Mohammed
and
His Successors.
Washington Irving
CONTENTS.
PART I. 
Preface
CHAPTER I.
Preliminary notice of Arabia and the Arabs
CHAPTER II.
Birth and parentage of Mohammed.—His infancy and childhood.
CHAPTER III.
Traditions concerning Mecca and the Kaaba.
CHAPTER IV.
First journey of Mohammed with the caravan to Syria.
CHAPTER V.
Commercial occupations of Mohammed.—His marriage with Khadijah.
CHAPTER VI.
Conduct of Mohammed after his marriage.—Becomes anxious for religious reform.—His
habits of solitary abstraction.—The vision of the cave.— His annunciation
as a prophet.
CHAPTER VII.
Mohammed inculcates his doctrines secretly and slowly.—Receives further
revelations and commands.—Announces it to his kindred.—Manner in which
it was received.—Enthusiastic devotion of Ali.—Christian portents.
CHAPTER VIII.
Outlines of the Mohammedan faith.
CHAPTER IX.
Ridicule cast on Mohammed and his doctrines.—Demand for miracles.—Conduct of Abu Taleb.—Violence of the Koreishites.—Mohammed’s daughter Rokaia, with her uncle Othman and a number of disciples, take refuge in Abyssinia.—Mohammed in the house of Orkham.—Hostility of Abu Jahl; his punishment.
CHAPTER X.
Omar Ibn al Kattâb, nephew of Abu JahI, undertakes to revenge his uncle
by slaying Mohammed.—His wonderful conversion to the faith.— Mohammed takes
refuge in a castle of Abu Taleb.—Abu Sofian, at the head of the rival branch
of the Koreishites, persecutes Mohammed and his followers.—Obtains a decree
of non-intercourse with them.—Mohammed leaves his retreat and makes converts
during the month of pilgrimage.—Legend of the conversion of Habib the Wise.
CHAPTER XI.
The ban of non-intercourse mysteriously destroyed.—Mohammed enabled to
return to Mecca.—Death of Abu Taleb; of Khadijah.—Mohammed betroths himself
to Ayesha.—Marries Sawda.—The Koreishites renew their persecution.— Mohammed
seeks an asylum in Tayef.—His expulsion thence.—Visited by genii in the
desert of Naklah.
CHAPTER XII.
Night journey of the prophet from Mecca to Jerusalem; and thence to the
seventh heaven.
CHAPTER XIII.
Mohammed makes converts of pilgrims from Medina.—Determines to fly to that
city.—A plot to slay him.—His miraculous escape.—His Hegira, or flight.—
His reception at Medina.
CHAPTER XIV.
Moslems in Medina, Mohadjerins and Ansarians.—The party of Abdallah Ibn Obba and the Hypocrites.—Mohammed builds a mosque; preaches; makes converts among the Christians.—The Jews slow to believe.—Brotherhood established between fugitives and allies.
CHAPTER XV.
Marriage of Mohammed with Ayesha.—Of his daughter Fatima with Ali.—Their
household arrangements.
CHAPTER XVI.
The sword announced as the instrument of faith.—First foray against the Koreishites.—Surprisal of a caravan.
CHAPTER XVII.
The battle of Beder.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Death of the prophet’s daughter Rokaia.—Restoration of his daughter Zeinab.
Effect of the prophet’s malediction on Abu Lahab and his family.—Frantic
rage of Henda, the wife of Abu Sofian.—Mohammed narrowly escapes assassination.—Embassy
of the Koreishites.—The King of Abyssinia.
CHAPTER XIX.
Growing power of Mohammed.—His resentment against the Jews—Insult to an Arab damsel by the Jewish tribe of Kainoka.—A tumult.—The Beni Kainoka takes refuge in their castle.— Subdued amid punished by confiscation and banishment.—Marriage of Othman to the prophet’s daughter Omm Kalthum, and of the prophet to Hafza.
CHAPTER XX.
Henda incites Abu Sofian and the Koreishites to revenge the death of her
relations slain in the battle of Beder.—The Koreishites sally forth, followed
by Henda and her female companions.—Battle of Ohod.—Ferocious triumph of
Henda.—Mohammed consoles himself by marrying Hend, the daughter of Omeya.
CHAPTER XXI.
Treachery of certain Jewish tribes; their punishment.—Devotion of the prophet’s freedman Zeid; divorces his beautiful wife Zeinab, that she may become the wife of the prophet.
CHAPTER XXII.
Expedition of Mohammed against the Beni Mostalek.—He espouses Barra, a
captive.—Treachery of Abdallah Ibn Obba.—Ayesha slandered.—Her vindication.—Her
innocence proved by a revelation.
CHAPTER XXIII.
The battle of the Moat.—Bravery of Saad Ibn Moad.—Defeat of the Koreishites.—Capture of the Jewish castle of Coraida.—Saad decides as to the punishment of the Jews.—Mohammed espouses Rehana, a Jewish captive.—His life endangered by sorcery; saved by a revelation of the angel Gabriel.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Mohammed undertakes a pilgrimage to Mecca.—Evades Khaled and a troop of
horse sent against him.—Encamps near Mecca.—Negotiates with the Koreishites
for permission to enter and complete his pilgrimage.—Treaty for ten years,
by which he is permitted to make a yearly visit of three days.—He returns
to Medina.
CHAPTER XXV.
Expedition against the city of Khaibar; siege.—Exploits of Mohammed’s captains.—Battle of Ali and Marhab.—Storming of the citadel.—Ali makes a buckler of the gate.—Capture of the place.—Mohammed poisoned; he marries Safiya, a captive; also Omm Habiba, a widow.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Missions to various princes; to Heraclius; to Khosru II.; to the Prefect of Egypt.—Their result.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Mohammed’s pilgrimage to Mecca; his marriage with Maimuna.—Khaled Ibn al
Waled and Amru Ibn al Aass become proselytes.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
A Moslem envoy slain in Syria.—Expedition to avenge his death.—Battle of
Muta.—Its results.
CHAPTER XXIX.
Designs upon Mecca.—Mission of Abu Sofian.—Its result.
CHAPTER XXX.
Surprise and capture of Mecca.
CHAPTER XXXI.
Hostilities in the mountains.—Enemy’s camp in the valley of Autas.—Battle at the pass of Honein.—Capture of the enemy’s camp.—Interview of Mohammed with the nurse of his childhood.—Division of spoil.—Mohammed at his mother’s grave.
CHAPTER XXXII.
Death of the prophet’s daughter Zeinab.—Birth of his son Ibrahim.—Deputations
from distant tribes.—Poetical contest in presence of the prophet.— His
susceptibility to the charms of poetry.—Reduction of the city of Tayef;
destruction of its idols.—Negotiation with Amir Ibn Tafiel, a proud Bedouin
chief; independent spirit of the latter.—Interview of Adi, another chief,
with Mohammed.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Preparations for an expedition against Syria.—Intrigues of Abdallah Ibn Obba.—Contributions of the faithful.—March of the army.—The accursed region of Hajar.—Encampment at Tabuc.—Subjugation of the neighboring provinces.—Khaled surprises Okaidor and his castle.—Return of the army to Medina.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Triumphal entry into Medina.—Punishment of those who had refused to join the campaign.—Effects of excommunication.—Death of Abdallah Ibu Obba.—Dissensions in the prophet’s harem.
CHAPTER XXXV.
Abu Beker conducts the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca.—Mission of Ali to announce
a revelation.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Mohammed sends his captains on distant enterprises.—Appoints lieutenants
to govern in Arabia Felix.—Sends Ali to suppress an insurrection in that
province.—Death of the prophet’s only son Ibrahim.—His conduct at the deathbed
and the grave.—His growing infirmities.—His valedictory pilgrimage to Mecca,
and his conduct and preaching while there.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Of the two false prophets Al Aswad and Moseilma.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
An army prepared to march against Syria.—Command given to Osama.—The prophet’s
farewell address to the troops.—His last illness.—His sermons in the mosque.—His
death and the attending circumstances.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Person and character of Mohammed, and speculations on his prophetic career.
APPENDIX.
Of the Islam Faith.
PART II.
PREFACE.
CHAPTER I.
Election of Abu Beker, first Caliph, Hegira 11th, A.D. 632.
CHAPTER II.
Moderation of Abu Beker.—Traits of his character.—Rebellion of Arab tribes.—Defeat
and death of Malec Ibn Nowirah.—Harsh measures of Khaled condemned by Omar,
but excused by Abu Beker.—Khaled defeats Moseilma the false prophet.—Compilation
of the Koran.
CHAPTER III.
Campaign against Syria.—Army sent under Yezed Ibn Abu Sofian.—Successes.—Another army under Amru Ibn al Aass.—Brilliant achievements of Khaled in lrak.
CHAPTER IV.
Incompetency of Abu Obeidab to the general command in Syria.—Khaled sent
to supersede him.—Peril of the Moslem army before Bosra.—Timely arrival
of Khaled.—His exploits during the siege.—Capture of Bosra.
CHAPTER V.
Khaled lays siege to Damascus.
CHAPTER VI.
Siege of Damascus continued.—Exploits of Derar.—Defeat of the imperial army.
CHAPTER VII.
Siege of Damascus continued.—Sally of the garrison.—Heroism of the Moslem
women.
CHAPTER VIII.
Battle of Aiznadin.
CHAPTER IX.
Occurrences before Damascus.—Exploits of Thomas.—Aban Ibn Zeid and his
Amazonian wife.
CHAPTER X.
Surrender of Damascus.—Disputes of the Saracen generals.—Departure of Thomas and the exile.
CHAPTER XI.
Story of Jonas and Eudocea.—Pursuit of the exiles.—Death of the Caliph Abu Beker.
CHAPTER XII.
Election of Omar, second Caliph.—Khaled superseded in command by Abu Obeidah.—Magnanimous
conduct of those generals.—Expedition to the convent of Abyla.
CHAPTER XIII.
Moderate measures of Abu Obeidah.—Reproved by the Caliph for his slowness.
CHAPTER XIV.
Siege and capture of Baalbec.
CHAPTER XV.
Siege of Emessa.—Stratagems of the Moslems.—Fanatic devotion of Ikremah.—Surrender
of the city.
CHAPTER XVI.
Advance of a powerful Imperial army.—Skirmishes of Khaled.—Capture of Derar.—Interview
of Khaled and Manuel.
CHAPTER XVII.
The battle of Yermouk.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Siege and capture of Jerusalem.
CHAPTER XIX.
Progress of the Moslem arms in Syria.—Siege of Aleppo.—Obstinate defense
by Youkenna.—Exploit of Damas.—Capture of the castle.—Conversion of Youkenna.
CHAPTER XX.
Perfidy of Youkenna to his former friends.—Attempts the castle of Aazaz
by treachery.—Capture of the castle.
CHAPTER XXI.
Intrigues of Youkenna at Antioch.—Siege of that city by the Moslems.—Flight
of the emperor to Constantinople.—Surrender of Antioch.
CHAPTER XXII.
Expedition into the mountains of Syria.—Story of a miraculous cap.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Expedition of Amru Ibn al Aass against Prince Constantine in Syria.—Their conference.—Capture of Tripoli and Tyre.—Flight of Constantine.—Death of Khaled.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Invasion of Egypt by Amru.—Capture of Memphis.—Siege and surrender of Alexandria.—Burning
of the Alexandrian library.
CHAPTER XXV.
Enterprises of the Moslems in Persia.—Defense of the kingdom by Queen Arzemia.—Battle
of the Bridge.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Mosenna Ibn Haris ravages the country along the Euphrates.—Death of Arzemia.—Yezdegird
III. raised to the throne.—Saad Ibn Abu Wakkâs given the general command.—Death
of Mosenna.—Embassy to Yezdegird.—Its reception.
CHAPTER XXVII.
The battle of Kadesia.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Founding of Bassora.—Capture of the Persian capital.—Flight of Yezdegird to Holwân.
CHAPTER XXIX.
Capture of Jâlulâ.—Flight of Yezdegird to Rei.—Founding of Cufa.—Saad receives
a severe rebuke from the Caliph for his magnificence.
CHAPTER XXX.
War with Hormuzân, the Satrap of Ahwâz.—His conquest and conversion.
CHAPTER XXXI.
Saad suspended from the command.—A Persian army assembled at Nehâvend.—Council at the mosque of Medina.—Battle of Nehâvend.
CHAPTER XXXII.
Capture of Hamadân; of Rei.—Subjugation of Tabaristan; of Azerbijân.—Campaign
among the Caucasian mountains.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
The Caliph Omar assassinated by a fire-worshipper.—His character.—Othman
elected Caliph.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Conclusion of the Persian conquest.—Flight and death of Yezdegird.
CHAPTER XXXV.
Amru displaced from the government of Egypt.—Revolt of the inhabitants.—
Alexandria retaken by the Imperialists.—Amru reinstated in command.—Retakes
Alexandria, and tranquillizes Egypt.—Is again displaced.—Abdallah Ibn Saad
invades the north of Africa.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Moawyah, Emir of Syria.—His naval victories.—Othman loses the prophet’s
ring.—Suppresses erroneous copies of the Koran.—Conspiracies against him.—His
death.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Candidates for the Caliphat.—Inauguration of Ali, fourth Caliph.—He undertakes measures of reform.—Their consequences.—Conspiracy of Ayesha.—She gets possession of Bassora.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Ali defeats the rebels under Ayesha.—His treatment of her.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Battles between Ali and Moawyah.—Their claims to the Caliphat left to arbitration;
the result.—Decline of the power of Ali.—Loss of Egypt.
CHAPTER XL.
Preparations of Ali for the Invasion of Syria.—His assassination.
CHAPTER XLI.
Succession of Hassan, fifth Caliph.—He abdicates in favor of Moawyah.
CHAPTER XLII.
Reign of Moawyah I., sixth Caliph.—Account of his illegitimate brother
Zeyad.—Death of Amru.
CHAPTER XLIII.
Siege of Constantinople.—Truce with the emperor.—Murder of Hassan.—Death
of Ayesha.
CHAPTER XLIV.
Moslem conquests in Northern Africa.—Achievements of Acbah; his death.
CHAPTER XLV.
Moawyah names his successor.—His last acts and death.—Traits of his character.
CHAPTER XLVI.
Succession of Yezid, seventh Caliph.—Final fortunes of Hosein, the son
of Ali.
CHAPTER XLVII.
Insurrection of Abdallah Ibn Zobeir.—Medina taken and sacked.—Mecca besieged.—Death of Yezid.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
Inauguration of Moawyah II., eighth Caliph.—His abdication and death. —Merwan
Ibn Hakem and Abdallah Ibn Zobeir, rival Caliphs.—Civil wars in Syria.
CHAPTER XLIX.
State of affairs in Khorassan.—Conspiracy at Cufa.—Faction of the Penitents;
their fortunes.—Death of the Caliph Merwân.
CHAPTER L.
Inauguration of Abd’almâlec, the eleventh Caliph.—Story of Al Moktar, the
Avenger.
CHAPTER LI.
Musab Ibn Zobeir takes possession of Babylonia.—Usurpation of Amru Ibn Saad; his death.—Expedition of Abd’almâlec against Musab.—The result.—Omens; their effect upon Abd’almâlec.—Exploits of Al Mohalleb.
CHAPTER LII.
Abd’almâlec makes war upon his rival Caliph in Mecca.—Siege of the sacred
city.—Death of Abdallah.—Demolition and reconstruction of the Kaaba.
CHAPTER LIII.
Administration of Al Hejagi as emir of Babylonla.
CHAPTER LIV.
Renunciation of tribute to the emperor.—Battles in Northern Africa.—The prophet queen Cahina; her achievements and fate.
CHAPTER LV.
Musa lbn Nosseyr made emir of Northern Africa.—His campaigns against the Berbers.
CHAPTER LVI.
Naval enterprises of Musa.—Cruisings of his son Abdolola.—Death of Abd’almâlec.
CHAPTER LVII.
Inauguration of Waled, twelfth Caliph.—Revival of the arts under his reign.—
His taste for architecture.—Erection of mosques.—Conquests of his generals.
CHAPTER LVIII.
Further triumphs of Musa Ibn Nosseyr.—Naval enterprises.—Descents in Sicily,
Sardinia and Mallorca.—Invasion of Tingitania.—Projects for the invasion
of Spain.—Conclusion.
CHAPTER XVIII.
SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM.
THE Moslem invaders reposed for a month at Damascus from the toil of conquest,
during which time Abu Obeidah sent to the Caliph to know whether be should
undertake the siege of Caesarea or Jerusalem. Ali was with Omar at the
time, and advised the instant siege of the latter; for such, he said, had
been the intention of the prophet. The enterprise against Jerusalem was
as a holy war to the Moslems, for they reverenced it as an ancient seat
of prophecy and revelation, connected with the histories of Moses, Jesus,
and Mohammed, and sanctified by containing the tombs of several of the
ancient prophets. The Caliph adopted the advice of Ali, and ordered Abu
Obeidah to lead his army into Palestine, and lay siege to Jerusalem.
On receiving these orders, Abu Obeidah sent forward Yezed Abu Sofian with
five thousand men, to commence the siege, and for five successive days
detached after him considerable reinforcements. The people of Jerusalem
saw the approach of these portentous invaders, who were spreading such
consternation throughout the East, but they made no sally to oppose them,
nor sent out any one to parley, but planted engines on their walls, and
prepared for vigorous defense. Yezed approached the city and summoned it
by sound of trumpet, propounding the customary terms, profession of the
faith or tribute: both were rejected with disdain. The Moslems would have
made instant assault, but Yezed had no such instructions: he encamped,
therefore, and waited until orders arrived from Abu Obeidah to attack the
city, when he made the necessary preparations.
At cock-crow in the morning the Moslem host was marshalled, the leaders repeated the matin prayer each at the head of his battalion, and all, as if by one consent, with a loud voice gave the verse from the Koran,* “Enter ye, oh people, into the holy land which Allah hath destined for you.”
* These words are from the fifth chapter of the Koran, where Mohammed puts
them into the mouth of Moses, as addressed to the children of Israel.
For ten days they made repeated but unavailing attacks; on the eleventh day Abu Obeidah brought the whole army to their aid. He immediately sent a written summons requiring the inhabitants to believe in the unity of God, the divine mission of Mohammed, the resurrection and final judgment; or else to acknowledge allegiance, and pay tribute to the Caliph; “otherwise,” concluded the letter, “I will bring men against you, who love death better than you love wine or swine’s flesh; nor will I leave you, God willing, until I have destroyed your fighting men, and made slaves of your children.”
The summons was addressed to the magistrates and principal inhabitants
of Aelia, for so Jerusalem was named after the emperor Aelius Adrian, when
he rebuilt that city.
Sophronius, the Christian patriarch, or bishop of Jerusalem, replied that
this was the holy city, and the holy land, and that whoever entered either,
for a hostile purpose, was an offender in the eyes of God. He felt some
confidence in setting the invaders at defiance, for the walls and towers
of the city had been diligently strengthened, and the garrison had been
reinforced by fugitives from Yermouk, and from various parts of Syria.
The city, too, was strong in its situation, being surrounded by deep ravines
and a broken country; and above all there was a pious incentive to courage
and perseverance in defending the sepulcher of Christ.
Four wintry months elapsed; every day there was sharp skirmishing; the
besiegers were assailed by sallying parties, annoyed by the engines on
the walls, and harassed by the inclement weather; still they carried on
the siege with undiminished spirit. At length the Patriarch Sophronius
held a parley from the walls with Abu Obeidah. “Do you not know,” said
he, “that this city is holy; and that whoever offers violence to it, draws
upon his head the vengeance of Heaven?”
“We know it,” replied Abu Obeidah, “to be the house of the prophets, where
their bodies lie interred; we know it to be the place whence our prophet
Mohammed made his nocturnal ascent to heaven; and we know that we are more
worthy of possessing it than you are, nor will we raise the siege until
Allah has delivered it into our hands, as he has done many other places.”
Seeing there was no further hope, the patriarch consented to give up the
city, on condition that the Caliph would come in person to take possession
and sign the articles of surrender.
When this unusual stipulation was made known to the Caliph, he held a council
with his friends. Othman despised the people of Jerusalem, and was for
refusing their terms, but Ali represented the sanctity and importance of
the place in the eyes of the Christians, which might prompt them to reinforce
it, and to make a desperate defense if treated with indignity. Besides,
he added, the presence of the Caliph would cheer and inspirit the army
in their long absence, and after the hardships of a wintry campaign.
The words of All had their weight with the Caliph: though certain Arabian
writers pretend that he was chiefly moved by a tradition handed down in
Jerusalem from days of yore, which said that a man of his name, religion,
and personal appearance should conquer the holy city. Whatever may have
been his inducements, the Caliph resolved to receive in person the surrender
of Jerusalem. He accordingly appointed Ali to officiate in his place during
his absence from Medina; then, having prayed at the mosque, and paid a
pious visit to the tomb of the prophet, he set out on his journey.
The progress of this formidable potentate, who already held the destinies of empires in his grasp, and had the plunder of the Orient at his command, is characteristic of the primitive days of Mohammedanism, and reveals, in some measure, the secret of its success. He travelled on a red or sorrel camel, across which was slung an alforja, or wallet, with a huge sack or pocket at each end, something like the modern saddle-bags. One pocket contained dates and dried fruits, the other a provision called sawik, which was nothing more than barley, rice, or wheat, parched or sodden. Before him hung a leathern bottle, or sack, for water, and behind him a wooden platter. His companions, without distinction of rank, ate with him out of the same dish, using their fingers according to Oriental usage. He slept at night on a mat spread out under a tree, or under a common Bedouin tent of hair-cloth, and never resumed his march until he had offered up the morning prayer.
As he journeyed through Arabia in this simple way, he listened to the complaints
of the people, redressed their grievances, and administered justice with
sound judgment and a rigid hand. Information was brought to him of an Arab
who was married to two sisters, a practice not unusual among idolaters,
but the man was now a Mohammedan. Omar cited the culprit and his two wives
into his presence, and taxed him roundly with his offense; but he declared
his ignorance that it was contrary to the law of the prophet.
“Thou liest!” said Omar; “thou shalt part with one of them instantly, or
lose thy head.”
“Evil was the day that I embraced such a religion,” muttered the culprit.
“Of what advantage has it been to me?”
