place in Khorāsān in connection with the appointment of the heir-presumptive (vali-ahd). A.H. 160 (776). Another rising occurred in Khorāsān under the leadership of Yusuf ibn Ibrāhīm, called El-Barm, which was quelled by Yezid ibn Mazyad. Yusuf was sent captive to El-Mahdi, who, after subjecting him to the cruellest torture, crucified him. Abu 'Aun having provoked the Caliph's wrath was dismissed from his office, and succeeded by Mu'az ibn Muslim. A.H. 161 (777). The revolt of Mokanna", "the Veiled Prophet of Khorāsān," originated in a village near Merv. He taught the transmigration of souls, and gave out that the Deity had lately been incarnate in the person of Abū Muslim, and had now passed into his own. He secured a great following from among the people of Khorasan and Transoxiana, who, from the colour of their clothes, took the name of Sefid-Jāmegan, or the "Whiterobed." A.H. 163 (779). Mokanna' was besieged by Sayyid el-Harashi in his fortress in Kesh, and on finding his position hopeless poisoned himself. His head was sent to El-Mahdi in Aleppo.1 Mu'az was supplanted by Musayyah ibn Zobayr in the governorship. A.H. 166 (782). A general rising took place against Musayyah, who was superseded by El-Fadhl ibn Sulayman Tūsī in the governorships of Khorāsān and Sistān. A.H. 167 (783). Death of El-Mahdi. Succession of El-Hadi. 1 We have not thought fit to dwell at any length on the adventures of this famous impostor. Professor Vambéry, in his History of Bokhara, devotes no less than ten pages to the rising. The story, in its main outlines, is familiar to Englishmen from Moore's Lalla Rookh. A.H. 170 (786). Death of El-Hādi. Hārūn er-Rashid. Succession of A.H. 171 (787). Ja'far el-Ash'ath, governor of Kho rāsān. A.H. 172 (788). El-'Abbās el-Ash'ath followed his father as governor, and was, A.H. 175 (791), succeeded by his uncle El-Ghatrif ibn 'Atā. A.H. 176 (792). Shi'ite revolt in Daylam. Hamza el-Khuza'i, governor of Khorāsān. A.H. 178 (794). El-Fadhl ibn Yahya was appointed governor of Khorāsān. A.H. 178 (794). He built mosques and post-stations in Khorāsān, conducted a "Holy War" in Transoxiana, and was unsuccessfully attacked by the king of Oshrūsana Khārakhara.1 A.H. 179 (795). Mansur el-Himyari was governor of Khorāsān. A.H. 180 (796). Ja'far ibn Yahya was governor of Khorāsān and Sīstān. A.H. 182 (798). The famous Caliph Hārūn er-Rashid appointed his infant son Ma'mun ruler over all the countries from Hamadān to the farthest East, under the guardianship of Ja'far ibn Yahya. The year A.H. 187 (802) was memorable in Mohammedan annals for the sudden disgrace and fall of the all-powerful favourites of the Caliph, the Barmecides,2 at that time represented by the brothers Fadhl and Ja'far and their aged father Yahya. 1 Cf. Tabari, loc. cit. p. 631. Their story has been told ? This powerful family took its descent from one Barmek, a physician of Balkh. One of its members, Khalid ibn Barmek, became vezir of the first 'Abbasid Caliph, and under El-Mahdi was intrusted with the education of the heir-apparent Hārūn. Khālid's son Yahya succeeded him as vezīr in A.H. 170 (786), and showed himself one of the most capable rulers of his age. For an account of their fall consult Sec. iii. of the Terminal Essay in vol. x. of Burton's Thousand and One Nights. too often to bear repetition in this place, although, as we have seen, the Barmecides had from their origin been closely connected with Khorāsān. On the fall of the Barmecides, A.H. 187 (802), 'Ali ibn 'Isā1 was appointed to the governorship of Khorāsān, but the complaints against his misgovernment and extortion grew so loud that in A.H. 189 (804) Hārūn resolved to undertake a journey of inspection into the province. He accordingly set out at the head of 50,000 men,2 leaving the government in the hands of his heir-apparent Amin. On reaching Ray, however, he found 'Ali ibn 'Isā awaiting his arrival with rich presents for himself and his generals, and, soothed by these gifts and by the flattery of the cruel governor, Hārūn took him into favour and sent him back to Khorasan, while he himself returned to his capital, A.H. 190 (806). In the following year a certain Rafi' ibn Layth, a grandson of the Umayyad governor, Nasr ibn Sayyār, for reasons of private vengeance, killed the governor of Samarkand and became master of that town. With the aid of the discontented citizens and some Turkish tribes he repulsed the army sent against him by 'Ali ibn 'Isā, A.H. 191 (807). Hārūn, on hearing of this revolt, at once despatched his trusted general Harthama to reestablish order; but the seditionary movement under Rafi continued to grow with such rapidity that the Caliph thought fit to take the field against him in person. So, again leaving Baghdad in the hands of his son Amin, he set out for Khorāsān with a large army. On reaching Kirmānshāh, he sent forward Ma'mun, 1 1 August Müller, generally so accurate, calls him erroneously Isa ibn Ali, and equally erroneously states that he was killed in battle in the year 191, whereas he did not die till 195 (see below). Zotenberg, op. cit. iv. p. 469. 3 Cf. Müller, op. cit. i. p. 497 ; Vambéry, Bokhara, pp. 53, 54; Zotenberg, op. cit. iv. 71 et seq. accompanied by Fadhl ibn Sahl as his vezir, with orders to establish himself in Merv and to send Harthama to attack Rafi', who had established his camp in Bokhārā and was now practically master of Transoxiana. Meanwhile the Caliph, who was suffering from a severe malady,1 was advancing by slower stages towards Khorāsān with the main body of his army. On reaching Tus the symptoms became more acute, and on the 3rd of Jumāda II. 193 (24th March 809), the great Caliph succumbed at the early age of forty-five, and was buried in that town. 1 Its exact nature is not known, but it was probably the fruits of a life of reckless dissipation. CHAPTER XIII DECLINE OF THE CALIPHS' AUTHORITY IN ON the death of Härün er-Rashid, A.H. 193 (809), a serious dispute arose between his two sons, Amin and Ma'mun. The former, probably on the advice of his vezir, Fadhl ibn Rabi'a,1 ordered the army, which was at Tūs, to return to Baghdad. This act was not only unfriendly towards his brother, but was also in direct contravention of his father's will. Ma'mun, in retaliation, put a stop to all postal communication between Baghdad and the East, and assumed the title of Caliph over a kingdom which extended from Hamadan to Tibet, and from the Caspian to the Persian Gulf. With the help of his able vezir, Fadhl ibn Sahl, he succeeded in establishing order throughout his realms. Meanwhile Harthama took Samarkand after a protracted siege; whereupon Rafi threw himself on Ma'mun's mercy and was pardoned, and thus peace was restored throughout Khorāsān. But the elements of civil disorder still held sway. While Amin, on the one hand, struck Ma'mun from the succession, the latter ordered the omission of his brother's name from the public prayers. Amin, angered at his rival's attitude, resolved on reducing him by force of arms. To this end 1 Cf. Zotenberg, op. cit. tome iv. p. 481. 2 He was minister of both the civil and military departments, and was hence known as Dhu-l-Rīyāsatayn, or "Lord of the two Ministries.” |