah son' of Hisham son of 'Abdul - Malik, liid himself,
eluded the vigilance and vindictiveness of the 'Abassides, fled
to Egypt, thence to Barqah in North Africa, and thence to
a small town in the West, called Tahir, where he took refuge
with some relations of one of his maternal uncles living among
the Berbers of Tripoli. But 'Abdul-Rahman son of Habib of
the Fihr tribe, who was then ruler of tlie West, and who had
declared his allegiance to the House of 'Abbas, sought to arrest
the fugitive. Hereupon the Umayyade 'Abdu -1 - Rahman fled
to some peoplc of the inhabitants of Maquinez, and sent thence
his faithful servant and companion Badr to Andalusia, to the
partisans and followers of the Marawanite House. They received
Badr joyfully, and began to proclaim 'Abdu -1 - Rahman as the
rightful Lord and Caliph. The Arabs of Andalusia were at
that time divided into two rival parties, the Yamanites and
the Mudarites, the same as the Arabs in Syria. The Yamanites,
who had always been favored by the Umayyade Caliphs of
Damascus more than the Mudarites, delared themselves ready
to take the side of Badr and his fugitive master. Badr returned
to Africa and told him of the state of feeling among the Ya-
manites of Andalusia. At once 'Abdu-1-Rahman crossed over
into Spain in 137/755 or 756, during the Caliphate of Abu-

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Ja’afar al-Manšur. A largo number of Arabs at Sevilla re-
cognised him as the rightful Successor; thcir example was
followed by the Arabs of Cordova, Osuna and other places.
This news soon reached Yusuf, son of ’Abdu-l-Rahman of the
Fihr tribe, who was at that time the governor general of
Andalusia.

He attacked the young pretender, but was defcated;
and ’Abdu-l-Rahman-al-dakhil took possession of the palače,
al-Qašr, at Cordova. Next year he was recognised as Caliph
by the people of Malaqqah, Xeres, and many other towns.
Yusuf for a long time held out against the new Caliph, but
was at last killed in 141/758; and the authorithy of the
Umayyade was fully established over ali the Muslini portion
of Spain. The khutbah for the 'Abbasides was stopped, and
the Umayyade C a lip h ate took a fresh start  at the
other extreme end of the lovely Mediterranean Sea, where it
lasted from 138/756 to 422/1031. ’Abdu-l-Rahman was called
“ a 1 - a m i r ”; and so also were called his successors down to
the eighth, i. e., ’Abdu-l-Rahnmn-al-našir, who assumed the tuller
title of “emiru-l-mumimn”, or Commander of the Believers.

A.H.

138 — 422.

The Umayyads of Cordova.

a)  Founding of Power, and Gloi'y.

’Abd-ul-Rahman I al-dakhil . . . .

Hisham I..

al-Hakam 1 ...

’Abd-ul-Rahinan II.

Muhammad I.

al-Mundhir.

’Abd Allah.

’Abd - ul - Rahman III (al-khalifah

Našir) .

al-Hakam II al-Mustanšir (free schools)

b)  Beginning of Decline.

Hisham II al-Mu-ayyad . . . . .

Muhammad II al-Mahdi.

Sulayman al-Musta’in.

Muhammad II al-Mahdi (restoredj .

al-

A.I).

756-1031.

756

788

796

822

852

886

888

912

961

976

1009

1009

1010

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A.H. c)  Rise of the Party Kings. A.D.

(10 bis) 400 Hiškam II al-Mu-ayyad (restored)  . . . 1010

(12 bis) 403 Sulayman al-Musta’in (restored)  . . . 1013

d)  The Idrisids come over from West Afriea.

(Idr.) 407 'Ali b. Hammud of the Hammudids of Malaga 1016

(13) 408 'Abd-ul-Rahman IV al-Murtadi. 1018

(Idr.) 408 Qasim b. Hammud. 1018

(Idr.) 412 Yahya b. 'Ali. 1021

(Idr.) 413 Qasim b. Hammud (again) . 1022

(14) 414 'Abd-ul-Rahman V al-Mustažhir ....  1023

(15) 414 Muhammad III al-Mustakfi. 1024

(Idr.) 416 Yahya b. 'Ali (again) . 1025

(16) 418--422 Hiškam III al-Mu’tadd. 1027 — 1031.

(They were supplanted by the Minor Dynasties.)

1. When 'Abdul-Rahman-al-dakhil received from the
Believers the hand-grip of fealty at Cordova, he made that city
the seat of his kingdom, and erected in it a palače and a house
of prayer, on both of which he expended, it is said, 80,000 dinars
of gold. He died, before their completion, in 171/787.

2. Hisham, his son, succeeded him. But his right to the
succession was disputed by his elder brother Suleyman at Toledo,
and by his younger brother 'Abdullah. He, however, put down
their revolt. Other revolts against his authority were headed
by Sa’id son of Husayn - al - anšari at Tortosa, and by Matruh
son of Suleyman son of Yaqžan at Barcelona. He reduced
them to submission. On his death, in 180/796, he was succeeded
by his son al-Hakam.

3. Al-Hakam I gave himself up to worldly lusts and pleas-
ures, and was deposed by his people, who set up in his stead
Muhammad son of al-Q,asim, the latter being one of Hishanfis
paternal uncles. Hereupon al-Hakam reformed his ways and
was again reinstated as the emir of the Moorish Arabs. He
organised the Arab army in Andalusia, and held a magnificent
royal court. On his death, in 206/821 or 822, he was succeeded
by his son ’Abdu-l-Rahman Second.

4. 'Abdu-l-Rahinan-al-aušat, or the Second, was learned
in philosophy and in the Law. He amassed great wealth, built
fine palaces, and erected many mosques. In his reign Dharyab,

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the famous singer, the pupil of Ibrahim of MuSul, came to
Spain and taught the art of singing and mušic to the Anda-
lusian Arabs. — This king died in 238/852, and was succeeded
by his son Muhammad.

5. Muhammad I, from 238/852 — 273/886, was succeeded
by his son al-Mundhir.

6. Al-Mundhir, from 273/886 — 275/888, was succeeded
by his brother 'Abdullah.

7. 'Ahdullali. In his day there occurred severa! rebellions
against his authority, headed respeetivelv by Ibn - Mardan in
Batliyus (?); by Ibn-Takit in Maridah; by Lubb son of
Muhammad at Saragossa and Toledo; by Mutrif son of Musa
the Hawwari at Shant-Mari; by the Christian chief Ibn-Hafšun
at Bobastro and Malaqqali in Elvira; and by the rebels at
Sevilla. 'Abdullah died in 300/912 and was succeeded by his
grandson ’Abdu-l-Rahman.

8.  ’Ahdu - 1-Rahman Third, son of Muhammad, assumed
the title of Emir-al-Mu’minin,  and was called also al-
Našir-li-dini -llah. He carried on wars against the Christian
chiefs of northern Spain. His reign, which lasted over 50 years,
of which twenty were a time of peace, is the period in which
the Arab kingdom in Spain reaehed its greatest glory. Cordova
was the seat of Science and art, and rivalled the city ot Bagdad.
His forefathers had set up splendid buildings; he brought
architects from Constantinople and Bagdad, and built others
stili more magnificent. The aqueducts which brought the water
to his palače are considered by the historian al-Maqqari as one
of the greatest triumphs of architecture. He founded a city which
he called al-Zahra and made it his residence. This city was
built for his favorite concubine al-Zahra, and lay about 5 miles
north of Cordova. In his day the revenues of the kingdom
reaehed the enormous sum of six million dinars of gold. Agri-
culture, commerce, and industry flourished as never before or
after. Andalusia counted 80 large and flourishing cities,
300 smaller towns, and 12,000 villages and hamlets. This great
Caliph died in 350/961, and was succeeded by his son al-Hakam.

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9. Al-Hakam Second was entitled al - Mustanšir. He was
fond of books. Tliš agents at Cairo, Damascus and Bagdad
collected manuscripts for him. The famous library  of this
študent - king numbered four hundred thousand books. He
founded free schools  for the poor, so that in his day hardly
a Muslini Arab was to be found in his realni who could not
at least read and write. The great University at Cordova
became one of the most renowned in the Middle Ages.

Fortunate wars against the Christians of Northern Spain
and a naval victory near Tangiers over the ships of Buluggin
son of Žiri the governor of North Africa on the part of the
Fatimjtes, mark this reign as one great in war as well as in
Science.

A few months before his deatli, 366/976, he gathered
the great men of his Court and kingdom, and got tliem to
recognise as his rightful successor his m in or son, Hisham
Second, then only eleven years old. Al-Hakam was so popular
and beloved that they acceded to his wish, although till then
no minor prince had ascended the throne of Cordova, and
although the Arabs foresaw and feared that the youthful Hišk¬
ami mother Subh, a woman of great influence at Court, would
end by getting the power into her hands. — After al-Hakam,
the Umayyade power in Andalusia began to decline.

10. Hisham Second, the minor, assumed the title of
al-mu-ayyad.  The palače eunuchs sought to kili him but
did not succeed. His wazir al-Manšur son of Abu-’amir gained
great influence over the young monarch, and at last got ali
the power into his hands. This wazir was entitled ‘al-hajib’;
when he died, in 374/984, his son al-Mužfir succeeded to the
higli office of ‘hajib’; and afterwards his other son ’Abdu-l-
Rahman, the brother of al-Mužfir, succeeded to it under the
title of al - Našir; he acquired such ascendancy over the king
al-Mu-ayyad that he forced him to designate him as his successor,
to give him a written decree to this effect, and to give him
the grasp of his right hand in solemn confirmation of this
decree. The other members of the Umayyade royal family

161

and ali tliose who were descended from the tribe of Quraysh,
were greatly dissatisfied with the ambitious designs of this
wazir, who aimed at the throne itself. So they agreed to take
away the direction of the affairs of State from the Mudarite
party and confide it to the other rival party, namely to the
Yamanites. They availed themselves of the absence of the wazir
al-Našir, on the frontiers, to rebel openly, in 399/1008.

11. They deposed al-Mu-ayyad, and proclaimed M u h a m m a d
son of Hisham son of ’Abdu-l-Jabbar son of ’Abdu-l-Rahman I,
the Great Conqueror, as the rightful king and Caliph, and gave
him the title of al-Mahdi. They induced him to kili the wazir
al-Našir, and thus ended the supremacy of the Banu ’amir.
But the Berbers rebelled against the newly-proclaimed al-Mahdi,
and he had to flee.

12. They then proclaimed S ul ay m &  n son of al-Hakam
son of al-Našir, and he assumed the title of al-Musta’in,
in the year 400/1009.

But Muhammad al-Mahdi, who had fled, gathered an army
with the help of Alphonso Fifth of Castille, the Christian prince,
and regained his lost kingdom (401/1010). After fighting for
some time against the Berbers, Muhammad al - Mahdi was
defeated and killed, and Hisham Second al-Mu-ayyad was re-
instated in 403/1012. Bebellions and wars did not cease.
The Berbers attacked Hisham al-Mu-ayyad; and al-Musta’in
Suleyman re-entered the country with the Berbers of Africa,
who overran ali the provinces of Andalusia. About this time
the youthful prince of the ’a m i r party wrote letters to ali the
people calling upon them to rise against Sulayman al-Musta’in.
They agreed, and sent letters to ’Ali son of Hammud son of
Abu -1 -’aysh of the powcrful Idrisite rulers in western Africa,
asking him to cross over and help them. He went across in
405/1014 and took possession ofCordova in 406/1015. Sulayman
al-Musta’in, his brother, and his father were ali three killed.

The Umayyade dynasty was overthrown, and the suprem-
acy over the Muslims of Andalusia passed into the hands of
the Idrisides,  who were ’Alawiyyin. Soon after these great

n

162

changes, Khayran  the ’Alawi revolted against 'Ali son of
Hammud tbe Idrisite, and began to search for some member of
the ancient House of Umayyah. He succeeded in finding one,
namely 'Abdu-l-Rahman son of Muhammad son of ’Abdu-l-Malik
son of 'Abdu-l  -Rahman I the Great Conqueror, who liad fled
from Cordova in disguise.

13. ’Abdu-l-Rahman IV was proclaimed as the rightful
ruler, and assumed the title of al-Murtadi.  Most of the Muslims
of Andalusia recognised him, in 408/1017. But al-Murtadi soon
forgot the great Services that Khayran the ’Alawi had rendered
him, and attacked the people of Grenada and their prince, who
was a descendant of the Banu Žiri that ruled at Sunhajah as
the viceroys of the Fatimites, after the latter had removed
from Mahdiyyah to Cairo. Al-Murtadi was defeated and killed;
his brother Hisham fled. Afterwards al-Našir 'Ali son of
Hammud son of Abu-l-’aysh was killed, and was succeeded by
his brother al-Qasim. Al-Qasim al-Ma-mun went to Sevilla, and
Yahya al-Mu’atali remained at Cordova.

14. The Umayyade dynasty was re-instated; the people
chose'Abdu-l-Rahman  V son of Hisham son of 'Abdu-l-Jabbar,
the brother of al-Mahdi  who had been recently defeated and
killed, and swore allegiance to him in 414/1023. He assumed
the title of al-Mustažliir. (Cf. No. 11.)

15. Muhammad III al-Mustakfi-bi-llah ruled from 414 to
416 = 1024 — 1025.

16. In 418/1027 they swore fealty to Hisham the Third
al-Mu’atadd, who ruled till 422/1031. He was the last  of
the Umayyades in Andalusia, who were 16 in ali.

2 .  After him the more prominent Muslini rulers

. „ of Andalusia at Cordova were:

A.D.

1031 Jaw4hir.

1044 Muhammad Third.

1060 Muhammad Fourth.

1069 Muhammad Fifth (Siege of Toledo in 1082).

1094 Yusuf First.

1107 'Ali.

163

A.D.

1144 Tashifin.

1147 'Abdu-1-Mun'im.

1163 Yusuf Secoud.

1178 Ya’qub First.

1199 Muhammad Sixth.

1213 Ya’qub Second.

1213 Abu-Ya’qub.

1223 Abu-Malik.

1225 Al-Ma’nun (died in Morocco).

1225 Abu 'Ali. (lordova was surprised by Ferdinand of Leon and
Castille and taken.—The Caliphate of Cordova  fell in the year 1236.
The Moors or Arabs of Spain then established a Kingdom at Grenada
in the South.

3. The Nasrid Sultans of Grenada in the south were:

A.D.

1232 Muhammad I (he encouraged literature).

1273 Muhammad II.

1302 Muhammad III.

1309 Al-Našir.

1313 Isma’il I.

1325 Muhammad IV.

1333 Yusuf I.

1354 Muhammad V.

1359 Isma’il II.

1360 Abu-Sa’ld.

1391 Yusuf II.

1396 Muhammad VI.

1408 Yusuf III.

1423 Muhammad VII.

1427 Muhammad VIII.

1429 Muhammad VII restored.

1432 Yusuf IV.

1432 Muhammad VII again restored.

1445 Muhammad IX.

1454 Muhammad X.

1463 'Ali.

1483 Abu-’Abdullah.

1484 ’Abdullah al-Zaggal. The Fali of Granada. The Christian
Monarchj in Spain was Consolidated. In the year 1492 Ferdinand and Isa-
bella entered Grenada, and the Muslini rule in Spain ceased, in 897 after
the Flight. (Hughes, Diet. of Islam, sub verb. Khalifah.)

11 *

164

Minor Spanish Dynasties, or Petty Kings, called Muluk-ul-Tawa-if:

A.D.

1016 — 1057
1039 — 1058
1023—1091
1012—1090
1031 — 1068
1035 — 1085
1021 — 1085
1019-1141

1017 — 1075

Sunimary: Spain from the VHIth to the XVth century. Andalusia
was conqnered by the Muslims in 91 — 93/710—712, and was ruled, like
the other provinces of the Arab Empire, by a series of governors appointed
by the Umayyad Caliphs in Damascus, until 138/756. Among the few
members of the ancient Umayyad family who had escaped the general massacre
which signalized the accession of the ’Abbasids was the youthful ’Abd-ul-
Rahman,  a grandson of Hisham, the lOth Umayyad Caliph. After some
years of wandering, to escape the clutches of the ’Abbasid Party, he took
advantage of the disordered state of Andalusia, which was divided by the
jealousies of the Berbers and the rivalries between the Mudarite and Yamanite
factions of the Arab tribes, to offer himself as king.

He met with an encouraging answer, and landed in Andalusia at the
close of 755/137. In the following year, 138, he received the homage of
most of Musliin Spain, and successfully repelled an invasion of ’Abbasid troops.

