Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/614

Rh 586 MOHAMMEDANISM [ ABBASIDS. billah (He who looks for help to God). Under the reign of this feeble prince, the Greeks inflicted serious losses on the Moslems in Asia Minor. The Turkish soldiery, instead of attempting to repair these losses, revolted against the Caliph whom they had themselves chosen, and plundered the city of Sorra-man-ra a. Taking advantage of these disorders, a descendant of All, named Hasan, gained pos session of Tabaristan and Jorjan, and permanently deprived the Eastern Caliphate of those provinces. At the same time, insurrections sprang up in every part of the empire. Next, the chiefs of the Turkish soldiery, in their mutual jealousies, began to tear each other to pieces. The infatu ated Caliph fled from Sorra-man-ra a, and took refuge at Baghdad. The Turks now resolved on his destruction, and forgetting that they themselves had deprived Mo tazz billah, brother of Montasir, of his legitimate rights, chose him as their Caliph. They next placed at their head a brother of Mo tazz, named Mowaffak billah, and besieged Mosta fn at Baghdad. At the end of one month (A.H. 252, A.D. 866), Mosta in surrendered, and was put to death. Mo tazz. 13. Mo tazz billah, thus called to the throne by the very men who had previously sought to exclude him from it, resolved to free himself from the yoke of the formidable Turkish soldiery which thus made and unmade Caliphs. But to maintain a struggle against such terrible adversaries, the new sovereign would have needed an ability and energy which he did not possess. He made, indeed, a very impolitic beginning in getting rid of his brothers Moway- yad and Mowaffak, of whom he put the former to death, and drove the latter into exile. Some time after, it is true, he had the satisfaction of seeing Wasif, one of the chiefs of the Turkish soldiery, lose his life in a mutiny of his own troops ; and that of defeating in person another chief, Buglia, whom he afterwards caused to be beheaded. But in the following year (A.H. 254), the Turks chose as their leaders the sons of Wasff and Bugha, Salih and Mohammed, who avenged their fathers by plundering the palace of the prime minister and besieging that of the Caliph, whom they seized and threw into close confine ment, where he died of hunger and thirst, A.H. 255. Mohtadi. 14. Immediately after the fall of Mo tazz, the Turks brought from Baghdad one of the sons of Wathik billah, and proclaimed him Caliph, with the title of Mohtadi billah (Guided by God). Mohtadi, a man of noble and generous spirit, exerted himself, but in vain, to release his prede cessor from prison. Having failed in this, he kept the precarious measure of power which his masters left him, and applied it to the regeneration of Moslem society, the decay of which appeared to him imminent. He forbade wine and games of chance ; he devoted himself to the administration of justice ; he examined in person every sentence passed by the judges, and gave public audience to the people twice a week for the redress of their grievances. The fanners of the revenue were subjected to strict control, and the taxes were considerably lightened. It seemed as if these reforms were likely to re-establish order and prosperity in the empire. But Mohtadi came too late, and the Turks did not leave him time to finish his work. Salih, one of the chiefs of the Turkish soldiery, having been assassinated by a rival, Mohtadi punished the guilty person with rigour. The Turks, in their rage, beset the palace and slaughtered the unfortunate Caliph (A.H. 256, A.D. 870). Mo ta- 15. Whether from weariness, or from repentance, the Turkish soldiery discontinued for a time their hateful excesses. A son of Motawakkil was brought out of prison to succeed his cousin, and reigned for twenty-two years under the name of Mo tamid ala llah (He whose support is God). During his reign two great events took place, mid. tokens and precursors of the dissolution of the Caliphate. Eastern Persia and Egypt separated themselves by force from the empire, and two new dynasties established themselves in these countries, those respectively of the Saffarids and the Tiilunids. The founder of the former, Ya kiib b. Laith, was the son of a coppersmith (Saffar). At the head of a band of resolute men, he invaded success ively Khorasan, Kirmtin, and Sijistan, and at last the Caliph Mo tamid, powerless to arrest his progress, was obliged to give an official recognition to accomplished facts. But Ya kiib was not satisfied with this ; he soon possessed himself of Tabaristan, Farsistan, and Ahwaz, and thence marched against Baghdad. Fortune, however, deserted him ; he was beaten in the neighbourhood of Wasit (A.H. 262), and compelled to return to Persia in order to levy a new army there. In 265 he resumed his march against Baghdad, but was obliged by sickness to halt at Jondis- abiir, where he died ; not, however, till he had obtained from the Caliph a formal investiture of all the provinces he had conquered. He was succeeded by his brother Amr. On the other side, a certain Ahmed b. Tiilun, the son of a freedman, who had obtained from the Caliph the post of governor of Egypt, planned the creation for himself of an independent kingdom. Under Mo tamid he even invaded Syria, and perhaps would have pushed his con quests still farther, had not death overtaken him in A.H. 270 (A.D. 883-884). His son Khomaruya succeeded him in Egypt, and though, at a later period, he submitted to pay tribute to Mo tadid, nevertheless a dynasty had been founded in that country which lasted for twenty-one years longer. Mo tamid died eight years after Ahmed b. Tiilun. 16. The reign of Mo tadid billah (He who seeks his Mo ta- support in God), who succeeded his uncle Mo tamid, is di&amp;lt;l. principally remarkable for the rise of the celebrated sect of the Carmathians (Karamita), who for two centuries laid waste the Moslem empire, and for the extinction of the Saffarid dynasty in Persia, where it was replaced by that of the Samanids. Some details respecting the origin and the creed of the Carmathians will be found in the third section of this article. We shall content ourselves here with stating the fact that these sectaries, who were numerous in Irak, Syria, and Eastern Arabia, kept in check all the armies which were sent against them. Under the reign of Mo tadid they invaded Mecca and committed great ravages there. In A.H. 281, Mo tadid repaired the disasters which they had caused there, and raised important works about the Ka ba. Mo tadid died in 289 (A.D. 902), leaving the throne to his son Moktafi billah. 17. Moktafi billah (He who sufficeth himself in God) Moktafi. reigned for six years, during which he had constantly to struggle against the Carmathians. One of his generals, indeed, gained a signal victory over these sectaries ; but, to avenge their defeat, they lay in wait for a caravan which was on its return from Mecca, and massacred twenty thousand pilgrims. This horrible crime raised the whole of Arabia against them. The Carmathians were beaten again, and Dhikriiya, one of their ablest generals, was taken and put to death. The sectaries remained quiet for some time, and the Caliph took advantage of this respite to take Egypt from the house of Tiilun, and to confer its government on the Ikhshfdites. Moktafi died A.H. 295 (A.D. 907-908). His activity and energy revived for a moment the prestige of the Caliphate ; but this fleeting renewal of its greatness was soon to disappear, and decay resumed its course. 18. The new Caliph, Moktadir billah (Powerful through M,,kta- God), was only thirteen years of age when he ascended (1 &quot; the throne. His extreme youth prejudiced the people of Baghdad against him ; they rebelled, and swore allegiance to Abdallah, son of the former Caliph Mo tazz ; but the