“Come nearer to me,” said Omar; and on his approaching, the Caliph bestowed
two wholesome blows on his head with his walking-staff.
“Enemy of God and of thyself,” cried he, “let these blows reform thy manners,
and teach thee to speak with more reverence of a religion ordained by Allah,
and acknowledged by the best of his creatures.”
He then ordered the offender to choose between his wives, and finding him
at a loss which to prefer, the matter was determined by lot, and he was
dismissed by the Caliph with this parting admonition: “Whoever professes
Islam, and afterward renounces it, is punishable with death; therefore
take heed to your faith. And as to your wife’s sister, whom you have put
away, if ever I hear that you have meddled with her, you shall be stoned.”
At another place he beheld a number of men exposed to the burning heat
of the sun by their Moslem conquerors, as a punishment for failing to pay
their tribute. Finding, on inquiry, that they were entirely destitute of
means, he ordered them to be released; and turning reproachfully to their
oppressors, “Compel no men,” said he, “to more than they can bear; for
I heard the apostle of God say he who afflicts his fellow man in this world
will be punished with the fire of Jehennam.”
While yet within a day’s journey of Jerusalem, Abu Obeidah came to meet
him and conduct him to the camp. The Caliph proceeded with due deliberation,
never forgetting his duties as a priest and teacher of Islam. In the morning
he said the usual prayers, and preached a sermon, in which he spoke of
the security of those whom God should lead in the right way; but added,
that there was no help for such as God should lead into error.
A gray-headed Christian priest, who sat before him, could not resist the opportunity to criticize the language of the Caliph preacher. “God leads no man into error,” said he, aloud.
Omar deigned no direct reply, but, turning to those around, “Strike off that old man’s head,” said he, “if he repeats his words.”
The old man was discreet, and held his peace. There was no arguing against
the sword of Islam.
On his way to the camp Omar beheld a number of Arabs, who had thrown by
the simple garb of their country, and arrayed themselves in the silken
spoils of Syria. He saw the danger of this luxury and effeminacy, and ordered
that they should be dragged with their faces in the dirt, and their silken
garments torn from their backs.
When he came in sight of Jerusalem he lifted up his voice and exclaimed,
“Allah Achbar? God is mighty! God grant us an easy conquest!” Then commanding
his tent to be pitched, he dismounted from his camel and sat down within
it on the ground. The Christians thronged to see the sovereign of this
new and irresistible people, who were overrunning and subduing the earth.
The Moslems, fearful of an attempt at assassination, would have kept them
at a distance, but Omar rebuked their fears. “Nothing will befall us but
what God hath decreed. Let the faithful trust in him.”
The arrival of the Caliph was followed by immediate capitulation. When
the deputies from Jerusalem were admitted to a parley, they were astonished
to find this dreaded potentate a bald-headed man, simply clad, and seated
on the ground in a tent of hair-cloth.
The articles of surrender were drawn up in writing by Omar, and served afterward as a model for the Moslem leaders in other conquests. The Christians were to build no new churches in the surrendered territory. The church doors were to be set open to travellers, and free ingress permitted to Mohammedans by day and night. The bells should only toll, and not ring, and no crosses should be erected on the churches, nor shown publicly in the streets. The Christians should not teach the Koran to their children; nor speak openly of their religion; nor attempt to make proselytes; nor hinder their kinsfolk from embracing Islam. They should not assume the Moslem dress, either caps, slippers, or turbans, nor part their hair like Moslems, but should always be distinguished by girdles. They should not use the Arabian language in inscriptions on their signets, nor salute after the Moslem manner, nor be called by Moslem surnames. They should rise on the entrance of a Moslem, and remain standing until he should be seated. They should entertain every Moslem traveller three days gratis. They should sell no wine, bear no arms, and use no saddle in riding; neither should they have any domestic who had been in Moslem service.
Such were the degrading conditions imposed upon the proud city of Jerusalem,
once the glory and terror of the East, by the leader of a host of wandering
Arabs. They were the conditions generally imposed by the Moslems in their
fanatical career of conquest. Utter scorn and abhorrence of their religious
adversaries formed one of the main pillars of their faith.
The Christians having agreed to surrender on these terms, the Caliph gave
them, under his own hand, an assurance of protection in their lives and
fortunes, the use of their churches, and the exercise of their religion.
Omar entered the once splendid city of Solomon on foot, in his simple Arab
garb, with his walking-staff in his hand, and accompanied by the venerable
Sophronius, with whom he talked familiarly, inquiring about the antiquities
and public edifices. The worthy patriarch treated the conqueror with all
outward deference, but, if we may trust the words of a Christian historian,
he loathed the dirty Arab in his heart, and was particularly disgusted
with his garb of coarse woolen, patched with sheepskin. His disgust was
almost irrepressible when they entered the church of the Resurrection,
and Sophronius beheld the Caliph in his filthy attire, seated in the midst
of the sacred edifice. “This, of a truth,” exclaimed he, “is the abomination
of desolation predicted by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place.”
It is added that, to pacify the cleanly scruples of the patriarch, Omar
consented to put on clean raiment which he offered him, until his own garments
were washed.
An instance of the strict good faith of Omar is related as occurring on
this visit to the Christian temples. While he was standing with the patriarch
in the church of the Resurrection, one of the stated hours for Moslem worship
arrived, and he demanded where he might pray. “Where you now are,” replied
the patriarch. Omar, however, refused, and went forth. The patriarch conducted
him to the church of Constantine, and spread a mat for him to pray there:
but again he refused. On going forth, he knelt, and prayed on the flight
of steps leading down from the east gate of the church. This done, he turned
to the patriarch, and gave him a generous reason for his conduct. “Had
I prayed in either of the churches,” said he, “the Moslems would have taken
possession of it, and consecrated it as a mosque.”
So scrupulous was he in observing his capitulations respecting the churches,
that he gave the patriarch a writing, forbidding the Moslems to pray upon
the steps where he had prayed, except one person at a time. The zeal of
the faithful, however, outstripped their respect for his commands, and
one half of the steps and porch was afterward included in a mosque built
over the spot which he had accidentally sanctified.
The Caliph next sought the place where the temple of Solomon had stood,
where he founded a mosque; which, in after times, being enlarged and enriched
by succeeding Caliphs, became one of the noblest edifices of Islam worship,
and second only to the magnificent mosque of Cordova.
The surrender of Jerusalem took place in the seventeenth year of the Hegira, and the six hundred and thirty-seventh year of the Christian era.
CHAPTER XIX.
PROGRESS OF THE MOSLEM ARMS IN SYRIA—SIEGE OF ALEPPO— OBSTINATE DEFENSE
BY YOUKENNA—EXPLOIT OF DAMAS—CAPTURE OF THE CASTLE—CONVERSION OF YOUKENNA.
THE Caliph Omar remained ten days in Jerusalem, regulating the great scheme
of Islam conquest. To complete the subjugation of Syria, he divided it
into two parts. Southern Syria, consisting of Palestine and the maritime
towns, he gave in charge to Yezed Ibn Abu Sofian, with a considerable portion
of the army to enable him to master it; while Abu Obeidah, with a larger
force, had orders promptly to reduce all northern Syria, comprising the
country lying between Hauran and Aleppo. At the same time, Amru Ibn al
Aass, with a body of Moslem troops, was ordered to invade Egypt, which
venerable and once mighty empire was then in a state of melancholy decline.
Such were the great plans of Islam conquest in these regions; while at
the same time, Saad Ibn Abi Wakkâs, another of Omar’s generals, was pursuing
a career of victories in the Persian territories.
The return of Omar to Medina was hailed with joy by the inhabitants, for they had regarded with great anxiety and apprehension his visit to Jerusalem. They knew the salubrity of the climate, the fertility of the country, and the sacred character of the city, containing the tombs of the prophets, and being the place, according to Moslem belief, where all mankind were to be assembled in the day of the resurrection. They had feared, therefore, that he would be tempted to fix his residence, for the rest of his days, in that consecrated city. Great was their joy, therefore, when they saw their Caliph re-enter their gates in his primitive simplicity, clad in his coarse Arab garb, and seated on his camel with his wallets of dried fruits and sodden corn; his leathern bottle and his wooden platter.
Abu Obeidah departed from Jerusalem shortly after the Caliph, and marched
with his army to the north, receiving in the course of his progress through
Syria the submission of the cities of Kennesrin and Alhâdir, the inhabitants
of which ransomed themselves and their possessions for five thousand ounces
of gold, the like quantity of silver, two thousand suits of silken raiment,
and as much figs and aloes as would load five hundred mules; he then proceeded
toward the city of Aleppo, which the Caliph had ordered him to besiege.
The inhabitants of this place were much given to commerce, and had amassed
great wealth; they trembled, therefore, at the approach of these plundering
sons of the desert, who had laid so many cities under contribution.
The city of Aleppo was walled and fortified; but it depended chiefly for
defense upon its citadel, which stood without the walls and apart from
the city, on an artificial hill or mound, shaped like a truncated cone
or sugar loaf, and faced with stone. The citadel was of great size, and
commanded all the adjacent country; it was encompassed by a deep moat,
which could be filled from springs of water, and was considered the strongest
castle in all Syria. The governor, who had been appointed to this place
by the emperor Heraclius, and who had held all the territory between Aleppo
and the Euphrates, had lately died, leaving two sons, Youkenna and Johannas,
who resided in the castle and succeeded to his command. They were completely
opposite in character and conduct. Youkenna, the elder of the two, was
a warrior, and managed the government, while Johannas passed his life in
almost monkish retirement, devoting himself to study, to religious exercises,
and to acts of charity. On the approach of the Moslems Johannas sympathized
with the fears of the wealthy merchants, and advised his brother to compound
peaceably with the enemy for a ransom in money. “You talk like a monk,”
replied the fierce Youkenna; “you know nothing that is due to the honor
of a soldier. Have we not strong walls, a brave garrison, and ample wealth
to sustain us, and shall we meanly buy a peace without striking a blow?
Shut yourself up with your books and beads; study and pray, and leave the
defense of the place to me.”
The next day he summoned his troops, distributed money among them, and
having thus roused their spirit, “The Arabs,” said he, “have divided their
forces; some are in Palestine, some have gone to Egypt, it can be but a
mere detachment that is coming against us; I am for meeting them on the
way, and giving them battle before they come near to Aleppo.” His troops
answered his harangue with shouts, so he put himself at the head of twelve
thousand men, and sallied forth to encounter the Moslems on their march.
Scarcely had this reckless warrior departed with his troops when the timid
and trading part of the community gathered together, and took advantage
of his absence to send thirty of the most important and opulent of the
inhabitants to Abu Obeidah, with an offer of a ransom for the city. These
worthies, when they entered the Moslem camp, were astonished at the order
and tranquillity that reigned throughout, under the wise regulations of
the commander-in-chief. They were received by Abu Obeidah with dignified
composure, and informed him that they had come without the knowledge of
Youkenna, their warlike governor, who had sallied out on a foray, and whose
tyranny they found insupportable. After much discussion Abu Obeidah offered
indemnity to the city of Aleppo, on condition that they should pay a certain
sum of money, furnish provisions to his army, make discovery of everything
within their knowledge prejudicial to his interests, and prevent Youkenna
from returning to the castle. They agreed to all the terms except that
relating to the castle, which it was impossible for them to execute.
Abu Obeidah dispensed with that point, but exacted from them all an oath to fulfill punctually the other conditions, assuring them of his protection and kindness, should they observe it; but adding that, should they break it, they need expect no quarter. He then offered them an escort, which they declined, preferring to return quietly by the way they had come.
In the mean time Youkenna, on the day after his sallying forth, fell in
with the advance guard of the Moslem army, consisting of one thousand men
under Caab Ibn Damarrah. He came upon them by surprise while watering their
horses and resting themselves on the grass in negligent security. A desperate
fight was the consequence; the Moslems at first were successful, but were
overpowered by numbers. One hundred and seventy were slain, most of the
rest wounded, and their frequent cries of “Ya Mahommed! Ya Mahommed!” (Oh
Mohammed! Oh Mohammed!) showed the extremity of their despair. Night alone
saved them from total massacre; but Youkenna resolved to pursue the work
of extermination with the morning light. In the course of the night, however,
one of his scouts brought him word of the peaceful negotiation carried
on by the citizens of Aleppo during his absence. Boiling with rage, he
gave up all further thought about Caab and his men, and hastening back
to Aleppo, drew up his forces, and threatened to put everything to fire
and sword unless the inhabitants renounced the treaty, joined him against
the Moslems, and gave up the devisers of the late traitorous schemes. On
their hesitating to comply with his demands, he charged on them with his
troops, and put three hundred to the sword. The cries and lamentations
of the multitude reached the pious Johannas in his retirement in the castle.
He hastened to the scene of carnage, and sought, by prayers and supplications
and pious remonstrances, to stay the fury of his brother. “What!” cried
the fierce Youkenna, “shall I spare traitors who are leagued with the enemy
and selling us for gold?”
“Alas!” replied Johannas, “they have only sought their own safety; they are not fighting men.”
“Base wretch!” cried Youkenna in a frenzy, “’tis thou hast been the contriver
of this infamous treason.”
His naked sword was in his hand; his actions were even more frantic than
his words, and in an instant the head of his meek and pious brother rolled
on the pavement.
The people of Aleppo were in danger of suffering more from the madness
of the army than they had apprehended from the sword of the invader, when
a part of the Moslem army appeared in sight, led on by Khaled. A bloody
battle ensued before the walls of the town, three thousand of Youkenna’s
troops were slain, and he was obliged to take refuge with a considerable
number within the castle, where he placed engines on the walls and prepared
to defend himself to the last extremity.
A council was held in the Moslem camp. Abu Obeidah was disposed to besiege
the citadel and starve out the garrison, but Khaled, with his accustomed
promptness, was for instant assault, before the emperor could send reinforcements
and supplies. As usual his bold counsel prevailed: the castle was stormed,
and he headed the assault. The conflict was one of the fiercest in the
wars of Syria. The besieged hurled huge stones from the battlements; many
of the assailants were slain, many maimed, and Khaled was compelled to
desist from the attack.
In the dead of that very night, when the fires of the camp were extinguished, and the Moslems were sleeping after their hard-fought battle, Youkenna sallied forth with his troops, fell on the enemy sword in hand, killed sixty, and bore off fifty prisoners; Khaled, however, was hard on his traces, and killed above a hundred of his men before they could shelter themselves within the castle. On the next morning Youkenna paraded his fifty prisoners on the walls of the citadel, ordered them to be beheaded, and threw their heads among the besiegers.
Learning from his spies that a detachment of Moslems were foraging the
country, Youkenna sent out, secretly, a troop of horse in the night, who
fell upon the foragers, killed nearly seven score of them, slew or hamstrung
their camels, mules, and horses, and then hid themselves in the recesses
of the mountains, awaiting the night to get back to the castle.
Some fugitives carried tidings of this skirmish to the camp, and Khaled
and Derar, with a troop of horse, were soon at the scene of combat. They
found the ground strewed with the dead bodies of men and animals, learned
from some peasants whither the enemy had retreated, and were informed of
a narrow defile by which they must return to the castle. Khaled and Derar
stationed their troops in ambush in this defile. Late in the night they
perceived the enemy advancing. They suffered them to get completely entangled
in the defile, when, closing suddenly upon them on every side, they slew
a number on the spot, and took three hundred prisoners. These were brought
in triumph to the Moslem camp, where they would have redeemed themselves
with ample ransom, but their heads were all stricken off in front of the
castle, by way of retaliation.
For five months did the siege of this fortress continue; all the attacks of the Moslems were repulsed, all their stratagems discovered and circumvented, for Youkenna had spies in the very camp of the enemy, who gave him intelligence by word, or signal, of every plan and movement. Abu Obeidah despaired of reducing this impregnable castle, which impeded him in his career of conquest, and wrote to the Caliph, proposing to abandon the siege and proceed against Antioch. The Caliph, in reply, ordered him by no means to desist, as that would give courage to the enemy, but to press the siege hard, and trust the event to God. As an additional reliance, he sent him a reinforcement of horse and foot, with twenty camels to facilitate the march of the infantry. Notwithstanding all this aid, the siege was continued for seven-and-forty days, with no greater prospect of success.
While in this state of vexatious impediment and delay, Abu Obeidah was
one day accosted by one of the newly arrived soldiers, who told him that,
if he would give him thirty men, all strong and valiant, he would pledge
his head to put him in possession of the castle. The man who made this
singular application was named Damâs; he was of herculean strength and
gigantic size, a brave soldier, and of great natural sagacity, although
unimproved by education, as he was born a slave. Khaled backed his application,
having heard of great exploits performed by him in Arabia. Abu Obeidah,
in his perplexities, was willing to adopt any expedient to get possession
of this obstinate castle, and the Arabs were always prone to strange and
extravagant stratagems in their warfare. He accordingly placed thirty of
his bravest men under command of Damâs, charging them to obey him implicitly,
notwithstanding his base condition; at the same time, in compliance with
his request, he removed with his army to the distance of a league, as though
about to abandon the siege.
It was now night, and Damâs concealed his thirty men near to the castle,
charging them not to stir, nor utter a sound. He then went out alone and
brought in six Christian prisoners, one after another. He questioned them
in Arabic, but they were ignorant of the language, and replied in their
own tongue. “The curse of Allah on these Christian dogs and their barbarous
jargon, which no man can understand,” cried the rude Arab, and in his rage
he smote off their heads.
He went forth again, and saw a man sliding down the wall, whom he seized the moment he touched the ground. He was a Christian Arab, and was endeavoring to escape from the tyranny of Youkenna, and from him Damâs obtained the information he desired. He instantly dispatched two men to Abu Obeidah, requesting him to send him some horse about sunrise. He then took a goat-skin from his wallet, with which he covered his back and shoulders, and a dry crust of bread in his hand, and crept on all-fours close to the wall of the castle. His men crept silently after him. When he heard a noise he gnawed his crust with a sound like that of a dog gnawing a bone, and his followers remained motionless. In this way he reached a part of the castle wall which was easiest of access. Then seating himself on the ground he made one of his men seat himself on his shoulders, and so on until seven were thus mounted on each other. Then he who was uppermost stood upright, and so did the others in succession, until Damâs rose from the ground upon his feet, and sustained the whole by his wondrous strength, each rendering such aid as he could by bearing against the wall. The uppermost man was now enabled to scramble upon the battlement, where he found a Christian sentinel drunk and asleep. He seized and threw him down to the Moslems below the wall, who instantly dispatched him. He then unfolded his turban and drew up the man below him, and they two the next, and so on until Damâs was also on the wall.
Damâs now enjoined silence on them all, and left them. He found two other
sentinels sleeping, whom he despatched with his dagger, and then made his
way to an aperture for the discharge of arrows, looking through which he
beheld Youkenna in a spacious chamber, richly clad, seated on tapestry
of scarlet silk, flowered with gold, drinking and making merry with a large
company; for it would seem as if, on the apparent departure of the besieging
army, the whole castle had been given up to feasting and carousing.
Damâs considered the company too numerous to be attacked; returning to
his men, therefore, he explored cautiously with them the interior of the
castle. Coming suddenly upon the guards at the main entrance, who had no
apprehension of danger from within, they killed them, threw open the gate,
let down the drawbridge, and were joined by the residue of their party.
The castle was by this time alarmed; the garrison, half drunk and half
asleep, came rushing from all quarters in wild confusion. The Moslems defended
themselves stoutly on the drawbridge and in the narrow pass of the barbican
until the dawn of day, when a shout of Allah Achbar was heard, and Khaled,
with a troop of horse, came thundering through the gate.
The Christians threw down their arms and cried for mercy. Khaled offered them their choice, death or the faith of Islam. Youkenna was the first to raise his finger and pronounce the formula; his example was followed by several of his leading men, whereupon their wives and children and property were secured to them. The castle, having been taken by storm, was completely plundered, and the spoils were divided among the army, excepting the usual fifth part reserved for the Caliph. Damâs and his brave companions, who had been almost cut to pieces in the fight, were praised to the skies, nor would Abu Obeidah stir with his host until those of them who survived were out of danger from their wounds.
CHAPTER XX.
PERFIDY OF YOUKENNA TO HIS FORMER FRIENDS—ATTEMPTS THE CASTLE OF AAZAZ
BY TREACHERY—CAPTURE OF THE CASTLE.
IT is a circumstance worthy of remark in the history both of Mohammed and
his successors, that the most inveterate enemies of the Islam faith, when
once converted to it, even though their conversion were by the edge of
the sword, that great Moslem instrument of persuasion, became its faithful
defenders. Such was the case with Youkenna, who, from the time he embraced
Islam with the Arab scimitar at his throat, became as determined a champion
of its doctrines as he had before been an opponent. Like all new converts,
he was anxious to give striking proofs of his zeal; he had slain a brother
in supporting his old faith, he now proposed to betray a cousin in promoting
the interests of the new. This cousin, whose name was Theodorus, was governor
of an important town and fortress, named Aazaz, situated at no great distance
from Aleppo, and which it was necessary for the Moslems to secure before
they left that neighborhood. The castle was of great strength, and had
a numerous garrison, but Youkenna offered to put it into the hands of Abu
Obeidah by stratagem. His plan was, to have one hundred Moslems disguised
as Christian soldiers; with these he would pretend to fly to the fortress
of Aazaz for refuge; being pursued at a distance by a large body of Arabs,
who, after coming in sight of the place, would appear to retire in despair,
but would conceal themselves in the neighborhood. His cousin Theodorus,
who knew nothing of his conversion, would receive him with perfect confidence;
at a concerted hour of the night he and his men would fall suddenly upon
the garrison, and at the same time throw open the gates to the party without
the walls, and between them both he had no doubt of carrying the place
without difficulty.
Abu Obeidah held counsel with Khaled, who pronounced the stratagem apt
and feasible, provided the sincerity of Youkenna’s conversion might be
depended upon. The new proselyte managed to obtain their confidence, and
was dispatched on his enterprise with one hundred chosen men, selected
by tens from ten tribes of Arabs. After they had departed a sufficient
time, one thousand men were sent in pretended pursuit, headed by Malec
Alashtar, who was instructed in the whole stratagem.