His successors maintained themselves on the throne of Cordova with
varying success against the encroachments of the Christians of the north, and
the insurrections of the many factions among their own subjects, for two
centuries and a half. They contented themselves with the titles of a mir and
sultan,  until ’Abd-ul-Rahman III, the eighth, adopted that of khalifah
in 317/929. He was the greatest of the line, and not only exercised absolute
sway over his subjects and kept the Christian kings of Leon, Častile and
Navarra in check, but warded off the chief danger to Moorish Spain —
invasion from Africa — and maintained his authority on the Mediterranean
by powerful fleets.

After his death, no great Ummayyad carried on his work; but the
famous minister and general, al-Manšur,  preserved for a time the unity
of the kingdom. After this, at the beginning of the XIth century, Moorish
Spain became a prey to factions and adventurers, and a number of petty
dynasties arose, who are knovvn as the Party Kings, or Muluk-ul-Tawa-if.

Most of these were absorbed by the most distinguislied of their number,
the cultured House of the ’Abbadids  of Sevilla, who were the leaders of

165

the Spanish Moors against the encroaehments of the Chrjstians, until they
were forced to summon the Al-murawidin  to their aid, and diseovered
that they had invited a master instead of an ally.

In 1086/481 the Al -murawidin or al-Murabitin  ofMorocco and
Algiers came to Spain, summoned by the ’Abbadids of Sevilla, to help them
against Alfonso of Leon. In 1090/483 they came again, and this time they
conquered ali Moorish Spain, and made it a province of their Afričan Em-
pire (see above, the Section on ‘North Africa’).

Their successors in Africa, the al-M u wah h idin,  similarly annexed
the Spanish province in 1145 —1150 (see p. 153). A few petty dynasties
sprang up at Valencia and Murcia between these two invasions, and during
the decline of the power of the Muwahhidin; but the only important line
was that of the Našrids or BanuNašr  of Granada, whose cultivated
Court and beautiful palače, called al-Hamra, for a time revived the splendor
and distinction of Moorish Spain as it had been in the days of the great
Calipli ’Abd-ul-Rahman III. Their long struggle against the advancing
Christians, however, ended in the fall of Granada before the assaults of
Ferdinand and Isabella of Častile in 897/1492; and with the flight of Abu
’Abdallah Muhammad XI (Boabdil), the last remnant of Muslim rule vanished
from the Peninsula.

In the East, the supremacy of the conquering Arab race had begun
to decline when the 8th ’Abbasid formed the main body of his troops out of
foreign slaves; it was greatly weakened by the Persian Buyids and Turkish
Saljuqs; and it was wholly stifled there when Hulagu the Mongol took
Bagdad in 1257.

In Egypt, Arab supremacy began to decline when the 8th Fatimid
formed his army mostly of Turkish mercenaries; and Arab rule over this
region ceased when the Kurdish conquerors supplanted the last Fatimid in 1170.

Closing Remark. The poet says:

Three things bear mighty sway wilh men :

The sword, the scepter, and the pen.

The sword was wrested out of the hands of the Arabs by the Buyids
and Saljuqs. The scepter was wrenched from them by the Kurd Nuruddin
and by the Mongol Hulagu. The pen alone has remained — but not in ali
the countries which the Arabs had conquered. At the two extreme ends
Spain and Persia — the original Aryan tongues never gave plače, among the
masses, to the Arabic form of human speech. In Mesopotamia and Syria,
however, as well as in Egypt and North Africa, the old more or less cognate
languages of the subdued races had been slowly transformed, by an easy
transition, into their sister-tongue, the Arabic, which has continued to this
day to be the prevalent language throughout these countries. Ihe pen of
the Arabs thus stili holds mighty svvay over the minds of men from the
Euphrates to the Straits of Gibraltar.

AppencLix:

Egypt since the Downfall of Arab Supremacy.

Kurdish Dynasty of Ayyubid Sultans.

1. Šalaliu-l-dtn ibn Yusuf.  567/1171

2. Al-Maliku-l-’aziz ibn Yusuf. 589/1193

3. Al-Maliku-l-manšur ibnu-l-’aziz. 595/1198

*4. Al-Maliku-l-’adil I ibn Ayyub. 596/1200

*5. Al-Maliku-l-Kamil ibnu-l-’adil.615/1218

*6. Al-Maliku-l-’adil II ibnu-l-Kamil. 635/1238

*7. Al-Maliku-l-Šalih ibnu-l-Kamil. 637/1240

*8. Al-Maliku-l-mu’ažžam ibnu-l-Šalih. 647/1249

Prom 567/1171 to 648/1260, eighty years.

9. Some add al-Ashraf Musa, see p. 182 . 648 — 650/1250 —1252

* These Sultans ruled also at Damascus.

1. 567/1171 to 589/1193. Šalahii-l-din Yusuf. The 14th

and 15th rulers of the Fatimite dynasty in Egypt were re-
spectively Al-’adid and Al-’adil. Enough has been said above
about the manner in which Salahu-l-din acquired the power in
Egypt (see the close of the chapter on the Fatimites). When
the last ruler of that schismatic dynasty died, Salahu-l-din took
possession of the royal palače in Cairo, and then caused ali
the remaining members of the Fatimite family, about 9 in
number, to be arrested. He appropriated (confiscated) ali their
treasures; among other valuables that were found was a splendid
library containing nearly one hundred thousand volumes of
the best Arabic manuscripts.

The Bagdad Caliph was so pleased to learn of the down-
fall of the Fatimites and the resumption of his name in the
Friday prayer that he sent to Ata-bek Nuru-l-din, Saladdin’s

167

uncle and prince of Damascus and Aleppo, two swords,  and
confirmed hira as prince of Syria and Egypt. He also sent
gifts to Saladdin, and among other things the Black Clotli
of the 'Abbasides, to be laid over the pulpit. Tbus Cairo ceascd
to be a Capital city and became the cliief city of a province.

Nuruddin found himself the acknowledged ruler over
nearly the whole of Syria and Palestine, over part of Arabia,
part of Asia Minor, and part of Northern Mesopotamia, to which
he further added Egypt. But liis nephew Saladdin seems from
the outset to bave meditated (aimed at) making himself
independent ruler of the Nile Yalley; for he actively carried
on the organisation of the civil and military hranches of the
country under his administration. Nuruddin, suspecting Salad-
din’s ambition, sent for him to meet him at Karak, southeast
of the Dead Sea, with some troops, as hc needed his help
against the Christian Crusaders, vrhom he intended to attack.
Saladdin sent word promising to go, but did not do so, pre-
tending that the State of Egypt would not a!low of his absence.
Nuruddin then vvrote to his nephevv Saladdin threatening to
remove him from his position of governor over Egypt. Saladdin
consulted his father and other relatives and the chiefs of his
army. They agreed that if Nuruddin should come down to
Egypt to carry out his threat, they would fight him. But
Nadjm-ul-din, the father of Saladdin, alone disapproved ot this
course, and said that Nuruddin was their lord, whom t,hey
ought and would ali obey if he should come. Then Ayyub,
Saladdin’s uncle, counselled him to write to Nuruddin protest-
ing that he was his obedient and loval servant. Saladdin then
vvrote a letter, vvhich vvas dictated by his father. On receiving
it, Nuruddin vvas satisfied and appeased, gave up marching
upon Egypt, and turned his attention to his vvars against the
Christian lcingdom of Jerusalem. It is said that about tliis
time Nuruddin introduced the employment of carrief - pigeons,
to bring him letters from the distant parts of his vast kingdom.

The Crusaders vvere at that time strong in Palestine and
Syria, especially on the sea-coast, and had only t\vo povverlul

168

adversaries, to wit, Nuruddin tlie Ata-bek of Damascus and
Aleppo, and Lis nephew Saladdin in Eg'ypt. Saladdin’s am-
bition was to be a great conqueror, and to be independent of
Lis uncle. Whcnever the latter was called away by wars in
Mesopotamia, Saladdin would attack Palestine; and on Nurud-
din’s return to Syria, he would withdraw to Egypt. Tliese
two near relatives, botli of them ambitious, able and courageous
warriors, were consequently at enmity.

Nuruddin was preparing to invade Egypt, when the mighty
King of Terrors, whom no creature can withstand, summoned
him from Time to Eternity. He died of inflammation of the
throat on the 8th day of Ramadan 569 Fl., at Damascus, in
the 60th year of his age, after having ruled 29 years, beloved
and lamented alike by Muslims and Christians.

He left his kingdom, which extended from Yaman in
Arabia to Diar-Bakr in Upper Mesopotamia, to his minor son
IsmaM-al-Maliku-l-Salih, then only eleven years old. Shamsu-1-
din-Muhammad son of al-Muqdim was made regent during
IsmaiFs minority. The Christian king of Jerusalem made
an unsuccessful attack upon Damascus. The governors of the
different provinces dependent upon the kingdom left by Nuruddin
sought to make themselves independent. Saladdin, however,
wrote to them ali, telling them that it was their duty to obey
Nuruddin’s son and successor, and sent coins that he had caused
to be štručk in Egypt with the superscription of the youtkful
Sultan Ismahl. Saladdin further said in those letters that he
would betake himself in person to Damascus, to pay homage
to the successor of the great monarch to whom he owed his
own greatness, and would punish any disobedient subjects.

Saladdin did in fact soon after come to Damascus, and
drove away Sayfu-l-dm al-Ghazi, Nuruddin’s nephew, who had
usurped the power. He re-instated Ismahl al-Sfilih. But when
he retook those places that had become semi-independent (such
as Himš, Hamah, Barin, Salamiyyah, Ba’albak and Raha), he
did not restore them to al-Salih, but annexed them to his own
dominions. — Al - Šalih appealed, for help against Saladdin, to

169

his paternal cousin Sayfu-l-din al-Ghazi, governor of Mušul
(whom Saladdin kad expelled from Damaseus). Sayf brouglit
an army to reinforce al-Šalik. The two forces met, and attacked
Saladdin on tke 19th of Ramadan 570 Fl. near Hamali on tke
river Orontes. He defeated tke United armies, captured ali
they kad, took tke city and fortress of Aleppo, stopped the
mention of al-Salih’s name in the Friday khutbah, and sub-
stituted his own name.

Hereupon ke openly proclaimed himself sultan (not Calipk)
of Egypt and Syria. Tkus tke Crusaders became kis direct,
immediate, and neigkboring enemies. Wkile ke was engaged
in tke region of Aleppo, tkey attacked and devastated tke towns
of western Syria, for Turan Skak, Saladdin’s brother, was
unable to repulse tkem. Saladdin tken sent to Egypt and
brouglit up an army which put a stop to the incursions of
tke Crusaders. He tken concluded peace with Sayfu-l-dm al-
Ghazi and witk al-Salih, on tke condition that he should retain
full and undisputed possession of ali the places ke kad taken.
He then appointed kis brother Turan Shali  as the successor-
elect over Damaseus, and returned to Egypt on tke 20th of
Muharram 572.

During kis absence from Egypt he kad left it in charge
of kis wazir the emir Baba-ul-din, a Persian eunuck. Tkis
emir repaired the Nile embankments, tkat kad been left to go
to ruin during tke latter part of the Fatimi te supremacy; for
whick purpose ke made use of stones taken from tke smaller
pyramids that tken stood around tke great pyramids of Gizah.
He also laid a good and raised road along tke bank of the
Nile, so as to facilitate communication betrveen tke Capital and
Upper and Lower Egypt in the season of the high Nile.

Tke only two palaces of importance that Saladdin kad
at that time in Cairo were edifices from the days of the Ffiti-
mite rulers. He turned tkem into quarters for tke officers and
officials of tke army and government, and built on the northern-
most bluff of Mount Muqattam, overlooking the city, a strong
and extensive fortress tkat commanded the Capital, should tke

170

inhabitants dare to rise. In this fortress lie built liimself
a palače, to serve as his residence and royal Court; it stood on
the site of an older building, dating from the days of the Tulunides,
and known by tbe name of the “airy palače”. Most of the stones
used for this fortress were brought from the ruins of ancient
Memphis and from the pyramids. While the fortress or citadel
was building, Baha-ul-dm came across the remains of a very
deep and ancient Egvptian well, quite filled up with earth and
rubbish, cut in the solid rock, and having a spiral gently-sloping
staircase running round the main shaft, which is in two parts,
the upper part of the shaft being 160 feet deep, and the lower,
which is not directly under the upper, being 130 feet deep.
This is the well-known bir-Yusuf  in the Citadel.

Great granaries were built at Fuštat which are to this
day called makhazin-Yusuf. Saladdin had begun as early as
the year 566 to surround Cairo with a strong wall. His ivazir
the eunuch intended to carry it ali around, so as to take in
Cairo, Fuštat and the Qašr-ul-Sham’a. But finding the area
too vast, Saladdin carried it around Cairo and the Citadel only.
The wall had been first built by Jawhar the successful general
of the Fatimite al-Mu’izz. The second time it was built by
Amir-ul-juyush, and the third time by Baha-ul-dm at Saladdin’s
command. Its total length was 29,302 hashimite ells or cubits.

In 573 Fl., the Crusaders again began hostilities. In a
battle near Ramleh between Saladdin and them, they were the
gainers. In 576 his brother Turan Shali died at Alexandria,
and his sister had the body removed to Damascus and buried tliere.

Upon the death of al-Salih of Damascus, he was succeeded
by Tzzu-l-dm king ofMušul, who sought to violate the treaty
that had been concluded by the deceased al-Salih with Saladdin.
So the latter again invaded Syria in 578 Fl. He besieged
Aleppo  and retook it, and then conquered, one after the other,
the following places in Upper Mesopotamia: Raha, Raqqah,
Nišibin, Saruj, Khabur, Sinjar, and Harran. He then encamped
before Mušul, which plače surrendered to him in 581 Fl., and
his name was mentioned thereafter at Mušul in the Friday khutbah.

171 —

In Rabi’a Second of the year 583 began the famous
and decisive battle of Qarn Hittin,  1 1 / 2  hours west
of the Lake of Tiberias (632 feet lower  than the Mediterranean
Sea surface). It began on a Friday. The Crusaders’ army was
encamped on Marj Saffuriyyah not far from ’Akka. Saladdin
first took the town, but not the castle  of Tiberias. The
European army thereupon marched to relieve the castle and
its defenders. Saladdin marched against the enemy. They
met and fought on Thursday the 22nd of Rabi’a Second.
The Crusaders were signally defeated, but some of them held
the village and hill or rock of Hittin until they were reduced
by thirst. Among the captives taken by Saladdin were Veit
(or Guy) of Luši gnan, king of Jerusalem, and other European
princes and knights. He then took Tiberias Castle and the
fortified city of 'Akka. His army then divided into several
divisions and took Nablus, Haifah, Caesarea, Saffuriyyah and
Nazareth. Saladdin himself besieged and took the castle of
Tibnin, and the fortified towns of Sidon, Beirut and Jubayl.
He then turned southwards and took Askalon and Gaza. Having
thus subdued ali the important strongholds and seaports of
the Crusaders, he attacked Jerusalem, the city of the Great
King.

The Crusaders in Jerusalem surrendered to Saladdin on
the 3d or 4th of July 1187 = 27 Rajab 583 (laylatu-l-mi’araj).
The poets of the Muslims sang the praises of Saladdin: ‘Hadlia-
lladhi kanati-l-ayyamu tantažiru — Fa-l-yufi li-llahi aqwamun
ma nadharu.’ According to the conditions of the treaty of
surrender, the European Christians were to pay a ransom for
their lives as follows: For each adult male, 20 dinars

(1 dinar = 10 dirhams of silver); for each adult female,
5 dinars; for each male or female child, 1 dinar. Those who
failed to furnish the ransom were enslaved.

Tyre  stili held out. Saladdin besieged this ancient city
by land, and had his fleet come up from Egvpt to blockade
it by sea. The Tyrian fleet attacked and greatly damagcd
the fleet of the Muslims, which greatly disappointed Saladdin.

172

But as winter had set in, he raised the sicge and put his troops
into winter quarters at ’Akka.

In 584 he took the fortress of Kaukab, the city of Tarsus
in Cilicia of Asia Minor, Latakia of Svria, Šihyaun, Bikas on
the Orontes, and the castle of Barzanah. — Antioch then sur-
rendered; then Karak; then Safad; then the castle of Shaqif
on the river Litany southeast of Sidon; then Shaubak.

