Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/616

Rh 588 MOHAMMEDANISM [ ABBASIDS. submit to the payment of tribute. We have said above that Mo izz al-Daula professed a great veneration for the house of AH. His preference showed itself in public acts. He caused the most terrible imprecations against the Omayyads to be posted up at the doors of the mosques. This step irritated men s minds ; and a general insurrec tion was imminent at Baghdad, when Mo izz died (A.H. 356), leaving his power to his son Izz al-Daula. While the Abbasid family was thus dying out in shame and degradation, the Fatimites, in the person of Mo izz li-din-illah, were reaching the highest degree of power and glory (see EGYPT, vol. vii. p. 750 sqq.) Jauhar, a general of Mo izz li-din-illah, conquered Egypt for his master, and Arabia acknowledged the sovereignty of the Fatimites. The Carmathians, who had so long contended against the Abbasids, now came to better terms with Motf, and their general made the Caliph the offer of driving back the Fatimites, on condition of his granting him the government of Egypt. Motf preferred to stand neutral in the struggle ; and the Carmathian general, who with the support of Motf might perhaps have triumphed over Mo izz, was beaten by his powerful rival. Motf, having been struck by paralysis, was obliged to abdicate in the year 363 (A.D. 973-974), and left the empty title Tdi. of Caliph to his son Taf li-amr-illah (Obedient to the command of God). The new Caliph lived at first in peace, for it was now the office of Amir al-Omara which provoked ill-will. Under the reign of Tai the Buyid princes contended furiously with one another for the office of Emir, and one of them, Adod al-Daula, having con quered Izz al-Daula, took the title, never before employed, of Shahinshah, or king of kings. On his death he trans mitted his office to his three sons, who held it successively, under the names of Shams al-Daula, Sharaf al-Daula, and Baha al-Daula. The last, who was as avaricious as he was ambitious, took offence at the Caliph Tai for having disposed of certain sums of money, of which he wished to reserve the management to himself, compelled him to abdicate in A.H. 381, and replaced him by a grandson of Moktadir, who took the name of Kadir billah (Powerful through God), and reigned forty one years under the tutelage of the Biiyids. Meanwhile events were pre paring the fall of the Biiyids. In Persia, Malimud of Ghazni was founding the powerful empire of the Ghaz- nevids, which extended to the Indus, and the Seljuk Turks were already invading Khorasan. It was under the successor of Kadir billah that that sanguinary revolu tion took place, which was to give over the government of Baghdad to the Seljuks. Kaim. Kadir billah died in A.H. 422 (A.D. 1030-31), and was succeeded by Kaim bi-amr-illah (He who is charged with the business of God). The new Caliph, groaning under the iron hand of his Amir al-Omara, called to his aid the Seljuk Toghril Beg, who entered Baghdad in the month of Ramadan in the year 447 (A.D. 1055- 1056), overthrew the Biiyids, and took their place. Some years later, Toghril married the daughter of the Caliph. At his death, Toghril left to his nephew Alp Arslan the title of Sultan, a flourishing empire, and uncon trolled power. As for Kaim, he enjoyed the Caliphate in peace under the tutelage of Alp Arslan and of his successor Malik Shah, till his death in A.H. 467. His Moktadi. grandson, Moktadf bi-amr-illah (He who obeys the orders of God), who succeeded him, owed to the power of Malik Shah the honour of recovering his supremacy in Arabia. At Medina and Mecca his name was substituted in the public prayers for those of the Fatimite Caliphs. This was, after all, a mere gratification to his vanity, for Malik Shah was the real sovereign, and the Caliph thought himself highly honoured in marrying the daughter of his powerful patron. This union, however, far from drawing closer the bonds of friendship between Malik Shah and Moktadi, became on the contrary a cause of strife. The Caliph having put away his wife, who had wearied him by her peevish humours, was compelled by Malik Shah to appoint the child whom he had had by her as his successor, to the prejudice of his eldest son. Malik Shah also exiled his son-in-law to Basra. Just, however, as this order was about to be carried out, Malik Shah died. Moktadi survived him only a few months. It was during the reign of his successor Mostazhir billah (A.H. 487-512) that Mosta?- the first crusade took place. We need not here enter llir ail(l into the details of those wars. It is sufficient to say that from the date of the first crusade Baghdad ceases, so to speak, to have any special history. The successors of Mostazhir billah (He who seeks to triumph through God) were Mostarshid billah (He who asks guidance from God), A.H. 512-529 -, Rashid billah (Just through God), A.H. 529- 530 ; Moktafi li-amr-illah (He who follows the orders of God), A.H. 530-555 ; Mostanjid billah (He who invokes help from God), A.H. 555-566 ; and Mostadi bi-amr-illah (He who seeks enlightenment in the orders of God), A.H. 566-575. Under this last, the Fatimite dynasty was at length destroyed, and Egypt fell again under the spiritual authority of the Caliphs of Baghdad. It was one of the generals of the Emir Nur al-din, the celebrated Salah al- din (Saladin), who made this important conquest in A.H. 567 (A.D. 1171-1172). He maintained himself in Egypt as Sultan, founded a new dynasty, that of the Ayyubites, and in some sort compelled Nasir li-din-illah (He who helps the religion of God), the successor of Mostadi (A.H. 575-622), to acknowledge his title and to ratify his usurpation. A still more formidable danger was now threatening The Baghdad. The terrible Jinghiz Khan was issuing from Mou the depths of Asia at the head of his Mongols, and was beginning to invade Transoxiana. Under Nasir li-din- illah s successors, Zahir billah (Victorious through God), A.H. 622-623, and Mostansir billah (He who asks help from God), A.H. 623-640, the Mongol invasion advanced with immense strides ; and when, after them, Mosta sim billah (He who seeks his defence in God) was named Caliph in the year 640 (A.D. 1242-1243), the last days of the Caliphate had arrived. Hulagu, who was then sove reign of the Mongols, determined to make himself master of the whole of Western Asia. He placed himself at the head of his immense hordes, swept everything before him on his march, and arrived under the walls of Baghdad. In vain did Mosta sim sue for peace. The siege was actively pursued, and on the 29th of Moharram 656 (5th February 1258), the Mongols forced their way into Baghdad and planted the standard of Hulagu on the highest of its towers. The city was given up to fire and slaughter ; Mosta sim was thrown into prison, and diet! there a few days after ; and with him expired the Eastern Caliphate, which had lasted 626 years, from the death of Mohammed. In vain, three years later, did a scion of the race of the Abbasids, who had taken refuge in Egypt, make an effort to restore a dynasty which was now for ever extinct. At the head of a few followers, he marched against Baghdad, but was repulsed by the governor of that city, and died fighting. At a later period, another descendant of the Abbasids also sought an asylum in Egypt. The Sultan Baibars, after a judicial investigation of his origin, pro claimed him Caliph under the name of Hakim bi-amr-illah. His sons inherited this empty title, but, like their father, remained in Egypt, without power or influence. This shadow of sovereignty continued to exist till the conquest of Egypt by the Turks.