These Moslem wars were always a tissue of plot and counterplot, of which
this whole story of Youkenna is a striking example. Scarce had this scheme
of treachery been devised in the Moslem camp, when the distant governor
of Aazaz was apprised of it, with a success and celerity that almost seemed
like magic. He had at that time a spy in the Moslem camp, an Arab of the
tribe of Gassan, who sent him a letter tied under the wing of a carrier-pigeon,
informing him of the apostasy of Youkenna, and of his intended treachery;
though the spy was ignorant of that part of the plan relating to the thousand
men under Malec Alashtar. On receiving this letter, Theodorus put his town
and castle in a posture of defense, called in the Christian Arabs of the
neighboring villages capable of bearing arms, and despatched a messenger
named Tarik al Gassani to Lucas the prefect of Arrawendân, urging him to
repair with troops to his assistance.
Before the arrival of the latter, Youkenna appeared with his pretended
fugitives before the gates of Aazaz, announcing that his castle was taken,
and that he and his band were flying before pursuers. Theodorus sallied
forth on horseback, at the head of many of his troops, as if to receive
his cousin with all due honors. He even alighted from his steed, and, approaching
Youkenna in a reverential manner, stooped as if to kiss his stirrup; but
suddenly cutting the saddle girth, he pulled him with his face on the ground,
and in an instant his hundred followers were likewise unhorsed and made
prisoners. Theodorus then spat in the face of the prostrate Youkenna and
reproached him with his apostasy and treachery; threatening to send him
to answer for his crimes before the emperor Heraclius, and to put all his
followers to the sword.
In the mean time Tarik al Gassani, the Christian Arab, who had been sent
by Theodorus to summon the prefect of Arrawendân to his aid, had executed
his errand, but on the way back fell into the hand of Malec, who was lying
in ambuscade with his thousand men. The sight of a naked scimitar drew
from Tarik information that the plot of Youkenna had been discovered; that
he had been sent after aid, and that Lucas, the prefect of Arrawendân,
must be actually on his way with five hundred cavalry.
Profiting by this information, Malec placed his thousand men so advantageously
as completely to surprise and capture Lucas and his reinforcement, as they
were marching in the night. He then devised a stratagem still to outwit
the governor of Aazaz. First he disguised his five hundred men in dresses
taken from their Christian prisoners, and gave them the Christian standard
of the prefect of Arrawendân. Then summoning Tarik the messenger before
him, and again displaying the scimitar, he exhorted him most earnestly
to turn Mohammedan. There was no resisting his arguments, and Tarik made
a full and hearty profession of the faith. Malec then ordered him to prove
his zeal for the good cause by proceeding to Aazaz and informing Theodorus
that the prefect of Arrawendân was at hand with a reinforcement of five
hundred men. The double-faced courier departed on his errand, accompanied
by a trusty Moslem, who had secret orders to smite off his head if he should
be found to waver; but there were still other plots at work in this tissue
of stratagems.
As Tarik and his companion approached Aazaz, they heard great shouting
and the sound of trumpets, and this was the cause of the change. Theodorus,
the governor, had committed Youkenna and his men into the custody of his
son Leon. Now it so happened that the youth having frequently visited his
father’s kinsmen at the castle of Aleppo, had become violently enamored
of the daughter of Youkenna, but had met strong opposition to his love.
The present breach between his father and Youkenna threatened to place
an inseparable barrier between him and the gratification of his passion.
Maddened by his desires, the youth now offered to Youkenna, if he would
give him his daughter to wife, to embrace Mohammedanism, and to set him
and his companions at liberty. The offer was accepted. At the dead of the
night, when the prisoners were armed and liberated, they fell upon the
sleeping garrison; a tumultuous fight ensued, in the course of which Theodorus
was slain, by the hand, it is said, of his unnatural son.
It was in the height of this conflict that Tarik and his companion arrived
at the place, and, learning the situation of affairs, hastened back to
Malec Alashtar with the news. The latter hurried on with his troops and
came in time to complete the capture of the place. He bestowed great praises
on Youkenna, but the latter, taking him by the hand, exclaimed, “Thank
Allah and this youth.” He then related the whole story. The pious Malec
lifted up his eyes and hands in wonder “When Allah wills a thing,” exclaimed
he, “he prepares the means.”
Leaving Seid Ibn Amir in command of the place, with Youkenna’s band of
a hundred men as a garrison, Malec Alashtar returned to the main army with
great booty and many prisoners. Youkenna, however, refused to accompany
him. He was mortified at the questionable result of his undertaking against
Aazaz, the place having been taken by other means than his own, and vowed
not to show himself in the Moslem camp until he had retrieved his credit
by some signal blow. Just at this time there arrived at Aazaz a foraging
party of a thousand Moslems, that had been ravaging the neighboring country;
among them were two hundred renegades, who had apostatized with Youkenna,
and whose families and effects were in the castle of Aleppo. They were
the very men for his purpose, and with these he marched off to execute
one of his characteristic stratagems at Antioch.
CHAPTER XXI.
INTRIGUES OF YOUKENNA AT ANTIOCH—SIEGE OF THAT CITY BY THE MOSLEMS—FLIGHT
OF THE EMPEROR TO CONSTANTINOPLE—SURRENDER OF ANTIOCH.
THE city of Antioch was at that time the capital of Syria, and the seat of the Roman government in the East. It was of great extent, surrounded by stone walls and numerous towers, and stood in the midst of a fertile country, watered by wells and fountains and abundant streams. Here Heraclius held his court, and here the Greeks, sunk in luxury and effeminacy, had lost all the military discipline and heroism that had made them conquerors in Asia.
Toward this capital Youkenna proceeded with his band of two hundred men;
but in the second watch of the night he left them, after giving them orders
to keep on in the highway of the caravans, and on arriving at Antioch,
to give themselves out as fugitives from Aleppo. In the meantime he, with
two of his relatives, struck into a by-road, and soon fell into the hands
of one of the emperor’s outposts. On announcing himself Youkenna, late
governor of Aleppo, he was sent under a guard of horse to Antioch.
The emperor Heraclius, broken in spirit by his late reverses and his continual
apprehensions, wept at the sight of Youkenna, and meekly upbraided him
with his apostasy and treason, but the latter, with perfect self-possession
and effrontery, declared that whatever he had done was for the purpose
of preserving his life for the emperor’s service; and cited the obstinate
defense he had made at Aleppo and his present voluntary arrival at Antioch
as proofs of his fidelity. The emperor was easily deceived by a man he
had been accustomed to regard as one of his bravest and most devoted officers;
and indeed the subtle apostate had the address to incline most of the courtiers
in his favor. To console him for what was considered his recent misfortunes,
he was put in command of the two hundred pretended fugitives of his former
garrison, as soon as they arrived at Antioch; he had thus a band of kindred
renegades, ready to aid him in any desperate treachery. Furthermore, to
show his entire confidence in him, the emperor sent him with upward of
two thousand men, to escort his youngest daughter from a neighboring place
to the court at Antioch. He performed his mission with correctness; as
he and his troop were escorting the princess about midnight, the neighing
of their horses put them on the alert, and sending out scouts they received
intelligence of a party of Moslems asleep, with their horses grazing near
them. They proved to be a body of a thousand Christian Arabs, under Haim,
son of the apostate Jabalah Ibn al Ayam, who had made captives of Derar
Ibn al Azwar and a foraging party of two hundred Moslems. They all proceeded
together to Antioch, where the emperor received his daughter with great
joy, and made Youkenna one of his chief counsellors.
Derar and his men were brought into the presence of the emperor, and commanded
to prostrate themselves before him, but they held themselves erect and
took no heed of the command. It was repeated more peremptorily. “We bow
to no created being,” replied Derar; “the prophet bids us to yield adoration
to God alone.”
The emperor, struck with this reply, propounded several questions touching
Mohammed and his doctrines, but Derar, whose province did not lie in words,
beckoned to Kais Ibn Amir, an old gray-headed Moslem, to answer them. A
long and edifying conference ensued, in which, in reply to the searching
questions of the emperor, the venerable Kais went into a history of the
prophet, and of the various modes in which inspiration came upon him. Sometimes
like the sound of a bell; sometimes in the likeness of an angel in human
shape; sometimes in a dream; sometimes like the brightness of the dawning
day; and that when it was upon him great drops of sweat rolled from his
forehead, and a tremor seized upon his limbs. He furthermore descanted
with eloquence upon the miracles of Mohammed, of his nocturnal journey
to heaven, and his conversation with the Most High. The emperor listened
with seeming respect to all these matters, but they roused the indignation
of a bishop who was present, and who pronounced Mohammed an impostor. Derar
took fire in an instant; if he could not argue, he could make use of a
soldier’s vocabulary, and he roundly gave the bishop the lie, and assailed
him with all kinds of epithets. Instantly a number of Christian swords
flashed from their scabbards, blows were aimed at him from every side;
and according to Moslem accounts he escaped death only by miracle; though
others attribute it to the hurry and confusion of his assailants, and to
the interference of Youkenna. The emperor was now for having him executed
on the spot; but here the good offices of Youkenna again saved him, and
his execution was deferred.
In the mean time Abu Obeidah, with his main army, was making his victorious
approaches, and subjecting all Syria to his arms. The emperor, in his miserable
imbecility and blind infatuation, put the treacherous Youkenna in full
command of the city and army. He would again have executed Derar and his
fellow-prisoners, but Youkenna suggested that they had better be spared
to be exchanged for any Christians that might be taken by the enemy. They
were then, by advice of the bishops, taken to one of the churches, and
exhorted to embrace the Christian faith, but they obstinately refused.
The Arabian writers, as usual, give them sententious replies to the questions
put to them. “What hinders ye,” demanded the patriarch, “from turning Christians?”
“The truth of our religion,” replied they. Heraclius had heard of the mean
attire of the Caliph Omar, and asked them why, having gained so much wealth
by his conquests, he did not go richly clad like other princes? They replied
that he cared not for this world, but for the world to come, and sought
favor in the eyes of God alone. “In what kind of a palace does he reside?”
asked the emperor. “In a house built of mud.” “Who are his attendants?”
“Beggars and the poor.” “What tapestry does he sit upon?” “Justice and
equity.” “What is his throne?” “Abstinence and true knowledge.” “What is
his treasure?” “Trust in God.” “And who are his guard?” “The bravest of
the Unitarians.”
Of all the prisoners one only could be induced to swerve from his faith;
and he was a youth fascinated by the beauty and the unveiled charms of
the Greek women. He was baptized with triumph; the bishops strove who most
should honor him, and the emperor gave him a horse, a beautiful damsel
to wife, and enrolled him in the army of Christian Arabs, commanded by
the renegade Jabalah; but he was upbraided in bitter terms by his father,
who was one of the prisoners, and ready to die in the faith of Islam.
The emperor now reviewed his army, which was drawn up outside of the walls,
and at the head of every battalion was a wooden oratory with a crucifix;
while a precious crucifix out of the main church, exhibited only on extraordinary
occasions, was borne as a sacred standard before the treacherous Youkenna.
One of the main dependences of Heraclius for the safety of Antioch was
in the Iron Bridge, so called from its great strength. It was a bridge
of stone across the river Orontes, guarded by two towers and garrisoned
by a great force, having not less than three hundred officers. The fate
of this most important pass shows the degeneracy of Greek discipline and
the licentiousness of the soldiery, to which in a great measure has been
attributed the rapid successes of the Moslems. An officer of the court
was charged to visit this fortress each day, and see that everything was
in order. On one of his visits he found those who had charge of the towers
drinking and revelling, whereupon he ordered them to be punished with fifty
stripes each. They treasured the disgrace in their hearts; the Moslem army
approached to lay siege to that formidable fortress, and when the emperor
expected to hear of a long and valiant resistance, he was astonished by
the tidings that the Iron Bridge had been surrendered without a blow.
Heraclius now lost heart altogether. Instead of calling a council of his
generals, he assembled the bishops and wealthiest citizens in the cathedral,
and wept over the affairs of Syria. It was a time for dastard counsel;
the apostate Jabalah proposed the assassination of the Caliph Omar as a
means of throwing the affairs of the Saracens into confusion. The emperor
was weak enough to consent, and Vathek Ibn Mosapher, a bold young Arab
of the tribe of Jabalah, was dispatched to Medina to effect the treacherous
deed. The Arabian historians give a miraculous close to this undertaking.
Arriving at Medina, Vathek concealed himself in a tree, without the wails,
at a place where the Caliph was accustomed to walk after the hour of prayers.
After a time Omar approached the place, and lay down to sleep near the
foot of the tree. The assassin drew his dagger, and was descending, when
be beheld a lion walking round the Caliph, licking his feet and guarding
him as he slept. When he woke the lion went away upon which Vathek, convinced
that Omar was under the protection of Heaven, hastened down from the tree,
kissed his hand in token of allegiance, revealed his treacherous errand,
and avowed his conversion to the Islam faith.
The surrender of the Iron Bridge had laid open Antioch to the approach
of Abu Obeidah, and he advanced in battle array to where the Christian
army was drawn up beneath its walls. Nestorius, one of the Christian commanders,
sallied forth from among the troops and defied the Moslems to single combat.
Damâs, the herculean warrior, who had taken the castle of Aleppo, spurred
forward to meet him, but his horse stumbled and fell with him, and he was
seized as the prisoner of Nestorius, and conveyed to his tent, where he
was bound hand and foot. Dehac, another Moslem, took his place, and a brave
fight ensued between him and Nestorius. The parties, however, were so well
matched that, after fighting for a long time until both were exhausted,
they parted by mutual consent. While this fight was going on, the soldiers,
horse and foot, of either army, thronged to see it, and in the tumult the
tent of Nestorius was thrown down. There were but three servants left in
charge of it. Fearful of the anger of their master, they hastened to set
it up again, and loosened the bands of Damâs that he might assist them;
but the moment he was free he arose in his giant strength, seized two of
the attendants, one in each hand, dashed their heads against the head of
the third, and soon laid them all lifeless on the ground. Then opening
a chest, he arrayed himself in a dress belonging to Nestorius, armed himself
with a saber, sprang on a horse that stood ready saddled, and cut his way
through the Christian Arabs of Jabalah to the Moslem host.
While these things were happening without the walls, treason was at work in the city. Youkenna, who commanded there, set free Derar and his fellow-prisoners, furnished them with weapons, and joined to them his own band of renegadoes. The tidings of this treachery and the apprehension of revolt among his own troops struck despair to the heart of Heraclius. He had been terrified by a dream in which he had found himself thrust from his throne, and his crown falling from his head; the fulfillment appeared to be at hand. Without waiting to withstand the evil, he assembled a few domestics, made a secret retreat to the sea-shore, and set sail for Constantinople.
The generals of Heraclius, more brave than their emperor, fought a pitched
battle beneath the walls; but the treachery of Youkenna and the valor of
Derar and his men, who fell on them unawares, rendered their gallant struggle
unavailing; the people of Antioch seeing the battle lost capitulated for
the safety of their city at the cost of three hundred thousand golden ducats,
and Abu Obeidah entered the ancient capital of Syria in triumph. This event
took place on the 21st of August, in the year of redemption 638.
CHAPTER XXII.
EXPEDITION INTO THE MOUNTAINS OF SYRIA—STORY OF A MIRACULOUS CAP.
The discreet Abu Obeidah feared to expose his troops to the enervating delights of Antioch, and to the allurements of the Greek women, and, after three days of repose and refreshment, marched forth from that luxurious city. He wrote a letter to the Caliph, relating his important conquest, and the flight of the emperor Heraclius; and added that he discovered a grievous propensity among his troops to intermarry with the beautiful Grecian females, which he had forbidden them to do, as contrary to the injunctions of the Koran.
The epistle was delivered to Omar just as be was departing on a pilgrimage
to Mecca, accompanied by the widows of the prophet. When he had read the
letter he offered prayers and thanksgiving to Allah, but wept over Abu
Obeidah’s rigor to his soldiers. Seating himself upon the ground, he immediately
wrote a reply to his general, expressing his satisfaction at his success,
but exhorting him to more indulgence to his soldiers. Those who had fought
the good fight ought to be permitted to rest themselves, and to enjoy the
good things they had gained. Such as had no wives at home, might marry
in Syria, and those who had a desire for female slaves might purchase as
many as they chose.
While the main army reposed after the taking of Antioch, the indefatigable
Khaled, at the head of a detachment, scoured the country as far as to the
Euphrates; took Membege, the ancient Hierapolis, by force, and Berah and
Bales, and other places, by capitulation, receiving a hundred thousand
pieces of gold by way of ransom, besides laying the inhabitants under annual
tribute.
Abu Obeidah, in an assemblage of his officers, now proposed an expedition to subdue the mountains of Syria; but no one stepped forward to volunteer. The mountains were rugged and sterile, and covered with ice and snow for the greater part of the year, and the troops already began to feel the effects of the softening climate and delights of Syria. At length a candidate presented himself, named Meisara Ibn Mesroud; a numerous body of picked men was placed under his command, and a black flag was given him, bearing the inscription, “There is no God but God. Mohammed is the messenger of God.” Damâs accompanied him at the head of one thousand black Ethiopian slaves. The detachment suffered greatly in the mountains, for they were men of sultry climates, unaccustomed to ice and snow, and they passed suddenly from a soft Syrian summer to the severity of frozen winter, and from the midst of abundance to regions of solitude and sterility. The inhabitants, too, of the scanty villages, fled at their approach. At length they captured a prisoner, who informed them that an imperial army of many thousand men was lying in wait for them in a valley about three leagues distant, and that all the passes behind them were guarded. A scout, dispatched in search of intelligence, confirmed this news; whereupon they entrenched themselves in a commanding position, and dispatched a fleet courier to Abu Obeidah, to inform him of their perilous situation.
The courier made such speed that when he reached the presence of Obeidah
he fainted through exhaustion. Khaled, who had just returned from his successful
expedition to the Euphrates, instantly hastened to the relief of Meisara,
with three thousand men, and was presently followed by Ayad Ibn Ganam,
with two thousand more.
Khaled found Meisara and his men making desperate stand against an overwhelming
force. At the sight of this powerful reinforcement, with the black eagle
of Khaled in the advance, the Greeks gave over the attack and returned
to their camp, but secretly retreated in the night, leaving their tents
standing, and bearing off captive Abdallah Ibn Hodafa, a near relative
of the prophet and a beloved friend of the Caliph Omar, whom they straightway
sent to the emperor at Constantinople.
The Moslems forbore to pursue the enemy through these difficult mountains,
and, after plundering the deserted tents, returned to the main army. When
the Caliph Omar received tidings from Abu Obeidah of the capture of Abdallah
Ibn Hodafa, he was grieved at heart, and dispatched instantly an epistle
to the emperor Heraclius at Constantinople.
“Bismillah! In the name of the all-merciful God!
“Praise be to Allah, the Lord of this world, and of that which is to come, who has neither companion, wife, nor son; and blessed be Mohammed his apostle. Omar Ibn al Khattâb, servant of God, to Heraclius, emperor of the Greeks. As soon as thou shalt receive this epistle, fail not to send to me the Moslem captive whose name is Abdallah Ibn Hodafa. If thou doest this, I shall have hope that Allah will conduct thee in the right path. If thou dost refuse, I will not fail to send thee such men as traffic and merchandise have not turned from the fear of God. Health and happiness to all those who tread in the right way!”
In the mean time the emperor had treated his prisoner with great distinction,
and as Abdallah was a cousin-german to the prophet, the son of one of his
uncles, he was an object of great curiosity at Constantinople. The emperor
proffered him liberty if he would only make a single sign of adoration
to the crucifix, and magnificent rewards if he would embrace the Christian
faith; but both proposals were rejected. Heraclius, say the Arab writers,
then changed his treatment of him; shut him up for three days with nothing
to eat and drink but swine’s flesh and wine, but on the fourth day found
both untouched. The faith of Abdallah was put to no further proof, as by
this time the emperor received the stern letter from the Caliph. The letter
had its effect. The prisoner was dismissed, with costly robes and rich
presents, and Heraclius sent to Omar a diamond of great size and beauty;
but no jeweller at Medina could estimate its value. The abstemious Omar
refused to appropriate it to his own use, though urged to do so by the
Moslems. He placed it in the public treasury, of which, from his office,
he was the guardian and manager. It was afterward sold for a great sum.
A singular story is related by a Moslem writer, but not supported by any
rumor or surmise among Christian historians. It is said that the emperor
Heraclius wavered in his faith, if he did not absolutely become a secret
convert of Mohammedanism, and this is stated as the cause. He was afflicted
with a violent pain in the head, for which he could find no remedy, until
the Caliph Omar sent him a cap of mysterious virtue. So long as he wore
this cap he was at ease, but the moment he laid it aside the pain returned.
Heraclius caused the cap to be ripped open, and found within the lining
a scrap of paper, on which was written in Arabic character, Bismillah!
Arrahmani Arrahimi! In the name of the all-merciful God. This cap is said
to have been preserved among the Christians until the year 833, when it
was given up by the governor of a besieged town to the Caliph Almotassem,
on condition of his raising the siege. It was found still to retain its
medicinal virtues, which the pious Arabians ascribed to the efficacy of
the devout inscription. An unbelieving Christian will set it down among
the charms and incantations which have full effect on imaginative persons
inclined to credulity, but upon none others; such persons abounded among
the Arabs.
CHAPTER XXIII.
EXPEDITION OF AMRU IBN AL AASS AGAINST PRINCE CONSTANTINE IN SYRIA—THEIR
CONFERENCE—CAPTURE OF TRIPOLI AND TYRE—FLIGHT OF CONSTANTINE—DEATH OF KHALED.
The course of our history now turns to record the victories of Amru Ibn
al Aass, to whom, after the capture of Jerusalem, the Caliph had assigned
the invasion and subjugation of Egypt. Amru, however, did not proceed immediately
to that country, but remained for some time with his division of the army,
in Palestine, where some places still held out for the emperor. The natural
and religious sobriety of the Arabs was still sorely endangered among the
temptations of Syria. Several of the Moslem officers being seized, while
on the march, With chills and griping pains in consequence of eating unripe
grapes, were counselled by a crafty old Christian Arab to drink freely
of wine which he produced, and which he pronounced a sovereign remedy.