In Rajab 585 the Crusaders received reinforcements from
Europe and retook ’Akka. They were going to retake As-
kalon  but Saladdin went and destroyed it. They made over-
tures of peace on the condition that they were to keep the
seacoast. Saladdin accepted; and on the 22nd of Sha’ban 588
peace was concluded between the chief of the Crusaders and
Saladdin. Ali the inhabitants of Syria and Palestine, both
Muslims and Christians, rejoiced at this cessation of warfare
and bloodshed. Saladdin went to Jerusalem and thence to
Oamascus, where he gathered his children and other relatives,
to enjoy rest and quiet. But this great warrior-king, who had
escaped unhurt in so many sieges and battles, was not per-
mitted to withstand the call of Death.  He contracted a fever
on the 15tli of Safar 589 and died on the 27th, at the age
of 57 years, after having ruled 24 years over Egypt, and
19 of these over Syria also.

One of Saladdin ; s relations was a Qur-an reciter named
’Izzu-l-din Musk. He built a bridge over the great canal or
khalij  which flows through Cairo, and called it the Muski-
bridge. In course of time ali the neighboring part was known
as the Muski. Then when Saladdin concluded peace vvith the
Italian Republic of Piša in 569/1173, he permitted European
merchants to open funduqs  in Alexandria and Cairo. In
the latter city they were allowed to have their funduqs in
the vicinity of the Muski - bridge outside of the city walls.
Tbis is the origin of the well known Muski Street in Cairo.

Saladdin left 17 sons, and one daughter named Mu-nisah-
Khatun. She married her cousin Naširu-l-din Muhammad (son

173

of Sayfu-l-dm) who was afterwards entitled al-Maliku-l-kamil.
SaladditVs kingdom was divided after his death as follows:

a)  His son Nuru-l-din assumed the title of al-Maliku-1-
afdal and got, as his share, the kingdom of Damascus, the
Syrian seacoast, Jerusalem, Bozrah, Baneas, and western Syria.

b)  Abu-l-fath-al-Ghazi assumed the title of al-Maliku-1-
Zahir-Ghiyathu-l-dm and got, for his share, Aleppo, ali eastern
Syria, Harran, Tall-Bashir, Traz, and Mambij.

c)  Tmadu-l-dm 'Uthman assumed the title of al-Maliku-1-
’aztz and got, as his share, Egypt. There thus arose t lire e
branclies  of Ayyubite rulers: the Aleppine, the Damascene,
and the Egyptian or Cairene. The other members of this
numerous family were governors of small regions that had been
assigned to them by Saladdin; but tliey stood under the suprem-
acy of one or the other of the three above named sovereign
rulers. (Cf. p. 81, N.B.)

It has been said above that when Nur-ul-din died, his kingdom ex-
tended from Divar-Bakr to Yaman. The Holy Cities of the Hijaz generally
formed part of the dominion of the ruler of Egypt; and in 569/1173 Saladin
sent his brotherTuran Shah  to govern the Yaman. The Ayyubid conquest
formed the great crisis in the mediaeval history of Arabia. The kinsmen of
Saladin swept over the Yaman and overturned its dynasties with the same
uncompromising thoroughness as they displayed in Egypt, Syria, and Meso-
potamia. The Hamdanids of Šan’a, the Mahdids of Zabid, and the Zurayids
of ’Aden, were alike suppressed by the Kurdish conqueror Turan Shah, son
of Ayyub; and for half a century, 569 — 625/1173 —1227, the Yaman re-
mained in the hands of the great Kurdish family which ruled Egypt and Syria.

2. 589/1193 to 595/1198. Al-Maliku-l-’azlz Tmadu-l-din

'Uthman ibn Yusuf, king of Egypt. In the year 592 the
Ayyubid governor of Shobak and Karak, in the Land of Moab
east of the Dead Sea, thinking his share too small, conspired
with the Egyptian ruler against the king of Damascus, and
sought to depose him, which tkey finally did, and al-Afdal of
Damascus had to flee to Bagdad to the Calipli al-Našir. But
soon the governor of Kerak and Shobak repented of what he
had done, and re-instated al-Afdal.—Al-’Azlz of Egypt died
in 595. He is the Ayyubide ruler who began to tear down

174

the third of the Gizali pyramids. He also tried to put a stop
to the puhlic festivities on the occasion of the yearly cutting
of the Cairo khalij.

3. 595/1198 to 596/1200. Al-Manšur son of al-’Aziz
was only 8 years old when he succeeded his father. His uncle
al-Afdal was sent for, to come from Syria and take the direction
of the state as regent during his nephew’s minority. He came and
was proclaimed in Cairo as regent, with the title of Ata-Bek. But
Al-’adil, the Ayyubide of Kerak, led an army into Egypt, came
to Cairo, and asserted his right to be the regent, for he was
the grandfather of the youthful king and the uncle of al-Afdal.
The latter abandoned his claim and returned to his kingdom
of Damascus. Manšur reigned only 21 months.

4. 596/1200 to 615/1218. Al-’adil son of Ayyub. He
deposed his grandson, the youthful al-Manšur, in Shawwal 596.
He then deposed his nephew Al-’adil of Damascus, and by
degrees got the supremacy over most of the petty Ayyubide
governors and princes in Palestine and Syria, thus re-uniting
under one sceptre the great Empire that had been formed by
Saladdin.

The Crusaders  had availed themselves of the dissensions
of the Ayyubide princes amongst one another to renew en-
croachment upon Muslini territory. Al-’adil sayfu-l-din led his
army up out of Egypt into Palestine and encamped on Mount
Tabor, between Nazareth and the Jordan, southwest of the Lake
of Tiberias. He repulsed them, but could not follow up his
successes, for he received the mournful and unwelcome in-
formation of the occurrence of an earthquake in Cairo. This
is the earthquake of the year 600 Fl., which was felt throughout
Egypt, Syria, Cyprus, and Asia Minor.

About this time a fleet of the European Crusaders landed
troops upon the Egyptian coast, who penetrated inland as far
as Fuh upon the Rosetta Branch. The Ayyubide king finally
concluded an arrangement with them, the chief conditions of
which were that they were to withdraw from Egypt, and that
he was to give up to them the city of Jaffa and withdraw

175

the Muslims that were then in Ludda and Ramleh. The Crus-
aders left Egypt. But in Syria they continued hostilities, and
advanced upon Hamah on the river Orontes. Hereupon Al-’adil
again led his forces out of Egypt and went to defend Hamah.
Bloody fights ensued. The Crusaders received considerable
reinforcements from Europe that had been sent by Pope
Innocent Illd and had landed near Akka. Al-Adil hastened
to Nablus; but they drove him out of that city, and he with-
drew to the plain of Safed. They thus cut him off from ali
possibility of communicating directly with Egypt.

The Crusaders again turned their attention towards tliis
country. They landed near Damietta, on Tuesday the 4th of
Rabi’a First 615/1218, upon the narrovv strip, called Jazirat-
Dumyat, which is bounded by the sea on one side and by
the Nile on the other. They attacked the Damietta fort, which
commanded the Nile and with it the road by river to Cairo,
and took it. Al-Kamil son of Al-’hdil was at that time in
charge of the government of Egypt during his father’s absence
in Syria. He at once gathered ali the forces he could command
and went to Al-’adiliyyah, near Damietta, to oppose the Crus¬
aders. The fighting continued off and on for 4 months, Al-
’adil from time to time sending down such reinforcements from
Syria as he could špare. He then started to come dovvn him-
self to relieve his son al-Kamil, but took ill and died at 'alifin.
Al-Maliku-1-mu’ažžam Tsa kept the death of the king secret
from the accompanying troops, and brought the body in the
litter to the fort of Damascus. Here al-Mu’ažžam buried his
father, and took charge of the government at Damascus.

5. 615/1218 to 635/1238. Al-Kamil son of Al-’adil
heard of his fatheFs death when he was at Al-’adiliyyah, near
Damietta, opposing the Crusaders. He took full charge of
Egypt. The Crusaders redoubled their efforts. Al-Kamil sank
boats in the Nile near Damietta, to stop the ships of the Crus¬
aders from sailing up the stream. They cleared the ancient
Nile channel, called al-Khaliju-l-azraq, which was choked up
with sand, and made it deep enough. They then turned the

176

šea-water into it, and brought up their ships as far as Burah
on tlie narrow neck of land. By this time winter had set in ;
tbe wind and rain-storms did great damage to the Muslim
camp, whereby al-Kamil’s forces suffered greatly.

A revolt broke out among al-KamiFs troops headed by
Tmadu-l-din Abmad son of al-Mashtub. The revolters did not
wish to recognise al-Kamil as their sultan and as the successor
of his father; they wanted his brother al-Fa-iz. Al-Kamil fled
from Al-’adiliyyah to the village of Ashmun Katah. The troops,
fmding themselves without a leader, scattered, leaving everv-
thing behind them in the camp. The Crusaders, who were
on the other side of the river, soon learned of what had
happened; on the 20th of Dhi-1-Qi’adah 615 they crossed un-
opposed to the eastern or Damietta bank, and took ali that
was in the camp. The city of Damietta itself stili held out
against them. Al-Mu’ažžam Tsa of Damascus, the brother of
al-Kamil, led an army from Syria and came to the relief of
his brother. He drove away the revolter al-Mashtub and sent
al-Fa-iz to Mušul, to gather more reinforcements. He then
reinstated al-Kamil and soon returned himself to Damascus.
Al-Mu’ažžam, on his return to Syria, had the fortifications of
Jerusalem demolished, lest the Crusaders should conquer it and
the fortilied citv of Damietta, and thus gain two strongholds.
Damietta \vas closely besieged by sea and by land. At last,
on Tuesday the 25th of Sha’aban 616, the Crusaders assaulted
and took Damietta, after it had sustained a siege of 16 montlis
and 22 days.

Al-Kamil then at once moved, and encamped opposite
Talkbah at the head of the Ashmun and Damietta Branches,
to stop the Europeans from penetrating by river into the
interior of the land. The Crusaders fortified Damietta. Al-
Kamil threw up earthworks at Mahallat-al-Manzalah, and made
it the chief camp. (It grew slowly to be a town  and was
called al-Manšurah,  in memory of the victories he gained
over the invaders.) The Crusaders left a garrison in Damietta
and advanced upon al-Manšurah, about 200,000 foot and

177

10,000 horse. Al-Kamil gathered ali tlie forces he could get,
from the remotest corners of Egypt. He sent a foree under
the emir Badru-l-din ibn Hassun, who cut ofF tlie Communications
of the Crusaders, by river and by land, witli Damietta and
the sea. He also received reinforcements from Syria, which
\vere led by al-Maliku-l-ashraf Musa son of Al-'idil; these were
soon followed by others under al-Mu’ažžam 'Isa. They attacked
the Crusaders and took many of them captive. Meanwhile
the season of the high Nile had fully set in. A small party
of Egyptians stole unperceived around and behind the Crusaders’
camp and cut the dam of the canal of al-Mahallah. The high
water from the canal flooded ali the lands betvveen the Crusaders
and Damietta, so that they found themselves on a sort of island.
They sued for mercy, offering to leave the country if only
allowed to withdraw. Al-Kamil accepted these terms, on the
7th of Rajab 618, on condition that each party was to deli ver
to the other hostages for the faithful carrying out of the prom-
ises. The Crusaders ga ve the king of 'Akka and the legate
of the Pope as hostages; al-Kamil ga ve his son al- Šalili, then
15 years old, and several emirs. The Crusaders evaeuated
the country, and delivered up Damietta on the 19th of Rajab 618.
The hostages were mutually restored. The Crusaders had been
3 years, 4 months and 19 days on Egyptian soil, and 1 year,
10 months and 24 days in possession of Damietta.

The Emperor Frederic Second of the Roman - German
Empire, then on a Crusade to the Holy Land, concluded a
treaty of peace with al-Kamil in A.D. 1229, by which he got
possession of Jerusalem and other holy places. Al-Kamil then
went from Egypt to Damascus, where he died in Rajab 635.
He was the contemporary of the 36th Abbaside Caliph al-
Mustanšir-bi-llah.

6. 635/1238 to 637/1240. Al-’adil son of al-Kamil.

When al-Kamil’s death at Damascus became known in Egypt,
his son Sayf-ul-din abu-Bakr was proclaimed king, and assumed
the title of Al-’adil Second; but soon al-Šalih Najmu-l-din
Ayyub, the governor of Upper Mesopotamia and the brother

12

178

of AVadil, claimed the prior right to Egypt, and came to Syria,
intending to march thence into it. Hereupon his brother Al-
’adil Second gathered his army and marched to Bilbays, to
stop his brother should he attempt to enter Egypt. But the
emirs of his army seized him at Bilbays, on Friday the 8th
Dhi-l-Hijjah 637, deposed him, and sent for his brother al-
Šalih, wliom they proclaimed king.

Tliis as-Šalih Najm-ul-din Ayyub, governor of Upper Mesopotamia,
and then sultan of Egvpt, bouglit in different parts of Asia about the year
638/1240 some 12,000 Tur anian  cap  ti  ve  s taken in war, and formed them
into his body-guard. He bought them of the Mongols or Ta tar s. Out of
tliis slave body-guard arose the Mamluks who afterwards, in two dynasties,
lorded it over Egypt from 12B0—1517 (see below p. 182 and ff.).

7. 637/1240 to 647/1249. Al-Šalih, son of al-Kamil and

brother of the deposed king, entered Cairo triumphantly. —
The Crusaders occupied the strongholds of Shaqif, Tiberias,
Askalon and Jerusalem.

About this time the Khuwarizm  tribe had been dri ven
out of Asia (the far east) by Jingiz Khan. They came into
eastern Syria. Al-Salih king of Egypt sent them envoys, who
encouraged them to attack the Crusaders. Hereupon the war-
like Khuwarizms marched through Syria to Gaza, near the
walls of which they attacked the Crusaders, being supported
by troops sent by al-Salih. The Crusaders were defeated and
the Khuwarizms took Gaza and Jerusalem, which they occupied
in the name of al-Salih. The latter gathered an army and
went to Damascus and Hims, where ho was delayed in various
fights from 645 to 647. Suffering from a painful malady of
the intestines, he withdrew to Damascus.

Here he heard that the Crusaders  were making great
preparations to invade Egypt, and had received reinforcements
from Western Europe. This was the Seventh War of the
Crusaders against the Muslims; the leader was Louis Ninth of
France. The force consisted of 50,000 fighting men and many
ships. Al-Salih, though so vei - y ill, started from Damascus
tor Egypt, borne in a litter. He got to Ashmun Tanah about

179

the beginning of the year 647, and gathered Stores, provisions
and war-material which he laid up in Damietta. He formed
a fleet of Egyptian sliips, and gathered the Beduin Arabs of
the Kinanah tribe as an auxiliary force. At the head of the
Damietta garrison he placed the emir Fakhru-l-din Yusuf.
On the morning of Friday the 20th of Šafar 647 the fleet of
the Crusaders arrived off Damietta. King Louis Ninth of France
at once sent to al-Šalih a letter full of threats, which al-
Šalih answered using words of equal defiance. The next day
hostilities <;ommenced. At nightfall Fakhru-l-din fled, for no
apparent reason, and was followed by the Kinanah tribe, who
left the city; during the night many of the inhabitants of
Damietta did likewise, taking refuge in the camp at Ashmun.
The Crusaders entered the city unopposed, on' the 22nd of
Šafar, and found it full of weapons, war- material and Stores.
Al-Šalih, stili suffering from his disease, was indignant at the
craven conduct of the Kinanahs, and had 54 of their chiefs
executed. On the 24th of Šafar he withdrew with his troops
to Manšurah and fortified it. He died on the 14th of Sha’aban
at the age of 40 years, leaving a great number of mamluks.*
He had appointed no successor and had left but one son,
Ghiyathu-l-din Turan Shah, whom he had left in Syria.

One of al - Salih’s slave- girls was Shajaratu-l-durr,
the mother of Ghiyathu-l-din. She came to an understanding
with the emir Fakhru-l-din, and with the chief eunuch Jamalu-1-
din Muhsin, for the proclamation of her son. Being a woman
of character and experience in government affairs, her deceased
husband and lord and master had often left her in charge of
the administration during his absences on warlike undertakings.
When al-Šalih died, she kept his deatli a secret, and at once
appeared before the assembly of emirs and great men of the
State, telling them that the suffering sultan commanded them
to swear fealty to his son Ghiyathu-1 - din Turan Shah as his
successor-elect with the title of al-Malik-ul-Mu ažžam, and had

* See above, p. 178, close of reign of No. 6.

