he despatched 'Ali ibn 'Isā against him at the head of 50,000 men. On reaching Ray, A.H. 195 (810), he encountered Tahir, who had been posted there by Ma'mun to watch the frontier. In the battle that ensued 'Ali was slain in single combat by Tāhir, and his army was put to flight. Tahir, in obedience to Ma'mun's orders, now marched on Baghdad, and with reinforcements brought by Harthama defeated all the armies sent to stop his progress. Having secured the submission of Arabia and Mesopotamia, he laid siege to Baghdad, and took the city by storm in A.H. 198 (813), after twelve months' investment. Amin made a vain attempt to escape, and was finally slain by a party of Persian soldiers. Ma'mun, who was now the undisputed master of the Caliphate, made Merv his capital instead of removing to Baghdad. He took this fatal step, which gave offence to the people of the West generally, on the advice of Fadhl ibn Sahl; for Ma'mun, like his brother, was overruled by a selfish and masterful vezir. After the capture of Baghdad, Tahir placed himself at the head of affairs in that town; but the people soon rose against him to avenge the death of Amin. The revolt was quelled by the distribution of largesses, and all 'Irāk acknowledged Tahir's sway. It is impossible to enumerate the disorders which distracted Baghdad and the West, and the countless difficulties which Ma'mun had to face during the next few years. Suffice it to say that, in spite of repeated risings and conspiracies against the Caliph's authority, Ma'mun continued to be guided by the short-sighted counsels of his vezir, who, as a Persian2 and a Shi'ite, was hated in the orthodox West. Not till A.H. 202 (817) did the monarch awaken to the dangers of the situation and set 1 Cf. Weil, Geschichte der Khalifen, voi. ii. p. 197. 109734 On reaching Sarakhs, out from Merv to Baghdad. Fadhl, the real cause of all Ma'mun's misfortunes, was murdered in his bath-it appears, at the instigation of his master. In A.H. 204 (817) Ma'mun entered Baghdād, and Tahir, who had during the recent troubles fallen into disfavour with the Caliph, was now appointed governor of Baghdad. He did not remain long in this office, for at his own request he was appointed to the viceroyalty of the East, A.H. 205 (818). With him the Caliph sent a confidential eunuch, who had orders to poison Tahir should he show any signs of insubordination. After a successful rule of two years Tahir suddenly omitted the Caliph's name in the weekly prayers, and on the following day he was found dead in his bed, A.H. 207 (822). But so great were the esteem and influence which the viceroy had gained in Khorāsān, that the Caliph did not dare to take the governorship of that province out of the hands of Tahir's family. His two sons, Talha and 'Abdullah, did not inherit his turbulent character; and whilst 'Abdullah was fighting Ma'mun's battles in Mesopotamia and Egypt, his brother Talha governed the Eastern provinces (from A.H. 207-213 (822-828)) in the Caliph's name. His residence was Nishāpūr, whence he exercised complete authority over Khorāsān, Tabaristān, and Transoxiana. It is fitting in this place to revert to the rise of a family destined to play an important part in the East under the Tāhirides, and, after succeeding their former masters in the governorship of Khorāsān, to found the first independent Mohammedan dynasty in Central Asia. While Asad ibn 'Abdullah el-Kasri 2 held the governor 1 Ma'mun had conceived an aversion for Tahir (some authors say because Tahir reminded him of his brother Amin's death), and, being conscious of his, Tahir naturally feared the proximity of the Caliph. He superseded a certain Ghassan, whom Ma'mūn had left in charge of Khorāsān. 