They followed his prescriptions so lustily that they all came reeling into
the camp to the great scandal of Amru. The punishment for drunkenness,
recommended by Ali and adopted by the Caliph, was administered to the delinquents,
who each received a sound bastinado on the soles of the feet. This sobered
them completely, but so enraged them with the old man who had recommended
the potations that they would have put him to death, had it not been represented
to them that he was a stranger and under Moslem protection.
Amru now advanced upon the city of Caesarea, where Constantine, son of
the emperor, was posted with a large army. The Moslems were beset by spies,
sent by the Christian commander to obtain intelligence. These were commonly
Christian Arabs, whom it was almost impossible to distinguish from those
of the faith of Islam. One of these, however, after sitting one day by
the camp fires, as he rose trod on the end of his own robe and stumbled;
in his vexation he uttered an oath “by Christ!” He was immediately detected
by his blasphemy to be a Christian and a spy, and was cut to pieces by
the bystanders. Amru rebuked them for their precipitancy, as he might have
gained information from their victim, and ordered that in future all spies
should be brought to him.
The fears of Constantine increased with the approach of the army, and he
now dispatched a Christian priest to Amru, soliciting him to send some
principal officer to confer amicably with him. An Ethiopian negro, named
Belal Ibn Rebah, offered to undertake the embassy. He was a man of powerful
frame and sonorous voice, and had been employed by Mohammed as a Muezzin
or crier, to summon the people to prayers. Proud of having officiated under
the prophet, he retired from office at his death, and had raised his voice
but once since that event, and that was on the taking possession of Jerusalem,
the city of the prophets, when, at the Caliph Omar’s command, he summoned
the true believers to prayers with a force of lungs that astonished the
Jewish inhabitants.
Amru would have declined the officious offer of the vociferous Ethiopian,
representing to him that such a mission required a smooth-spoken Arab,
rather than one of his country; but, on Belal conjuring him in the name
of Allah and the prophet to let him go, he reluctantly consented. When,
the priest saw who was to accompany him back to Constantine, he objected
stoutly to such an ambassador, and glancing contemptuously at the negro
features of the Ethiopian, observed that Constantine had not sent for a
slave but for an officer. The negro ambassador, however, persisted in his
diplomatic errand, but was refused admission. and returned mortified and
indignant.
Amru now determined to undertake the conference in person. Repairing to
the Christian camp, he was conducted to Constantine, whom he found seated
in state, and who ordered a chair to be placed for him; but he put it aside,
and seated himself cross-legged on the ground after the Arab fashion, with
his scimitar on his thigh and his lance across his knees. The curious conference
that ensued is minutely narrated by that pious Imam and Cadi, the Moslem
historian Alwakedi, in his chronicle of the conquest of Syria.
Constantine remonstrated against the invasion, telling Amru that the Romans
and Greeks and Arabs were brethren, as being all the children of Noah,
although, it was true, the Arabs were misbegotten, as being the descendants
of Ishmael, the son of Hagar, a slave and a concubine, yet being thus brethren,
it was sinful for them to war against each other.
Amru replied that what Constantine had said was true, and that the Arabs gloried in acknowledging Ishmael as their progenitor, and envied not the Greeks their forefather Esau, who had sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. He added that their difference related to their religion, upon which ground even brothers were justified in warfare.
Amru proceeded to state that Noah, after the deluge, divided the earth
into three parts, between his sons Shem, Ham, and Japhet, and that Syria
was in the portion assigned to Shem, which continued down through his descendants
Kathan and Tesm, and Jodais to Amalek, the father of the Amalekite Arabs;
but that the Arabs had been pushed from their fertile inheritance of Syria
into the stony and thorny deserts of Arabia.
“We come now,” continued Amru, “to claim our ancient inheritance, and resume the ancient partition. Take you the stones and the thorns and the barren deserts we have occupied, and give us back the pleasant land of Syria, with its groves, its pastures, its fair cities and running streams.”
To this Constantine replied, that the partition was already made; that
time and possession had confirmed it; and that the groves had been planted,
and the cities built by the present inhabitants. Each, therefore, ought
to be contented with the lot that had fallen to him.
There are two conditions,” rejoined Amru, “on which the land may remain
with its present inhabitants. Let them profess the religion of Islam, or
pay tribute to the Caliph, as is due from all unbelievers.”
“Not so,” said Constantine, “but let each continue to possess the land
he has inhabited, and enjoy the produce of his own toil, and profess the
faith which he believes, in his own conscience, to be true.”
Upon this Amru sternly rose. “One only alternative,” said he, “remains.
Since you obstinately refuse the conditions I propose, even as your ancestor
Esau refused obedience to his mother, let God and the sword decide between
us.”
As he was about to depart, he added: “We will acknowledge no kindred with
you, while ye continue unbelievers. Ye are the children of Esau, we of
Ishmael, through whom alone the seal and gift of prophecy descended from
father to son, from our great forefather Adam, until it reached the prophet
Mohammed. Now Ishmael was the best of the sons of his father, and made
the tribe of Kenanah, the best tribe of Arabia; and the family of Koreish
is the best of the tribe of Kenanah; and the children of Haschem are the
best of the family of Koreish; and Abdallah Motâlleb, grandsire of Mohammed,
was the best of the sons of Haschem; and Abdallah, the youngest and best
of the thirteen sons of Abu Motâlleb, was the father of Mohammed (on whom
be peace!), who was the best and only issue of his sire; and to him the
angel Gabriel descended from Allah, and inspired him with the gift of prophecy.”
Thus terminated this noted conference, and Amru returned to his host. The
armies now remained in sight of each other, prepared for battle, but without
coming to action. One day an officer richly arrayed came forth from the
Christian camp, defying the Moslems to single combat. Several wore eager
to accept the challenge in hopes of gaining such glittering spoil; but
Amru rebuked their sordid motives. “Let no man fight for gain,” said he,
“but for the truth. He who loses his life fighting for the love of God
will have paradise as a reward; but he who loses it fighting for any other
object will lose his life and all that he fights for.”
A stripling now advanced, an Arab from Yemen, or Arabia the Happy, who had sought these wars not, as he said, for the delights of Syria, or the fading enjoyments of this world, but to devote himself to the service of God and his apostle. His mother and sister had in vain opposed his leaving his peaceful home to seek a life of danger. “If I fall in the service of Allah,” said he, “I shall be a martyr; and the prophet has said that the spirits of the martyrs shall dwell in the crops of the green birds that eat of the fruits and drink of the rivers of paradise.” Finding their remonstrances of no avail, his mother and sister had followed him to the wars, and they now endeavored to dissuade him from fighting with an adversary so much his superior in strength and years; but the youthful enthusiast was not to be moved. “Farewell, mother and sister!” cried he; “we shall meet again by that river of joy provided in paradise for the apostle and his followers.”
The youth rushed to the combat, but obtained almost instantly the crown of martyrdom he sought. Another and another succeeded him, but shared the same fate. Serjabil Ibn Hasanah stepped forth. As on a former occasion, in purifying the spirit, he had reduced the flesh; and a course of watching and fasting had rendered him but little competent to face his powerful adversary. After a short combat the Christian bore him to the earth, and setting his foot upon his breast, was about to take his life, when his own hand was suddenly severed from his body. The prostrate Serjabil looked up with surprise at his deliverer; for he was in Grecian attire, and had come from the Grecian host. He announced himself as the unhappy Tuleia Ibn Chowailed, formerly a pretended prophet and an associate of Moseilma. After the death of that impostor, he had repented of his false prophecies, and become a Moslem in heart, and had sought an opportunity of signalizing his devotion to the Islam cause.
“Oh brother!” cried Serjabil, “the mercy of Allah is infinite, and repentance
wipes away all crimes.”
Serjabil would now have taken him to the Moslem host, but Tuleia hung back;
and at length confessed that he would long since have joined the standard
of Islam, but that he was afraid of Khaled, that terror and scourge of
false prophets, who had killed his friend Moseilma, and who might put him
to death out of resentment for past misdeeds. Serjabil quieted his fears
by assuring him that Khaled was not in the Moslem camp; he then conducted
him to Amru, who received him with great favor, and afterward gave him
a letter to the Caliph setting forth the signal service he had performed,
and his sincere devotion to the cause of Islam. He was subsequently employed
in the wars of the Moslems against the Persians.
The weather was cold and tempestuous, and the Christians, disheartened
by repeated reverses, began daily to desert their colors. The prince Constantine
dreaded, with his diminished and discouraged troops, to encounter an enemy
flushed with success, and continually augmenting in force. Accordingly,
he took advantage of a tempestuous night, and abandoning his camp to be
plundered by the Moslems, retreated with his army to Caesarea, and shut
himself up within its walls. Hither he was soon followed by Amru, who laid
close siege to the place, but the walls were strong, the garrison was numerous,
and Constantine hoped to be able to hold out until the arrival of reinforcements.
The tidings of further disasters, and disgraces to the imperial cause,
however, destroyed this hope; and these were brought about by the stratagems
and treacheries of that arch deceiver Youkenna. After the surrender of
Antioch, that wily traitor still kept up his pretended devotion to the
Christian cause, and retreated with his band of renegadoes to the town
of Tripoli, a seaport in Syria, situated on the Mediterranean. Here he
was cordially admitted, as his treachery was still unknown. Watching his
opportunity, he rose with his devoted band, seized on the town and citadel
without noise or tumult, and kept the standard of the cross still flying,
while he sent secret intelligence of his exploit to Abu Obeidah. Just at
this time, a fleet of fifty ships from Cyprus and Crete put in there, laden
with arms and provisions for Constantine’s army. Before notice could be
given of the posture of affairs, Youkenna gained possession of the ships,
and embarked on board of them with his renegadoes and other troops, delivering
the city of Tripoli into the hands of the force sent by Abu Obeidah to
receive it.
Bent on new treacheries, Youkenna now sailed with the fleet to Tyre, displaying
the Christian flag, and informing the governor that he was come with a
reinforcement for the army of the emperor. He was kindly received, and
landed with nine hundred of his troops, intending to rise on the garrison
in the night. One of his own men, however, betrayed the plot, and Youkenna
and his followers were seized and imprisoned in the citadel.
In the mean time Yezed Ibn Abu Sofian, who had marched with two thousand
men against Caesarea, but had left Amru to subdue it, came with his troops
into the neighborhood of Tyre, in hopes to find it in possession of Youkenna.
The governor of the city, despising so slender a force, sallied forth with
the greater part of his garrison, and the inhabitants mounted on the walls
to see the battle.
It was the fortune of Youkenna, which he derived from his consummate skill in intrigue, that his failure and captivity on this occasion, as on a former one in the castle of Aazaz, served only as a foundation for his success. He contrived to gain over a Christian officer named Basil, to whose keeping he and the other prisoners were entrusted, and who was already disposed to embrace the Islam faith; and he sent information of his plan by a disguised messenger to Yezed, and to those of his own followers who remained on board of the fleet. All this was the work of a few hours, while the opposing forces were preparing for action.
The battle was hardly begun when Youkenna and his nine hundred men, set
free by the apostate Basil, and conducted to the arsenal, armed themselves
and separated in different parties. Some scoured the streets, shouting
La ilaha Allah! and Alla Achbar! Others stationed themselves at the passages
by which alone the guard could descend from the walls. Others ran to the
port, where they were joined by their comrades from the fleet, and others
threw wide the gates to a detachment of the army of Yezed. All this was
suddenly effected, and with such co-operation from various points, that
the place was presently in the hands of the Moslems. Most of the inhabitants
embraced the Islam faith; the rest were pillaged and made slaves.
It was the tidings of the loss of Tripoli and Tyre, and of the capture
of the fleet, with its munitions of war, that struck dismay into the heart
of the prince Constantine, and made him quake within the walls of Caesarea.
He felt as if Amru and his besieging army were already within the walls,
and, taking disgraceful counsel from his fears, and example from his father’s
flight from Antioch, he removed furtively from Caesarea with his family
and vast treasure, gained promptly a convenient port, and set all sail
for Constantinople.
The people of Caesarea finding one morning that the son of their sovereign
had fled in the night, capitulated with Amru, offering to deliver up the
city, with all the wealth belonging to the family of the late emperor,
and two hundred thousand pieces of silver, as ransom for their own property.
Their terms were promptly accepted, Amru being anxious to depart on the
invasion of Egypt.
The surrender of Caesarea was followed by the other places in the province
which had still held out, and thus, after a war of six years, the Moslem
conquest of Syria was completed, in the fifth year of the Caliph Omar,
the 29th of the reign of the emperor Heraclius, the 17th of the Hegira,
and the 639th year of our redemption.
The conquest was followed by a pestilence, one of the customary attendants upon war. Great numbers of the people of Syria perished, and with them twenty-five thousand of their Arabian conquerors. Among the latter was Abu Obeidah, the commander-in-chief, then fifty-eight years of age; also Yezed Ibn Abu Sofian, Serjabil, and other distinguished generals, so that the 18th year of the Hegira became designated as “The year of the mortality.”
In closing this account of the conquest of Syria, we must note the fate
of one of the most efficient of its conquerors, the invincible Khaled.
He had never been a favorite of Omar who considered him rash and headlong,
arrogant in the exercise of command, unsparing in the use of the sword,
and rapacious in grasping the spoils of victory. His brilliant achievements
in Irak and Syria, and the magnanimity with which he yielded the command
to Abu Obeidah, and zealously fought under his standard, had never sufficed
to efface the prejudice of Omar.
After the capture of Emessa, which was mainly effected by the bravery of Khaled, he received congratulations on all hands as the victor. Eschaus, an Arabian poet, sang his exploits in lofty verse, making him the hero of the whole Syrian conquest. Khaled, who was as ready to squander as to grasp, rewarded the adulation of the poet with thirty thousand pieces of silver. All this, when reported to Omar, excited his quick disgust; he was indignant at Khaled for arrogating to himself, as he supposed, all the glory of the war; and he attributed the lavish reward of the poet to gratified vanity. “Even if the money came from his own purse,” said he, “it was shameful squandering; and God, says the Koran, loves not a squanderer.”
He now gave faith to a charge made against Khaled of embezzling the spoils
set apart for the public treasury, and forthwith sent orders for him to
be degraded from his command in presence of the assembled army; it is even
said his arms were tied behind his back with his turban.
A rigid examination proved the charge of embezzlement to be unfounded,
but Khaled was subjected to a heavy fine. The sentence causing great dissatisfaction
in the army, the Caliph wrote to the commanders: “I have punished Khaled
not on account of fraud or falsehood, but for his vanity and prodigality;
paying poets for ascribing to him alone all the successes of the holy war.
Good and evil come from God, not from Khaled!”
These indignities broke the heart of the veteran, who was already infirm
from the wounds and hardships of his arduous campaigns, and he gradually
sank into the grave, regretting in his last moments that he had not died
in the field of battle. He left a name idolized by the soldiery and beloved
by his kindred; at his sepulture, all the women of his race cut off their
hair in token of lamentation. When it was ascertained, at his death, that
instead of having enriched himself by the wars, his whole property consisted
of his war-horse, his arms, and a single slave, Omar became sensible of
the injustice he had done to his faithful general, and shed tears over
his grave.
CHAPTER XXIV.
INVASION OF EGYPT BY AMRU—CAPTURE OF MEMPHIS—SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF ALEXANDRIA—BURNING
OF THE ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY.
A PROOF of the religious infatuation, or the blind confidence in destiny,
which hurried the Moslem commanders of those days into the most extravagant
enterprises, is furnished in the invasion of the once proud empire of the
Pharaohs, the mighty, the mysterious Egypt, with an army of merely five
thousand men. The Caliph, himself, though he had suggested this expedition,
seems to have been conscious of its rashness; or rather to have been chilled
by the doubts of his prime counsellor Othman; for, while Amru was on the
march, he dispatched missives after him to the following effect: “If this
epistle reach thee before thou hast crossed the boundary of Egypt, come
instantly back; but if it find thee within the Egyptian territory, march
on with the blessing of Allah, and be assured I will send thee all necessary
aid.”
The bearer of the letter overtook Amru while yet within the bounds of Syria;
that wary general either had secret information, or made a shrewd surmise
as to the purport of his errand, and continued his march across the border
without admitting him to an audience. Having encamped at the Egyptian village
of Arish, he received the courier with all due respect, and read the letter
aloud in the presence of his officers. When he had finished, he demanded
of those about him whether they were in Syria or Egypt. “In Egypt,” was
the reply. “Then,” said Amru, “we will proceed, with the blessing of Allah,
and fulfill the commands of the Caliph.”
The first place to which he laid siege was Farwak, or Pelusium, situated
on the shores of the Mediterranean, on the Isthmus which separates that
sea from the Arabian Gulf, and connects Egypt with Syria and Arabia. It
was therefore considered the key to Egypt. A month’s siege put Amru in
possession of the place; he then examined the surrounding country with
more forethought than was generally manifested by the Moslem conquerors,
and projected a canal across the Isthmus, to connect the waters of the
Red Sea and the Mediterranean. His plan, however, was condemned by the
Caliph, as calculated to throw open Arabia to a maritime invasion of the
Christians.
Amru now proceeded to Misrah, the Memphis of the ancients, and residence
of the early Egyptian kings. This city was at that time the strongest fortress
in Egypt, except Alexandria, and still retained much of its ancient magnificence.
It stood on the western bank of the Nile, above the Delta, and a little
east of the Pyramids. The citadel was of great strength, and well garrisoned,
and had recently been surrounded with a deep ditch, into which nails and
spikes had been thrown, to impede assailants.
The Arab armies, rarely provided with the engines necessary for the attack
of fortified places, generally beleaguered them; cut off all supplies;
attacked all foraging parties that sallied forth, and thus destroyed the
garrison in detail, or starved it to a surrender. This was the reason of
the long duration of their sieges. This of Misrah, or Memphis, lasted seven
months; in the course of which the little army of Amru was much reduced
by frequent skirmishings. At the end of this time he received a reinforcement
of four thousand men, sent to him at his urgent entreaties by the Caliph.
Still his force would have been insufficient for the capture of the place,
had he not been aided by the treachery of its governor, Mokawkas.
This man, an original Egyptian, or Copt, by birth, and of noble rank, was
a profound hypocrite. Like most of the Copts, he was of the Jacobite sect,
who denied the double nature of Christ. He had dissembled his sectarian
creed, however, and deceived the emperor Heraclius by a show of loyalty,
so as to be made prefect of his native province, and governor of the city.
Most of the inhabitants of Memphis were Copts and Jacobite Christians,
and held their Greek fellow-citizens, who were of the regular Catholic
church of Constantinople, in great antipathy.
Mokawkas in the course of his administration had collected, by taxes and
tribute, an immense amount of treasure, which he had deposited in the citadel.
He saw that the power of the emperor was coming to an end in this quarter,
and thought the present a good opportunity to provide for his own fortune.
Carrying on a secret correspondence with the Moslem general, he agreed
to betray the place into his hands, on condition of receiving the treasure
as a reward for his treason. He accordingly, at an appointed time, removed
the greater part of the garrison from the citadel to an island in the Nile.
The fortress was immediately assailed by Amru, at the head of his fresh
troops, and was easily carried by assault, the Copts rendering no assistance.
The Greek soldiery, on the Moslem standard being hoisted on the citadel,
saw through the treachery, and, giving up all as lost, escaped in their
ships to the main land; upon which the prefect surrendered the place by
capitulation. An annual tribute of two ducats a head was levied on all
the inhabitants of the district, with the exception of old men, women,
and boys under the age of sixteen years. It was further conditioned that
the Moslem army should be furnished with provisions, for which they would
pay, and that the inhabitants of the country should, forthwith, build bridges
over all the streams on the way to Alexandria. It was also agreed that
every Mussulman travelling through the country should be entitled to three
days’ hospitality, free of charge.
The traitor Mokawkas was put in possession of his ill-gotten wealth. He begged of Amru to be taxed with the Copts, and always to be enrolled among them; declaring his abhorrence of the Greeks and their doctrines; urging Amru to persecute them with unremitting violence. He extended his sectarian bigotry even into the grave, stipulating that, at his death, he should be buried in the Christian Jacobite church of St. John, at Alexandria.
Amru, who was politic as well as brave, seeing the irreconcilable hatred
of the Coptic or Jacobite Christians to the Greeks, showed some favor to
that sect, in order to make use of them in his conquest of the country.
He even prevailed upon their patriarch Benjamin to emerge from his desert
and hold a conference with him; and subsequently declared that “he had
never conversed with a Christian priest of more innocent manners or venerable
aspect.” This piece of diplomacy had its effect, for we are told that all
the Copts above and below Memphis swore allegiance to the Caliph.
Amru now pressed on for the city of Alexandria, distant about one hundred
and twenty-five miles. According to stipulation, the people of the country
repaired the roads and erected bridges to facilitate his march; the Greeks,
however, driven from various quarters by the progress of their invaders,
had collected at different posts on the island of the Delta, and the channels
of the Nile, and disputed with desperate but fruitless obstinacy, the onward
course of the conquerors. The severest check was given at Keram al Shoraik,
by the late garrison of Memphis, who had fortified themselves there after
retreating from the island of the Nile. For three days did they maintain
a gallant conflict with the Moslems, and then retired in good order to
Alexandria. With all the facilities furnished to them on their march, it
cost the Moslems two-and-twenty days to fight their way to that great city.
Alexandria now lay before them, the metropolis of wealthy Egypt, the emporium
of the East, a place strongly fortified, stored with all the munitions
of war, open by sea to all kinds of supplies and reinforcements, and garrisoned
by Greeks, aggregated from various quarters, who here were to make the
last stand for their Egyptian empire. It would seem that nothing short
of an enthusiasm bordering on madness could have led Amru and his host
on an enterprise against this powerful city.
The Moslem leader, on planting his standard before the place, summoned
it to surrender on the usual terms, which being promptly refused, he prepared
for a vigorous siege. The garrison did not wait to be attacked, but made
repeated sallies, and fought with desperate valor. Those who gave greatest
annoyance to the Moslems were their old enemies, the Greek troops from
Memphis. Amru, seeing that the greatest defense was from a main tower,
or citadel, made a gallant assault upon it, and carried it sword in hand.
The Greek troops, however, rallied to that point from all parts of the
city; the Moslems, after a furious struggle, gave way, and Amru, his faithful
slave Werdan, and one of his generals, named Moslema Ibn al Mokalled, fighting
to the last, were surrounded, overpowered, and taken prisoners.
