BONN'S STANDARD LIBRARY.

GIBBON'S

ROMAN EMPIREVOL.VI.

WITH VARIORUM NOTES

GEORGE BELL & SONSLONDON:

YORK

ST.:

COVENT GARDEN

AND NEW YORK

66 FIFTH

AVENUECO.

CAMBRIDGE: DEIGHTON" BELL &

THE HISTORYOF THE DECLINE AND FALLOF

THE ROMAN EMPIREBY

EDWARD GIBBON.WITH VARIORUM NOTES, INCLUDING THOSE OF

GUIZOT, WENCK,

SCHREITER, AND HUGO

In

7

Vols. VOL.

VI.

LONDON: GEORGE BELL AND SONS1895

Reprinted from Stereotype plates.

DCr

3UG-35

CONTENTSOF THE SIXTECHAPTERamiOB

VOLUME.

the conquest or Persia, stria, egtpt, \ k i, mi. vUABS OB SARACENS. EMPIRE OF Mil. CALIPHS, SUCCESSORS OF SIAHOMET. STATE OF THE CHRISTIANS, ETC., DNDER THEIR GOVERNM] N I.LI.i

i

si-\I\,

l.V

A.l>.

632.(

Onion of the Arabs

lharacter of the Caliphs

;:;i;.

637.

637

651.710.

632.633. 633.i

Their Conquests Invasion oi Persia Battle of (Auk-Ma Foundation of Bassora Sack of Madayn Foundation of Cufa 651. Conquest of Persia Death of the lasi King The Conquest of Transoxiana Invasion of Syria Siege of Bosra.

.... .... .... .... ......

1

4

69liti:;

14 15

1618.

of Damascus Battle of Aiznadin The Arabs return to Damascus 134. The City is taken by Sturm and Capitulation Pursuit of the Damascenes Fair of Abj la 635. Sieges of Heliopolis and Emesa 636. Battle of Yermuk.

.... .... .... ......

,20

22 24 26 28:;i:;:;:;.->

37 40VI

637.

Conquesl

638.

Jerusalem of Aleppo and Antioch Flight of Heracliusof

441741)

of Syria 639 655 Progress of the Syrian Conquerors Iv.vi haracter and Life of Amrou 638. [nvasion of Egypt

;:;:;

639.The

End

of the Syrian

War

5051

The Conquerorsi'.(

Cities of

Memphis, Babylon, and

....

53 54 56:.7

75. First Siege of Constantinople by the Arab 677 Peace and Tributa 716 718. Second Siege of Constantinople Failure and Retreat of the Saracens Invention and Use of the Greek Fire 721 Invasion of France by the Arabs 731 Expedition and Victories of Abderame Defeat of the Saracens by Charles Martcl They retreat before the Franks 746 75'i. Elevation of the Abbassides 750 Massacre of the Ommiades,

.

. . . .

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

113 115 116 119 122 124 126 12S 130 132 133 136

CONTENTS.A.D.

VI.

pagh

755. Revolt of Spain Triple Division of the Caliphate 750 900. Magnificence of the Caliphs lis Consequences on Private and Public Happiness 754 813. Introduction of Learning among the Arabians Their real Pmirrcss in the Sciences Want of Erudition, Taste, and Pre 781805. Wars of llanm al Rashid against the Romans 8-23. The Arabs Subdue the Isle of Crete

....

137

827878. And

of Sicily

.

84G. Invasion of Rome by the Saracens 849. Victory and Reign of Leu IV. 852. Foundation of the Leonine City 838. The Amorian War between Theophilus and Motassem 841870. Disorders of the Turkish Guards 890 951. Pise and Progress of the Carmathians 900. Their Military Exploits 929. They Pillage Mecca 800930. Lev It of the Provinces.

138 140 142 144 146 150 152 155 157 153 1601 62 162.

16&168 168 169 170171 171 171 171 172172.

The Independent Dvnasties 800911. The Aglabites 829907. The Edrisites 813872. The Taherites 872902. The Soffarides 874999. The Samanides 868905. The Toulunides 934968. The Ikshidites 8921001. The Hamadanites 9331055. The Bowides. . . . .. . .

173173.

936. Fallen State of the Caliphs of Bagdad 960. Enterprises of the Greeks Reduction of Crete 963975. The Eastern Conquests of Nicephorus

173 173 174176.

176Phocas and

John ZimiscesConquest ofCilicia

.

177 177178178-

Invasion of Syria

Recovery of Antioeh Passage of the Euphrates

DangerCII.

of

Bagdad

179 ISO

LI II. STATE OF THE EASTERN EMPIRE IN TIIE TENTH CENTURY. EXTENT AND DIVISION. WEALTH AND REVENUK. PALACE OF CONPRIDE AND POWER OF THE TITLES AND OFFICES. STANTINOPLE. LOSS OP TACTICS OF THE GREEKS, ARARS, AND FRANKS. E.Ml'ERORS. THE LATIN TONGUE. STUDIES AND SOLITUDE OF THE GREEKS.

Memorials of the Greek Empire Works of Constantino Porphyrogenitus.

Their Imperfections

181 182 183

VI 11

CONTESTS.Embassy of Luitpran 1 The Themes, or Provinces of the Empire, andevery Age General Wealth and Populousness State of Peloponnesus SclavonianH Freemen of Laconia:

J.. I).

