Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/598

Rh 570 MOHAMMEDANISM [OMAYYADS. at Cufa. field of battle at Ain al-Warda, all the Shfites now acknowledged Mokhtdr as their chief. He, however, con sidering himself bound by his oath, remained inactive until the governor who had imposed it was replaced by Abdalldh b. Motf. The new Zobairite governor, suspect ing with reason that Mokhtar was about to recommence his intrigues, thought it advisable to invite him to his house, with the intention of having him arrested. Mokh tar called his partisans together, and plotted with them to take Ibn Motf by surprise. As, however, Sa d, one of the Shf ite chiefs, asked for a delay of a week, for the purpose of collecting troops, Mokhtar was obliged to feign illness in order to evade the governor s invitation, and took care to surround himself with a numerous body of guards. Meanwhile Sa d, who had only demanded this delay in order to ascertain the real wishes of Mohammed b. Hana- ffya, sent off four confidential messengers to Medina, to ask Mohammed whether he had really confided the care of his interests to Mokhtar. Mohammed contented himself with replying vaguely that it was the bounden duty of every good Moslem to take part with the family of the Prophet. These words were interpreted in favour of Mokhtar, and thenceforward all the Shfites followed him blindly as their chief. Mokhtar fixed the middle of the month Rabf I., A.H. 66, for the commencement of hostilities. During the night of the 13th to the 14th, the conspira tors intended to gain possession of the city by a coup tie main; but the governor was on his guard, and Revolt of Mokhtar and his Shfites took the course of leaving Cufa. Mokhtdr They numbered sixteen thousand resolute men. All the armies which Abdalldh b. Motf sent against them were successively beaten, and Mokhtdr soon re-entered Cufa in triumph, compelling the Zobairite governor to flee to Basra. Once master of Cufa, Mokhtar thought himself already in possession of the empire. He sent emissaries to Medina, to Mosul, to Madain, and even into Azerbaijan, with orders to induce the people to take the oath of allegiance to him. He then sent his generals, Yazid b. Anas and Zofar, against the Omayyad army, which had entered Mesopotamia after the battle of Am al-Warda, and these prevented the advance of the Syrians into Irak. Another of Mokhtar s generals, Ibrahim b. Malik, inflicted a serious defeat on the Syrians near Mosul, and Obaid Allah b. Ziydd, who commanded them, fell in the battle. Ibrahim was rewarded by Mokhtdr with the government of Mosul. Mokhtdr himself next took the title of &quot;lieutenant of the Mahdi &quot; 1 and inserted in the Khotba, on Friday s preaching, a prayer on behalf of Mohammed b. Hanafiya ; which was equivalent to declaring him Caliph. After this, urged on by his adherents, he caused all those who had taken part in the massacre of Hosain, the grandson of the Prophet, like Omar b. Sa d and Shimr, to be sought out and put to death. While these events were occurring, the Caliph at Damascus, Abd al-Melik, sent an army of observation to the frontiers of Arabia. Mokhtdr, having been informed of this, feigned an intention to help Ibn Zobair, and de spatched a body of three thousand men from Cufa, under the command of a certain Sharahil. His real object was to concentrate forces at Medina, with a view to attacking Ibn Zobair. But the latter penetrated his design, and two thousand Meccans marched by his orders to meet Sharahil, who was defeated. In the same year (A.H. 66) Mohammed b. Hanafiya had gone to Mecca to perform the ceremonies of the pilgrimage. 1 Mahdi, or &quot;the well-guided,&quot; is the name given by the Shi ites to that member of the family of All who, according to their belief, is one day to gain possession of the whole world, and set up the reign of righteousness in it. In Mokhtar s time, Mohammed b. Hanafiya was looked upon as the Mahdi. Ibn Zobair took advantage of this to seize his person, and confined him in a small house adjoining the well of Zamzam, within the precincts of the Ka ba. Mohammed succeeded in conveying intelligence of his detention to Mokhtdr ; and he, delighted to find his aid implored by the very man whose follower he called himself, swore to effect his rescue. He despatched a thousand chosen horsemen, who managed to conceal their march so well, that they were under the walls of Mecca before the son of Zobair had been able to make the slightest preparations for defence. They made their way into the Holy City ; but, being unwilling to draw the sword on that sacred ground, they armed them selves with sticks, broke in the doors of the house in which Mohammed b. Hanafiya was imprisoned, rescued him, and escorted him out of the city. A son of Mohammed, called All, who had also been thrown into prison, likewise suc ceeded in escaping, and rejoined his father at some distance from Mecca. In the following year, Ibn Zobair, who was determined to get rid, at all costs, of so dangerous an adversary as Mokhtdr, ordered his brother Mos ab to effect a junction with Mohallab, the conqueror of the Khdrijites, and to march against Cufa. Mos ab and Mohallab invested that city, and Mokhtdr, making a sortie against them, was beaten, taken prisoner, and beheaded. Irak thus, for Death of the second time, fell under the rule of Ibn Zobair. Mokhtar Ibrahim b. Mdlik, who held Mosul in the name of Mokhtdr, submitted to the conquerors, on condition of retaining his government ; but Mos ab deprived him of his office, and put Mohallab in his place. He himself was appointed governor of Irak by his brother, and, having installed himself at Basra, placed Cufa under the orders of his lieutenant Hdrith. The year after, the Khdrijites of Susiana raised a fresh insurrection, and invaded Irdk. Mohallab had to be recalled from Mosul, and during his absence it was Ibrahim b. Mdlik whom Mos ab chose to supply his place. The period of the pilgrimage caused a momentary truce to all these struggles, and in that year was seen the curious spectacle of four different standards planted near Mecca, belonging respec tively to four party chiefs, each of whom was a pretender to the empire : the standard of Abdalldh b. Zobair, Caliph of Mecca ; that of the Caliph of Damascus, Abd al-Melik ; that of the son of All, Mohammed b. Hanafiya ; and that of the Khdrijites, who were at that time under the command of Najda b. Amir. Such, however, was the respect inspired by the holy places, that no disorders resulted from the presence of so many inveterate rivals. The Omayyad Caliph, whose troops had been beaten in Mesopotamia, and who had been hitherto content to watch the frontiers of Arabia, Avas again prevented from pushing on military operations more actively by the breaking out of troubles in Syria. At the beginning of A.H. 69 (A.D. 688-689), Abd al-Melik having left Damascus at the head of a numerous army, with the purpose of marching against Irak, the Omayyad Amr b. Amr b. Sa id, whom he had appointed governor of Damascus, took Sa id. advantage of his absence to lay claim to the supreme power, and to have himself proclaimed Caliph by his partisans. Abd al-Melik was obliged to retrace his steps, and to lay siege to his own capital. The garrison of Damascus took fright, and deserted their posts ; so that Amr b. Sa id, abandoned by his followers, was compelled to surrender at discretion. Abd al-Melik at first meant to spare him, but he afterwards changed his mind, and struck off his head with his own hand. Scarcely had he suppressed this revolt, when the Emperor of Constantinople, Justinian II., in viola tion of the thirty years truce formerly concluded between Mo dwiya I. and Constantine IV., sent a Greek army to invade Syria, Abd al-Melik was obliged to buy peace