2 Who died A.H. 166 (782). ship of Khorāsān a certain nobleman of Balkh named Sāmān,1 who had been driven out of his native town, came to Asad in Merv and begged the governor to help him against his enemies. Asad warmly espoused his cause and succeeded in reinstating him in Balkh. Out of gratitude for this action, Sāmān, who had hitherto been a Zoroastrian,2 embraced Islām and named his son Asad after his protector. This Asad had four sons, 5 who rendered excellent services to Harun er-Rashid in quelling the revolt of Rafi' ibn Layth. Ma'mūn, mindful of the obligations under which the sons of Asad had placed his father, ordered the then governor of Khorasan, Ghassan ibn 'Abād,' to give to each of them the government of a town. Thus in the year A.H. 202 (817) Nūh, the eldest son, became Amir of Samarkand; Ahmed, Amir of Farghāna; Yahya, Amir of Shash (Tashkent) and Oshrūsana; and Ilyas, lord of Herāt. When, in A.H. 205, Ghassan was superseded by Tahir, these grants to the family of Sāmān were confirmed, and continued in the same hands until the downfall of the Tahirides and the rise of the Sāmānides to the supreme power in the East. In A.H. 213 (828) Talha died and was succeeded by his son 'Ali, who, however, perished shortly afterwards in a conflict with the Khārijites near Nishāpūr. Ma'mūn thereupon sent Talha's brother 'Abdullah to Khorāsān 1 His full title was Sāmān-Khudāt, being lord of a village which he himself had built and given the name of Sāmān. He claimed descent from the Sāsānide Bahrām Chūbin. Cf. Narshakhi, ed. Schefer, pp. 57, 58. 2 Vambéry (Bokhara, p. 55) notes that "the fact that Sāmān, whilst still a heretic, had held a command long after the Arab conquest, proves the small progress Islamism had at first made among the followers of Zoroaster." 3 See above, p. 96. 4 See note I above, p. 100. 5 Narshakhi, ed. Schefer, reads absurdly 292 ! • Cf. Mirkhwänd, Historia Samanidarum, ed. Wilken, p. 3. Narshakhi says that Ahmed was made governor of Merv, but from what follows this seems erroneous. to assume the reins of government, which he held until his death in A.H. 230 (844), at the age of forty-eight, after seventeen years of most successful administration. But although the Caliph's name was scrupulously mentioned in Friday prayers, Khorāsān was now to all intents and purposes independent of Baghdad. The falling away of this essentially Persian province was but the first step towards the final separation of the Arabs and the Persians which was shortly to follow, after two hundred years of involuntary and unnatural association. The Tahirides continued to rule Khorāsān and the East during a period of fifty-six years, when their last representative, Mohammad,1 in A.H. 259 (872), was overthrown by the Saffaride Ya'kūb ibn Layth, of whom we must now speak. 'D'Herbelot quotes a Persian quatrain in which the Tahirides are enumerated Dar Khorasan zi āl-i-Massābshāh, Translation.-In Khorasan, of the house of Massāb (Tahir's name was Tahir ibn Husayn ibn Massāb) there were the following princes-Tahir, Talha, 'Abdullah, another Tahir and then Mohammad, who gave up throne and crown to Ya'kub. CHAPTER XIV THE SAFFARIDES AND THE RISE OF THE SAMANIDES DURING the Caliphate of Mutawakkil1 the government of the province of Sīstān was usurped by a man named Salih ibn Nasr, who, under the pretext of putting down a rising of the Khārijites, had gathered round himself a large body of adherents. The then governor of Khorasan, Tahir II, hearing of the disorders in Sīstān, took the field in person in order to put an end to the hostilities between the Khārijites and Salih's adherents. This he succeeded in doing, but scarcely had he returned to his residence when news reached him that Sālih had again taken the field. Among the lieutenants of the latter was a certain Ya'kūb ibn Layth, who was destined to play an important part in the history of his time, and to establish a powerful though short-lived dynasty. He is one of the most popular heroes of Persian history, and so many anecdotes have clustered round his name that it is difficult to separate truth from romance. His origin was certainly obscure, and he appears to have been the son of a coppersmith,2 though authorities are divided as to whether he ever plied that trade himself.3 Many tales 1 He ruled from A.H. 232-247 (846-861). 2 In Arabic Saffär, whence the dynasty took its name. * Cf. Khwändamir's account of the Saffarides in his Habib-us-Siyar. We refer the reader also to Nöldeke's brilliant sketch of this man's career, entitled "Yaqub the Coppersmith" (Sketches from Persian History, pp. 176–206). |