Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/612

Rh 584 MOHAMMEDANISM [ ABBASIDS. made prisoners. The former had his head struck off; the latter was sent to Khorasan. The revolt in Arabia was also quickly stifled, and it might have been supposed that peace was about to be re-established. This, however, was by no means the case. The civil war had caused a swarm of vagabonds to spring, as it were, from underground at Baghdad. They proceeded to treat the capital as a con quered city ; and such was their audacity that they plundered houses and carried off women and children at mid-day. It became necessary for all good citizens to organize themselves into a regular militia, in order to master these ruffians. Meanwhile, at Merv, Ma mun was adopting a decision which fell like a thunderbolt on the Abbasids. In A.H. 201 (A.D. 816-817), under pretence of putting an end to the continual revolts of the partisans of Ali, and acting on the advice of his prime minister, Fadl, he publicly designated as his successor in the Caliphate All b. Musa, a direct descendant of Hosain the son of All, and proscribed black, the colour of the AbbAsids, in favour of that of the house of All, green. This step was well calculated to delight the followers of All, but it naturally could not fail to exasperate the AbbAsids and their partisans. The people of Baghdad refused to take the oath to All b. MusA as heir-presumptive, declared Ibrahim Ma mun deposed, and elected his uncle Ibrahim, son of k- ?**, Mahdi, to the Caliphate. 1 The news reached the Caliph elected at on ty indirectly, for his minister Fadl, desiring to leave Baghdad. Ma mun only the shadow of power, kept all important events carefully from his knowledge. The eyes of the Caliph were opened, and he now perceived that Fadl had been treating him as a puppet. His anger knew no bounds. Fadl was one day found murdered, and All b. MiisA died suddenly. The historians bring no open accu sation against Ma mun of having got rid of these two personages ; but it seems clear that it was not chance that did him such a seasonable service. Ma mun of course affected the profoundest grief, and, in order to disarm suspicion, appointed as his prime minister the brother of Fadl, Hasan b. Sahl, whose daughter Biiran he also after wards married. But on the other hand, in order to quiet the people of Baghdad, he wrote to them : &quot; The cause of your dissatisfaction in the business of All b. MusA no longer exists ; since he who was the object of your resent ment has just died.&quot; From that moment the pseudo- caliph Ibrahim found himself deserted, and was obliged to seek safety in concealment. His precarious reign had, however, lasted nearly two years. Ma mun now decided on making a public entry into Baghdad, but to show that he came as a master, he still displayed for several days the green flag of the house of All, though at last, at the entreaty of his courtiers, he consented to resume the black. From this time the real reign of Ma mun began, freed as he now was from the guardianship of Fadl. His general Tahir alone continued to excite his suspicions. Under the pretence that he could no longer endure the sight of the murderer of his brother, he removed Tahir to a dis tance by appointing him governor of KhorAsAn. Like most of the great Moslem generals, Tahir, it is said, conceived the project of creating an independent kingdom for himself. His death, A.H. 207, prevented its realization ; but as his descendants succeeded him one after the other in the post of governor, he may be said to have really founded a dynasty in KhorAsAn. When, two years later, the impostor BAbak set up a communistic sect in Armenia and Azer baijan, it was a son of Tahir, AbdallAh, who was commis sioned by Ma mun to put him down. Notwithstanding his ability, Abdallah could not accomplish the task, and it 1 On this event, see a remarkable essay by Barbier de Meynard, in the Journal asiatique for March-April, 1869. was only under Ma mun s successor that Babak was taken and put to death. Ever since Ma mun s entry into Baghdad, the pseudo- caliph Ibrahim had led a wandering life. He was arrested one night in Baghdad, under the disguise of a woman, and brought before Ma mun. The latter gener ously pardoned him, and also granted an amnesty to the former minister of Amin, Fadl b. Rabf, although he had been the chief promoter of the terrible civil war which had so lately shaken the empire. After that time, Ibrahim the son of Mahdi lived peacefully at the court, cultivating the arts of singing and music, in which he excelled. Tranquillity being now everywhere re-established, Ma mun gave himself up, without hindrance, to his scientific and literary tastes. He caused works on mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and philosophy, to be translated from the Greek. It was also by his orders that two learned mathematicians undertook the measurement of a degree of the earth s circumference. -Ir. num interested himself, too, in questions of religious dogma. Shocked at the opinion which had spread among the Moslem doctors, that the Koran was the uncreated word of God, he published an edict commanding them to renounce this error. Several distinguished doctors, and, among others, the celebrated Ibn Hanbal, founder of one of the four orthodox Moslem sects, were obliged to appear before an inquisitorial tribunal ; and as they persisted in their belief respecting the Koran, they were thrown into prison. Meanwhile, war having broken out between the Greeks and the Moslems, Ma mun set out for Asia Minor, to put himself at the head of his army. On his arrival at Tarsus, he received from the governor of Baghdad the report of the tribunal of inquisition, and ordered that the culprits should be sent off to him. Happily for these unfortunate doctors, they had scarcely started on the road to the frontiers, when news of the Caliph s death reached Baghdad. Ma mun having bathed in the Podendon, a burning fever was the result, which brought him to the grave in A.H. 218 (A.D. 833). Before his death, he designated as his successor his brother Mo tasim billah, (He who seeks defence in God), whom he had for a long time preferred to Mo tamin. 8. The accession of the new Caliph Mo tasim met at Mo tasim first with active opposition in the army, where a powerful billah. party had been formed in favour of Abbas, the son of Ma mun. Thanks, however, to the disinterested conduct of that prince, civil war was averted. Abbas publicly renounced all pretension to the Caliphate, and took the oath of allegiance to his uncle. Mo tamin, the son of Harun, imitated the conduct of Abbas, and the whole army accepted Mo tasim, who made his public entry into Baghdad in the month of Ramadan 218. The new Caliph, far from putting a stop to the persecu tion which had been directed against the orthodox doctors, took up and carried out the views of Ma mun. The doctor Ibn Hanbal was beaten with rods and thrown into prison, together with several of his companions, and was not restored to liberty till the Caliphate of Motawakkil. This persecution had already prejudiced the people against Mo tasim, and their discontent became more marked when the Caliph created a new body of troops, specially intended to watch over his person. This new guard was composed of Turks, an unbridled and undisciplined body of soldiery, who, moreover, held in open contempt the religious pre cepts of Islam. Tired of the excesses of every kind com mitted by the Turks, the people of BaghdAd rose in insurrection, and Mo tasim, not daring to act with severity either against his guard or the citizens, took the course of quitting the city. Leaving the government of the capital in the hands of his son WAthik billah (He who trusts in