12 *

180

appointed the emir Fakhru-l-din as the A ta-Beg or
regent, to administer tlie government [during the absence of
Ghiyath]. Ali the emirs stvore fealty. She then sent similar
orders to Cairo; ali the emirs and great personages there took
the oath of allegiance. She further sent orders to the same
effect, sealed with the seal of al-Šalih, to ali parts of the realm.
Ali this time the puhlic and the emirs — excepting those who
were in the secret — thought that al - Šalih was stili alive but
dangerously ill. When it became known, however, that Ghiyath
al-Mu’ažžam had been sent for to come at once from Syria to
Cairo, suspicion began to awake in the minds of the public.

Meamvhile the Crusaders had advanced upon Manšurah,
the Muslim army being separated from the European invaders
by the Ashmun Branch. At last Ghiyathu-l-din Turan Shah
al-Mu’ažžam arrived at Manšurah, coming from Syria in ali
haste. The Muslims took heart on his arrival, attacked the
invaders, and captured 32 of their ships. On the 2nd of
Muharram 648 the Crusaders tried to retreat from their position
opposite Manšurah; the Muslims pursued them and finally over-
took them west ofFaraskur, killing thousands upon thousands.
King Louis Ninth was taken alive at a plače called Minyat
Abu Abdallah.

8. 647/1249 to 648/1250. Al-Mu’ažžam, son of al-Šalih

and the slave-girl Shajarat-ul-durr. When it became certain
that the victory was gained by the Muslims, the death of al-
Šalih was made public, and al-Mu’ažžam Turan Shah was
proclaimed as his successor. He held a Court at Faraskur to
receive the oaths of fealty and to celebrate the victory. He then
dismissed most of the high officers and officials, and appointed
men who had come with liim from Mesopotamia. This action
aroused great dissatisfaction. Toward the close of Muharram
the Mamluks* revolted and sought to kili him. Among the
leaders of the revolt was the Mamluk Beybars. Al-Mu’ažžam

* See the paragraph in small type at the close of the reign of the
6th Ayyubid Sultan, p. 178.

181

fled and took refuge in a wooden fort tkat had been erectcd
near Faraskur. The fort was set on tire; he jumped into tke
Nile; tke revolters overtook him and cut kim to pieces.

Thus ended the Seventk Crusade, and thus ended also
the career of al-Mu’ažžam, the last  but one of the Kurdisk
Ayyubide Dynasty in Egypt. (See last lines on next page.)

Snmmary: Šalah-ul-din b. Ayyub was of Kurdish extraction, and served
under Nur-ul-din Mahmud b. Zangi, who had lately made himself k ing of
Syria (see Zangids). By him Saladin and his uncle Shlrquh were sent to
Egypt, where a eivil war, arising out of the vvaning povver of the Fatimids,
invited interference. Friendly assistance developed into annexation; and after
Shirqfih’s death Saladin became virtual master of Egypt, in 564/1169, thongh
the last Fatimid Caliph did not die till three years later. In the montli of
Muharram of the year 567/Sept. 1171 Saladin caused the khutbah  or public
prayer to be said at Cairo in the name of the contemporary 'Abbasid Caliph
al-Mustadi, instead of the Fatimid al-’Adid, who Iay on his death-bed. (Al-
Mustadi was one of the more or less independent Caliphs during the times
of the last Great Saljuqs). The change was etfected rvilhout disturbance,
and Egypt became once more Sunnite after baving been Shlite for 2 '/ t  centuries.

The Holy Cities of the Hijaz generally formed part of the dominion
of the ruler of Egypt; and in 569/1173 Saladin sent his brother Turan Shali
to govem the Yaman.

Tripoli of North Africa was taken from the Normans in 568/1172.

The death of Nur-ul-din Zangi, Saladin’s former master, in 569, laid
Syria open to invasion; and in 570/1174 he entered Damascus and swept over
Syria, 570 — 572, up to the Euphrates in spite of the opposition of the Zangids.
He did not annex Aleppo until 579/1183, after the death of Nur-ul-din’s son
and successor al-Šalih. He reduced al- Musil and made the various princes
of Mesopotamia his vassals in 581/1185 — 1186. He was now master of the
country from the Euphrates to the Nile, except where the Crusaders retained
their strongholds.

The battle at Qarn Hittin,  4 July 1187, destroyed the Christian
kingdom of Jerusalem ; the Holy City was occupied by Saladin within three
months; and hardly a castle, save Tyre, held out against him. The fall of
Jerusalem roused Europe to undertake the Third Crusade. Richard I of
England and Philip August of France set out for the HoIy Land in 1190,
and joined in the siege of ’Akka in 1191. After a year and a half s fighting,
peace was concluded in 1192 for three years without any advantage having
been gained by the Crusaders. In March 1193/589 Saladin died.

His brothers, sons, and nephews, divided the various provinces of his
wide kingdom; but one amongst them, his brother Sayf-ul-din al- adil,

182

gradually aequired the supreme authorit.y both over Egypt and Damascus.
At first Saladin’s sons naturally succeeded to their late fatheris crowns in
the various regions of the kingdom: thus, al-Afdal at Damascus; — al-’Aziz
at Cairo; — and al-Zahir at Aleppo.

But in 592/1198 al-Afdal was succeeded by al-’Adil at Damascus;

in 596/1199 al-Manšur, the successor of al-’Aziz, was supplanted by
al-’adil at Cairo;

and Aleppo alone remained to the dir ec t descendants of Saladin
until 648/1260.

Having acquired the sovereignty of Egypt and most of Syria in 1196
and 1199, and having appointed one of his sons to the government of Meso-
potamia about 597/1200, Al-’adil enjojmd the supreme authority in tbe Ayyubid
kingdom till his death in 615/1218. (The 'Abbasid Caliph al-Našir was
about this time hard pressed by Muhammad the prince of Khmvarizm and
had besought the Mongol Chingiz khan to eome to his help.) Al-’adil’s
descendants carried on his rule in the several countries; and we find separate
branches reigning in Egypt, Damascus, and Mesopotamia, ali sprung from
him. Tliose who reigned at Hamah, Himš, and in the Yaman, were descended
from o t h e r members of the Ayyubid House.

In 648/1250 the 'adili Ayyubids of Egypt, the chief Branch of the
family, who also frequently held Syria, made way for the Bahri Mamluks
or Slave Kings. The Damascus Branch, after contesting the sovereignty of
Syria with the Egyptian and Aleppine Branches, was incorporated with Aleppo,
and both were swept away in the Tatar avalanehe of Chingiz khan in 658/1260,
two years after the overthrow of the Baghdad Caliphs. The same fate had
overtaken the Mesopotamian successors of Al-’adil in 643/1245. The Mamluks
of Egypt absorbed Himš in 661/1262. The Ayyubids of the Yaman had
given plače to the Rasulids  in Arabia as early as 625/1228. But at
Hamah,  on the Orontes, a branch of Saladin’s family eontinued to rule with
slight intermission until 742/1341, and numbered in their line the well-known
h istorian Abu-l-Fida.  (See p. 139, Literature, 4th Period, rubric Ilistory.)

The Mamluks in Egypt, the Ottoman Gonquest,
and the French Invasion.

I. The Bahri Mamluks, from 648/1250 to 784/1382.

648/1250. Shajarat-ul-Durr, widow of al-Šalili and mother
of al-Mu’ažžam, abdicated after three months.

1250. Al-Ashraf Musa, one of the Avvubids, was deposed
by the Mamluk al-Mu’izz. Cf. preceding page.

183

1250. Al-Mnizz Ai-beg al-Turkumani, the founder  of
tbe Bahrite Dynasty of Mamluks, married Shajarat-ul-durr.
Ske killed him out of jealousy.

655/1256. Al-Manšur son of al-Mu’izz. He delivered her
over to the women of kis household, wko killed ker by blows
witk their wooden clogs (qabaqib); her body was buried, near
tke mosque of Sayyidah Nafisah, in a tomb which exists to
this day.

657/1259. Al-Mužaffar. He recovered Syria from tke
Mongol Tatars, after defeating Ket-Boga, Hulagu’s kiiisman,
at ’Ain Jalut in Palestine, in 658.

658/1260. Al-Žahir Beybars, was a Mamluk slave.
After assassinating al-Mužaffar, he succeeded to the throne of
Egypt, repelled a fresk invasion of the Tatars in Syria, took
Damascus, and extended kis conquests over a part of Armenia.

In his day Hulagu had recently overthrown the Bagdad
Calipkate. Beybars brougkt al-Hakim bi-amri-llah,  one
of the surviving ’Abbasides, to Egypt, wkere he was recognised
as the nominal Caliph, ali political power, however, being in
tke hands of the Mamluk sultan. From this period until the
taking of Egypt by the Ottoman Sultan Šalim I in 1517, some
16 or 17 'Abbšside Caliphs succeeded one another in Egypt
to the dignity of Caliph, kut only nominallv, and were at
times honored and respected, at others despised and maltreated
by the reigning Mamluks. —- In 1270 St. Louis died near Tunis
during the seventh Crusade.

676/1277. Muhammad al-Sayyid, and then al-’adil-Badru-l-
din, — both sons of Beybars.

678/1279. Al - Manšur - Qalawun, also a Mamluk slave.
He carried on the warlike enterprises of Beybars, defeated
the Mongols at Hims, recovered Damascus, which had been
again lost, captured Tripoli in Syria, &c. In a fit of anger
he delivered up Cairo city to sword and plunder for three days.
In tnodern Cairo his name is remembered as tkat of a great
physician. He founded the famous Muri stan  at Cairo, in
the year 1286, near the present great Mahkamah.

184

689/1290. Al-Ashraf Khalil, the son of Qalawun. He
took ’Akka in Palestine from the Christian Crusaders; and
built the Khan Khalil  in Cairo.

694/1293. Al-Našr Muhannnad son of Qalawun, succeeded
his brother Al-ashraf Khalil when only ni ne years old. In 1294
he was dethroned by Ket-Boga, who usurped the sceptre but
was in his turn overthrown by Hesam Lagin. The latter was
assassinated in 1299, and al-Našr was restored. After ten years,
however, he was again deposed, and al-Mužaffar Baybers was
proclaimed in his stead. In 1310 al-Našr again returned; and
with the help of the Syrian Emirs, with whom he had taken
refuge at Karak on the east of the Dead Sea, he again regained
the throne. His territories extended from Tunis to Bagdad.
He greatly increased the prosperity and well-being of Egypt
by making and restoring canals, encouraging agriculture, and
fostering the arts. Cairo was greatly extended and embellished
by him. (See G. Zaidan’s Hist. of Eg. vol. II.)

741/1341. Seven sons of al-Našr followed him in quick
succession, namely (1) al-Manšur Abu-Bakr; (2) al-Ashraf Kujuk ;
(3) al-Našr Shihabu-l-din; (4) al-Šalih Isma’il; (5) al-Kamil
Sha’aban; (6) al-Mudaffar; and (7):

748/1348. Hasan, who was a minor at the time of his
accession. He was deposed by al-Šalih, but recovered his throne
three years later. During the interval a fearful plague devast-
ated Egypt. He built the m o s q u e which stili bears his name
and is the most important monument of Muslim architecture in
Egypt. Its entrance gateway is perhaps the largest and most
elegant of its kind in the world. Hasan was again dethroned
and was assassinated in 1357.

762/1361. Al-Manšur Muhammad, grandson of Qalawun.

764/1363. Al-Ashraf Sha’aban, great grandson of Qalawun.
He ordered the sharifs (descendants of Muhammad) to distinguisli
themselves from ali others by wearing green turbans. Peter
de Lusignan, king of Cyprus, besieged Alexandria but failed
to take it (1365).

778/1377. Al-Manšur 'Ali, and then al-Šalih Hajji, the
last of the dynasty, which ended 784/1382.

185

H. The Circassian or Bargi Mamlnks, from 784/1382 to 922/1517.

784/1382. Al-Žahir Barquq, a Circassian slave, who
deposed Hajji and usurped tli e throne. He was deposed in 1389
bv the emirs, but regained his power the following year. The
Tatars under Timur-Lang invaded Syria, but were repulsed,
in 1393. The mosque of al-Žahir Barquq is situated in the
Street called al-Khurdagiah.

801/1399. Al-Našr Faraj, son of Barquq. He was
engaged in continual warfare with the Tatars, whom he finally
defeated in 1405. He had also much trouble in putting down
the repeated revolts of the turbulent Mamlnks. He was put
to death in 1412 by al-Mu-ayyad, who succeeded him.

815/1412. Al-Mu-ayyad, called also al-Shaykhu-l-Mahmudi.
The 'Abbaside Imam al-Musta’in bi-llah had assumed the title
of al-Maliku-l-’adil, and had unitcd in his person the temporal
and spiritual power for a few short months; but al-Mu-ayyad
soon imprisoned this Caliph. — Many sumptuary laws and re-
gulations were enacted and enforced against the Christians and
Jews. He built the m o s q u e of al-Mu-ayyad near Bab-Zuwaylah.
Revolts in Syria were successfully put down in 1420.

824/1421. Very disturbed times. — (1) Al - Mužaffar
Ahmad, (2) al-Žahir Tatar, (3) al - Šalih - Muhammad, followcd
one another in rapid succession.

825/1422. AI-Ashraf Burs-Bey, a mamluk, deposed his
predccessor. A good Nile brought a year of plenty. He built
the mosque of al-A shrafiyah  opposite the 'Attarin Street.
He attacked the Island of Cyprus and took the king, John
Third, prisoner, but released him on the promise of an annual
tribute. He concluded peace with the Tatars. He also gained
possession of Jiddah, the port of Makka, and thus monopolised
the Indian trade there. After ruling 17 years he died at the
age of 60.

841/1438. Al-’Aziz; and then al-Žahir Jaqmaq, when
69 years old. The plague in Egypt.

857/1453. Al-Manšur ’U tli man ibn Jaqmaq, and al-Ashraf-
Yinal. This is the year in which the Ottoman Sultan Muhammad

186

son of Murad conqnered Constantinoplc, thus putting
an end to the Byzantine Empire which had stood for over
10^/2  cen turi es.

865/1460. Ahmad Abu-l-fath ibn Yinal, surnamed al-
Mu-avvad; tben Khosh-Qadam, surnamed al-Zahir, a Mamluk
of Greek origin, under whom Egypt enjoyed peace for six years.

872/1467. Bol-Bey surnamed al-Zahir; and soon after
him Tumar-Boga surnamed also al-Žahir.

872/1468. Qayt-Bey entitled al-Ashraf, a mamluk of
al-Zahir Jaqmaq. He seems to have been elected by the emirs.
He carried on a successful war against the Ottoman Turks,
under the sultans Mahmud and Bayazid, near Adanah and
Tarsus. Al-Azbaki was tbe leader of tbe Egvptian troops.
He built the mosque  of al-Azbaki in Cairo; at that time
the present Azbakiah garden was a large pool or lake that
was connected with the Nile bv a canal running through the
Street now called Qantarat-al-dikkah. The Venetians conquered
Cyprus. Qayt Bey built a mosque  in that part which is
called the Qurafah, and another on the island of Rhodah.

901/1495 to 906/1501. (1) Muhammad al-Našir, Qayt

Bey’s son; (2) Qansaw-khamsmiyyah called al-Ashraf; (3) Qan-
saw al-Zahir; (4) Qansaw Janbelat al-Ashraf; (5) Tuman Bey I
called Al-’adil. — (Riots; depositions; murders, among the
Mamluks.)

906/1501 to 922/1516. Qansaw Fourth al-Ghuri, entitled
al-Asbraf, also one of Qayt Bey’s mamluks, was over 60 years
old when chosen by the mamluk chieftains to succeed Tuman,
whom they had killed. He built the mosque and school of
Ghuriah  in the Sikkah Jadidah. The Portuguese had taken
some places in India and carried on the trade by the way of
the Cape of Good Hope, thus diverting trade from Egypt.
To stop this, al-Ghuri fitted out a naval expedition against
them; but it was destroyed by them in the Red Sea. For
a short time he lield possession of the Hijaz and Yaman, and
during this period he rebuilt part of the Haram at Makkah.
In Saladdin’s day the acqueduct from Fummu-l-Khalij to the

187

citadel had been built of wood; al-Ghuri rebuilt it in stone; its
total length is 3640 metres.

Karkud, the brother of the sultan Šalim First  son of
Bayazid, one of the Ottomans, quarrelled with his brother and
fled to Egypt. Al-Ghuri received liirn tvell, and fitted out for
liim a fleet of 20 ships, wherewith to attack his brother Šalim
and take Constantinople. The fleet was captured by the Je-
rusalem fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. Sultan Šalim First
was so angry with al-Ghuri for trying to help Karkud that he
resolved to conquer Egypt, and began by sending an army to
the northern borders of Syria. Al-Ghuri gathered his troops and
marched against the Ottomans. They met at Marj-Dabiq near
Aleppo. Al-Ghuri was defeated, fled, fell off his horse, and was
killed, on the 25th of Rajab 922/1516, after a reign of nearly
16 years.