The Greeks, unaware of the importance of their captives, led them before
the governor. He demanded of them, haughtily, what was their object in
thus overrunning the world, and disturbing the quiet of peaceable neighbors.
Amru made the usual reply, that they came to spread the faith of Islam;
and that it was their intention, before they laid by the sword, to make
the Egyptians either converts or tributaries. The boldness of his answer
and the loftiness of his demeanor awakened the suspicions of the governor,
who, supposing him to be a warrior of note among the Arabs, ordered one
of his guards to strike off his head. Upon this Werdan, the slave, understanding
the Greek language, seized his master by the collar, and, giving him a
buffet on the cheek, called him an impudent dog, and ordered him to hold
his peace, and let his superiors speak. Moslema, perceiving the meaning
of the slave, now interposed, and made a plausible speech to the governor,
telling him that Amru had thoughts of raising the siege, having received
a letter to that effect from the Caliph, who intended to send ambassadors
to treat for peace, and assuring the governor that, if permitted to depart,
they would make a favorable report to Amru.
The governor, who, if Arabian chronicles may be believed on this point,
must have been a man of easy faith, ordered the prisoners to be set at
liberty; but the shouts of the besieging army on the safe return of their
general soon showed him how completely he had been duped.
But scanty details of the siege of Alexandria have reached the Christian
reader, yet it was one of the longest, most obstinately contested and sanguinary,
in the whole course of the Moslem wars. It endured fourteen months with
various success; the Moslem army was repeatedly reinforced, and lost twenty-three
thousand men; at length their irresistible ardor and perseverance prevailed;
the capital of Egypt was conquered, and the Greek inhabitants were dispersed
in all directions. Some retreated in considerable bodies into the interior
of the country, and fortified themselves in strongholds; others took refuge
in the ships, and put to sea.
Amru, on taking possession of the city, found it nearly abandoned; he prohibited
his troops from plundering; and leaving a small garrison to guard the place,
hastened with his main army in pursuit of the fugitive Greeks. In the mean
time the ships which had taken off a part of the garrison were still lingering
on the coast, and tidings reached them that the Moslem general had departed,
and had left the captured city nearly defenseless. They immediately made
sail back for Alexandria, and entered the port in the night. The Greek
soldiers surprised the sentinels, got possession of the city, and put most
of the Moslems they found there to the sword.
Amru was in full pursuit of the Greek fugitives when he heard of the recapture
of the city. Mortified at his own negligence in leaving so rich a conquest
with so slight a guard, he returned in all haste; resolved to retake it
by storm. The Greeks, however, had fortified themselves strongly in the
castle, and made stout resistance. Amru was obliged, therefore, to besiege
it a second time, but the siege was short. The castle was carried by assault;
many of the Greeks were cut to pieces, the rest escaped once more to their
ships, and now gave up the capital as lost. All this occurred in the nineteenth
year of the Hegira, and the year 640 of the Christian era.
On this second capture of the city by force of arms, and without capitulation, the troops were clamorous to be permitted to plunder. Amru again checked their rapacity, and commanded that all persons and property in the place should remain inviolate, until the will of the Caliph could be known. So perfect was his command over his troops, that not the most trivial article was taken. His letter to the Caliph shows what must have been the population and splendor of Alexandria, and the luxury and effeminacy of its inhabitants, at the time of the Moslem conquest. It states the city to have contained four thousand palaces, five thousand baths, four hundred theatres and places of amusement, twelve thousand gardeners which supply it with vegetables, and forty thousand tributary Jews. It was impossible, he said, to do justice to its riches and magnificence. He had hitherto held it sacred from plunder, but his troops, having won it by force of arms, considered themselves entitled to the spoils of victory.
The Caliph Omar, in reply, expressed a high sense of his important services,
but reproved him for even mentioning the desire of the soldiery to plunder
so rich a city, one of the greatest emporiums of the East. He charged him,
therefore, most rigidly to watch over the rapacious propensities of his
men; to prevent all pillage, violence, and waste; to collect and make out
an account of all moneys, jewels, household furniture, and everything else
that was valuable, to be appropriated toward defraying the expenses of
this war of the faith. He ordered the tribute also, collected in the conquered
country, to be treasured up at Alexandria, for the supplies of the Moslem
troops.
The surrender of all Egypt followed the capture of its capital. A tribute
of two ducats was laid on every male of mature age, besides a tax on all
lands in proportion to their value, and the revenue which resulted to the
Caliph is estimated at twelve millions of ducats.
We have shown that Amru was a poet in his youth; and throughout all his
campaigns he manifested an intelligent and inquiring spirit, if not more
highly informed, at least more liberal and extended in its views than was
usual among the early Moslem conquerors. He delighted, in his hours of
leisure, to converse with learned men, and acquire through their means
such knowledge as had been denied to him by the deficiency of his education.
Such a companion he found at Alexandria in a native of the place, a Christian
of the sect of the Jacobites, eminent for his philological researches,
his commentaries on Moses and Aristotle, and his laborious treatises of
various kinds, surnamed Philoponus from his love of study, but commonly
known by the name of John the Grammarian. An intimacy soon arose between
the Arab conqueror and the Christian philologist; an intimacy honorable
to Amru, but destined to be lamentable in its result to the cause of letters.
In an evil hour, John the Grammarian, being encouraged by the favor shown
him by the Arab general, revealed to him a treasure hitherto unnoticed,
or rather unvalued, by the Moslem conquerors. This was a vast collection
of books or manuscripts, since renowned in history as the ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY.
Perceiving that in taking an account of everything valuable in the city,
and sealing up all its treasures, Amru had taken no notice of the books,
John solicited that they might be given to him. Unfortunately, the learned
zeal of the Grammarian gave a consequence to the books in the eyes of Amru,
and made him scrupulous of giving them away without permission of the Caliph.
He forthwith wrote to Omar, stating the merits of John, and requesting
to know whether the books might be given to him. The reply of Omar was
laconic, but fatal. “The contents of those books,” said he, “are in conformity
with the Koran, or they are not. If they are, the Koran is sufficient without
them; if they are not, they are pernicious. Let them, therefore, be destroyed.”
Amru, it is said, obeyed the order punctually. The books and manuscripts were distributed as fuel among the five thousand baths of the city; but so numerous were they that it took six months to consume them. This act of barbarism, recorded by Abulpharagius, is considered somewhat doubtful by Gibbon, in consequence of its not being mentioned by two of the most ancient chroniclers, Elmacin in his Saracenic history, and Eutychius in his annals, the latter of whom was patriarch of Alexandria, and has detailed the conquest of that city. It is inconsistent, too, with the character of Amru, as a poet and a man of superior intelligence; and it has recently been reported, we know not on what authority, that many of the literary treasures thus said to have been destroyed, do actually exist in Constantinople. Their destruction, however, is generally credited and deeply deplored by historians. Amru, as a man of genius and intelligence, may have grieved at the order of the Caliph; while, as a loyal subject and faithful soldier, he felt bound to obey it.
The Alexandrian Library was formed by Ptolemy Soter, and placed in a building
called the Bruchion. It was augmented in successive reigns to 400,000 volumes,
and an additional 300,000 volumes were placed in a temple called the Serapeon.
The Bruchion, with the books it contained, was burnt in the war of Caesar,
but the Serapeon was preserved. Cleopatra, it is said, added to it the
library of Pergamas, given to her by Marc Antony, consisting of 200,000
volumes. It sustained repeated injuries during various subsequent revolutions,
but was always restored to its ancient splendor, and numerous additions
made to It. Such was its state at the capture of Alexandria by the Moslems.
The fall of Alexandria decided the fate of Egypt and likewise that of the
emperor Heraclius. He was already afflicted with a dropsy, and took the
loss of his Syrian, and now that of his Egyptian dominions, so much to
heart, that he underwent a paroxysm, which ended in his death, about seven
weeks after the loss of his Egyptian capital. He was succeeded by his son
Constantine.
While Amru was successfully extending his conquests, a great dearth and famine fell upon all Arabia, insomuch that the Caliph Omar had to call upon him for supplies from the fertile plains of Egypt; whereupon Amru dispatched such a train of camels laden with grain, that it is said, when the first of the line had reached the city of Medina, the last had not yet left the land of Egypt. But this mode of conveyance proving too tardy, at the command of the Caliph he dug a canal of communication from the Nile to the Red Sea, a distance of eighty miles, by which provisions might be conveyed to the Arabian shores. This canal had been commenced by Trajan, the Roman emperor.
The able and indefatigable Amru went on in this manner, executing the commands
and fulfilling the wishes of the Caliph, and governed the country he had
conquered with such sagacity and justice that he rendered himself one of
the most worthily renowned among the Moslem generals.
CHAPTER XXV.
ENTERPRISES OF THE MOSLEMS IN PERSIA—DEFENSE OF THE KINGDOM BY QUEEN ARZEMIA—BATTLE OF THE BRIDGE.
For the sake of perspicuity, we have recorded the Moslem conquests in Syria
and Egypt in a continued narrative, without pausing to notice events which
were occurring at the same time in other quarters; we now recede several
years to take up the course of affairs in Persia, from the time that Khaled,
in the thirteenth year of the Hegira, in obedience to the orders of Abu
Beker, left his victorious army on the banks of the Euphrates, to take
the general command in Syria. The victories of Khaled had doubtless been
owing in part to the distracted state of the Persian empire. In the course
of an inconsiderable number of years, the proud scepter of the Khosrus
had passed from hand to hand; Khosru II., surnamed Parviz, having been
repeatedly defeated by Heraclius, was deposed in 628, by a party of his
nobles, headed by his own son Siroes (or Shiruyah), and was put to death
by the latter in a vault under the palace, among the treasures he had amassed.
To secure possession of the throne, Siroes followed up the parricide by
the massacre of seventeen of his brothers. It was not ambition alone that
instigated these crimes. He was enamored of a sultana in the harem of his
father, the matchless Shireen. While yet reeking with his father’s blood
he declared his passion to her. She recoiled from him with horror, and
when he would have used force, gave herself instant death to escape from
his embraces. The disappointment of his passion, the upbraidings of his
sisters for the murders of their father and their brothers, and the stings
of his own conscience, threw Siroes into a moody melancholy, and either
caused, or added acuteness to a malady, of which he died in the course
of eight months.
His infant son Ardisheer was placed on the throne about the end of 628, but was presently slain, and the throne usurped by Sheriyar, a Persian noble, who was himself killed after a very short reign. Turan-Docht, a daughter of Khosru Parviz, was now crowned and reigned eighteen months, when she was set aside by her cousin Shah Shenandeh, who was himself deposed by the nobles, and Arzemi-Docht [Docht or Dokht, diminutive of dukhter, signifies the unmarried or maiden state.] or Arzemia, as the name is commonly given, another daughter of Khosru
Parviz, was placed on the throne in the year 632 of the Christian era.
The Persian seat of government, which had been often changed, was at this
time held in the magnificent city of Madain, or Madayn, on the Tigris,
where was the ancient Ctesiphon.
Arzemia was distinguished alike for masculine talents and feminine beauty;
she had been carefully instructed under her father Khosru, and had acquired
sad experience, during the series of conspiracies and assassinations which
had beset the throne for the last four years. Rejecting from her council
the very traitors who had placed the crown upon her head, she undertook
to wield the sceptre without the aid of a vizir, thereby giving mortal
offence to the most powerful nobles of her realm. She was soon called upon
to exert her masculine spirit by the continued aggressions of the Moslems.
The reader will recollect that the Moslem army on the Euphrates, at the
departure of Khaled, was left under the command of Mosenna Ibn Haris (or
Muthenna Ibn Hârith, as the name is sometimes rendered). On the accession
of Omar to the Caliphat, he appointed Mosenna emir or governor of Sewad,
the country recently conquered by Khaled, lying about the lower part of
the Euphrates and the Tigris, forming a portion of the Persian province
of Irak-Arabi. This was in compliance with the wishes and intentions of
Abu Beker; though Omar does not appear to have had great confidence in
the military talents of Mosenna, the career of conquest having languished
in his hands since the departure of Khaled. He accordingly sent Abu Obeidah
Sakfi, one of the most important disciples of the prophet, at the head
of a thousand chosen men, to reinforce the army under Mosenna, and to take
the lead in military enterprises.* He was accompanied by Sabit Ibn Kais,
one of the veterans of the battle of Beder.
* This Abu Obeidah has sometimes been confounded with the general of the same name, who commanded in Syria; the latter, however, was Abu Obeidah lbn Aljerah (the son of Aljerah).
The Persian queen, hearing of the advance of the Moslem army thus reinforced, sent an able general, Rustam Ibn Ferukh-Zad (or Feruchsad), with thirty thousand more, to repel them. Rustam halted on the confines of Irak, and sent forward strong detachments under a general named Dschaban, and a Persian prince named Narsi (or Narsis). These were so roughly handled by the Moslems that Rustam found it necessary to hasten with his main force to their assistance. He arrived too late; they had been severally defeated and put to flight, and the whole country of Sewad was in the hands of the Moslems.
Queen Arzemia, still more aroused to the danger of her kingdom, sent Rustam a reinforcement led by Behman Dschadu, surnamed the Veiled, from the shaggy eyebrows which overshadowed his visage. He brought with him three thousand men and thirty elephants. These animals, of little real utility in warfare, were formidable in the eyes of those unaccustomed to them, and were intended to strike terror into the Arabian troops. One of them was the white elephant Mahmoud, famous for having been ridden by Abraha, the Ethiopian king, in foregone times, when he invaded Mecca, and assailed the Kaaba. It was considered a harbinger of victory, all the enterprises in which it had been employed having proved successful.
With Behman, the heavy-browed, came also the standard of Kaoh, the sacred
standard. It was originally the leathern apron of the blacksmith Kaoh,
which he reared as a banner when he roused the people, and delivered Persia
from the tyranny of Sohak. It had been enlarged from time to time with
costly silk, embroidered with gold, until it was twenty-two feet long and
fifteen broad; and was decorated with gems of inestimable value. With this
standard the fate of the kingdom was believed, by superstitious Persians,
to be connected.
The Moslem forces, even with the reinforcement brought by Abu Obeidah Sakfi,
did not exceed nine thousand in number; the Persians, encamped near the
ruins of Babylon, were vastly superior. It was the counsel of Mosenna and
the veteran Sabit, that they should fall back into the deserts, and remain
encamped there until reinforcements could be obtained from the Caliph.
Abu Obeidah, however, was for a totally different course. He undervalued
the prowess of the Persians; he had heard Mosenna censured for want of
enterprise, and Khaled extolled to the skies for his daring achievements
in this quarter. He was determined to emulate them, to cross the Euphrates
and attack the Persians in their encampment. In vain Mosenna and Sabit
remonstrated. He caused a bridge of boats to be thrown across the Euphrates,
and led the way to the opposite bank. His troops did not follow with their
usual alacrity, for they felt the rashness of the enterprise. While they
were yet crossing the bridge, they were severely galled by a body of archers,
detached in the advance by Rustam; and were met at the head of the bridge
by that warrior with his vanguard of cavalry.
The conflict was severe. The banner of Islam passed from hand to hand of
seven brave champions, as one after another fell in its defence. The Persians
were beaten back, but now arrived the main body of the army with the thirty
elephants. Abu Obeidah breasted fearlessly the storm of war which he had
so rashly provoked. He called to his men not to fear the elephants, but
to strike at their trunks. He himself severed, with a blow of his scimitar,
the trunk of the famous white elephant, but in so doing his foot slipped,
he fell to the earth, and was trampled to death by the enraged animal.
The Moslems, disheartened by his loss, and overwhelmed by numbers, endeavored
to regain the bridge. The enemy had thrown combustibles into the boats
on which it was constructed, and had set them on fire. Some of the troops
were driven into the water and perished there; the main body retreated
along the river, protected in the rear by Mosenna, who now displayed the
skill of an able general, and kept the enemy at bay until a slight bridge
could be hastily thrown across another part of the river. He was the last
to cross the bridge, and caused it to be broken behind him.
Four thousand Moslems were either slain or drowned in this rash affair; two thousand fled to Medina, and about three thousand remained with Mosenna, who encamped and entrenched them, and sent a fleet courier to the Caliph, entreating instant aid. Nothing saved this remnant of the army from utter destruction but a dissension which took place between the Persian commanders, who, instead of following up their victory, returned to Madayn, the Persian capital.
This was the severest and almost the only severe check that Moslem audacity
had for a long time experienced. It took place in the 13th year of the
Hegira, and the year 634 of the Christian era, and was long and ruefully
remembered by the Arabs as the battle of “El Jisir,” or The Battle of the
Bridge.
CHAPTER XXVI.
MOSENNA lBN HARIS RAVAGES THE COUNTRY ALONG THE EUPHRATES—DEATH OF ARZEMIA—YEZDEGIRD
III. RAISED TO THE THRONE—SAAD IBN ABU WAKKAS GIVEN THE GENERAL COMMAND—DEATH
OF MOSENNA—EMBASSY TO YEZDEGIRD—ITS RECEPTION.
HAVING received moderate reinforcements, Mosenna again took the field in
Arab style, hovering about the confines of Babylonia, and sending detachments
in different directions to plunder and lay waste the country bordering
on the Euphrates. It was an instance of the vicissitude of human affairs,
and the instability of earthly grandeur, that this proud region, which
once held the world in awe, should be thus marauded and insulted by a handful
of predatory Arabs.
To check their ravages, Queen Arzemia sent out a general named Mahran,
with twelve thousand chosen cavalry. Mosenna, hearing of their approach,
called in his plundering parties and prepared for battle. The two hosts
met near Hirah, on the borders of the desert. Mosenna, who in the battle
of the bridge had been the last man to retire, was now the foremost man
to charge. In the fury of the fight he made his way, almost alone, into
the heart of the Persian army, and with difficulty fought his way out again
and back to his own men. The Persians, as we have noted, were chosen troops,
and fought with unusual spirit. The Moslems, in some parts of the field,
began to give way. Mosenna galloped up and threw himself before them; he
expostulated, he threatened, he tore his beard in the agony of his feelings;
he succeeded in leading them back to the fight, which endured from noon
until sunset, and still continued doubtful. At the close of the day Mosenna
encountered Mahran hand to hand, in the midst of his guards, and received
a powerful blow, which might have proved fatal but for his armor. In return
he smote the Persian commander with his scimitar just where the neck joins
to the shoulder, and laid him dead. The Persians, seeing their leader fall,
took to flight, nor stopped until they reached Madayn.
The Moslems next made a plundering expedition to Bagdad, at that time a
mere village, but noted for a great fair, the resort of merchants from
various parts of the East. An Arab detachment pounced upon it at the time
of the fair, and carried off many captives and immense booty.
The tidings of the defeat of Mahran and the plundering of the fair spread
consternation in the Persian capital. The nobles and priests, who had hitherto
stood in awe of the spirit of the queen, now raised a tumult. “These are
the fruits,” said they, “of having a woman to reign over us.”
The fate of the beautiful Arzemia was hastened by private revenge. Faruch-Zad,
one of the most powerful of her nobles, and governor of Khorassan, incited
by love and ambition, had aspired to her hand. At first, it is said, she
appeared to favor his addresses, fearing to provoke his enmity, but afterward
slighted them; whereupon he entered the palace by night, and attempted
to get possession of her person. His attempt failed, and, by her command,
he received instant death at the hands of her guards, accompanied by some
indignities.
His son, Rustam, who had been left by him in the government of Khorassan,
hastened, at the head of an armed force, to avenge his death. He arrived
in the height of the public discontent; entered the city without opposition,
stormed the palace, captured the young and beautiful queen, subjected her
to degrading outrages, and put her to death in the most cruel manner. She
was the sixth of the usurping sovereigns, and had not yet reigned a year.
A remaining son of Khosru Parviz was now brought forward and placed on
the slippery throne, but was poisoned within forty days, some say by his
courtiers, others by a slave.
The priests and nobles now elevated a youth about fifteen years of age
to this perilous dignity. He was a grandson of Khosru Parviz, and had been
secluded, during the late period of anarchy and assassination, in the city
of Istakar, the ancient Persepolis. He is known by the name of Yezdegird
III., though some historians call him Hermisdas IV., from his family, instead
of his personal appellation. He was of a good natural disposition, but
weak and irresolute, and apt, from his youth and inexperience, to become
a passive instrument in the hands of the faction which had placed him on
the throne.
One of the first measures of the new reign was to assemble a powerful army and place it under the command of Rustam, the same general who had so signally revenged the death of his father. It was determined, by a signal blow, to sweep the Arabian marauders from the land.
Omar, on his part, hearing of the changes and warlike preparations in the
Persian capital, made a hasty levy of troops, and would have marched in
person to carry the war into the heart of Persia. It was with great difficulty
he was dissuaded from this plan by his discreet counsellors, Othman and
Ali, and induced to send in his place Saad Ibn Abu Wakkâs. This was a zealous
soldier of the faith who used to boast that he was the first who had shed
the blood of the unbelieving, and, moreover, that the prophet, in the first
holy war, had entrusted to him the care of his household during his absence,
saying, “To you, oh Saad, who are to me as my father and my mother, I confide
my family.” To have been a favored and confidential companion of the prophet
was fast growing to be a title of great distinction among the faithful.
Saad was invested with the general command of the forces in Persia; and
Mosenna, though his recent good conduct and signal success entitled him
to the highest consideration, was ordered to serve under him.
Saad set out from Medina with an army of but six or seven thousand men;
among these, however, were one thousand well-tried soldiers who had followed
the prophet in his campaigns, and one hundred of the veterans of Beder.
They were led on also by some of the most famous champions of the faith.
The army was joined on its march by recruits from all quarters, so that
by the time it joined the troops under Mosenna it amounted to upward of
thirty thousand men.
Mosenna died three days after the arrival of his successor in the camp;
the cause and nature of his death are not mentioned. He left behind him
a good name, and a wife remarkable for her beauty. The widow was easily
brought to listen to the addresses of Saad, who thus succeeded to Mosenna
in his matrimonial as well as his military capacity.
The Persian force under Rustam lay encamped at Kadesia (or Khâdesiyah),
on the frontier of Sawâd or Irak-Arabi, and was vastly superior in numbers
to the Moslems. Saad sent expresses to the Caliph entreating reinforcements.
