Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/601

Rh OMAYYADS.] MOHAMMEDANISM 573 razzia there. MerwAn, the father of Abd al-Melik, had designated as successor to the latter his other son, Abd al- Azfz, governor of Egypt. Abd al- Azfz having died in the year 84, Abd al-Melik chose as heirs of the empire, first his son Walfd, and after him his second son SolaimAn. 1 He himself survived Abd al- Azfz only two years, and died 14th ShawwAi 86 (8th October 705), at the age of about sixty. His reign was one of the most unquiet in the annals of Islam, but also one of tho most glorious. Abd al-Melik not only brought triumph to the cause of the Omayyads, but extended and strengthened the Moslem power externally. Amid so many grave anxieties, he yet found time for his pleasures. He was passionately fond of poetry, and his court was crowded with poets, whom ho loaded with favours, even if they were Christians, like Akhtal. In his reign flourished also the two celebrated rivals of Akhtal, Jarfr and Farazdak. 2 alfd r. 6. Immediately on his accession Walfd confirmed HajjAj in the government of Irak, and appointed as governor of Medina his cousin Omar b. Abd al- Azfz, who was received there with joy, his piety and gentle character being well known. Under his government important works were undertaken at Medina and Mecca by order of Walid, who, having no rivals to struggle against, was able to give his attention to pacific occupations. The mosque of Medina was enlarged, wells were sunk, the streets widened, and hospitals established. At Mecca many improvements were introduced. The reputation of Omar attracted to the two Holy Cities a great number of the inhabitants of Irak, who were groaning under the iron hand of Hajjaj. The latter, who was not a man to let his prey escape from his grasp, was so urgent with Walid that he obtained the dismissal of Omar b. Abd al- Aziz in the year 93, and the appointment of Othman b. HayyAn at Medina, and of KhAlid b. Abdallah at Mecca. These two prefects compelled the refugees at Mecca and Medina to return to Irak, where many of them were cruelly treated and even put to death by Hajjaj. It was probably his cruelty which drove so many men of Irak to enlist in the armies of the East and the South ; and this may in some degree account for the unheard-of successes of Kotaiba b. Moslim in Transoxiana, and of Mohammed b. KAsim in India. They may also be explained by the ambition of HajjAj, who, it is said, cherished the project of creating a vast empire for himself to the east and south of the Moslem realm, and had secretly promised the government of China to the first of his generals who should reach that country. Be this as it may, in the course of a very few years Kotaiba conquered the whole of Bokharia, KhArizm, and Transoxiana or Ma warA-annahr, as far as the frontiers of China. Meanwhile Mohammed b. Kasim invaded MokrAn, Sind, and Multan, carried off an immense booty, and reduced the women and children to slavery. In Armenia and Asia Minor, Maslama, brother of the Caliph Walid, and his lieutenants, also obtained numerous suc cesses against the Greeks. In Armenia, Maslama even advanced as far as the Caucasus. L- The most important achievement, however, of Walid s t reign was the conquest of Spain. The narrative of this Spam. con q ues |; belongs specially to the history of Spain ; and we shall therefore only touch briefly on it here. We have seen that, even in the Caliphate of Abd al-Melik, MusA b. Nosair had penetrated as far as Tlemcen in Africa. Under AValfd, Musa, who had been appointed governor of Africa, entered Morocco, occupied Fez and Tangier, and then 1 Abd al-Melik had several other sons, two of whom, Yazid and Hisham, also reigned. 2 See Caussin de Perceval, Journal asiatiqut, 2 serie, vols. xiii. and xiv. returned to Kairawan, having made his lieutenant TArik governor of Tangier and of all the West of Africa. The town of Ceuta still held out under its governor Julian, who held it in the name of Witiza, King of Spain. Witiza having been dethroned by Roderic, Julian thought he might find the Arabs useful allies in the struggle which he proposed to carry on against the usurper 3 and entered into negotiations with TArik. The latter, foreseeing the possibility of conquering for the advantage of the Arabs a country which had been represented to him as a paradise, requested instructions from Musa, who referred the matter to the Caliph. Walfd gave Musa carte blanche, and TArik hastened to make alliance with Julian. He first, however, sent four ships, with five hundred men under the command of Tarff, to reconnoitre the country. This expedition was successful, and TArik, now certain of meeting no serious opposition to his landing, passed into Spain himself, at the head of twelve thousand men, in the year 92 (A.D. 710-711), and landed at the spot which thence received the name of Jabal-TArik, or &quot;Mountain of TArik,&quot; a name which was afterwards corrupted by the Westerns into Gibraltar. At the news of this invasion, Roderic led a numerous army against the Arabs, but was completely routed near Cadiz, and perished in the conflict. Musa, jealous of the success of his lieutenant, hastened to Spain with eighteen thousand men, and his first step on arriving was to send TArik orders to suspend his march. But TArik, far from obeying, divided his little army into three corps, and obtained possession successively of Ecija, Malaga, Elvira, Cordova, and Toledo. Musa, hopeless of arresting the victorious march of TArik, determined to play the part of a conqueror himself, and took Seville, Carmona, and Merida. On rejoining TArik at Toledo, the first step he took was to throw him into prison. The Caliph, how ever, gave orders that he should be set at liberty and restored to his command. The two conquerors then shared the country between them, and, in less than three years, all Spain was subdued, to the very foot of the Pyrenees. Meanwhile Walfd, fearing to see Musa declare his independence, recalled him to Damascus. He obeyed after appointing his son Abd al- Azfz governor of Spain, and assigning Seville as his residence. MiisA left Spain in the month of Safar, A.H. 95 (October-November 713), in company with TArik, bringing an immense booty to Damascus, and leading in his train a great number of prisoners. His journey from Ceuta to Damascus was one long triumph. He reached Egypt in the month of Rabf I. in the following year (Nov.-Dec. 714), and then moved on by short marches towards Damascus, where he did not arrive till two months and a half later, at the very moment when Walfd had just breathed his last, and his brother SolaimAn had been saluted as Caliph. The renowned HajjAj had preceded his sovereign, and had expired five days before the end of Ramadan, A.H. 95. Musa did not receive the reward due to his distinguished services. Accused of peculation by the new Caliph, he was beaten with rods, and condemned to a fine of 100,000 pieces of gold ; and all his goods were confiscated. SolaimAn did not stop here : he caused Abd al- Azfz, the son of MusA, to be put to death in Spain, and carried his cruelty so far as to show his severed head to MusA, asking him whether he recognised it. He replied that it was the head of a man a thousand times superior to him who had ordered his death. MusA died soon after. As for TArik, there is no further mention of him after the beginning of the reign of SolaimAn, and we must therefore suppose that he retired into private life. 3 According to Eastern chronicles, Julian s hatred of Roderic arose from the latter s having dishonoured his daughter.