922/1516. Tuman Bey Secornl, entitled al-Ashraf, nephcw
of al-Ghuri, had been left in cbarge of Egypt. He was pro-
claimed king, as soon as the death of Ghuri became known
at Cairo, and prepared to oppose the Sultan Šalim. The latter
marched upon Egypt. In the battle which was fought near
Birket al-Hajj, a few miles north of Cairo, on Friday, the 29th
Dhi-1 -Hijjah 922/1517, the Ottomans defeated the Egyptian
Mamluks. Šalim First entered Cairo, and took the Citadel
after hard fighting. Tuman Second fled; but the Beduin Arabs
eaught him, and he was brought in chains before the Sultan.
After a few days the Sultan had Tuman hanged near Bab
Zuwaylah. Thus en ded the Mamluk dynasty; Egypt became
a Turkish Pashalic or province, in 923/1517.

Snmmary: The Mamluk Sultans, 650 — 922/1252—1517. Mamluk
means ‘owned’, and is generally applied to a w h i t e slave. The Mamluk
Sultans of Egypt were Turkish and Circassian slaves, and had their origin
in the purchased  b o d y - g u a r d of t.he 7th Ayyubid Sultan al-Šalih Ayyub.
The first of their Line was a woman, Queen Shajar- al-Durr, widow of al-
Šalih ; but a representative of the Ayyubid family — Musa was accorded
the nominal dignity of joint sovereig;nty for a few years. llien folIowed
a succession of slave kings, divided into two dynasties, the Bahri  (‘of the
River’) and the Burji  (‘of the Fort’) who ruled K g  v p t and Syria  down
to the beginning of the XVIth Cent.

188

In spite of their short reigns and frequent civil wars and assassinations,
they maintained as a rule a well-organized government; and Cairo is stili
full of proofs of their appreeiation of art and their love of building. Their
warlike cpialities were no less conspicuous in their successful resistance to
the Crusaders and to the Tatar hordes that overran Asia and menaced Egypt
in the XIIIth Cent.

Retrospect: Egypt and Syria since the Arab Conquest.—
Egypt and Syria have generally formed one government in Muslim history.
Syria was eonquered, first by Khalid and then by Abu-’Ubaydah, 14 to
17/635 — 638; and Egypt by 'Amr b. al-’Aš in 21/641; both during ’Umar’s
Caliphate. From the time of the conquest to 254/868, Egypt was ruled as
a separate province by 98 governors, of whom 27 were appointed by the
Umayyad and 71 by the 'Abbasid Caliphs. But after that year, the new
governor, Ahmad b. Tulun,  during the Caliphate of al-Mu’tazz, founded
a dynasty, which lasted 37 years and for most of this period lield both Egypt
and Syria. This dynasty was succeeded, after on]y 30 years, by the Ikh-
shidids,  who after a rule of 34 years were supplanted by the greatest of
mediaeval Egyptian dynasties, the’Alawi Fatimids.  Under these, however,
Syria, soon became the seat of independent dynasties (the pure Arab Mirdasids,
the Atabeg Burids, the Kurdish Atabeg Zangids); but it was again united
to Egypt by S a 1 a d i n , the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, and so con-
tinued down to the nverthrow of the later Mamluk dynasty, when both became
separate provinces of the Ottoman Empire.  As will be seen hereafter,
in the chapter on the Muhammad-’Ali dynasty, Ibrahim Pasha  in 1831
again joined Syria to the dominions of the ruler of Egypt; but it was re-
stored to the Sublime Porte in 1841, by the intervention of the European
Powers, and has ever since been divided into several Turkish vilayets.

III. Egypt, as a Turkish Province, from  923/1517 to
1203/1789. Although the Sultan Šalim I abolished the mon-
archy in Hgvpt, he left the aristocracy of the Mamluks on
certain conditions, the chief of which were:

Payment of an annual Tribute;

Obedience in Matters of Law to the Decisions of the
Mufti of Constantinople, who is al\vays of the Hanafite Rite;

Insertion of the Sultan’s name in the Friday khutbah
and on ali Coins. He also compelled the last scion of the
'Abbaside Caliphs, al-Mutawakkil, — the 17th or 18th 'Abbaside
in Egypt since the Fali of Bagdad in 1258 — to accompanv
liim to Constantinople and designate him as the Successor.

189

Šalim I then permitted al-Mutawakkil to return to Egvpt; and
on his deatli in 945/1543, the Sultan Sulayman I of Con-
stantinople assumed the title of Commander of the Believers
and Caliph.

Before leaving Egvpt, Šalim First organised the
government  of this large newly-conquered province by
instituting three great branchesof  administration, each of
which was to check and counterbalance the other. The first
was the Pa s ha, who was to receive orders from Constantinople,
communicate them to the chief men of the government, and see
that they were observed. The second branch was the W i j a q s.
These were six bodies of foot and horse troops, each Wijaq
numbering 1000 horse and 1000 foot — ali under the command
of an Ottoman General-in-Chief; but each liaving its own special
head. The six chiefs formed a Board or Council, whom the
Pasha had to consult on ali questions of importance. The third
branch was the Ai'istocracy of the M a m 1 u k s, the old families
descended from the former dynasties. Egypt was divided into
12 Sanjaqs, each governed by a Bey who was appointed, from
among the old Mamluk families, by the Pasha and his Council.

The history of Egypt for the next 250 years is almost
wholly without interest.* The Turkish pashas who nominally
governed the country soon became subordinate to the Mamluk
Beys or Sanjaqs. — One of these, ’Ali Bey, declared himself
independent in 1177/1764, during the reign of the Ottoman
Sultan Muštafa III son of Ahmad. 'Ali Bey, surnamed al-Kebir,
conquered Arabia and Syria in 1767, and allied himself with
Russia against the Ottomans. He was called Shaykhu-1-Balad,
i. e., Chief of Cairo city. He chose 18 of his most trusted
followers and appointed them to be Beys. They were ali
Mamluks. He died, in the year 1187/1773, near K lian Yunis
south of Gaza, in consequence of wounds received at the battle
of Salihiyyah near Damascus.

* For details see Gabarti’s voluminous History.

190

On liis death his son-in-law Muhamraad Abu-Daliab was
recognised by the Ottoman Sultan ’Abdu-l-Hamtd I son of Ahmad
as ruler of Egypt, or Shaykhu-1-Balad. Abu Dabab died
in 1773 near ’Akka in Palestine. After Muhammad Abu
Dahab’s death, two of the 18 Mamluk Beys of ’Ali Bey el-
Kebir shared the chief power in Egypt. These two Beys were
Murad Bey and Ibrahim Bey.

In the year 1199 Flight, the Ottoman Sultan ’Abdu-l-
Hamld I sent an army and a fleet, under the Qabudan Pasha
Hassan, to rečonquer Egypt. This force arrived off Alexandria
and Rosetta early in 1200 Fl. Hassan Pasha defeated the
Mamluks at Rahmaniyyah near the Mahmudiyyah canal. Murad
Bey and Ibrahim Bey fled to Upper Egypt. Hassan Pasha
entered Cairo on the 5th of Shawwal 1200 Fl. He confiscated
ali the property of the fugitive Beys, and had it sold at public
auction. He then sent ’Abidin Pasha with a force to Upper
Egypt. Murad Bey was again defeated, and fled to the cataracts.
Orders were received from Constantinople appointing 'Abidin
Pasha military governor of Egypt and hastily recalling Hassan
Pasha, for war had broken out with Russia. Isma’ll  Bey
was made civil governor, or Shaykhu-1-Balad. Meanwhile the
Ottoman Sultan ’Abdu-l-Hamid I was succeeded by the Sultan
Šalim III son of Muštafa.

In 1205 Fl. there was a great plague in Egypt. The
Shaykh ul-Balad died of this disease. His successor was soon
carried off by the same plague. At last Uthmhn - Bey-Tabl
was made Shaykhu-1-Balad. He sent and brought back Ibrahim
Bey and Murad Bey from Upper Egypt, and they resumed
their former arbitrary rule. These are the two Beys who
opposed Napoleon Buonaparte  when he landed at Alex-
andria, on the lst of July 1798/1213, for the purpose of occu-
pying Egypt.

IV. The French Expedition to Egypt consisted of an army
numbering 40,000 soldiers and 40 generals, brought in 400 ships
of transport; 200 ships with Stores and war material; a fleet

191

numbering over 100 war-vessels with 10,000 sailors; and
a Scientific Corps,  consisting of 100 men of learning,—
sucli as Land-Surveyors and Geometricians; Astronomers;
Engineers; Mechanicians; Chemists; Geologists; Botanists;
Mineralogists; Architects, &c. They even had a Printing Press
and Arabic types,  brought from the Propaganda Printing
Establisbment in Rome; it was the remains of this Arabic Press
and types that afterwards formed the nucleus of the Bulaq
Press  established by Muhammad-’Ali. (See p. 140.)

The two Beys, Ibrahim and Murad, were defeated by the
French under Napoleon Buonaparte on the 21st of July 1798
at the Battle of thePyramids of Giza  h,  and he entered
Cairo. Soon after, on the lst of August, the French fleet was
destroyed by the English admiral Nelson at the battle of the Nile.

After completely breaking the power of the Mamluk
Beys in Egypt, Napoleon left this country and went on his
expedition into Syria, to 'Akka. On his return to France in
1799, he appointed General Kleber as commander in Egypt.
On the 24th of January 1800 Kleber signed the convention of
al-’Arish for the evacuation of Egypt by the French. But the
convention being broken, Kleber marched upon Cairo, defeated
the Turks at Heliopolis (Matariah) on the 20th of March 1800,
and retook the Capital. He was assassinated on the 14th of
June, and General Menou succeeded to the command of the
French troops in Egypt. The French were defeated on the
13th of March 1801 at the Battle of Alexandria  by
the English under Sir Ralph Abercromby, and were driven
out of Egypt.

After the French Occupation, Egypt once more fell a
prey to the Mamluk Beys, and anarchy prevailed, with ali its
horrors, till the Sublime Ottoman Porte appointed, in the yearl806,
Muhammad-’Ali as Pasha of Egypt.

192

Egypt under Muhammad ’Ali Pasha and his
Successors.

1220/1805 to 1264/1848. Muhammad -’Ali Pasha, born
at Cavalla in Roumelia in 1182/1768, son of Ibrahim Agba.
He finally established his power by tlie massacre of ali the
Mamluk Beys in the citadel of Cairo, on the 5th of Safar
1226/March lst 1811.

In that year the Sublime Ottoman Porte charged him
with putting down the Wahh abites,  a sect that had got
possession of ali Arabia. He sent an army into Arabia under
the command of his son Tušun; the war against the Wahhabites
continued till 1816. Tušun died soon after his return; and
the Wahhabites rose again. Muhammad-’Ali then sent his
adopted son Ibrahim - Pasha against them. Ibrahim defeated
them, took Ta-if, the chief town in Naj d, and destroyed it.
By the year 1819 he had completelv crushed the Wahhabite
inovement. (Cf. p. 81, N. B.)

The Wahhabis in Central Arabia

(Hughes’s Dictionary of Islam).

Are a seet of Muslim reformers or revivalists founded by Muhammad
b. 'Abdul -Wahhab. As they could not be called orthodox Sunnite Muslims
they have been distinguished by the name of the father of their founder.

Muhammad son of 'Abdu-1-Wahhab was born at 'Ayinah in Najd in
1102/1691. He was carefully instructed by his father in the tenets of the
Muslim Faith according to the Hanbali School, the strietest of the four
great schools of interpretation. Muhammad determined to increase his know-
ledge of the law by visiting the schools of Makkab, al-Bašrah and Baghdad.
The libraries of tliese celebrated centers of Muslim learning placed within
the reach of the zealous študent those ponderous folios of tradition known as
the ‘six correct books’ or Šahihu-l-Bukhari, Šahih Muslim, &c., and also
gave him access to numerous manuscript volumes on Muslim Law. Having
performed the pilgrimage to the House rvith his father, he visited the
PKOPHET’S tomb, and remained at Madinah to study under Shaikh 'Abd-
ullah b. Ibrahim, by whom he was carefully instructed in ali the intricacies
of the exegetical rules laid down for the exposition of ethics and jurisprudence.

For some years he resided with his father at Horemelah; after his
father’s death he returned to the village of 'Ayinah, where he assumed the
position of a religious leader.

193

In his various travels, Muh. b. ’Abdu-l-Wahhab had been pained by
the laxities of those who, whilst they professed to accept the stern precepts
of the Arabian Prophet, had succeeded in stretching the rig-id lines of Islam
almost to breaking. Omens and auguries, sacred shrines and richly ornamented
tombs, the use of intoxicating drugs, the silks and satins of the wealthy, —
ali seemed to this earnest reformer lamentable departures from the first prin-
ciples of Islam, and unwarrantable concessions to the luxury, idolatry, and
superstitions of the age. Having carefully studied the teachings of the Book
and Traditions, he thought he had learned to distinguish between the essential
elements of Islam and its recent admixtures; and now, once more back again
in the home of his childhood, he determined to teach and to preach nothing
but the pure faith  as laid down by the precepts and practice of the
Prophet himself. The Muslim world had departed from the worship of the
Unity, and had yielded a blind allegiance to walis, pirs, and saints, and ali
because the teachings of the sacred traditions had been neglected for those
of learned but ambitious teachers.

To accept any doctrine other than that of those Companions  who
had received their instruction from the Prophefs own lips, was simply the
blind leading the blind; and, therefore, this Keformer, refusing to join his
faith to the uncertain leading-strings of even the four  orthodox doctors,
determined to maintain the right of private judgment  in the inter-
pretation of those two great foundations of Islam — the Qur - an and the
Ahadith. His teaching met with acceptance. Some of its distinctive features
are the following:

1. His followers call themselves Muwahhidin  or ‘Unitarians’, and
ali others M u s h r i k or those who associate another with God ;

2. The Wahhabis do not receive the decisions of the 4 orthodox
Sunni Schools, but hold that any man who can read and understand the
Qur-an and the sacred Hadith can judge for himself in matters of doctrine.
They, therefore, reject ijma’a  after the death of the Companions;

3. That no one but God can know the secrets of men, and that
prayers should not be offered to any prophet, wali, pir, or saint; but that
God may be asked to grant a petition for the sake  of a saint;

4. That at the Last Day, Muhammad will obtain permission, izn,
of God to intercede for his people. The Sunnis believe that permission has
been already given;

5. That it is unlawful to illuminate the shrines of departed (deceased)
saints, or to prostrate before them, or to perambulate (tawaf) around them;
they do not even perform any act of reverence at the Prophet s tomb;

6. That women should not be allowed to visit the graves of the Dead,
on account of their immoderate weeping;

7. That only 4 festivals ought to be observed: ’idu-l-titr, hdu-l-azha,

’ashura, and al-laylatu-l-mubarakah;

13

194

8. They do not observe the ceremonies of the m u 1 i d on the anni-
versary of the Prophefs birth;

9. They do not present offerings, nadhr, at any shrine;

10. They understand the terms ‘sitting of God’ — istiwa — and ‘hand
of God’ — yadu-Llah — in their literal sense — haqiqi — and not figuratiyely,
majazi: but at the same time they say it is not revealed h o w God sits, nor
in what sense He has a hand, &c.

His inereasing influence excited tlie opposition of the ruler of his
district, and he was compelled to seek an asylum at Deraiah, under the
protection of Muh. h. Ša’ud, a chief of great influence. The protection of
the religious teacher was made a pretext for more ambitious designs; and
that which the zealous law-doctor had failed to accomplish by his persuasive
eloquence, the warrior-chief now sought to attain by the power of the sword:
he thus established in his own person that Wahhabi dynasty which, after
a chequered existence for over a century, stili exercises a powerful influence,
not only in Central and Eastem Arabia, but in many other parts where
Islam prevails.

Like so many other great men before him, the Chief of Deraiah
strengthened his position by a matrimonial alliance, which united the interests
of his own family with that of the Reformer: he married the daughter
of Muh. b. ’Abdu-l-Wahhab, and she became the mother of the celebrated
Wahhabi chief ’Abdu-l-’Aziz who, upon the death of his father, 1179/1765,
led the Wahhabi army to victory, and succeeded in pushing his conquests
to the remotest corners of Arabia.