He was promised them, but exhorted in the mean time to doubt nothing; never
to regard the number of the foe, but to think always that he was fighting
under the eye of the Caliph. He was instructed, however, before commencing
hostilities, to send a delegation to Yezdegird inviting him to embrace
the faith.
Saad accordingly sent several of his most discreet and veteran officers
on this mission. They repaired to the magnificent city of Madayn, and were
ushered through the sumptuous halls and saloons of the palace of the Khosrus,
crowded with guards and attendants all richly arrayed, into the presence
of the youthful monarch, whom they found seated in state on a throne, supported
by silver columns, and surrounded by the dazzling splendor of an oriental
court.
The appearance of the Moslem envoys, attired in simple Arab style, in the
striped garments of Yemen, amidst the gorgeous throng of nobles arrayed
in jewels and embroidery, was but little calculated to inspire deference
in a young and inconsiderate prince, brought up in pomp and luxury, and
accustomed to consider dignity inseparable from splendor. He had no doubt,
also, been schooled for the interview by his crafty counsellors.
The audience opened by a haughty demand on his party, through his interpreter,
as to the object of their embassy. Upon this, one of their number, Na’man
Ibn Muskry, set forth the divine mission of the prophet and his dying command
to enforce his religion by the sword, leaving no peaceable alternative
to unbelievers but conversion or tribute. He concluded by inviting the
king to embrace the faith; if not, to consent to become a tributary; if
he should refuse both, to prepare for battle.
Yezdegird restrained his indignation, and answered in words which had probably
been prepared for him. “You Arabs,” said he, “have hitherto been known
to us by report, as wanderers of the desert; your food dates, and sometimes
lizards and serpents; your drink brackish water; your garments coarse hair-cloth.
Some of you who by chance have wandered into our realms have found sweet
water, savory food, and soft raiment. They have carried back word of the
same to their brethren in the desert, and now you come in swarms to rob
us of our goods and our very land. Ye are like the starving fox, to whom
the husbandman afforded shelter in his vineyard, and who in return brought
a troop of his brethren to devour his grapes. Receive from my generosity
whatever your wants require; load your camels with corn and dates, and
depart in peace to your native land; but if you tarry in Persia, beware
the fate of the fox who was slain by the husbandman.”
The most aged of the Arab envoys, the Sheikh Mukair Ibn Zarrarah, replied with great gravity and decorum, and an unaltered countenance. “Oh king! all thou hast said of the Arabs is most true. The green lizard of the desert was their sometime food; the brackish water of wells their drink; their garments were of hair-cloth, and they buried their infant daughters to restrain the increase of their tribes. All this was in the days of ignorance. They knew not good from evil. They were guilty, and they suffered. But Allah in his mercy sent his apostle Mohammed, and his sacred Koran among them. He rendered them wise and valiant. He commanded them to war with infidels until all should be converted to the true faith. On his behest we come. All we demand of thee is to acknowledge that there is no God but God, and that Mohammed is his apostle, and to pay from thy income the customary contribution of the Zacat, paid by all true believers, in charity to the poor, and for the support of the family of the prophet. Do this, and not a Moslem shall enter the Persian dominions without thy leave; but if thou refuse it, and refuse to pay the tribute exacted from all unbelievers, prepare for the subjugation of the sword.”
The forbearance of Yezdegird was at an end. “Were it not unworthy of a
great Padischah,” said he, “to put ambassadors to death, the sword should
be the only tongue with which I would reply to your insolence. Away! ye
robbers of the lands of others! take with ye a portion of the Persian soil
ye crave.” So saying, he caused sacks of earth to be bound upon their shoulders;
to be delivered by them to their chiefs as symbols of the graves they would
be sure to find at Kadesia.
When beyond the limits of the city. the envoys transferred the sacks of
earth to the backs of their camels, and returned with them to Saad Ibn
Abu Wakkâs, shrewdly interpreting into a good omen what had been intended
by the Persian monarch as a scornful taunt. “Earth,” said they, “is the
emblem of empire. As surely, oh Saad, as we deliver thee these sacks of
earth, so surely will Allah deliver the empire of Persia into the hands
of true believers.”
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE BATTLE OF KADESIA.
The hostile armies came in presence of each other on the plains of Kadesia
(or Kâdesiyah), adjacent to a canal derived from the Euphrates. The huge
mass of the Persian army would have been sufficient to bear down the inferior
number of the Moslems, had it possessed the Grecian or Roman discipline;
but it was a tumultuous multitude, unwieldy from its military pomp, and
encumbered by its splendid trappings. The Arabs, on the contrary, were
veteran skirmishers of the desert; light and hardy horsemen; dexterous
with the bow and lance, and skilled to wheel and retreat, and to return
again to the attack. Many individual acts of prowess took place between
champions of either army, who dared each other to single combat in front
of the hosts when drawn out in battle array. The costly armor of the Persians,
wrought with gold, and their belts or girdles studded with gems, made them
rich prizes to their Moslem victors; while the Persians, if victorious,
gained nothing from the rudely clad warriors of the desert but honor and
hard blows.
Saad Ibn Abu Wakkâs was in an unfortunate plight for a leader of an army on such a momentous occasion. He was grievously afflicted with boils in his reins, so that he sat on his horse with extreme difficulty. Still he animated his troops by his presence, and gave the tekbir or battle-cry—Allah Achbar!
The Persian force came on with great shouts, their elephants in the van.
The horses of the Moslem cavalry recoiled at sight of the latter, and became
unmanageable. A great number of the horsemen dismounted, attacked the unwieldy
animals with their swords, and drove them back upon their own host. Still
the day went hard with the Moslems; their force being so inferior, and
their general unable to take the lead and mingle in the battle. The arrival
of a reinforcement from Syria put them in new heart, and they fought on
until the approach of night, when both parties desisted and drew off to
their encampments. Thus ended the first day’s fight, which the Persians
called the battle of Armâth; but the Moslems, The Day of Succor, from the
timely arrival of reinforcements.
On the following morning the armies drew out again in battle array, but
no general conflict took place. Saad was unable to mount his horse and
lead his troops into action, and the Persians, aware of the reinforcements
received by the Moslems, were not disposed to provoke a battle. The day
passed in light skirmishes and single combats between the prime warriors
of either host, who defied each other to trials of skill and prowess. These
combats, of course, were desperate, and commonly cost the life of one,
if not both of the combatants.
Saad overlooked the field from the shelter of a tent, where he sat at a
repast with his beautiful bride beside him. Her heart swelled with grief
at seeing so many gallant Moslems laid low; a thought of the valiant husband
she had lost passed across her mind, and the unwary ejaculation escaped
her, “Alas! Mosenna Ibn Haris, where art thou?” Saad was stung to the quick
by what he conceived a reproach on his courage or activity, and in the
heat of the moment struck her on the face with his dagger. “To-morrow,”
muttered he to himself, “I will mount my horse.”
In the night he secretly sent out a detachment in the direction of Damascus, to remain concealed until the two armies should be engaged on the following day, and then to come with banners displayed, and a great sound of drum and trumpet, as though they were a reinforcement hurrying to the field of action.
The morning dawned, but still, to his great mortification, Saad was unable
to sit upon his horse, and had to entrust the conduct of the battle to
one of his generals. It was a day of bloody and obstinate conflict; and
from the tremendous shock of the encountering hosts was celebrated among
the Arabs as “The day of the Concussion.”
The arrival of the pretended reinforcement inspirited the Moslems, who were ignorant of the stratagem, and dismayed the enemy. Rustam urged on his elephants to break down the Arab host, but they had become familiar with those animals, and attacked them so vigorously that, as before, they turned upon their own employers and trampled them down in their unwieldy flight from the field.
The battle continued throughout the day with varying fortune; nor did it
cease at nightfall, for Rustam rode about among his troops urging them
to fight until morning. That night was called by some the night of delirium;
for in the dark and deadly struggle the combatants struck at random, and
often caught each other by the beard; by others it was called the night
of howling and lamentation, from the cries of the wounded.
The battle ceased not even at the dawning, but continued until the heat
of the day. A whirlwind of dust hid the armies from each other for a time,
and produced confusion on the field, but it aided the Moslems, as it blew
in the faces of the enemy. During a pause in the conflict, Rustam, panting
with heat and fatigue, and half blinded with dust, took shelter from the
sun under a tent which had been pitched near the water, and was surrounded
by camels laden with treasure, and with the luxurious furniture of the
camp. A gust of wind whirled the tent into the water. He then threw himself
upon the earth in the shade of one of the camels. A band of Arab soldiers
came upon him by surprise. One of them, Hellâl Ibn Alkameh by name, in
his eagerness for plunder, cut the cords which bound the burden on the
camel. A package of silver fell upon Rustam and broke his spine. In his
agony he fell or threw himself into the water, but was drawn out by the
leg, his head stricken off, and elevated on the lance of Hellâl. The Persians
recognized the bloody features, and fled amain, abandoning to the victors
their camp, with all its rich furniture and baggage, and scores of beasts
of burden, laden with treasure and with costly gear. The amount of booty
was incalculable.
The sacred standard, too, was among the spoils. To the soldier who had
captured it, thirty thousand pieces of gold are said to have been paid
at Saad’s command; and the jewels with which it was studded were put with
the other booty, to be shared according to rule. Hellâl, too, who brought
the head of Rustam to Saad, was allowed as a reward to strip the body of
his victim. Never did Arab soldier make richer spoil. The garments of Rustam
were richly embroidered, and he wore two gorgeous belts, ornamented with
jewels, one worth a thousand pieces of gold, the other seventy thousand
dirhems of silver.
Thirty thousand Persians are said to have fallen in this battle, and upward
of seven thousand Moslems. The loss most deplored by the Persians was that
of their sacred banner, with which they connected the fate of the realm.
This battle took place in the fifteenth year of the Hegira, and the six
hundred and thirty-sixth year of the Christian era, and is said to be as
famous among the Arabs as that of Arbela among the Greeks.
Complaints having circulated among the troops that Saad had not mingled in the fight, he summoned several of the old men to his tent, and, stripping himself, showed the boils by which he was so grievously afflicted; after which there were no further expressions of dissatisfaction. It is to be hoped he found some means, equally explicit, of excusing himself to his beautiful bride for the outrage be had committed upon her.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
FOUNDING OF BASSORA—CAPTURE OF THE PERSIAN CAPITAL—FLIGHT OF YEZDEGIRD
TO HOLWAN.
AFTER the signal victory of Kadesia, Saad Ibn Abu Wakkâs, by command of
the Caliph, remained for some months in the neighborhood, completing the
subjugation of the conquered country, collecting tax and tribute, and building
mosques in every direction for the propagation of the faith. About the
same time Omar caused the city of Basra, or Bassora, to be founded in the
lower part of Irak Arabi, on that great river formed by the junction of
the Euphrates and the Tigris. This city was intended to protect the region
conquered by the Moslems about the mouth of the Euphrates; to cut off the
trade of India from Persia, and to keep a check upon Ahwâz (a part of Susiana
or Khusestan), the prince or satrap of which, Hormusân by name, had taken
an active part in the late battle of Kadesia. The city of Bassora was founded
in the fourteenth year of the Hegira, by Orweh Ibn Otbeh. It soon gathered
within its walls great numbers of inhabitants from the surrounding country;
rose rapidly in importance, and has ever since been distinguished as a
mart for the Indian commerce.
Having brought all the country in the neighborhood of Kadesia into complete
subjection, Saad Ibn Abu Wakkâs, by command of the Caliph, proceeded in
the conquest of Persia. The late victories, and the capture of the national
banner, had struck despair into the hearts of the Persians. They considered
the downfall of their religion and empire at hand, and for a time made
scarcely any resistance to the invaders. Cities and strongholds surrendered
almost without a blow. Babel is incidentally enumerated among the captured
places; but the once all-powerful Babylon was now shrunk into such insignificance
that its capture seemed not worthy of a boast. Saad crossed the Tigris
and advanced upon Madayn, the Persian capital. His army, on departing from
Kadesia, had not exceeded twenty thousand men, having lost many by battle
and more by disease. Multitudes, however, from the subjugated cities, and
from other parts, joined his standard while on the march, so that, as he
approached Madayn, his forces amounted to sixty thousand men.
There was abundance of troops in Madayn, the wrecks of vanquished armies
and routed garrisons, but there was no one capable or willing to take the
general command. All seemed paralyzed by their fears. The king summoned
his counsellors about him, but their only advice was to fly. “Khorassan
and Kerman are still yours,” said they; “let us depart while we may do
so in safety; why should we remain here to be made captives?”
Yezdegird hesitated to take this craven advice; but more from weakness
and indecision of character than from any manly repugnance. He wavered
and lingered, until what might have been an orderly retreat became a shameful
flight. When the invaders were within one day’s march of his capital he
ordered his valuables to be packed upon beasts of burden, and set off,
with a worthless retinue of palace minions, attendants, and slaves, male
and female, for Holwân, at the foot of the Medean hills. His example was
followed throughout the city. There was hurry and tumult in every part.
Fortunate was he who had a camel, or a horse, or an ass, to load with his
most valuable effects; such as were not so provided, took what they could
on their shoulders; but, in such a hasty and panic-stricken flight, where
personal safety was the chief concern, little could be preserved; the greater
part of their riches remained behind. Thus, the wealthy Madayn, the once
famous Ctesiphon, which had formerly repulsed a Roman army, though furnished
with battering rams and other warlike engines, was abandoned without a
blow at the approach of these nomad warriors.
As Saad entered the deserted city he gazed with wonder and admiration at
its stately edifices, surrounded by vineyards and gardens, all left to
his mercy by the flying owners. In pious exultation he repeated aloud a
passage of the Koran, alluding to the abandonment by Pharaoh and his troops
of their habitations, when they went in pursuit of the children of Israel.
“How many gardens and fountains, and fields of corn and fair dwellings,
and other sources of delight, did they leave behind them! Thus we dispossessed
them thereof, and gave the same for an inheritance to another people. Neither
heaven nor earth wept for them. They were unpitied.” [Koran, chapter 24.]
The deserted city was sacked and pillaged. One may imagine the sacking
of such a place by the ignorant hordes of the desert. The rude Arabs beheld
themselves surrounded by treasures beyond their conception; works of art,
the value of which they could not appreciate, and articles of luxury which
moved their ridicule rather than their admiration. In roving through the
streets they came to the famous palace of the Khosrus, begun by Khobâd
Ibn Firuz, and finished by his son Nushirwan, constructed of polished marble,
and called the white palace, from its resplendent appearance. As they gazed
at it in wonderment, they called to mind the prediction of Mohammed, when
he heard that the haughty monarch of Persia had torn his letter: “Even
so shall Allah rend his empire in pieces.” “Behold the white palace of
Khosru,” cried the Moslems to one another! “This is the fulfillment of
the prophecy of the apostle of God!”
Saad entered the lofty portal of the palace with feelings of devotion.
His first act was to make his salaam and prostrations, and pronounce the
confession of faith in its deserted halls. He then took note of its contents,
and protected it from the ravage of the soldiery, by making it his headquarters.
It was furnished throughout with oriental luxury. It had wardrobes filled
with gorgeous apparel. In the armory were weapons of all kinds, magnificently
wrought; a coat of mail and sword, for state occasions, bedecked with jewels
of incalculable value; a silver horseman on a golden horse, and a golden
rider on a silver camel, all likewise studded with jewels.
In the vaults were treasures of gold and silver and precious stones; with
money, the vast amount of which, though stated by Arabian historians, we
hesitate to mention.
In some of the apartments were gold and silver vessels filled with oriental
perfumes. In the magazines were stored exquisite spices, odoriferous gums,
and medicinal drugs. Among the latter were quantities of camphor, which
the Arabs mistook for salt and mixed with their food.
In one of the chambers was a silken carpet of great size, which the king
used in winter. Art and expense had been lavished upon it. It was made
to represent a garden. The leaves of the plants were emeralds; the flowers
were embroidered in their natural colors, with pearls and jewels and precious
stones; the fountains were wrought with diamonds and sapphires, to represent
the sparkling of their waters. The value of the whole was beyond calculation.
The hall of audience surpassed every other part in magnificence. The vaulted
roof, says D’Herbolot, resembled a firmament decked with golden spheres,
each with a corresponding movement, so as to represent the planets and
the signs of the zodiac. The throne was of prodigious grandeur, supported
on silver columns. Above it was the crown of Khosru Nashirwan, suspended
by a golden chain to bear the immense weight of its jewels, but contrived
to appear as if on the head of the monarch when seated.
A mule is said to have been overtaken, on which a trusty officer of the
palace was bearing away some of the jewels of the crown, the tiara or diadem
of Yezdegird, with his belt and scimitar and bracelets.
Saad appointed Omar Ibn Muskry to take charge of all the spoils for regular distribution, and criers were sent about to make proclamation that the soldiers should render in their booty to that officer. Such was the enormous amount that, after a fifth had been set apart for the Caliph, the remainder, divided among sixty thousand men, gave each of them twelve hundred dirhems of silver.
It took nine hundred heavily laden camels to convey to Medina the Caliph’s fifth of the spoil, among which the carpet, the clothing, and regalia of the king were included. The people of Medina, though of late years accustomed to the rich booty of the armies, were astonished at such an amount of treasure. Omar ordered that a mosque should be built of part of the proceeds. A consultation was held over the royal carpet, whether it should be stored away in the public treasury to be used by the Caliph on state occasions, or whether it should be included in the booty to be shared.
Omar hesitated to decide with his usual promptness, and referred the matter
to Ali. “Oh, prince of true believers!” exclaimed the latter; “how can
one of thy clear perception doubt in this matter? In the world, nothing
is thine but what thou expendest in well-doing. What thou wearest will
be worn out; what thou eatest will be consumed; but that which thou expendest
in well-doing is sent before thee to the other world.”
Omar determined that the carpet should be shared among his chiefs. He divided
it literally, with rigid equity, cutting it up without regard to the skill
and beauty of the design, or its value as an entire piece of workmanship.
Such was the richness of the materials, that the portion allotted to Ali
alone sold for eight thousand dirhems of silver.
This signal capture of the capital of Persia took place in the month Safar, in the sixteenth year of the Hegira, and the year 637 of the Christian era; the same year with the capture of Jerusalem. The fame of such immense spoil, such treasures of art, in the hands of ignorant Arab soldiery, summoned the crafty and the avaricious from all quarters. All the world, it is said, flocked from the West, from Yemen, and from Egypt, to purchase the costly stuffs, captured from the Persians. It was like the vultures, winging their way from all parts of the heavens, to gorge on the relics of a hunting camp.
CHAPTER XXIX.
CAPTURE OF JALULA—FLIGHT OF YEZDEGIRD TO REI—FOUNDING OF CUFA—SAAD RECEIVES
A SEVERE REBUKE FROM THE CALIPH FOR HIS MAGNIFICENCE.
SAAD IBN ABU WAKKAS would fain have pursued Yezdegird to Holwân, among
the hills of ancient Medea, where he had taken refuge; but he was restrained
by the Caliph Omar, who kept a cautious check from Medina upon his conquering
generals; fearful that in the flush and excitement of victory they might
hurry forward beyond the reach of succor. By the command of Omar, therefore,
he remained with his main army in Madayn, and sent his brother Hashem with
twelve thousand men in pursuit of the fugitive monarch. Hashem found a
large force of Persians, relics of defeated armies, assembled in Jâlulâ,
not far from Holwân, where they were disposed to make a stand. He laid
siege to the place, but it was of great strength and maintained a brave
and obstinate defense for six months, during which there were eighty assaults.
At length, the garrison being reduced by famine and incessant fighting,
and the commander slain, it surrendered.
Yezdegird on hearing of the capture of Jâlulâ abandoned the city of Holwân,
leaving troops there under a general named Habesh, to check the pursuit
of the enemy. The place of refuge which he now sought was the city of Rei,
or Rai, the Rhages of Arrian; the Rhaga and Rhageia of the Greek geographers;
a city of remote antiquity, contemporary, it is said, with Nineveh and
Ecbatana, and mentioned in the book of Tobit; who, we are told, travelled
from Nineveh to Rages, a city of Medea. It was a favorite residence of
the Parthian kings in days of yore. In his flight though the mountains
the monarch was borne on a chair or litter between mules; travelling a
station each day and sleeping in the litter. Habesh, whom he had left behind,
was soon defeated, and followed him in his flight.
Saad again wrote to the Caliph, urging that he might be permitted to follow
the Persian king to his place of refuge among the mountains, before he
should have time to assemble another army; but he again met with a cautious
check. “You have this year,” said the Caliph, “taken Sawad and Irak; for
Holwân is at the extremity of Irak. That is enough for the present. The
welfare of true believers is of more value than booty.” So ended the sixteenth
year of the Hegira.
The climate of Madayn proving unhealthy to his troops, and Saad wishing
to establish a fortified camp in the midst of his victories, was ordered
by the Caliph to seek some favorable site on the western side of the Euphrates,
where there was good air, a well-watered plain and plenty of grass for
the camels; things highly appreciated by the Arabs.
Saad chose for the purpose the village of Cufa, which, according to Moslem
tradition, was the spot where Noah embarked in the ark. The Arabs further
pretend that the serpent after tempting Eve was banished to this place.
Hence, they say, the guile and treachery for which the men of Cufa are
proverbial. This city became so celebrated that the Euphrates was at one
time generally denominated Gahar Cufa, or the river of Cufa. The most ancient
characters of the Arabic alphabet are termed Cufic to the present day.
In building Cufa, much of the stone, marble, and timber for the principal
edifices were furnished from the ruins of Madayn; there being such a scarcity
of those materials in Babylonia and its vicinity that the houses were generally
constructed of bricks baked in the sun and cemented with bitumen. It used
to be said, therefore, that the army on its remove took with it all the
houses of Sawad. Saad Ibn Abu Wakkâs, who appears to have imbibed a taste
for Persian splendor, erected a sumptuous Kiosk or summer residence, and
decorated it with a grand portal taken from the palace of the Khosrus at
Madayn. When Omar heard of this he was sorely displeased, his great apprehension
being that his generals would lose the good old Arab simplicity of manners
in the luxurious countries they were conquering. He forthwith dispatched
a trusty envoy, Mahomet Ibn Muslemah, empowered to give Saad a salutary
rebuke. On arriving at Cufa, Mahomet caused a great quantity of wood to
be heaped against the door of the Kiosk and set fire to it. When Saad came
forth in amazement at this outrage, Mahomet put into his hands the following
letter from the Caliph:
“I am told thou hast built a lofty palace, like to that of the Khosrus,
and decorated it with a door taken from the latter, with a view to have
guards and chamberlains stationed about it to keep off those who may come
in quest of justice or assistance, as was the practice of the Khosrus before
thee. In so doing thou hast departed from the ways of the prophet (on whom
be benedictions), and hast fallen into the ways of the Persian monarchs.
