Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/607

Rh ABBASIDS.] MOHAMMEDANISM 579 The Ag labite.s Africa. Spanish Caliph ate. dynasty, after having accomplished his work, which, as the historians assert, cost the lives of more than 600,000 men. Notwithstanding the defeat of AbdallAh b. All and the murder of Abu Moslim, the spirit of rebellion was not yet broken. Risings took place in Mesopotamia and to a still greater extent in Khordsdn ; and the Caliph s troops were repeatedly beaten by the rebels ; but order was at last re-established by Mansur s generals, by Khazim b. Khozaima in Mesopotamia, and by Mohammed b. al- Ash ath in Khorasdn. About the same time Africa and Spain escaped from the dominion of the Eastern Caliphate ; the former for a season, the latter permanently. The cause of the revolt of Africa was as follows : As soon as Mansur ascended the throne, he wrote to Abd al-Rahmdn, announcing the death of Abu !- Abbas, and requiring him to take the oath of allegiance. Abd al-Rahman sent in his adhesion to the new Caliph, and added a few presents of little value. The Caliph was so much dissatisfied that he replied by a threatening letter which excited the anger of Abd al- RahmAn. He called the people together at the hour of prayer, mounted the pulpit, publicly cursed Mansur, and then declared his deposition from the Caliphate. He next caused a circular letter to be written, commanding all Maghrcbins to refuse obedience to the Caliph ; and this letter was circulated and read from the pulpit throughout the whole extent of the Maghrib (the West). A brother of Abd al-Rahm;ln, Ilyas, saw in this revolt an opportunity of obtaining the government of Africa for himself. Seconded by many of the inhabitants of Kairawan, who had remained faithful to the cause of the Abbasids, he attacked his brother, slew him, and proclaimed himself governor in his stead. This revolution in favour of the Abbasids was, however, of no long duration. Habib, the eldest son of Abd al-Rahman, had fled on the night of his father s murder, and Ilyas caused him to be pursued, with the object of transporting him to Andalusia. Habib was captured, but the vessel which was to convey him to Spain having been detained in port by stress of weather, the partisans of independence took arms, rescued Habib, and prepared to resist Ilyas, who was marching against them at the head of an army. Under these circumstances a fortunate idea occurred to Habib. He challenged his uncle IlyAs to single combat. Ilyas hesitated, but his own soldiers compelled him to accept the challenge. He measured arms with Habib, and was laid prostrate by him with a thrust of his lance. The party of independ ence thus triumphed, and several years elapsed before the . Abbasid general, Al-Aghlab, was able to enter Kairawan, i anil regain possession of Africa in the name of the Eastern Caliph. From this time forward, it must be added, Africa only nominally belonged to the Abbasids ; for, under the Caliphate of Harun al-Rashid, Ibrahim, the son of Al- Aghlab, who was invested with the government of Africa, founded in that province a distinct dynasty, that of the Aghlabites. Coincidently with the revolt in Africa, the independent Caliphate of the Western Omayyads was founded in Spain. The long dissensions which had preceded the fall of that dynasty in the East, had already prepared the way for the independence of a province so distant from the centre of the empire. Every petty emir there tried to seize sovereign power for himself, and the people groaned under the consequent anarchy. Weary of these commotions, the Arabs of Spain at last came to an understanding among themselves for the election of a Caliph, and their choice fell upon the last survivor of the Omayyads, Abd al-Rahman b. Mo awiya, grandson of the Caliph Hisham. This prince was wandering in the deserts of Africa, pursued by his inrplacable enemies, but everywhere protected and concealed by the desert tribes, who pitied his misfortunes and respected his illustrious origin. A deputation from Andalusia sought him out in Africa, and oflered him the Caliphate of Spain, which he accepted with joy. On 25th September, A.D. 755, Abd al-Rahman landed in the Iberian Peninsula, _ where he was universally welcomed, and speedily founded at Cordova the Western Omayyad Caliph ate, with which this history has no further concern. While Mansur was thus losing Africa and Spain, he was trying to take from the Greeks the city of Malatiya, which, from the importance of its situation, was looked on as the key of Asia Minor. In A.H. 139-140 (A.D. 756- 757), a Moslem army of 70,000 men invested the place, and, after a vigorous siege, Malatiya was taken by assault. After this success the Moslems marched through Cilicia, entered Pamphylia, and cut to pieces a Greek army on the banks of the Melas. The Greeks asked and obtained a seven years truce, which Mansur was the more disposed to grant because new and very serious troubles had been stirred up in his empire by certain sectaries of Khorasdn, called Rawandis. These Rawandis, like many other Persian sectaries, admitted a number of dogmas completely foreign to Islam, such as the trans migration of souls and the incarnation of the Deity as a man. They believed, for instance, as historians assure us, that divine honours ought to be paid to the Caliph Mansur. They had their name from Rdwand, a city near Isfahan, where the sect originated. A great number of these sectaries had repaired to Hashimiya, the residence of the Caliph, and there persisted in marching in pro cession round his palace, as if it had been the Ka ba. Mansur, refusing to receive this impious homage, caused the principal chiefs of the sect to be seized and thrown into prison. The Rawandis immediately rose in revolt, broke open the prison doors, rescued their chiefs, and pushed their audacity so far as to Lesiege the Caliph in his own palace. Very fortunately for Mansur, the populace declared against the Rawandis and massacred them ; but from that time forward he took a dislike to the city of Hashimiya, and resolved to choose another residence. He had at first thought of fixing his place of abode at Cufa ; but he remembered the fickle character of the inhabitants, and decided on founding an entirely new city on the banks of the Tigris. His choice fell upon a spot near the ancient Ctesiphon, the capital of the Founda- Sassanids, called Baghdad. There he himself laid the ti &amp;gt; &quot; f. first stone of the city which was to be the centre of the civilised world as long as the Caliphate lasted. A revolt, however, of some importance soon called Mansur s atten tion from the building of Baghdad. The descendants of Ali, who had had reason to think that the Abbasido were labouring for their advancement, were now cruelly un deceived. In A.H. 145 (A.D. 762-763), Mohammed Mahdi, great-grandson of Hosain, and surnamed Al-Xafs al-Zakiya (&quot; the pure soul &quot;), collected a large number of adherents at Medina, and had himself proclaimed Caliph. The governor of Cufa, Isa b. Miisa, received orders to march against him, and entered Arabia. The partisans of Ali were defeated, and Mohammed Mahdi fell in battle. But meanwhile his brother Ibrahim had gone to Basra, and had there succeeded in exciting a revolt, in presence of which the Abbasid governor had been obliged to capitu late. The adherents of Ali, emboldened by this success, spread themselves over Irak, and obtained possession of several places, among which was the city of Wasit. Ibrahim was already advancing towards Cufa, at the head of a strong army, when Isa b. Miisa, who had been hastily recalled from Arabia, threw himself in his way. A terrible conflict took place. At last Ibrahim fell, pierced by an arrow, and, in spite of the desperate efforts