’Abdu-l-’Aziz was not only a brave warrior: he was also a pious
Muslim; and it is said that he fell a victim to the scrupulous regularity
with which he performed his devotions in public. A Persian devotee plunged
his sharp, Khurasan dagger into the pious warrior’s side, just as he was
bowing in prayer in the mosque of Deraiah, 1218/1803.

But the great military Champion of the reformed doctrines was Sa’ud,
the eldest son of the assassinated warrior. During the lifetime of his father,
Ša’ud  led the Wahhabi armies to victory, and at one time threatened even
the conquest of the whole empire. He gained several decisive victories over
Sulayman Pasha; and afterwards, with 20,000 men, marched to Karbala,
which contains the tombs of the Shi’ah Khalifahs. The city was entered with
the Wahhabi cry: ‘Kili and strangle ali infidels who give companions to
God’; and every vestige of supposed idolatry, from the bright golden dome
of al-Husayn’s tomb to the smallest tobacco-pipe, was ground to dust, whilst
the offerings of the countless devotees, which formed the rich treasure of
the honored slirines, served to replenish the impoverished exchequer of the
Wahhabi chief.

The fiery army soon after conquered the ‘enlightened city’, and on
the 27th of April 1803/4th Muharram 1218, Ša’ud made his formal entry

195

into the precincts of the Holy Cube. The sanctity of the plače subdued the
rough spirits of the rude conquerors: not the slightest excesses were com-
mitted against the people. The stern principles of the reform doctrines were,
hovvever, strictly enforced: piles of green gozas and Persian shishas were
collected, rosaries and amulets were forcibly tak en from the devotees, silk
and satin dresses were demanded from the wealthy and worldly, and the
whole, gathered into one heterogeneous mass, was burnt by the infuriated
reformers. So strong was the feeling against tobacco and pipes, and so ne-
cessary did a public example seem to be, that a respectable lady, whose
delinquency had well nigh escaped the vigilant eye of the muhtasib,* was
seized and placed on an ass, with a green pipe hanging from her neck, and
paraded through the streets — a fearful warning to ali of her sex who might
be inclined to indulge in the forbidden weed. When the usual hours for
prayer arrived, the myrmidons of the Law sallied forth, and with leathern
whips drove ali slothful believers to their devotions. The mosques were filled.

Never since the days of the Prophet had the sacred city witnessed so much

piety and devotion. Not one pipe, not a single tobacco - stopper, was to be
seen in the streets or found in the houses. The whole population of Makkah
bowed in solemn prayer at least 5 times a day.

Having faithfully carried out his mission, Ša’ud hastened to impart

the news of his success to the Ottoman Sultan by the following character-

istic letter:

“Sa’ud to Šalim:** I entered Makkah on the 4th day of Muharram
in the 1218th year of the Flight. I kept peace towards the inhabitants,
I destroyed ali things that were idolatrously worshipped, 1 abolished ali taxes
except those required by the Law, I confirmed the Qadi whom thou hadst
appointed agreeably to the commands of God’s Prophet. I desire that thou
give orders to the rulers of Damascus and Cairo not to come up to the holy
city with the mahmal*** and with trumpets and drums: religion is not pro-
fitted by these things. May God’s peace and blessing be with thee.”

Before the close of the year, al-Madinah was added to the Wahhabi
conquests; and so thoroughly did Ša’ud carry out the vvork of reform that
even the hujrah containing the Prophefs tomb did not escape: its richly
ornamented dome was destroyed.

For nine years did the Wahhabis rule Makkah. So strong was their
army, and so rapidly did their opinions spread, that the Ottoman Sultan

* The public censor of religion and morals, who is appointed by a
Muslim ruler, to punish the Believers for neglecting the rites of religion.

** Šalim III, from 1788—1807.

*** Al-Žahir Bibars first sent  a mahmal, in 671/1272; a few years
earlier Shajarat-ul-durr had performed the hijj in a rich litter borne by a
camel. Ša’ud forbad the mahmal as being an object of vain pomp.

13 *

196

began to entertain the worst fears for tbe safety of his realm. M. 'Ali
Pasha was, therefore, ordered by him to collect a strong force to put down
the movement, and eventually the Egyptian army under Tussun Pasha drove
the Wahhabis out of the two sacred cities.

Upon Ša’ud’s death, 1230/1814, his son 'Abdullah  becarae the
Leader of the 'Unitarians'. He was even more distinguished than his father
for personal bravery; but he laeked that knowledge of men which is so
necessary for one called upon to lead undisciplined nomadic tribes of the
desert. Besides, both he and his father before him had alienated the
Believers by too rigid insistanee upon trifles: minarets were pulled down;
tombstones were broken up. AU this roused the indignation of the Muslim
world, and the devout were afraid to visit Makkah. Thus the pilgrimage
declined so greatly that the Hijaz people found their souree of revenue cut
off and on the point of drying up altogether. So they appealed to the
Ottoman Sultan.

Ibrahim Pasha carried the war into Najd; 'Abdullah and his armies
met with a series of reverses; Deriyeh, the Wahhabi Capital, was taken and
sacked; at last 'Abdullah was eaught and sent to Constantinople, where his
head was cut off in the square of St. Sophia, Dec. 19. 1818. The Wahhabi
rule has since then been limited to Eastern Arabia vvith Biyad as the Capital.

Muhammad-’Ali at once began to make great military
reforms  in tbe Egyptian army. He kept the unruly Albanese
(Arnawut) troops oceupied in an expedition into N n b i a and
tbe Sudan,  which were finally conquered. During this
campaign liis son Isma'il was killed at Shendy by tbe Ja’alm
Arabs. The Albanese troops being thus kept far away from
Egypt, Mubammad-’Ali formed an efficient and disciplined
army out of the Egyptian peasant class,  which could replace
the foreign and arrogant Albanian corps.

An opportunity soon occurred for testing, in Greece, the
worth of the new fellah troops.

A national Congress of the Greeks, held at Epidaurus in Argolis, had
in 1822 declared the independence of Greece from Ottoman supremacy: the
Turks had been repeatedly defeated by land and by sea, so that at last
the Sultan Mahmud II sought help against them from Muhammad-’Ali, which
the latter afforded on condition that ali regions that might be subjected should
be united to the Pashalik of Egypt. And thus in 1824 Ibrahim Pasha was
sent by M.-’Ali with and Egyptian army to Greece; he subdued the Mor e a.
Meanwhile puhlic opinion in Enrope had been awakened in favor of the Greeks;
and the European Governments put a stop to Ibraliim’s military successes,

197

for the united fleets of Russia, Eng-land, and France appeared in 1827 in
Greek Waters and annihilated, at Navarino,  the whole Turko-Egyptian
fleet. Ibrahim stili held out for a time in the Morea; but tovvards tlie close
of 1828 he too was recalled, in consequenee of the negociations of the European
Powers with his adoptive father.

The great material losses undergone during the Greek
campaign had to be somehow made good; new sources and
resources had to be opened up. Hence M.-’Ali laid himself
out to increase the productiveness  of his country by
raising agriculture, introducing industrial undertakings, and
affording the Egyptian people the means wherewith to attain
a higher degree of well-being and culture. New canals and
embankments were made; schools were founded; manufactories
were established; the arable lands were equitably allotted and
apportioned among the peasants. In short a great era of
progress set in for Egypt.

When Turkey had been worsted in a war with Eussia,
from 1828 —1829, M.-’Ali thought the moment had come for
him to free himself from the supremacy of the Ottoman Porte.
A (juarrcl with the Pasha of ’Akka and Damascus afforded
the pretext for aggressive action. Early in the year 1832
Ibrahim  Pasha invaded Syria, took one stronghold after the
other, defeated the Turkish armies one after the other, and in
less than 18 inonths stood victorious in the heart of Asia Minor,
at Qoniah. Hereupon Muh.-’Ali demanded, as the condition of
peace, the hereditary Rulership  over Egypt and over
the conquered regions.

The intervention of the European Powers, however,
succeeded in getting conditions less unfavorable to the Porte;
for in the peace  concluded in 1833 at Qutahiah and
Quniah,  Muhammad-’Ali had to waive  his demand for the
hereditary Rulership; but he received Syria, as far as tlie
Taurus range, as a fief or feudal tenure.

The Sultan Mahmud II, relying on the marked and
general dissatisfaction of the Syrians with Ibrahim Pasha s rule,
attempted again, in 1839, the subjection of Muhammad- Ali,

198

wlio was always aiming at full independence and whose power
had been extended over the southvvest of Arabia also. But
the large Turkish army sent for this purpose under Hafiz Pasha
was put to flight by Ibrahim Pasha on the 24th of June
1839 at Nizzib betweenAleppo and theEuphrates.
The Sultan Mahmud Second died at Constantinople on the lst of
July of that year. The Grand Admiral of the Ottoman fleet,
Ahrnad Pasha, went over with ali the ships  to  Mu¬
ha  m m a d -A  1 i,  who would thus have been Master of the
situation, had not the European Powers again put in an
energetic action. Ibrahim was on the point of marching upon
Constantinople. Austrian and English ships bombarded Beyrut;
Ibrahim was forced to evacuate Syria, and returned with the
small remainder of his army to Egypt. An English fleet off
Alexandria forced M.-’Ali to declare his submission to the Porte
and acknowledge the Suzerainty of the youthful Sultan ’Abdu-l-
Majid; whereupon the

Firman of Investiture  was issued on the lst of July
1841. It granted to Muhammad-’Ali the hereditary  succession
of the Rulership over Egypt, according to the principle followed
in Turkey, by which the heirship to the power belongs to
the one who at the time is the oldest  in the family; it fixed
the yearly tribute to be paid to the Sublime Ottoman Porte
at 60,000 purses (500 Pt. in a purse), permitted the Pasha to
conclude non-political conventions, and appoint ali civil officials
as well as military officers up to the rank of colonel; it fixed
the maximum of the Egyptian army at 18,000 men.

As M.-’Ali grerv older and feebler both in body and mind,
he in January 1848 had to be treated like a child, and the
government had to be entrusted to Ibrahim.  The latter died,
however, in November 1848. When M.-’Ali expired on the
2nd of Aug. 1849 at his palače in Shubra, he was succeeded
by his grandson ’Abbas I, son of Tusun the first subjugator
of the Wahabbis.

’Abbas I, who ruled from 1849 —1854, was the son of
a Beduin girl. He was stern, sullen, and suspicious of treachery

199

in those around him. But he kept ali the government officials
under strict discipline; and under kis rule public security in
Egypt was everywhere upheld. He was murdered in July
1854 at kis palače near Banhah-l-’asal by two of his own slaves.

1854—1863. Sa’l(l Paska, Mukammad-’Ali’s fourtk son,
being tken tke eldest male in tke family, succeeded to tke
kereditary paskalik. A generous, mild, ruler, — very fond of
passing kis time in tke camp in kis tent, surrounded by tke
army and officers.

He estaklisked a more equitable apportionment
of tke taxes. Under kim was elaborated the Land-Law,
called Qanunu-1-Zira’ah,  whick is full of wise provisions;
the public works, begun by his great father, were continued;
tke Railway from Alexandria to Cairo was completed; hearty
support was given to the great scheme of cutting the Suez-
Ganal;  tke Bulaq museum, since removed to Gizah, was
founded; ke visited England.

The great and wearisome Crimean  War  of 1853 to
1856 kad been raging between Bussia, on the one side, and
Turkey, England, France and Sardinia, on tke otker side.

Both 'Abbas I and Sa’id kad to supply auxiliary troops
and considerable sums of money to tke Ottoman Porte for
tkat war. Sa’id Paska died Jan. 18. 1863.

1863—1879. Isma’11 Paska, born Dec. 31. 1830, son of
Ibrahim tke successful general, kad received a careful though
essentially Frenck education, and kad resided for a time, until
1849, in Pariš. He continued tke work of progress  in-
augurated by the Great Mukammad-’Ali: railways, canals, har-
bors, telegrapks, postal system, great increase of schools,
bridges &c.; sugar - factories were erected; the r I ribunals of
Mixed Jurisdiction were established. In 1869 tke Suez Ganal
was opened. In 1866 ke obtained from tke Sublime I orte
and the Sultan ’Abdu-l-’Aziz, in return for an increase of the
tribute, tke recognition of the principle of Primogeniture,
tkat is the rigkt of succession to kis ckildren in a direct line.

200

In 1867 the Persian title of Khedive  was bestowed upon
him by the Sultan; and lastlv, in 1873, the confirmation and
enlargement of ali privileges theretofore granted, such as an
indepenaent administration of Justice, the right to conclude
conventions with foreign Powers, to coin money, to raise loans,
to increase the army to 30,000 men. On the other hand the
tribute rose to L 700,000 (or 133,635 purses). He visited
England in July 1867. Some of the improvements were: the
Docks at Suez; the harbor and quays at Alexandria; the
Khedivial Public Library.  He sent an army to conquer
Abyssinia, which undertaking signally f a i 1 e d. He greatly
increased the public debt  of the country, which reached the
enormous figure of 98,000,000 L. E. The European Powers
insisted so strongly upon financial reform tha.t in 1878 the
Khedive dismissed his finance minister Ismafil Sadiq, his foster
brother. Then he and many members of his family gave up
427,000 acres of their lands to the State, to secure another
loan of 8 1 / 2  millions. An Englishman and a Frenchman were
put at the head of the Ministries of Finance and Public Works.
In 1879 the army officers, who had been either discharged for
economy or had received no pay for 18 months, made a serious
demonstration. Thereupon the Khedive formed a native ministry
under the presidency of Sharif Pasha. The Great Powers of
Europe then agreed to request the Sultan ’Abdu-l-Hamid II to
depose Ismafil Pasha. The Sultan decreed the deposition on
the 26th of June 1879. A civil list of L. E. 50,000 per annum
was allowed for the deposed Khedive. He at first wished to
retire to Constantinople, and then he thought of going to Algiers.
Both places were forbidden him; whereupon he settled for
a time at Naples, and afterwards removed, with the approval
of the Sultan ’Abdu-l-Hamid II, to Constantinople, on account
of his health.

1879—1892. Muhammad Tawflq Pasha, born in 1852,
the eldest son of the deposed Khedive.

The Firman oflnvestiture  was granted by the Sultan
to Tawfiq Pasha in Aug. 1879. At first the Sublime Ottoman

201

Porte sought to revoke the enlarged concessions and privileges,
granted to Isma’il Pasha in the firman of 1873, and to reestab-
lish only those contained in the firman of 1841. The Western
Powers of Europe, however, intervened with the Sultan; and
the Investiture of Tawfiq Pasha was granted with the following
points: The Khedive was empowered to conclude conventions
of Commerce and customs duties with foreign States; to ad-
minister independently the finances of Egypt; to keep a standing
army of not more than 18,000 men; but might not contract
new loans without the approval of the Sultan; and the tribute
was fixed at 150,000 purses. A law of Liquidation was elabor-
ated which regulated the enormous puhlic debt.

He had during his father’s reign married the Princess
Ammah, who bore him 2 sons and 2 daughters. He was
a gentle, forbearing, and God-fearing ruler.

On the 5th and 8th of Sept. 1881 a military revolt
broke out in Cairo. The native Egyptian officers and troops,
headed by 'Urabi, Tulbah, and ’Abdu-l-’aal Beys and by
Malimud Sami, protested against the action of the then Minister
of War, who promoted Turkish Circassian officers in the army
and disregarded the claims of the native Egyptian officers to
like promotion. The government sought to punish those officers
for insubordination to the will of their War Minister. But
the three officers had not only the goodwill and sympathies of
their regiments, but the favor of public opinion at home and
abroad; for, ever since the year 1878, in which the Khedive
Isma’11 had found it necessary to call in Europeans to help
regulate the shattered finances, indeed ever since the disastrous
Abyssinian war in 1875 and 1876, the government of Egypt,
in its anxiety to meet the demands of its c r e d i t o r s, had on
the one hand alienated the sympathies of the native classes by
largely favoring the employment of foreigners in high offices,
and had on the other hand lost its control over the army, ever
since the serious demonstration of the army officers in 1879
under Isma’il Pasha’s reign. With the army dissatisfied, and
the public opinion alienated, the government was left w:thout

202

the only two means that can alone maintain authority in any
State. It eould neither use force, nor could it rely on the
majority. So when it sought to arrest the three insubordinate
officers, their regiments freed them; and the people looked upon
them as the champions of the Cause of right, self-preservation
and religion.