Know that the Khosrus have passed from their palace to the tomb; while
the prophet, from his lowly habitation on earth, has been elevated to the
highest heaven. I have sent Mahomet Ibn Muselmah to burn thy palace. In
this world two houses are sufficient for thee—one to dwell in, the other
to contain the treasure of the Moslem.”
Saad was too wary to make any opposition to the orders of the stern-minded
Omar; so he looked on without a murmur as his stately Kiosk was consumed
by the flames. He even offered Mahomet presents, which the latter declined,
and returned to Medina. Saad removed to a different part of the city, and
built a more modest mansion for himself, and another for the treasury.
In the same year with the founding of Cufa the Caliph Omar married Omm
Kolsam, the daughter of Ali and Fatima, and granddaughter of the prophet.
This drew him in still closer bonds of friendship and confidence with Ali,
who with Othman shared his councils, and aided him in managing from Medina
the rapidly accumulating affairs of the Moslem empire.
It must be always noted, that however stern and strict may appear the laws
and ordinances of Omar, he was rigidly impartial in enforcing them; and
one of his own sons, having been found intoxicated, received the twenty
bastinadoes on the soles of the feet, which he had decreed for offenses
of the kind.
CHAPTER XXX.
WAR WITH HORMUZAN, THE SATRAP OF AHWAZ—HIS CONQUEST AND CONVERSION.
THE founding of the city of Bassora had given great annoyance and uneasiness
to Hormuzân, the satrap or viceroy of Ahwâz, or Susiana. His province lay
between Babylonia and Farsistan, and he saw that this rising city of the
Arabs was intended as a check upon him. His province was one of the richest
and most important of Persia, producing cotton, rice, sugar, and wheat.
It was studded with cities, which the historian Tabari compared to a cluster
of stars. In the center stood the metropolis Susa, one of the royal resorts
of the Persian kings, celebrated in scriptural history, and said to possess
the tomb of the prophet Daniel. It was once adorned with palaces and courts,
and parks of prodigious extent, though now all is a waste, “echoing only
to the roar of the lion, or yell of the hyena.”
Here Hormuzân, the satrap, emulated the state and luxury of a king. He
was of a haughty spirit, priding himself upon his descent, his ancestors
having once sat on the throne of Persia. For this reason his sons, being
of the blood royal, were permitted to wear crowns, though of smaller size
than those worn by kings, and his family was regarded with great deference
by the Persians.
This haughty satrap, not rendered wary by the prowess of the Moslem arms, which he had witnessed and experienced at Kadesia, made preparations to crush the rising colony of Bassora. The founders of that city called on the Caliph for protection, and troops were marched to their assistance from Medina, and from the headquarters of Saad at Cufa. Hormuzân soon had reason to repent his having provoked hostilities. He was defeated in repeated battles, and at length was glad to make peace with the loss of half of his territories, and all but four of his cluster of cities. He was not permitted long to enjoy even this remnant of domain. Yezdegird, from his retreat at Rei, reproached Hormuzân and the satrap of the adjacent province of Farsistan, for not co-operating to withstand the Moslems. At his command they united their forces, and Hormuzân broke the treaty of peace which he had so recently concluded.
The devotion of Hormuzân to his fugitive sovereign ended in his ruin. The Caliph ordered troops to assemble from the different Moslem posts, and complete the conquest of Ahwâz. Hormuzân disputed his territory bravely, but was driven from place to place, until he made his last stand in the fortress of Ahwâz, or Susa. For six months he was beleaguered, during which time there were many sallies and assaults, and hard fighting on both sides. At length, Barâ Ibn Mâlek was sent to take command of the besiegers. He had been an especial favorite of the prophet, and there was a superstitious feeling concerning him. He manifested at all times an indifference to life or death; always pressed forward to the place of danger, and every action in which he served was successful.
On his taking the command, his troops gathered round him. “Oh Barâ! swear
to overthrow these infidels, and the Most High will favor us.”
Barâ swore that the place would be taken, and the infidels put to flight,
but that he would fall a martyr.
In the very next assault he was killed by an arrow sped by Hormuzân. The
army took his death as a good omen. “One half of his oath is fulfilled,”
said they, “and so will be the other.”
Shortly afterward a Persian traitor came to Abu Shebrah, who had succeeded
to the Moslem command, and revealed a secret entrance by a conduit under
the castle, by which it was supplied with water. A hundred Moslems entered
it by night, threw open the outward gates, and let in the army into the
court-yards. Hormuzân was ensconced, however, in a strong tower, or keep,
from the battlements of which he held a parley with the Moslem commander.
“I have a thousand expert archers with me,” said he, “who never miss their
aim. By every arrow they discharge you will lose a man. Avoid this useless
sacrifice. Let me depart in honor; give me safe conduct to the Caliph,
and let him dispose of me as he pleases.”
It was agreed. Hormuzân was treated with respect as he issued from his
fortress, and was sent under an escort to Medina. He maintained the air
of one not conducted as a prisoner, but attended by a guard of honor. As
he approached the city he halted, arrayed himself in sumptuous apparel,
with his jewelled belt and regal crown, and in this guise entered the gates.
The inhabitants gazed in astonishment at such unwonted luxury of attire.
Omar was not at his dwelling; he had gone to the mosque. Hormuzân was conducted
thither. On approaching the sacred edifice, the Caliph’s cloak was seen
hanging against the wall, while he himself, arrayed in patched garments,
lay asleep with his staff under his head. The officers of the escort seated
themselves at a respectful distance until he should awake. “This,” whispered
they to Hormuzân, “is the prince of true believers.”
“This the Arab king!” said the astonished satrap; “and is this his usual
attire?” “It is.” “And does he sleep thus without guards?” “He does; he
comes and goes alone; and lies down and sleeps where he pleases.” “And
can he administer justice, and conduct affairs without officers and messengers
and attendants?” “Even so,” was the reply. “This,” exclaimed Hormuzân,
at length, “is the condition of a prophet, but not of a king.” “He is not
a prophet,” was the reply, “but he acts like one.”
As the Caliph awoke he recognized the officers of the escort. “What tidings
do you bring?” demanded he.—“But who is this so extravagantly arrayed?”
rubbing his eyes as they fell upon the embroidered robes and jewelled crown
of the satrap. “This is Hormuzân, the king of Ahwâz.” “Take the infidel
out of this place,” cried he, turning away his head. “Strip him of his
riches, and put on him the riches of Islam.”
Hormuzân was accordingly taken forth, and in a little time was brought
again before the Caliph, clad in a simple garb of the striped cloth of
Yemen.
The Moslem writers relate various quibbles by which Hormuzân sought to
avert the death with which he was threatened, for having slain Barâ Ibn
Mâlek. He craved water to allay his thirst. A vessel of water was brought.
Affecting to apprehend immediate execution: “Shall I be spared until I
have drunk this?” Being answered by the Caliph in the affirmative, he dashed
the vessel to the ground. “Now,” said he, “you cannot put me to death,
for I can never drink the water.”
The straightforward Omar, however, was not to be caught by a quibble. “Your cunning will do you no good,” said he. “Nothing will save you but to embrace Islamism.” The haughty Hormuzân was subdued. He made the profession of faith in due style, and was at once enrolled among true believers.
He resided thenceforth in Medina, received rich presents from the Caliph, and subsequently gave him much serviceable information and advice in his prosecution of the war with Persia. The conquest of Ahwâz was completed in the nineteenth year of the Hegira.
CHAPTER XXXI.
SAAD SUSPENDED FROM THE COMMAND—A PERSIAN ARMY ASSEMBLED AT NEHAVEND—COUNCIL AT THE MOSQUE OF MEDINA—BATTLE OF NEHAVEND.
OMAR, as we have seen, kept a jealous and vigilant eye upon his distant generals, being constantly haunted by the fear that they would become corrupted in the rich and luxurious countries they were invading, and lose that Arab simplicity which he considered inestimable in itself, and all-essential to the success of the cause of Islam. Notwithstanding the severe reproof he had given to Saad Ibn Abu Wakkâs in burning down his palace at Cufa, complaints still reached him that the general affected the pomp of a Caliph, that he was unjust and oppressive, unfair in the division of spoils, and slow in conducting military concerns. These charges proved, for the most part, unfounded, but they caused Saad to be suspended from his command until they could be investigated.
When the news reached Yezdegird at Rei that the Moslem general who had
conquered at Kadesia, slain Rustam, captured Madayn, and driven himself
to the mountains, was deposed from the command, he conceived fresh hopes,
and wrote letters to all the provinces yet unconquered, calling on the
inhabitants to take up arms and make a grand effort for the salvation of
the empire. Nehâvend was appointed as the place where the troops were to
assemble. It was a place of great antiquity, founded, says tradition, by
Noah, and called after him, and was about fifteen leagues from Hamadân,
the ancient Ecbatana. Here troops gathered together to the number of one
hundred and fifty thousand.
Omar assembled his counsellors at the mosque of Medina, and gave them intelligence, just received, of this great armament. “This,” said he, “is probably the last great effort of the Persians. If we defeat them now they will never be able to unite again.” He expressed a disposition, therefore, to take the command in person. Strong objections were advanced. “Assemble troops from various parts,” said Othman; “but remain, yourself, either at Medina, Cufa, or Holwân, to send reinforcements if required, or to form a rallying point for the Moslems, if defeated.” Others gave different counsel. At length the matter was referred to Abbas Ibn Abd al Motâlleb, who was considered one of the sagest heads for counsel in the tribe of Koreish. He gave it as his opinion that the Caliph should remain in Medina, and give the command of the campaign to Nu’mân Ibn Mukry, who was already in Ahwâz, where he had been ever since Saad had sent him thither from Irak. It is singular to see the fate of the once mighty and magnificent empires of the Orient—Syria, Chaldea, Babylonia, and the dominions of the Medes and Persians—thus debated and decided in the mosque of Medina—by a handful of gray-headed Arabs, who but a few years previously had been homeless fugitives.
Orders were now sent to Nu’mân to march to Nehâvend, and reinforcements
joined him from Medina, Bassora, and Cufa. His force, when thus collected,
was but moderate, but it was made up of men hardened and sharpened by incessant
warfare, rendered daring and confident by repeated victory, and led by
able officers. He was afterward joined by ten thousand men from Sawad,
Holwan, and other places, many of whom were tributaries.
The Persian army now collected at Nehâvend was commanded by Firuzân; he
was old and infirm. but full of intelligence and spirit, and the only remaining
general considered capable of taking charge of such a force, the best generals
having fallen in battle. The veteran, knowing the impetuosity of the Arab
attack, and their superiority in the open field, had taken a strong position,
fortified his camp, and surrounded it with a deep moat filled with water.
Here he determined to tire out the patience of the Moslems, and await an
opportunity to strike a decisive blow.
Nu’mân displayed his forces before the Persian camp, and repeatedly offered battle, but the cautious veteran was not to be drawn out of his entrenchments. Two months elapsed without any action, and the Moslem troops, as Firuzân had foreseen, began to grow discontented, and to murmur at their general.
A stratagem was now resorted to by Nu’mân to draw out the enemy. Breaking
up his camp, he made a hasty retreat, leaving behind him many articles
of little value. The stratagem succeeded. The Persians sallied, though
cautiously, in pursuit. Nu’mân continued his feigned retreat for another
day, still followed by the enemy. Having drawn them to a sufficient distance
from their fortified camp, he took up a position at nightfall. “To-morrow,”
said he to his troops, “before the day reddens, be ready for battle. I
have been with the prophet in many conflicts, and he always commenced battle
after the Friday prayer.”
The following day, when the troops were drawn out in order of battle, he
made this prayer in their presence: “Oh Allah! sustain this day the cause
of Islamism; give us victory over the infidels, and grant me the glory
of martyrdom.” Then turning to his officers, he expressed a presentiment
that he should fall in the battle, and named the person who, in such case,
should take the command.
He now appointed the signal for battle. “Three times,” said he, “I will cry the tekbir, and each time will shake my standard. At the third time let every one fall on as I shall do.” He gave the signal, Allah Achbar! Allah Achbar! Allah Achbar! At the third shaking of the standard the tekbir was responded by the army, and the air was rent by the universal shout of Allah Achbar!
The shock of the two armies was terrific; they were soon enveloped in a
cloud of dust, in which the sound of scimitars and battle-axes told the
deadly work that was going on, while the shouts of Allah Achbar continued,
mingled with furious cries and execrations of the Persians, and dismal
groans of the wounded. In an hour the Persians were completely routed.
“Oh Lord!” exclaimed Nu’mân in pious ecstasy, “my prayer for victory has
been heard; may that for martyrdom be likewise favored!”
He advanced his standard in pursuit of the enemy, but at the same moment
a Parthian arrow from the flying foe gave him the death he coveted. His
body, with the face covered, was conveyed to his brother, and his standard
given to Hadifeh, whom he had named to succeed him in the command.
The Persians were pursued with great slaughter. Firuzân fled toward Hamadân,
but was overtaken at midnight as he was ascending a steep hill, embarrassed
among a crowd of mules and camels laden with the luxurious superfluities
of a Persian camp. Here he and several thousand of his soldiers and camp-followers
were cut to pieces. The booty was immense. Forty of the mules were found
to be laden with honey; which made the Arabs say, with a sneer, that Firuzân’s
army was clogged with its own honey, until overtaken by the true believers.
The whole number of Persians slain in this battle, which sealed the fate
of the empire, is said to have amounted to one hundred thousand. It took
place in the twenty-first year of the Hegira, and the year 641 of the Christian
era, and was commemorated among Moslems as “The Victory of Victories.”
On a day subsequent to the battle a man mounted on an ass rode into the
camp of Hadifeh. He was one who had served in the temples of the fire-worshippers,
and was in great consternation, fearing to be sacrificed by the fanatic
Moslems. “Spare my life,” said he to Hadifeh, “and the life of another
person whom I shall designate, and I will deliver into your hands a treasure
put under my charge by Yezdegird when he fled to Rei.” His terms being
promised, he produced a sealed box. On breaking the seal, Hadifeh found
it filled with rubies and precious stones of various colors, and jewels
of great price. He was astonished at the sight of what appeared to him
incalculable riches. “These jewels,” said he, “have not been gained in
battle, nor by the sword; we have, therefore, no right to any share in
them.” With the concurrence of his officers, therefore, he sent the box
to the Caliph to be retained by himself or divided among the true believers
as he should think proper. The officer who conducted the fifth part of
the spoils to Medina delivered the box, and related its history to Omar.
The Caliph, little skilled in matters of luxury, and holding them in supreme
contempt, gazed with an ignorant or scornful eye at the imperial jewels,
and refused to receive them. “You know not what these things are,” said
he. “Neither do I; but they justly belong to those who slew the infidels,
and to no one else.” He ordered the officer, therefore, to depart forthwith
and carry the box back to Hadifeh. The jewels were sold by the latter to
the merchants who followed the camp, and when the proceeds were divided
among the troops, each horseman received for his share four thousand pieces
of gold.
Far other was the conduct of the Caliph when he received the letter giving
an account of the victory at Nehâvend. His first inquiry was after his
old companion in the faith, Nu’mân. “May God grant you and him mercy!”
was the reply. “He has become a martyr.”
Omar, it is said, wept. He next inquired who also were martyrs. Several
were named with whom he was acquainted; but many who were unknown to him.
“If I know them not,” said he, piously quoting a text of the Koran, “God
does!”
CHAPTER XXXII.
CAPTURE OF HAMADAN; OF REI—SUBJUGATION OF TABARISTAN; OF AZERBIJAN—CAMPAIGN
AMONG THE CAUCASIAN MOUNTAINS.
THE Persian troops who had survived the signal defeat of Firuzân assembled
their broken forces near the city of Hamadân, but were soon routed again
by a detachment sent against them by Hadlifeh, who had fixed his headquarters
at Nehâvend. They then took refuge in Hamadân, and ensconced themselves
in its strong fortress or citadel.
Hamadân was the second city in Persia for grandeur, and was built upon
the site of Ecbatana, in old times the principal city of the Medes. There
were more Jews among its inhabitants than were to be found in any other
city of Persia, and it boasted of possessing the tombs of Esther and Mordecai.
It was situated on a steep eminence, down the sides of which it descended
into a fruitful plain, watered by streams gushing down from the lofty Orontes,
now Mount Elwand. The place was commanded by Habesh, the same general who
had been driven from Holwân after the flight of Yezdegird. Habesh sought
an interview with Hadifeh, at his encampment at Nehâvend, and made a treaty
of peace with him; but it was a fraudulent one, and intended merely to
gain time. Returning to Hamadân, he turned the whole city into a fortress,
and assembled a strong garrison, being reinforced from the neighboring
province of Azerbijân.
On being informed of this want of good faith on the part of the governor
of Hamadân, the Caliph Omar dispatched a strong force against the place,
led by an able officer named Nu’haim Ibn Mukrin. Habesh had more courage
than caution. Confident in the large force he had assembled, instead of
remaining within his strongly fortified city, he sallied forth and met
the Moslems in open field. The battle lasted for three days, and was harder
fought than even that of Nehâvend, but ended in leaving the Moslems triumphant
masters of the once formidable capital of Medea.
Nu’haim now marched against Rei, late the place of refuge of Yezdegird.
That prince, however, had deserted it on the approach of danger, leaving
it in charge of a noble named Siyâwesh Ibn Barham. Hither the Persian princes
had sent troops from the yet unconquered provinces, for Siyâwesh had nobly
offered to make himself as a buckler to them, and conquer or fall in their
defense. His patriotism was unavailing; treachery and corruption were too
prevalent among the Persians. Zain, a powerful noble resident in Rei, and
a deadly enemy of Siyâwesh, conspired to admit two thousand Moslems in
at one gate of the city, at the time when its gallant governor was making
a sally by another. A scene of tumult and carnage took place in the streets,
where both armies engaged in deadly conflict. The patriot Siyâwesh was
slain, with a great part of his troops; the city was captured and sacked,
and its citadel destroyed, and the traitor Zain was rewarded for his treachery
by being made governor of the ruined place.
Nu’haim now sent troops in different directions against Kumish, and Dameghân,
and Jurgan (the ancient Hircania), and Tabaristan. They met with feeble
resistance. The national spirit was broken; even the national religion
was nearly at an end. “This Persian religion of ours has become obsolete,”
said Farkham, a military sage, to an assemblage of commanders, who asked
his advice; “the new religion is carrying everything before it; my advice
is to make peace and pay tribute.” His advice was adopted. All Tabaristan
became tributary in the annual sum of five hundred thousand dirhems, with
the condition that the Moslems should levy no troops in that quarter.
Azerbijân was next invaded; the country which had sent troops to the aid
of Hamadân. This province lay north of Rei and Hamadân, and extended to
the Rocky Caucasus. It was the stronghold of the Magians or Fire-worshippers,
where they had their temples, and maintained their perpetual fire. Hence
the name of the country, Azer signifying fire. The princes of the country
made an ineffectual stand; their army was defeated; the altars of the fire-worshippers
were overturned; their temples destroyed, and Azerbijân won.
The arms of Islam had now been carried triumphantly to the very defiles
of the Caucasus; those mountains were yet to be subdued. Their rocky sierras
on the east separated Azerbijân from Haziz and the shores of the Caspian,
and on the north from the vast Sarmatian regions. The passes through these
mountains were secured of yore by fortresses and walls and iron gates,
to bar against irruptions from the shadowy land of Gog and Magog, the terror
of the olden time, for by these passes had poured in the barbarous hordes
of the north, “a mighty host all riding upon horses,” who lived in tents,
worshipped the naked sword planted in the earth, and decorated their steeds
with the scalps of their enemies slain in battle.
By some Gog and Magog are taken in an allegorical sense, signifying the princes of heathendom, enemies of saints and the church.
According to the prophet Ezekiel, Gog was the king of Magog; Magog signifying
the people, and Gog the king of the country. They are names that loom vaguely
and fearfully in the dark denunciations of the prophets, and in the olden
time inspired awe throughout the Eastern world.
The Arabs, says Lane, call Gog and Magog, Yâjuj and Mâjuj, and say they are two nations or tribes descended from Japhet, the son of Noah; or, as others write, Gog is a tribe of the Turks, and Magog those of Gilan; the Geli and the Gelae of Ptolemy and Strabo. They made their irruptions into the neighboring countries in the spring, and carried off all the fruits of the earth.—Sale’s Koran, note to ch. 18.
According to Moslem belief, a great irruption of Gog and Magog is to be
one of the signs of the latter days, forerunning the resurrection and final
judgment. They are to come from the north in a mighty host, covering the
land as a cloud; so that when subdued, their shields and bucklers, their
bows and arrows and quivers, and the staves of their spears, shall furnish
the faithful with fuel for seven years.—All which is evidently derived
from the book of the prophet Ezekiel, with which Mohammed had been made
acquainted by his Jewish instructors.
The Koran makes mention of a wall built as a protection against these fearful
people of the north by Dhu’lkarneim, or the Two Horned; by whom some suppose
is meant Alexander the Great, others a Persian king of the first race,
contemporary with Abraham.
And they said, O Dhu’lkarneim, verily, Gog and Magog waste the land. . . . He answered, I will set a strong wall between you and them. Bring me iron in large pieces, until it fill up the space between the two sides of these mountains. And he said to the workmen, Blow with your bellows until it make the iron red hot; and bring me molten brass, that I may pour upon it. Wherefore, when this wall was finished, Gog and Magog could not scale it, neither could they dig through it—Sale’s Koran, chap. 18.
