CHAPTER VI THE FIRST EASTERN CAMPAIGNS OF KUTAYBA THE arrival of Kutayba on the scene marks a new epoch in the history of Mohammedan conquests in Central Asia. Though the Arabs had been for many years masters of Khorasan, with an established capital at Merv,1 their hold on the country beyond the Oxus was very slight. The expeditions which they had hitherto made into Bokhārā 2 and other parts of Transoxiana were mere raids, and their authority in those countries departed with the main body of their army. Kutayba was the first Arab leader who compelled the inhabitants of the tract lying between the Oxus and Jaxartes to acknowledge the Caliph's supremacy, and to plant the standard of Islām in lands where the creed of Zoroaster had retained its greatest vitality. 1 Merv has been styled by almost all European writers on the subject, "The Queen of the World." Now the origin of this high-sounding title is the expression Merv-i-Shāhijān, a title used to distinguish this town from Merv er-Rūd. This word Shāhijān has been taken as a corruption of Shah-ijahän, or "Queen of the World." Yakut says that Shāhijān means "Soul of the King." The form as it now stands is probably “Arabicised” from an old Persian form Shahgan, "what appertains to a king." Cf. Rückert, Gram. Poet, und Rhet. der Perser (Gotha, 1874), p. xix. The mistranslation, if such it be, has shared the fate of most mistranslations of the kind, and become universal among Europeans. * It must be remembered that Bokhārā is the name of a kingdom as well as of a town, In A.H. 86 (705), as we have seen, 'Abd el-Melik died. He was succeeded in the Caliphate by his son Welid, and in the same year Kutayba ibn Muslim made a triumphal entry into Merv as governor of Khorāsān. On arriving at Merv, Kutayba called together the inhabitants, and urged them to join a Holy War, emphasising his trumpet-call by quotations from the Koran. The fierce Arabs swarmed to his standard, and Kutayba soon found himself at the head of an army animated with the keenest enthusiasm, to whom he distributed pay sufficient to maintain their families during their career of conquest. The military and civil administration of the oasis during his absence was delegated by him to trusted lieutenants. Having thus organised victory, he set out in a westerly direction across the desert. The first town which he reached was Tālikān.1 Here he was received by the dihkans 2 and chief men of Balkh, who escorted him across the Oxus. He was met on the right bank by the king of the Chaghāniān, who brought presents and a golden key, and invited him to enter his capital. Kutayba accepted his submission, and allowed him to remain in office under the Caliph's suzerainty. He then marched to Akhrun and Shūmān, and after levying tribute on their chief, returned to Merv. Some authorities relate that Kutayba, before crossing the Oxus, made an expedition into Balkh, and there crushed a rising among the inhabitants, who were attempting to rid themselves of the Arab yoke. In the same year he concluded a peace 1 Between Balkh and Merv er-Rūd, three days' journey from the latter. Istakhri, the geographer, speaks of it as the most important place in Tokhäristän. "He had not 2 Dihakan = the man (i.e. the head man) of the dih, or village. 3 Vambéry seems to confuse the two accounts, for he says: yet arrived within the limits of ancient Bactria when the inhabitants of Balkh came out to meet him, and conducted him with honour into their city." But Tabari speaks distinctly of an engagement, in connection with which he In the following year, with Nizek, Tarkhun of Badghis. A.H. 87 (705), Kutayba set out for Transoxiana. During his march thither he passed through Merv er-Rūd, Āmul, and Zamin; and, crossing the Oxus, sat down before Baykand. This place was, according to Tabari, the Bokhārān town nearest to the great river, and lay at the edge of the desert. It was known far and wide as the "City of Merchants," and was equally renowned for the strength of its fortifications. The inhabitants, on learning Kutayba's approach, put their town into a state of defence, and sent messengers into Soghdiana imploring aid. The call was obeyed, and Kutayba's little force was soon hemmed in on all sides by numerous and determined foes. For a space of two months so closely was he pressed that he was unable to send a messenger to Hajjaj, whose consequent anxiety led him to order prayers for the army in all the mosques. Tabari tells us that Kutayba had in his employ a Persian spy, named Tandar, whom the Bokhārāns bribed to induce his master to retire from their country. Tandar obtained a private audience of Kutayba, which was attended only by a certain Dhirār ibn Hasan. He told the Amir that his patron Hajjāj had lost his office, and that a new governor had arrived to replace the former. Kutayba called one of his slaves named Siyah, and ordered him to strike off Tandar's head. When this had been done, he turned to Dhirar and said: "No one knows of this affair except you and myself. If it is bruited abroad I shall be certain that you are to blame; so master your tongue. For should remembers an interesting detail. Among the captives taken at that time was the wife of a certain Barmek. She was taken into the harem of Kutayba's brother 'Abdullah, by whom she had a son, who was commonly regarded as the ancestor of the famous Barmecides of the court of Baghdad. The story was probably invented to give the family a less obscure lineage than that of humble immigrants from Balkh. Cf. Muir, History of the Caliphate, P. 358. |