But the ways of God are not the ways of man; and
those three officers lost their golden opportunity; for instead
of seeking only the puhlic good and their personal freedom,
they set themselves at the head of a great movement which
aimed at a total expulsion from Egypt of everything foreign
— Turk, Syrian, Armenian and European — and the setting up
of a so - called Arabian National Power, which was to rival in
splendor the Caliphates of old, the heads of which Power were
to be 'Urabi, Tulbah, 'Abdu-l-’aal and Mahmud Sami. When
they began to seek their own aggrandisement — alas for them
and for many others too — the Great Arm, which raises up
and puts down whom it will, allowed in its irresistible omni-
potence, two great and most unhappy complications to arise:
first, the riot in Alexandria of the llth of June 1882, which
shocked Europe, and second, the question of blocking the Suez
Canal, ivhich especially affected Great Britain, it being the
highway to her vast Eastern Dominions. Thus then on the
llth of July 1882 British ships bombarded Alexandria;
then British ships entered the Suez Canal and landed a large
army. On the 13th of Sept. this army stormed and took the
strongly fortified camp of the 'Urabists at Tell-el-Kebir.
And so ended the 'Urabi events that had lasted only one year.

The Khedive Tawfiq was reinstated; the British army
left, leaving however in Egypt an army of Occupation of a few
thousand men.

In 1882 a rebellion  broke out in the Nile lands of
the Soudan,  led by Muhammad Ahmad who assumed the title
of al-Mahdi. He was in the island called Aba, on the Nile.
In 1883 he besieged Ubayyid and took it, thus becoming
master of ali Kordofan. In Sept. 1883 an Egyptian army

203

started from Khartoum to quell the Mahdist movement. This
m  ni j was under Ala-ud-din Pasha and the English colonel
Ifieks, and consisted of eleven thousand men. They lost their
way in the dry deserts between Khartum and Kordofan, many
died of thirst, and ali the rest, too weak to fight, were cut to
pieces by the Mahdists. In 1883 the rebels threatened Souakin.
Baker Pasha was sent from Cairo and Suez by sea to Souakin
with a force. In January 1884 Gordon Pasha was sent to
Khartoum to try and pacify the Mahdists, or at least to deliver
o ver the Soudan to the leading chiefs and then evacuate it,
and bring back ali Egyptians with him. Gordon Pasha reached
Khartoum on the 18th of Feb. 1884. In March 1884 the
Mahdists surrounded Khartum on ali sides, so that Gordon
Pasha had to exercise ali his military škili in simply holding
out and sustaining a siege. In Sept. 1884 General Lord
Wolseley was sent to Egypt with a small force of British
troops to go up the Kile and relieve Khartum. (This Outline
must be left unfinished; cf. the Preface.)

Snmmary. After the conquest by Sultan Šalim  I in 922/1517,
Egypt remained for three centuries a Turkish Pashalik, where, however, the
authority of the Pasha sent from Constantinople was minimized by a couneil
of Mamluk Beys. The arrival of Napoleon in 1798 put an end to this divided
systein. But after the vietories of England at Abuqir and Alexandria and
the consequent withdrawal of the French in 1801, the old dissensions revived.
In 1805, however, Muhammad 'Ali,  the commander of an Albanian
regiment in the Turkish army of Egypt, after massacring a number of the
Mamluk chiefs, made himself master of Cairo. A second massacre in 1811
completed the work; and thencefonvard Egypt has been governed, in official
subordination to the Sublime Porte, by the dynasty of Mnhammad 'Ali, whose
fourth successor, Isma’il Pasha, in 1866, adopted the official title of Khedive.
Syria was annexed in 1831, but restored to Turkey under pressure of England
and the other European Powers in 1841. The Sudan was conquered in
successive expeditions, down to the time of Ismahl Pasha, but abandoned
after the Mahdists took Khartum and killed General Gordon in 1885. Ihe
Southern boundary of Egypt is now drawn near the 2nd Cataract, above
Halfah (Samnali and Kumine), as in the days of the XIIth dynasty; and since
the suppression of 'Urabi’s military revolt by English troops in 1882, the
administration of Egypt has been conducted under the presence of a British
Army of Occupation and the advice of English Officials.

204

A.H. A.D.

1220 — Date. Viceroys or Khedives. Since 1805.

1220 Muhammad ’Ali. 1805

1264 Ibrahim. 1848

1265 'Abbas I. 1849

1270 Sa’id. 1854

1280 Isma’11*. 1863

1297 Muhammad Tawffq. 1879

sinoe 1309 'Abbas II.since 1892.

* Left Egypt by order of the Suzerain at the instigation of France and England.

1. Muhammad 'Ali

2. Ibrahim Tusun (did not rule) 4. Sa’id 'Abd-ul-Hallm

(did not rule)

5. Isma’il 3. 'Abbas I

I

6. M. Tawflq

I

,---s

7. ’Abbas II Muhammad ’Ali.

Retrospect: The Arab Caliphs.

The ancient Arabs had been for centuries divided into
many tribes and small communities, wbich were distracted by
petty jealousies, and had wasted their rude strength and warlike
energies on border raids and cattle - lifting excursions. Their
knowledge consisted of an imperfect acquaintance with the
apparent motions of the heavenlj bodies; their intellectual
attainments found expression in the recital of odes and war-
songs, in the declamation of poems of praise, satire, and lamen-
tation. The ancient kingdoms in Yaman had passed away,
and that ‘happy land’ had become a Persian province. The
Arab kings of al-Hira on the Euphrates were the submissive
vassals of the Chosroes; the princes of Ghassan and Hauran
on the borders of Syria acknowledged the suzerainty of the
proud Byzantine emperors.

In the first quarter of the Vllth century a revolution
burst forth and spread with lightning-like rapidity over the
whole eastern world. MUHAMMAD the son of ’Abd-ullah, an
Arab of the Arabs, of the Hashim elan and of the Quraysh
tribe, raised a mighty protest against the prevailing idolatry
and corruption of his people; the cry “There is no god but

205

tlie GOD, and Muhammad is God’s Apostle” rang througti the
drj valleys of tlie Hijaz. The eloquent Prophet with this great
and simple doctrine štručk a kitherto untouched chord in their
hearts; and soon a small number of devoted followers rallied
round the standard of Islam, to figkt, not as heretofore for tlie
temporary possession of a coveted pasture-ground, nor to avenge
some comrade’s fall, but to battle for an idea, for a conviction,
for the faith. (Palmer, History of the Jewish People.)

Even small successes beget more confidence and increased
conviction; and thus the little band of warriors fought more
fiercely, more entliusiastically, than before. And then began
to dawn upon them a great truth, and tliey learnt that, like
the bundle of sticks in the fable, they could be singly snapped
asunder by the weakest band, but when firmly knitted together
by a common bond, no man might bend them; they learnt
for the first time that they were a n a t i o n ; they began to feel
their gigantic strength, and they recognised the fact that dis-
union and anarchy had alone prevented that strength from
displaying itself before. It was not only for the spread of the
faith that they were fighting; it was, whether they at first
knew it or not, for the unity and aggrandisement of the Arab
race and the spread of their rich and vigorous speech.

Under the immediate successors of MUHAMMAD, the con-
quests of Islam spread far and wide in an incredibly short
space of time; ’Umar, the second caliph after the Prophet,
subdued during his short reign of ten years the wliole of Arabia,
Syria, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. Thenceforth the Arab king-
dom was no longer a kingdom of the united Arabs within their
native peninsula, but had become a vast empire over a variety
of subdued races and conquered territories.

The Arabic word Khalifah means successor, vicar. Ihe
caliphs were the successors of the Prophet and Apostle in his
office of spiritual and temporal ruler and civil and religious
judge. Tkey were not his successors in his character of prophet,
apostle and lawgiver, these three great functions having ceased
with his earthly career.

206

The Caliphate is the kingdom of the Arabs founded by
the caliphs. A caliph’s reign is also called his caliphate; the
caliphate further means the rank and dignity of a caliph.

Muhammad having before his decease designated no
successor, the first caliph was elected,  in 11/632, by the
leading Arabs. Their choice fell upon the faithful Abu-Bakr,
who continued to administer their public affairs till his death
in 13/634. He, and the three or four caliphs next after him,
who resided at Madinah and Consolidated the Caliphate and
extended the power of the Arabs, enjoy paramount esteem
among the Believers. The three after Abu-Bakr were: ’Umar,
whose rule lasted from 634 — 644; 'Uthman,  644 — 656;
and 'Ali,  656 — 661.

After the assassination of 'Ali and the brief six months’
rule of his son al-Hasan,  the experienced Mu’awiyah*
established the caliphate of the Umayyades, which lasted from
661—750, had its seat at Damascus, and became hereditary,
— hereditary in the sense that each reigning caliph, in the
exercise of his prerogative to designate a successor, no longer
let his choice fall, as had been the rule previously, upon the
worthiest among the Believers, but confined it to one of the
Umayyade lineage.

Under Mu’awiyah, North Africa and Central Asia were
coiupiered. Under Walid  I,  Spain was coiujuered, and the
kingdom was at its highest glory.

At the battle in the year 750, on the small river Zab,
near the Tigris, where Abu-l-’Abbas  defeated Marwan II,
the Umayyade dynasty was overthrown, and the 'Abbaside
supremacy established; the seat of the caliphate was removed
from al-Hira to Anbar, and thence to Bagdad in 766. Mean-
while an Umayyade who had escaped, 'Abdu-l-Rahman,
found his way to Spain, and there founded, in 755, the in-
dependent caliphate of Cordova.

* Bom 600 A.D., son of Abu-Sufyan; governor of Syria after 644
after ’Uthman’s murder in 656, he posed as his avenger ; he was proclaimed
caliph in 657 at Damascus, and reigned from 661—679.

207

Abu-Ja’afar al-Manšur, the second caliph of tbe House
of 'Abbas, who was born in 712 and reigned from 754—775,
who oppressed the Christians in Syria and Egypt and founded
Bagdad, was a friend and patron of the Arts and Sciences.
The most renowned of the ’Abbasides is Harun al-Bashid, who
reigned from 786 — 809. Al-Ma-mun, his son and successor,
813 — 833, was himself a man of letters, and employed learned
men to translate many Greek Works into Arabic; he rendered
Bagdad the center of the literary activity of the Arabs.

The realm was gradually weakened by the revolt, here
and there, of single governors, or vice - gerents, who set up
kingdoms of their own; so that, by the year 944, the authority
of the 'Abbaside caliphs had become narrowed down to the
district around Bagdad. Thus arose what are called by the
Arab historians the Muluk-al-Tawa-if, i. e., the kings of the sects
or factions, such as the Aghlabides in Qayrawan; the Idrisides
in Fez; the Tahirides in Khorassan; the Šaffarides in Persia;
the Ikhshidides and then the ’Alawiyyin Fatimites in Egypt.
The latter assumed, in the year 972, the proud title of caliph also.

In the year 945 the Buyides took Bagdad, restricted the
caliph to his spiritual dignity, and wrested to themselves the
worldly authority, under the title of Emir-ul-Umara, Commandcr
of the Commanders.

In 1038 the Buyides were in their turn overthrown by
the Saljuq Turks. In 1258 Bagdad, under the 56th [shadow
of a] caliph al-Musta’šim, was taken by the Mongols, and the
Eastern Caliphate was brought to an end.

The Andalusian Calipbate of Cordova lasted from 755 till
1236; the kingdom ofGranada, till 1492. The last ’Abbasidewho
bore the title of caliph in Egypt — where the worldly power had
passed in the year 1171 from the Fatimites to the Ayyubide
sultans — died in 1538, whereupon the Ottoman Sultans assumed
the title of Commander of the Believers. That last caliph in
Egvpt was taken to Constantinople, by the sultan Šalim I, but was
afterwards allowed to return to Cairo, where he died in 1538
in such obscurity that now no man knows where his earthly
remains lie buried.

208

Y a t h l* i b , a 1 - M a d 1 n a li.

(Hughes’s Dictionary of Islam.)

The ancient name, Yathrib, is mentioned once in the
Qur-an, see Surah XXXIII, 13, al-Ahzab. According to the
traditionist, the PROPHET changed the name from Yathrib to
Madinatu-l-Nabi, 'the Prophefs City’, because the first was
a name of shame and reproach, see Majma’- ul-Bihar, vol. iii,
p. 499. ‘The City’ is celebrated as the plače of refuge and
burial plače of MUHAMMAD, and as the birthplace of his mother
Ammah, she having been of the Aus-Khazraj tribe, who in-
habited Yathrib and the neighborhood. It is esteemed only
second to Makkah in point of sanctitj, the third being ‘the
House of the Sanctuary’, better known in European languages
by the name of Jerusalem.

It is built on an elevated inland plain of Arabia, not
far from the eastern base of the mountain-ridge which separates
the table-land from the lower coastland between the Red Sea
and the ridge. The town stands on the lowest part of the
plain vvhere the water-courses unite, which produce in the rainy
season numerous pools of stagnant water, and render the climate
somewhat unhealthy. Gardens and date-palm groves, interspersed
with fields, inclose the town on three sides; on the side tovrard
Makkah the rocky soil renders cultivation impossible.

The city forms an oval, about 2,800 paces in circuit,
ending in a point. The castle is built at the point, on a small
rocky elevation. The whole is enclosed by a thick stone wall,
between 35 and 40 feet high, flanked by about 30 towers, and
surrounded by a ditch. Three well - built gates lead into the
town. The houses are well built of stone, and generally two
storeys high. As this stone is of a dark color, the streets
have a gloomy aspect; moreover they are for the most part
very narrovr, often only three or even but two paces across.
A few of the main streets are paved with stone. There are
only two large streets vvhich contain shops.

209

The principal buildings within the city are the great
mosque containing MUHAMMAD’S tomb and the tombs of Abu
Bakr and 'Umar, two line colleges, and the castle, which stands
at the western extremity of the city and is surrounded by
strong walls and several high and solid towers. AVithin the
castle is a deep well of good water.

The town is well supplied with sweet water by a sub-
terraneous canal which runs from the village of Quba’, about
three - quarters of a mile distant in a southerly direction. In
several parts of the town step? are made down to the canal,
where the inhabitants supply themselves with vratcr, which,
however, contains nitre, and produces indigestion in persons
not accnstomed to it. There are also many wells scattered
over the town; every garden bas one by which it is irrigated;
and when the ground is bored to the depth of 25 or 30 feet,
water is found in plenty. During the rainy season, many
torrents descend from the higher grounds to the lower depression
in which al-Madinah is built, and part of the city is inundated.
This plentiful supply of water made this site a considerable
settlement of Arabs long before it became sacred among Muslims
by the flight, residence, and death of the Prophet, to which
it owes its second name.

M a k k a h.

Makkah is the Capital of Arabia, and the most sacred
city of the Muslims. It is celebrated as the birth- plače of
MUHAMMAD, and as the site of the Ka’bah, or Sacred Cube-
Building. In some of the Arabic dialects M often becomes B,
especially at the opening of a word; and one of the ancient
names for Makkah was Bakkah.

It is situated in about 21° 30' N. lat., 40° 20 B. long.,
and 70 miles from the Red Sea, in a sandy valley running
north and south, and from 100 to 70 paces broad. Ihe chiof
part of the city is placed where the valley is vvidest. In the

14

210

narrower part tliere are single rows of houses only, or detached
shops. The town itself covers a space of about 1,500 paces
in length; but the whole extent of ground, comprehended under
tbe denomination of Makkah, amounts to 3,500 paces in length.
The surrounding rocky hills are from 200 to 500 feet in height,
barren, and destitute of trees. Most of the town stands in the
valley itself, but there are some parts built on the sides of
the hills. The streets are in general broader than those of
Eastern cities, for the purpose of accommodating the vast
number of pilgrims who resort to it. The houses are lofty
and of stone; and the numerous windows that face the streets
give to these quite a European aspeet. Many of the houses
are 3 storeys high.

The only public plače in the body of the town is the large
square of the great mosque, which is enlivened during the Hajj
(pilgrimage) by a great number of well-stored shops. The streets
are ali unpaved, and in summer the sand and dust are as great
a nuisance as the mud is in the rainy season, during which
they are scarcely passable after a storm.

Makkah is badly provided with water. There are a few
cisterns for receiving rain, and the well - water is brackish.
The famous well of Zamzam, in the great mosque, is indeed
copious enough to supply the whole town, but the water is not
well tasted. The best water is brought by an aqueduct from
the vicinity of 'Arafah, 6 or 7 miles distant. There are two
places in the interior of the eity where the aqueduct runs above
ground; and in these parts it is let off into small channels or
fountains, at which some slaves of the Sharif — the ruler of
the city — are stationed to exact a toll from persons who fill
their water-skins.

