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 name, although later, in 499, that bishopric had been amal- gamated with Tus. ^

Historic events associated with Nishapur's history after the Muhammadan conquest are referred to in abundance, and allow the story of the city's subsequent fortunes to be traced with a fair amount of fulness. The town appears to have fallen an easy prey to the Arab conquerors, capitulating to the troops of the third Caliph, Othman, in 651-652 a.d. (31 A.H.),or, according to another account, to his predecessor Omar, after which it revolted and had to be reduced again. ^ The establishment of a mosque meant that the death-knell of Zoroastrianism here had been struck. Disaffection, however, must have been rife, as six years later (37 A. h. = 657-658 a.d.) an uprising at Nisha- pur had to be quelled by forces despatched by Ali, the cousin A.D. a Sasanian claimant to the throne still resided here.* By the ninth century Nishapur was a Moslem city of first impor- tance ; the early Taharid ruler, Abdullah (824-844), chose it as his residence in preference to Merv, ' because,' he said, ' of its good climate, its agreeable people, and its large population '; and his successors followed his example.^

From this time onward, for the next three hundred years, all the Arab-Persian geographers — Ibn Khurdadhbah (864), Kuda- mah (880), Yakubi (891), and the rest — mention Nishapur as one of the great cities of Persia, but it is unnecessary here to quote from a detailed collection made of their allusions, since they can be found admirably summarized by Le Strange, Eastern Caliphate^ pp. 383-386.

1 See Guidi, Ostsyrische Bischofe ^ So Mukaddasi, 3. 332 ; cf. Yakubi, und Bischofs-sitze, in ZDMQ. 48. 396- 7. 278, 307 ; and Yakut, tr. Barbier de 401 ; and compare Marquart, Erdn- Meynard, pp. 340-341. Abdullah was Sahr^ p. 76. a patron of literature, and at his court

2 See Yakut, tr. Barbier de Mey- lived the poet Hanzallah of Badghis ; nard, p. 579. but he was equally a hater of the

8 See Dinavari, p. 163, 14, cited by Magians and of their religious books ; Marquart, ErdnMhr, p. 68. see Browne, Lit. Hist. Persia, 1. 346,


 * See Marquart, op. cit. p. 68. 366, 452 ; 2. 275-276.

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