by the Turks. So great was the slaughter that of the 12,000 we are told only three finally escaped,1 Saura himself perishing with his army. Having created this diversion, Junayd thought fit to sally from his retreat, but only to find himself again outnumbered by the Khākān's forces. He now promised freedom to the slaves of his camp if they would fight for him,2 and by the valour of these impromptu auxiliaries he was able to push his way through to Samarkand. When the Caliph Hisham received Junayd's report of what had passed he sent him larger reinforcements of men from Basra and Kufa, numbering in all some 25,000. When Junayd had been four months in Soghdiana, tidings were

3

1 About ten or eleven thousand perished in the battle, the remainder were betrayed to the Khākān (Tabari, loc. cit. p. 1542).

2 Tabari, loc. cit. p. 1543.

3 Junayd in his report seems to have laid the blame of his defeat on Saura for advancing too far out of Samarkand. According to Tabari, his words were: "Saura disobeyed me; I ordered him to keep near the river, but he did not do so" (loc. cit. p. 1544). Beladhori also, in his very brief account of this campaign, makes no mention of defeat or even disaster. He merely says that Junayd fought the Turks till he had utterly repulsed them, and then asked the Caliph for reinforcements. The account in the Persian Tabari is roughly as follows:-Junayd's first brush with the Turks was successful; but their Khākān was not discouraged by his reverse. He mustered a host so formidable that Junayd found it necessary to order Saura, who had taken possession of Samarkand, to join forces with him. He then marched against the Khākān with 20,000 men. The Turkish leader adopted tactics which have again and again enabled a prescient leader to triumph against immense odds. On learning that Saura had left Samarkand, he turned and fell upon him with such ferocity that not one of his 20,000 troops escaped to tell the tale. Thereupon Junayd summoned every town of Khorasan and Tokhāristan to send him its quota of reinforcements; and having thus gathered an army of 43,000 strong, despatched it under a trusted follower to relieve Samarkand, which was closely besieged by the victorious Khākān. The Mohammedans reached the city when their garrison was on the point of surrendering, and attacked the beleaguering host. For the first time during many disastrous years the banner of Islām prevailed. The Khākān was smitten hip and thigh, and forced to raise the siege of Samarkand. Junayd placed a garrison there of 5000 men under Nasr ibn Sayyar, and returned to Merv, where death soon closed his brilliant career.

brought to him that the Khākān was threatening Bokhārā; he thereupon set out from Samarkand, leaving there a garrison in charge of Nasr ibn Sayyār. In the course of two years Junayd appears to have restored order in Transoxiana, and with the help of his new reinforcements to have driven out the Turks. The 'Abbasid faction, which a little later brought about the downfall of the Umayyad dynasty, in the year 113 began to send emissaries into Khorāsān; Tabari tells us that Junayd seized one of these men and put him to death. But, apart from this fact, Tabari has scarcely anything to relate of Junayd between the years 113 and 116.

In A.H. 116 (734) Junayd, in spite of his great services, was dismissed from his post by the Caliph for having married the daughter of Yezid ibn Muhallab, and 'Asim ibn 'Abdullah was appointed in his stead. He died of dropsy before his successor reached Merv. By his cruelty and injustice to all who had held office under Junayd, 'Asim incurred the bitter hatred of his people.

A certain Harith ibn Surayj rose against him, took possession of many towns in Khorasan, such as Merv er-Rūd, Balkh, and Bab-el-Abwāb, and gathered a crowd of soldiers of fortune to his banner by distributing amongst them the tribute levied from his acquisitions. 'Asim, failing to crush this revolt, was dismissed by the Caliph, and Asad el-Kasri was reinstated in the governorship of Khorāsān.1 Asad at once advanced against Harith at the head of a large army, drove him to Turkestan, where he entered into league with the Khākān, who assigned him and his followers the town of Fārāb as a residence.