Ali the houses in Malika, except those of the principal
and richest inhabitants, are constructed for the accommodation
of lodgers, and divided into numerous separate apartments, each
consisting of a sitting-room and a small kitchen. Except 4 or
5 houses belonging to the Sharif, two colleges, and the sacred
mosque, Makkah has no public edifices of importance.

211

The inhabitants of Makkah, with few exceptions, are
Arabians. They liave two kinds of employment — trade and
the Service of the Temple. During the Hijj, Makkah becomes
one of the largest fairs in the East, and certainly the most
interesting, from the variety of nations which frequent it. The
merchants of the plače make large profits during this time on
their merchandise. They have also a considerable trade with
the nomadic Beduins, and with other parts of Arabia. The
greatest profit, hovvever, is derived from supplying food for
60,000 pilgrims and forage for 20,000 camels. The only
articles manufactured there are some pottery and beads; there
are a few dyeing-houses in the eity.

Makkah is governed by a Sharif, who is chosen from
the Sayyids — descendants of Fatimah, the Prophet’s daughter
— settled in the Hijaz, who were formerly numerous, but are
now reduced to a few families in the city. Although he obtains
liis office by the choice of his people, or by prestige, he holds
his authority from the Ottoman Sultan.

Although al-Madinah was the residence of the first three
Caliphs, Makkah was the chief seat of government during the
reigns of the four or five elected successors, until Mu’awiyah,
the first of the Umayyad Dynasty, made Damascus the Court
of the Caliphate, since which time both al-Madinah and Makkah
lost their political ascendancy, but have ever retained their
religious preponderance as the two cities of the Haram or sacred
precincts.

u*

212

Verfall.

Schwer ist der Volker Schlaf, wenn eingeschlafen
Fern im Gebirg der Adler ihrer Thaten,

Wenn ilire Banner Fremde niedertraten,

Wenn ihre Schiffe ruhn im seichten Hafen.

Auf Trummern bliihn Cypressen und Agaven,

Und wo einst Knaben scbon um Waffen baten,

Stehn jetzt die letzten Manner stumm, verrathen,

Und sterben rulimlos hin, wie andre Sklaven.

Die Sitten kranken, todt sind Ruhm und Ehre,

Die Kraft versiegt, man schlagt die freie Webre,

Man schlagt voli Furcht das freie Wort in Bande.

Entschleiert durch die Gassen zieht die Schande,

Der Schonheit Bliite reift gemeinen Lušten,

Und schuldig ist das Kind schon an den Brusten.

Hermann Lingg.

Frei nach Goethe.

Ich sah’s in arbeitsamen Handen —

Wie denk’ ieh gern der schonen Zeit —
Sich erst entwickeln, dann vollenden
Zu nur bescheid’ner Niitzlichkeit.

Zwar ich besitz’ es gegemvartig,

Doch soli ich mir nur selbst gestehn,

Ich wollt’, es ware noch nicht fertig —
Das Machen war doch gar zu schon.

Frei nach Riickert.

Gliicklicli ist nun durchgefiihrt dies Auszuglein;
Schatze grub ich nur aus andrer Forscher Schacht.
Ruhmen darf ich nicht mich, dass ich’s gut verfasst,
Sondern fiirchten, gutes Ding zu schleeht gemacht.

Table of Contents,

without

tbe Nnmbers of tlie Pages to whicb the Headings belong,

in order that

tbe Papil shall have to look them ont for bimself.

Introdnction: Arabia ..

Geography .

Orography.

Inner Arabia.

Climate; Geological Formation.

Flora and Fauna.

Five Great Eegions.

Chief Cities.

Inhabitants.. . .

Caravan Eoutes.

Present Political Geography.

Ethnography .

Genealogioal Table.

CJahtanides and Ismailides.

Pedigrees.

Part I: Pre-islamic Period; tbe Days of Ignorance and Ronghness .

Earlier Parts of the Pre-islamic Period.

Lost Tribes and Surviving Tribes.

Surviving Tribes: Qahtan, 'Adnan.•

Two Great Migrations: Flood of ’Arim.

Kings of Yaman : lst Dynasty; 29 names.

2nd Dynasty; 20 names.

Abyssinian Supremacy.

Abraha and Year of Elephant.

Sayf-ibn-Dhi-Yazan.

Arab Kings in ’Iraq; 26 names .

Arab Kings in Ghassan; 32 names .

Summary Eemark.

Page

214

Pa ge

Arab Kings of Kindah in Najd.

Arab Kings, Various Other.

Kings of Hijaz: Jurhumites.

Emirs, Guardians of the Ka’abah.

’Adnan and his Successors .

Common Bonds of Union, Six.

The Wars of the Ancient Arabs: Basus.

Horse-race.

Religion of Ancient Arabs .

Language and Literature.

Semitic Languages.

Writing.

Literature.

Collections of Heroic Poeras.

Meeting Plače; Fair; Suq.

Poets: of lst Rank.

of 2nd Rank.

of 3d Rank.

Part II: History of the Arabs since the Rise of Islam .

From Polytheism to Monotheism: MUHAMMAD.

Remark.

The Elected Caliphs, or the Successors Guided in the Right Way;

Period of Conquest and Colonisation.

Abu-Bakr; Islam unites ali Arabia.

’Umar: Conquest of Traq, Syria, Palestine and Egypt ....

Mosque el -Aqša.

’Uthman: Conquest of Africa and Khorassan..

’Ali and al-Hasan: Battle of the Camel; Plain of Siffin

Al-Hasan and Mu’awiyah: Peace.

Summary .

Language and Literature of Period of Conquest and Colonisation

Arabic Language spreads over conquered Countries ....

Literature: The Qur-an.

Poetry: Religious.

The Umayyades in Damascus 41/661 —132/750 .

Mu’awiyah I: Byzantium; Qayrawan.

Yazid I: Mashhad Husayn; 'Abdullali b. Zubayr.

Mu’awiyah II: Abdication.

Manvan I: Battle of Marj Rahit.

’Abdul-Malik: Muš’ab killed; ’Abdullah b. Zubayr skinned . .

Wasit founded; Dome of the Rock; Coins .

215

Page

Al-Walid I: Arabic the Language of Government.

Amawi Mosque.

Tariq eonquers Andalusia.

Empire extended .

Suleyman: Fruitless Siege of Constantinople.

’Umar: poisoned.

Yaz5d II: Battle of ’Akr near Kufa; Defeat near Toulouse

Hisham: Trouble on ali Sides.

Yamanites and Mudarites.

Charles Martel; Battle of Tours.

Al-Walid II: killed after 1 year.

Yazid III: died of Plague after 5 montlis.

Ibrahim: reigned 70 days; ’Ain-al-Jarr.

Mararvan II: Battle of Qinnisrin.

Two Brothers.

Battle of Eiver Zab.

Summary.

Genealogical Table of Umayyades.

General Bemarks on Umayyade Dynasty.

Language and Literature ..

Caligraphy and Orthography.

Poetry.

Larv: Abu-Hamfah.

The 'Abbasides in Asia, 132/750—656/1257 .

The Periods in their History.

The Three Brothers.

Abu-l-’Abbas: Umayyades and ’Alawis.

Al-Manšur: Trvo Claimants.

Bagdad founded.

Science and Learning.

Al-Mahdi: Muqanna.

Harun and the Empress Irene.

AI-Hadi; Khaizaran.

Idrisides in Morocco.

Harun-al-Eashid: Khorassan.

The ..

The Barmakides.

The Aghlabides of Qayrawan; Eafi’ b. Layth.

Idrisids in Morocco.

Aghlabids in Tunis and Sicily.

Al-Amin: Arab and Persian Kivalry.

Battle of ..

216

Page

Al-Ma’ir>un; finally enters Bagdad.

Learning.

Al-MiPatašim, “the Eight-man”.

Foreign Slaves compose the Army.

The Byzantines.

Al-Wathiq: Many Revolts.,.

Al-Mutawakkil; Revolts; murdered.

Al-Muntašir: Persians and Yamanites vs. Turks.

Al-Musta’m: More Disturbances.

Persian Revi val.

Dulafids.

Sajids.

’Alids.

Tahirids.

Saffarids.

Šamani ds.

Uak Khans.

Ziyarids.

Buwayhids &c.

A]-Mu’atazz: died in underground Chamber.

Ahmad ibn Tulim.

Al-Muhtadi: killed by Turkish Troops.

Al-Mu’atamid: Muwaffaq Talhah.

The Provinces rebel.

The Lord of the Zanj.

Al-Mu’atadid.

Isma’ilides.

Al-Muktafi; and al-Muqtadir.

The Qaramitah..

The Byzantines.

Tulunides in Egypt and Syria.

Ahmad son of Tulun.

Mosque of ibn Tulun.

Khumarawayh.

Deivdrop.

Jaysh: killed by the troops.

Harun: the Turk Abu-Ja’afar.

Shayban: ruled 12 days..

Summary for Tulunids.

217

Al-Muqtadir: deposed.

Ibn Muqlah.

Al-Qahir: eyes put out.

Fatimites in Africa.

Ikhshidides in Egypt.

Buyyides or Daylams in Southern Persia and ’Iraq . . . .

Al-Radi: Emiru-l-Umara.

Hamdanides in Musul and Diarbakr.

Buyyides take Farsistan.

Fatimides in Africa .

Ikhshidides in Egypt and Syria.

IJavlams in Tabaristan and Jorjan.

Samanides in Khorassan.

Qaramitah in Bahrayn and Yamamah.

Ikhshids in Damascus and Egypt.

Al-Muttaqi: eyes put out.

Arah Period in Syria and Mesopotamia.

Hamdanids.

Mirdasids.

’Uqaylids.

Marwanids.

Mazyadids .

Al-Hustakfi: eyes put out.

Buyyides take Bagdad.

Caliphs and Buyyide Sultana .

Saljuq Turka enter Bagdad.

Al-Muqtadi: Wazir Nižam-ul-Mulk.

Alp Arslan and Malik Shah.

Saljuq Power ..

Al-Mustažhir: Tutush and the khutba; Barqi-Yaroq.

Assassins.

The Saljuqs in Westem Asia.

Al-Mustarshid; he directs the Affairs.

Crusaders; ..

Al-Rashid; flees to Mušul.

The Ata-Bega or Saljuq Officers.

Burids.

Zangida .

Begtiginids .

218

Page

Ortuqids.

Adliarbijan.

Salgharids.

Shahs of Khwarism, &c.

Al-Muqtafi; Al-Mustanjid; Al-Mustadi.

Salah-ul-dln in Egypt.

AlkNašir; fortifies Bagdad vs. Khwarism.

Salah-ul-din enters Jerusalem.

Jingiz Khan the Conqueror.

Al-Zahir: ten months.

Al-Mustanšir: Mongol Eaids.

The Mongol Tatars: their Career of Conquest.

Al-Musta’šim: Eibek and ibn ’Alqami.

Hnlagu the Mongol takes Bagdad.

General Remarks on 'Abbasside Caliphate: Summary .

Language and Literature.

Loth’s Division of Literary Periods.

lst Period, under Umayyades.

2nd Period, from 750 — 950 .

3d Period, from 950 —1258 .

4th Period, from 1258 —1517 .

5th Period, from 1500 —1800 .

6th Period, since 1800 .

Printing Establishments.

Eminent Writers.

The Fatimites in Tunis and Egypt.

’Ubaydullah: from Egypt to Atlantic.

Eaqqadah .

Mahdiyyah.

Al-Qa-im: Mahdiyyah besieged.

Al-Manšur: courage, energy, prudence.

Al-Mu’izz: Sieily conquered.

Jauhar conquers Egypt.

Cairo founded.

Friday Khutbah; Great Schism .

Ziride Dynasty in North Africa.

Mosque al-Azhar.

Al-’Azlz: Patriarchs of Alexandria and Jerusalem.

Invasion of Palestine.

Al-Hakim: Abu Rakwa.

Darazi and Hamzah.

Al-Žahir: Sitt-ul-Mulk and Jarjarai.

Famine in Egypt.

219

Al-Mustanšir: Seliš treasures and Books.

Mercenaries and Black Troops.

Ortoqs in Jerusalem.

Al-Musta’ali: Wazir al-Afdal.

First Crusaders.

Al-amir; Al-Hafiz; Al-Žafir.

Al-Fayiz; Al-’adid.

Al-’adil: Dargham and Shawir.

Šalahu-l-din.

Fatimite Scliism ends.

Summary.

North Afriea from the VHIth Century to the XIIIth . . . .

Muravridin.

Muwahhidin.

The Arabs in Andalusia.

Andalnsia: Geography.

Its Conquest by the Arabs.

The Umayyades in Spain.

Founding of Westem Umayyade Caliphate.

’Abdu-l-Rahman al-Dakhil.

Hisham I: his two brotbers revolt.

Al-Hakam I: reforms his Conduct.

’Abdu-l-Rahman II: Buildings.

Muhanimad; Al-Mundhir; 'Abdullab.

’Abdu-l-Rahman III: 20 years of peace.

Cordova the Seat of Learning.

Al-Hakam II: Victories by sea and land.

Books and Schools.

Hisham II; designates his wazir al-Mansur as Successor . .

Al-Mahdi; Suleyman.

Alphonso V of Castille . .

Idrisides.

Al-Murtadi: defeated and killed.

AI-Mnstažhir.

Al-Mustakfi.

Hisham III.

Other Muslim Rulers in Andalusia.

Sultans in Grenada.

Ferdinand and Isabella enter Grenada.

Minor Spanish ..

..

Closing Remark.

220

Appendix: Egypt since tlie Overthrotv of Arab Supreniacy .

The Dynasty of Ayyubide Sultana.

Šalahu-l-din.

Nuru-l-din.

His Kingdom.

Part of Syria re-conquered.

The Emir Baha-ul-din.

Bir Yusuf.

Conquest of Upper Mesopotamia.

Battle of Qam-Hittin.

Jerusalem surrenders.

Siege of Tyre.

’Akka and Askalon.

His death.

The Muski Street.

Three Branches of Ayyubide Sultans.

Al-Maliku-l-’Aziz: 3d pyramid; klialij.

Al-Manšur, 21 months; al-Afdal.

Al-’adil Ayyub: Empire reunited.

The Crusaders.

Al-Kamil: troops revolt.

The Crusaders.

Al-Manšurah.

Treaty of Peaoe vrith Emperor Frederic Seoond.

Al-’adil son of al-Kamil: Bilbays.

Al-Šalih: enters Cairo triumphantly.

Khuwarism tribe.

Seventh War of Crusaders.

Ata-Bey Fakhru-l-dtn; Shajarat-ul-Durr.

Al-Mu’ažžam: dismisses officers.

End of Vllth Crusade.

Summary.

The Mamluks in Egypt, Ottoman Conquest, and French Invasion

Bahrite Mamluks.

Al-Žahir Baybars: Damaseus.

Surviving 'Abbasids.

Qalawun: Muristan.

Al-Našr: rules from Tunis to Bagdad.

Al-Hasan; his Mosque...

Burgite Mamluks.

Al-Žahir Barquq: Timurlang.

Al-Mu-ayyad; his Mosque .

Al-ashraf Burs Bey; his Mosque.

Page

221

Qayt Bey; his Mosque.

Qansaw IVth al-Ghuri; his mosque.

Sultan Šalim.

Tuman Bey Second: Birket-el-Hajj.

Sultan Šalim enters Cairo.

Summary.

Retrospect.

Egypt a Turkish Province.

Organisation.

'Ali Bey; Abu-Dahab.

Murad Bey and Ibrahim Bey.

French Expedition to Egypt ....  .

Organisation.

Battle of Gizah Pyramids.

Battle of Alexandria.

Egypt under Muhammad-'Ali Pasba and his Successors . .

Mubammad -'Ali Pasha.

Massacre of Mamluks.

Wahhabis in Central Arabia .

Military Reforms.

Nubia and Soudan, Conquest of.

War of the Morea.

Naval Battle at Navarino.

Internal Improvements.

Invasion of Syria.

Peace of Qutahia and Quniah.

Battle of Nizzib.

Firman of Investiture.

'Abbas Pasha I.

Sa’id Pasba.

Equitable ..

..

Crimean ..

Suez Canal begun.

Isma’il Pasha.

Internal Improvements.

Suez Canal opened.

Principle of Primogeniture . .

Title of Khedive.

Enlargement of Privileges.

Khedivial ..

Abyssinian Expedition..

Public Debt.

222

Page

Muhammad Tawfiq Pasha.

Pirman of Investiture.

Law of Liquidation .

Militarj Bevolt.

Bombardment of Alesandria.

Al-Tali al-Kabir.

Soudan Eebellion.

Summary.

Eetrospect:  The Arab Caliphs.

Yathrib, al-Madinah.

Makkah.