The Czar Peter the Great, in his expedition against the Persians, saw in the neighborhood of the city of Derbend, which was then besieged, the ruins of a wall which went up hill and down dale, along the Caucasus, and was said to extend from the Euxine to the Caspian. It was fortified from place to place, by towers or castles. It was eighteen Russian stades in height; built of stones laid up dry; some of them three ells long and very wide. The color of the stones, and the traditions of the country, showed it to be of great antiquity. The Arabs and Persians said that it was built against the invasions of Gog and Magog.—See Travels in the East, by Sir William Ouseley.
Detachments of Moslems under different leaders penetrated the defiles of
these mountains and made themselves masters of the Derbends, or mountain
barriers. One of the most important, and which cost the greatest struggle,
was a city or fortress called by the Persians Der-bend; by the Turks Demir-Capi
or the Gate of Iron, and by the Arabs Bab-el-abwâb (the Gate of Gates).
It guards a defile between a promontory of Mount Caucasus and the Caspian
Sea. A superstitious belief is still connected with it by the Moslems.
Originally it had three gates, two only are left; one of these has nearly
sunk into the earth; they say when it disappears the day of judgment will
arrive.
Abda’lrahman Ibn Rabiah, one of the Moslem commanders who penetrated the
defiles of the Caucasus, was appointed by Omar to the command of the Derbends
or passes, with orders to keep vigilant watch over them; for the Caliph
was in continual solicitude about the safety of the Moslems on these remote
expeditions, and was fearful that the Moslem troops might be swept away
by some irruption from the north.
Abda’lrahman, with the approbation of the Caliph, made a compact with Shahr-Zad,
one of the native chiefs, by which the latter, in consideration of being
excused from paying tribute, undertook to guard the Derbends against the
northern hordes. The Arab general had many conversations with Shahr-Zad
about the mountains, which are favored regions of Persian romance and fable.
His imagination was fired with what he was told about the people beyond
the Derbends, the Allâni and the Rus; and about the great wall or barrier
of Yâjuj and Mâjuj, built to restrain their inroads.
In one of the stories told by Shahr-Zad, the reader will perceive the germ
of one of the Arabian tales of Sinbad the Sailor. It is recorded to the
following purport by Tabari, the Persian historian: “One day as Abda’lrahman
was seated by ShahrZad, conversing with him, he perceived upon his finger
a ring decorated with a ruby, which burned like fire in the day-time, but
at night was of dazzling brilliancy. ‘It came,’ said Shahr-Zad, ‘from the
wall of Yâjuj and Mâjuj; from a king whose dominions between the mountains
is traversed by the wall. I sent him many presents and asked but one ruby
in return.’ Seeing the curiosity of Abda’lrahman aroused, he sent for the
man who had brought the ring, and commanded him to relate the circumstances
of his errand.
“‘When I delivered the presents and the letter of Shahr-Zad to that king,’
said the man, ‘he called his chief falconer, and ordered him to procure
the jewel required. The falconer kept an eagle for three days without food,
until he was nearly starved; he then took him up into the mountains near
the wall, and I accompanied him. From the summit of one of these mountains,
we looked down into a deep dark chasm like an abyss. The falconer now produced
a piece of tainted meat; threw it into the ravine, and let loose the eagle.
He swept down after it; pounced upon it as it reached the ground, and returning
with it, perched upon the hand of the falconer. The ruby which now shines
in that ring was found adhering to the meat.’
“Abda’lrahman asked an account of the wall. ‘It is built,’ replied the
man, ‘of stone, iron, and brass, and extends down one mountain and up another.’
‘This,’ said the devout and all-believing Abda’lrahman, ‘must be the very
wall of which the Almighty makes mention in the Koran.’
“He now inquired of Shahr-Zad what was the value of the ruby. ‘No one knows
its value,’ was the reply; ‘though presents to an immense amount had been
made in return for it.’ Shahr-Zad now drew the ring from his finger, and
offered it to Abda’lrahman, but the latter refused to accept it, saying
that a gem of that value was not suitable to him. ‘Had you been one of
the Persian kings,’ said Shahr-Zad, ‘you would have taken it from me by
force; but men who conduct like you will conquer all the world.”
The stories which he had heard had such an effect upon Abda’lrahman, that he resolved to make a foray into the mysterious country beyond the Derbends. Still it could only be of a partial nature, as he was restrained from venturing far by the cautious injunctions of Omar. “Were I not fearful of displeasing the Caliph,” said he, “I would push forward even to Yâjuj and Mâjuj, and make converts of all the infidels.”
On issuing from the mountains, he found himself among a barbarous people,
the ancestors of the present Turks, who inhabited a region of country between
the Euxine and the Caspian seas. A soldier who followed Abda’lrahman in
this foray gave the following account of these people to the Caliph on
his return to Medina. “They were astonished,” said he, “at our appearance,
so different from their old enemies the Persians, and asked us, ‘Are you
angels, or the sons of Adam?’ to which we replied, we are sons of Adam;
but the angels of heaven are on our side and aid us in our warfare.”
The infidels forbore to assail men thus protected; one, however, more shrewd or dubious than the rest, stationed himself behind a tree, sped an arrow, and slew a Moslem. The delusion was at an end; the Turks saw that the strangers were mortal, and from that time there was hard fighting. Abda’lrahman laid siege to a place called Belandscher, the city or stronghold of the Bulgarians or Huns, another semi-barbarous and warlike people like the Turks, who, like them, had not yet made themselves world-famous by their conquering migrations. The Turks came to the aid of their neighbors; a severe battle took place, the Moslems were defeated, and Abda’lrahman paid for his daring enterprise and romantic curiosity with his life. The Turks, who still appear to have retained a superstitious opinion of their unknown invaders, preserved the body of the unfortunate general as a relic, and erected a shrine in honor of it, at which they used to put up their prayers for rain in time of drought.
The troops of Abda’lrahman retreated within the Derbends; his brother Selman Ibn Rabiah was appointed to succeed him in the command of the Caucasian passes, and thus ended the unfortunate foray into the land of Gog and Magog.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE CALIPH OMAR ASSASSINATED BY A FIRE-WORSHIPPER—HIS CHARACTER—OTHMAN
ELECTED CALIPH.
The life and reign of the Caliph Omar, distinguished by such great and striking events, were at length brought to a sudden and sanguinary end. Among the Persians who had been brought as slaves to Medina, was one named Firuz, of the sect of the Magi, or fire-worshippers. Being taxed daily by his master two pieces of silver out of his earnings, he complained of it to Omar as an extortion. The Caliph inquired into his condition, and, finding that he was a carpenter, and expert in the construction of windmills, replied, that the man who excelled in such a handicraft could well afford to pay two dirhems a day. “Then,” muttered Firuz, “I’ll construct a windmill for you that shall keep grinding until the day of judgment.” Omar was struck with his menacing air. “The slave threatens me,” said he, calmly. “If I were disposed to punish any one on suspicion. I should take off his head;” he suffered him, however, to depart without further notice.
Three days afterward, as he was praying in the mosque, Firuz entered suddenly
and stabbed him thrice with a dagger. The attendants rushed upon the assassin.
He made furious resistance, slew some and wounded others, until one of
his assailants threw his vest over him and seized him, upon which be stabbed
himself to the heart and expired. Religion may have had some share in prompting
this act of violence; perhaps revenge for the ruin brought upon his native
country. “God be thanked,” said Omar, “that he by whose hand it was decreed
I should fall was not a Moslem!”
The Caliph gathered strength sufficient to finish the prayer in which he
had been interrupted; “for he who deserts his prayers,” said he, “is not
in Islam.” Being taken to his house, he languished three days without hope
of recovery, but could not be prevailed upon to nominate a successor. “I
cannot presume to do that,” said he, “which the prophet himself did not
do.” Some suggested that he should nominate his son Abdallah. “Omar’s family,”
said he, “has had enough in Omar, and needs no more.” He appointed a council
of six persons to determine as to the succession after his decease; all
of whom he considered worthy of the Caliphat; though he gave it as his
opinion that the choice would be either Ali or Othman. “Shouldst thou become
Caliph,” said he to Ali, “do not favor thy relatives above all others,
nor place the house of Haschem on the neck of all mankind;” and he gave
the same caution to Othman in respect to the family of Omeya.
Calling for ink and paper, he wrote a letter as his last testament, to whosoever might be his successor, full of excellent counsel for the upright management of affairs, and the promotion of the faith. He charged his son Abdallah in the most earnest manner, as one of the highest duties of Islamism, to repay eighteen thousand dirhems which he had borrowed out of the public treasury. All present protested against this as unreasonable, since the money had been expended in relief of the poor and destitute, but Omar insisted upon it as his last will. He then sent to Ayesha and procured permission of her to be buried next to her father Abu Beker.
Ibn Abbas and Ali now spoke to him in words of comfort, setting forth the
blessings of Islam, which had crowned his administration, and that he would
leave no one behind him who could charge him with injustice. “Testify this
for me,” said he, earnestly, “at the day of judgment.” They gave him their
hands in promise; but he exacted that they should give him a written testimonial,
and that it should be buried with him in the grave.
Having settled all his worldly affairs, and given directions about his
sepulture, he expired, the seventh day after his assassination, in the
sixty-third year of his age, after a triumphant reign of ten years and
six months.
His death was rashly and bloodily revenged. Mahomet Ibn Abu Beker, the
brother of Ayesha, and imbued with her mischief-making propensity, persuaded
Abdallah, the son of Omar, that his father’s murder was the result of a
conspiracy: Firuz having been instigated to the act by his daughter Lulu,
a Christian named Dschofeine, and Hormuzân, the once haughty and magnificent
satrap of Susiana. In the transport of his rage, and instigated by the
old Arab principle of blood revenge, Abdallah slew all three of the accused,
without reflecting on the improbability of Hormuzân, at least, being accessory
to the murder; being, since his conversion, in close friendship with the
late Caliph, and his adviser, on many occasions, in the prosecution of
the Persian war.
The whole history of Omar shows him to have been a man of great powers
of mind, inflexible integrity, and rigid justice. He was, more than any
one else, the founder of the Islam empire, confirming and carrying out
the inspirations of the prophet; aiding Abu Beker with his counsels during
his brief Caliphat; and establishing wise regulations for the strict administration
of the laws throughout the rapidly-extending bounds of the Moslem conquests.
The rigid hand which he kept upon his most popular generals in the midst
of their armies, and in the most distant scenes of their triumphs, give
signal evidence of his extraordinary capacity to rule. In the simplicity
of his habits, and his contempt for all pomp and luxury, he emulated the
example of the prophet and Abu Beker. He endeavored incessantly to impress
the merit and policy of the same in his letters to his generals. “Beware,”
he would say, “of Persian luxury, both in food and raiment. Keep to the
simple habits of your country, and Allah will continue you victorious;
depart from them, and he will reverse your fortunes.” It was his strong
conviction of the truth of this policy, which made him so severe in punishing
all ostentatious style and luxurious indulgence in his officers.
Some of his ordinances do credit to his heart as well as his head. He forbade
that any female captive who had borne a child should be sold as a slave.
In his weekly distributions of the surplus money of his treasury he proportioned
them to the wants, not the merits of the applicant. “God,” said he, “has
bestowed the good things of this world to relieve our necessities, not
to reward our virtues: those will be rewarded in another world.”
One of the early measures of his reign was the assigning pensions to the
most faithful companions of the prophet, and those who had signalized themselves
in the early service of the faith. Abbas, the uncle of the prophet, had
a yearly pension of 200,000 dirhems; others of his relatives in graduated
proportions; those veterans who had fought in the battle of Beder 5000
dirhems; pensions of less amount to those who had distinguished themselves
in Syria, Persia, and Egypt. Each of the prophet’s wives was allowed ten
thousand dirhems yearly, and Ayesha twelve thousand. Hasan and Hosein,
the sons of Ali and grandsons of the prophet, had each a pension of five
thousand dirhems. On any one who found fault with these disbursements out
of the public wealth, Omar invoked the curse of Allah.
He was the first to establish a chamber of accounts or exchequer; the first to date events from the Hegira or flight of the prophet: and the first to introduce a coinage into the Moslem dominions; stamping the coins with the name of the reigning Caliph; and the words, “There is no God but God.”
During his reign, we are told, there were thirty-six thousand towns, castles,
and strongholds taken; but he was not a wasteful conqueror. He founded
new cities, established important marts, built innumerable mosques, and
linked the newly acquired provinces into one vast empire by his iron inflexibility
of purpose. As has well been observed, “His Caliphat, crowned with the
glories of its triple conquest of Syria, Persia, and Egypt, deserves to
be distinguished as the heroic age of Saracen history. The gigantic foundations
of the Saracenic power were perfected in the short space of less than ten
years.” Let it be remembered, moreover, that this great conqueror, this
great legislator, this magnanimous sovereign, was originally a rude, half-instructed
Arab of Mecca. Well may we say in regard to the early champions of Islam,
“There were giants in those days.”
After the death of Omar the six persons met together whom he had named
as a council to elect his successor. They were Ali, Othman, Telha, Ibn
Obeid’allah (Mohammed’s son-in-law), Zobeir, Abda’lrahman, Ibn Awf, and
Saad Ibn Abu Wakkâs. They had all been personally intimate with Mohammed,
were therefore styled THE COMPANIONS.
After much discussion and repeated meetings the Caliphat was offered to
Ali, on condition that he would promise to govern according to the Koran
and the traditions of Mohammed, and the regulations established by the
two seniors or elders, meaning the two preceding Caliphs, Abu Beker and
Omar.
Ali replied that he would govern according to the Koran and the authentic
traditions; but would, in all other respects, act according to his own
judgment, without reference to the example of the seniors. This reply not
being satisfactory to the council, they made the same proposal to Othman
Ibn Affân, who assented to all the conditions, and was immediately elected,
and installed three days after the death of his predecessor. He was seventy
years of age at the time of his election. He was tall and swarthy, and
his long gray beard was tinged with henna. He was strict in his religious
duties; fasting, meditating, and studying the Koran; not so simple in his
habits as his predecessors, but prone to expense and lavish of his riches.
His bountiful spirit, however, was evinced at times in a way that gained
him much popularity. In a time of famine he had supplied the poor of Medina
with corn. He had purchased at great cost the ground about the mosque of
Medina, to give room for houses for the prophet’s wives. He had contributed
six hundred and fifty camels and fifty horses for the campaign against
Tabuc.
He derived much respect among zealous Moslems for having married two of
the prophet’s daughters, and for having been in both of the Hegiras or
flights, the first into Abyssinia, the second, the memorable flight to
Medina. Mohammed used to say of him, “Each thing has its mate, and each
man his associate: my associate in paradise is Othman.”
Scarcely was the new Caliph installed in office when the retaliatory punishment
prescribed by the law was invoked upon Obeid’allah, the son of Omar, for
the deaths so rashly inflicted on those whom he had suspected of instigating
his father’s assassination. Othman was perplexed between the letter of
the law and the odium of following the murder of the father by the execution
of the son. He was kindly relieved from his perplexity by the suggestion,
that as the act of Obeid’allah took place in the interregnum between the
Caliphats of Omar and Othman, it did not come under the cognizance of either.
Othman gladly availed himself of the quibble; Obeid’allah escaped unpunished,
and the sacrifice of the once magnificent Hormuzân and his fellow-victims
remained unavenged.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
CONCLUSION OF THE PERSIAN CONQUEST—FLIGHT AND DEATH OF YEZDEGIRD.
THE proud empire of the Khosrus had received its deathblow during the
vigorous Caliphat of Omar; what signs of life it yet gave were but its
dying struggles. The Moslems, led by able generals, pursued their conquests
in different directions. Some, turning to the west, urged their triumphant
way through ancient Assyria; crossed the Tigris by the bridge of Mosul,
passing the ruins of mighty Nineveh as unheedingly as they had passed those
of Babylon; completed the subjugation of Mesopotamia, and planted their
standards beside those of their brethren who had achieved the conquest
of Syria.
Others directed their course into the southern and eastern provinces, following the retreating steps of Yezdegird. A fiat issued by the late Caliph Omar had sealed the doom of that unhappy monarch. “Pursue the fugitive king wherever he may go, until you have driven him from the face of the earth!”
Yezdegird, after abandoning Rei, had led a wandering life, shifting from city to city and province to province, still flying at the approach of danger. At one time we hear of him in the splendid city of Ispahan; next among the mountains of Farsistan, the original Persis, the cradle of the conquerors of Asia; and it is another of the lessons furnished by history, to see the last of the Khosrus a fugitive among those mountains whence, in foregone times, Cyrus had led his hardy but frugal and rugged bands to win, by force of arms, that vast empire which was now falling to ruin through its effeminate degeneracy.
For a time the unhappy monarch halted in Istakar, the pride of Persia,
where the tottering remains of Persepolis, and its hall of a thousand columns,
speak of the ancient glories of the Persian kings. Here Yezdegird bad been
fostered and concealed during his youthful days, and here he came near
being taken among the relics of Persian magnificence.
From Farsistan he was driven to Kerman, the ancient Carmania; thence into
Khorassan, in the northern part of which vast province he took breath at
the city of Merv, or Merou, on the remote boundary of Bactriana. In all
his wanderings he was encumbered by the shattered pageant of an oriental
court, a worthless throng which had fled with him from Madayn, and which
he had no means of supporting. At Merv he had four thousand persons in
his train, all minions of the palace, useless hangers-on, porters, grooms,
and slaves, together with his wives and concubines, and their female attendants.
In this remote halting-place he devoted himself to building a fire-temple;
in the mean time he wrote letters to such of the cities and provinces as
were yet unconquered, exhorting his governors and generals to defend, piece
by piece, the fragments of empire which he had deserted.
The city of Ispahan, one of the brightest jewels of his crown, was well
garrisoned by wrecks of the army of Nehâvend, and might have made brave
resistance; but its governor, Kadeskan, staked the fortunes of the place
upon a single combat with the Moslem commander who had invested it, and
capitulated at the first shock of lances; probably through some traitorous
arrangement.
Ispahan has never recovered from that blow. Modern travellers speak of
its deserted streets, its abandoned palaces, its silent bazaars. “I have
ridden for miles among its ruins,” says one, “without meeting any living
creature, excepting perhaps a jackal peeping over a wall, or a fox running
into his hole. Now and then an inhabited house was to be seen, the owner
of which might be assimilated to Job’s forlorn man dwelling in desolate
cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth; which are ready to become
heaps.”
Istakar made a nobler defense. The national pride of the Persians was too
much connected with this city, once their boast, to let it fall without
a struggle. There was another gathering of troops from various parts; one
hundred and twenty thousand are said to have united under the standard
of Shah-reg the patriotic governor. It was all in vain. The Persians were
again defeated in a bloody battle; Shah-reg was slain, and Istakar, the
ancient Persepolis, once almost the mistress of the Eastern world, was
compelled to pay tribute to the Arabian Caliph.
The course of Moslem conquest now turned into the vast province of Khorassan;
subdued one part of it after another, and approached the remote region
where Yezdegird had taken refuge. Driven to the boundaries of his dominions,
the fugitive monarch crossed the Oxus (the ancient Gihon) and the sandy
deserts beyond, and threw himself among the shepherd hordes of Scythia.
His wanderings are said to have extended to the borders of Tshin, or China,
from the emperor of which he sought assistance.
Obscurity hangs over this part of his story; it is affirmed that he succeeded
in obtaining aid from the great Khan of the Tartars, and re-crossing the
Gihon was joined by the troops of Balkh or Bactria, which province was
still unsubdued and loyal. With these he endeavored to make a stand against
his unrelenting pursuers. A slight reverse, or some secret treachery, put
an end to the adhesion of his barbarian ally. The Tartar chief returned
with his troops to Turkestan.
Yezdegird’s own nobles, tired of following his desperate fortunes, now
conspired to betray him and his treasures into the hands of the Moslems
as a price for their own safety. He was at that time at Merv, or Merov,
on the Oxus, called Merou al Roud, or “Merou of the River,” to distinguish
it from Merou in Khorassan. Discovering the intended treachery of his nobles,
and of the governor of the place, he caused his slaves to let him down
with cords from a window of his palace and fled, alone and on foot, under
cover of the night. At the break of day he found himself near a mill, on
the banks of the river, only eight miles from the city, and offered the
miller his ring and bracelets, enriched with gems, if he would ferry him
across the stream. The boor, who knew nothing of jewels, demanded four
silver oboli, or drachms, the amount of a day’s earnings, as a compensation
for leaving his work. While they were debating, a party of horsemen who
were in pursuit of the king came up and clove him with their scimitars.
Another account states that, exhausted and fatigued with the weight of
his embroidered garments, he sought rest and concealment in the mill, and
that the miller spread a mat, on which he laid down and slept. His rich
attire, however, his belt of gold studded with jewels, his rings and bracelets,
excited the avarice of the miller, who slew him with an axe while he slept,
and, having stripped the body, threw it into the water. In the morning
several horsemen in search of him arrived at the mill, where discovering,
by his clothes and jewels, that he had been murdered, they put the miller
to death.
This miserable catastrophe to a miserable career is said to have occurred
on the 23d August, in the year 651 of the Christian era. Yezdegird was
in the thirty-fourth year of his age, having reigned nine years previous
to the battle of Nehâvend, and since that event having been ten years a
fugitive. History lays no crime to his charge, yet his hard fortunes and
untimely end have failed to awaken the usual interest and sympathy. He
had been schooled in adversity from his early youth, yet he failed to profit
by it. Carrying about with him the wretched relics of an effeminate court,
he sought only his personal safety, and wanted the courage and magnanimity
to throw himself at the head of his armies, and battle for his crown and
country like a great sovereign and a patriot prince.
Empires, however, like all other things, have their allotted time, and
die, if not by violence, at length of imbecility and old age. That of Persia
had long since lost its stamina, and the energy of a Cyrus would have been
unable to infuse new life into its gigantic but palsied limbs. At the death
of Yezdegird it fell under the undisputed sway of the Caliphs, and became
little better than a subject province.
According to popular traditions in Persia, Yezdegird, in the course of his wanderings, took refuge for a time in the castle of Fahender, near Schiraz, and buried the crown jewels and treasures of Nushirwan, in a deep pit or well under the castle, where they still remain guarded by a talisman, so that they cannot be found or drawn forth. Others say that he had them removed and deposited in trust with the Khacan, or emperor of Chin or Tartary. After the extinction of the royal Persian dynasty, those treasures and the crown remained in Chin.—Sir William Ouseley’s Travels in the East, vol. ii. p. 34.
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