In A.H. 118 (736) Balkh became temporarily the 1 He appears to have received the appointment from his brother Khālid, the governor of 'Irāk.

Mohammedan capital of Central Asia. In the same year Asad planned a campaign into Khottal, but the Khākān took measures to forestall him. Asad's advance column was taken completely by surprise, and his camp and harem were captured. A parley ensued without result, after which he returned to Balkh, while the Khākān again withdrew to Tokhāristan. But in the following spring Asad attacked and completely routed the Khākān and rescued all the Moslem provinces.1 The Turk fled back to Tokhāristan, and shortly afterwards, while on his way to attack Samarkand, he was waylaid and killed by a rebellious follower.

1 It is worthy of remark that in the Persian Tabari the record of Asad's second tenure of office is not only very brief, but even differs essentially from that of the Arabic original.

CHAPTER X

NASR IBN SAYYAR AND ABU MUSLIM

IN A.H. 120 (737)1 Asad died, and was succeeded by Nasr ibn Sayyar, one of the ablest rulers and generals ever sent to the East in Mohammedan times. He was as generous as he was strong, and seems to have won the affection of those under him. During the nine years of his governorship his position was by no means an easy one, for he had to contend with the growing influence. of the 'Abbasid faction, and to support, with a loyalty worthy of a better cause, the last degenerate representatives of the house of Umayya. His first care on assuming the supreme command was to subjugate the Khākān of the Turks, whose name was Kūrsūl, against whom he led three successive expeditions. The first two seem to have been without result, but in the last, which was directed against Shash, the Khākān fell into his hands and was put to death.3

In the same year Nasr renewed his attempt to subject Shash to the Moslem yoke. The campaign was a bloodless one. He received the submission of Ushrūsana, and concluded an advantageous peace with the king of Shash. He thereupon appointed a Mohammedan governor of Farghāna.

1 In Schefer's edition of Narshakhi (p. 59) the date is absurdly given as 166. 2 Descendants of 'Abbās, uncle of the Prophet. See note below, p. 8o. Cf. Tabari, loc. cit. p. 1988 et seq.

* Harith ibn Surayj mentioned above was still with the Turks, and when

In the year A.H. 123 (740) this judicious ruler established order throughout Transoxiana, Khorāsān, and Farghāna.1 But he had other difficulties to meet which were not of his own making. The star of the Umayyads was in the descendent, and the 'Abbasid party were daily adding to the number of their adherents. And, apart from dynastic struggles, the whole of Islām was rent with the dissensions of the rival sects of the Khārijites and the Shi'ites. The sectarian zeal of the latter, which to this day remains the cause of bitter discord in the realm of Islām, began now to make itself felt in Persia and in Central Asia.

2

3

In A.H. 125 (742) Hishām, the last Umayyad Caliph of any distinction, died. The dynasty lasted seven years longer, and in that short period no less than four Caliphs attempted to restore the fading glory of their house. While such disorders reigned at headquarters there was small hope of quelling sedition in the outlying provinces. The 'Abbasid pretender, Ibrāhīm, thanks to the efforts of his father's emissaries, had now a powerful and rapidly increasing faction in Merv. But Nasr still held command in Khorāsān, and his personal influence was still great enough to avert open rebellion. It failed; and the fierce tribal jealousy which always smouldered in Arab breasts burst into civil war. The two rival factions were the Yemenites and the Modharites. Nasr ibn Sayyār belonged to the tribe of Modhar, and bestowed the highest offices on his clansmen. In fact, all the towns of Khorasan were governed by members of

Nasr ibn Sayyar reported his victory to the governor of 'Irak the latter ordered him to capture Harith, subdue Farghāna, and destroy the town of Shash.

1

1 By the promulgation of a general amnesty the Soghdians were brought back to their allegiance.

2 Their names were Welid II., Yezid II., Ibrāhīm, and Merwän II.

3 His father, Mohammed, had died in A.H. 124.