..... .

PAGS 185its

Limits ia

Cities

and Revenue

.....

of

Peloponnesus

Manufactures, especially of Silk Transported from Greece to Sicily Revenue of the Greek Empire Pomp and Luxury of the Emperors The Palace of Constantinople Furniture and Attendance Honours and Titles of the Imperial Family Officers of the Palace, the State, and the Army

Adoration of the Emperor Reception of Ambassadors Processions and Acclamations Marriage of the Caesars with Foreign Nations Imaginary Law of Constantine 733 The First Exception. .

941 The Second 943 The Third 972 Otho of Germany Wolodomir of Russia Despotic Power

.... ...... .... ......... ...... . .

Coronation Oath Military Force of the Greeks, the Saracen?, and the Franksof the Greeks Tactics and Character of the Greeks Character and Tactics of the Saracens The Franks or Latins Their Character and Tactics Oblivion of the Latin Language The Greek Emperors and their Subjects retain the Name of Romans Period of Ignorance Revival of Greek Learning Decay of Taste and Genius Want of National Emulation

Navy

186 188 1S9 190 190 191 193 194 196 197 198 199 201 203 204 205 207 208 208 208 208 210 210 211 212 212 213 216 219 221 222 224

and

asser

....

227 228 229 231 233

"CI

I. LIV. ORIGIN AND DOCTRINE OP THE PAULICIANS. THEIR- PERSECUTION BY THE GREEK EMPERORS. REVOLT IN ARMENIA, ETC. TRANSPLANTATION INTO THRACE. PROPAGATION IN THE WEST. THB SEEDS, CHARACTER, AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE REFORMATION.

4560.

Supine Superstition of the Greek Church Origin of the Paulicians or Disciples of St. Paul Their Bible

.......

235 230 237

CONTENTS.A.D.

l\

i'AQB

The Simplicity of their Belief and Worship They hold the two Principles of the Magians and Mamcheeans

The Establishment

&c. Persecution of the Greek Emperors 845 880. EteToll of the Pauliciana They Fortify Tephrice.

...... .......of the

238

239a,1

Pauliciana in

Armen

'out us,

And

PillageI

Ada Minor

.....

Their lecline Their Transplantation from Armenia to Thrace Their Introduction into Italy and France 1200. Persecution of the Albigeois Character and Consequences of the Reformation

240 242 243 243 244 245_!JG

248 250 251

CI I. LV. THE BULGARIANS. ORIGIN, MIGRATIONS, AND SETTLKMENT OF THE HUNGARIANS. THEIR INROADS IN THE EAST AND WEST. THE MONARCHY OF RUSSIA. GEOGRAPHY AND TRADE.WARS OF THE RUSSIANS AGAINST THE GREEK EMPIRE. CONVERSION OF THE BAR-

BABIANS.oil Emigration of the Bulgarians 900 Croats or Sclavonians of Dalmatia 040 1017. First Kingdom of the Bulgarians 884 Emigration of the Turks or Hungarians Their Fennic Origin 900 Tactics and Manners of the Hungarians and Bulgarians 889 Establishment and Inroads of the Hungarian 934 "Victory of Henry the Fowler 955. Of Otho the Great Origin of the Russian Monarchy The Varangians of Constantinople 950, Geography and Trade of Russia Naval Expeditions of the Russians against Constantinople

.....

255 259 260 262 265 266 263271

.

272J

74

865. 904, 911.

1043.

The First The Second The Third The Fourth.

... .....'

.

277 278 282 283 284284 284 285 286 288 2S921

Negotiations and Prophecy955- - '.'7::. Reign of Swatoslaus 970- 973. His Defeat by John Zimisc 864. Conversion oi Russia 955. Baptism of llga 988. Of Woloduniir 800- -1100. Christianity cf the North

....

292

CONTENTS.

CH. LYI.

THE SARACENS, FRANKS, AND GREEKS, IN ITALY. FIRS? ADVENTURES AND SETTLEMENT OF THE NORMANS. CHARACTER AND CONQUEST OF ROBERT GUISCARD, DUKE OF APULIA. DELIVERANCE OF VICTORIES OF ROBERT OVER THE SICILY BY HIS BROTHER ROGER ROGER, KING OE SICILY, EMPERORS OF THE EAST AND WEST. INVADES AFRICA AND GREECE. THE EMPEROR MANUEL COMNENUS. WARS OF THE GREEKS AND NORMANS. EXTINCTION OF THE NOR-

MANS.A.D.

PAGEand Greek s,

Conflict of the Saracens, Latins, Italy 871. Conquest of Bari 890. New Province of the Greeks in Italy 9S3. Defeat of Otho III

840 101 7.

m294 295 296 298

....in Italy.

Anecdotes1016. 1029. 1038. 1040-

......Normans.

.

299301304)

Origin of the

Foundation of Aversa

in Sicily -1043. Their Conquest of Apulia Character of the Normans 1046. Oppression of Apulia 1049- -1054. League of the Pope and the Two 1053. Expedition of Pope Leo IX. against the.

The Normans serve

305 306308.'.ill'.!

His Defeat and Captivity

.....

Empires

310311 312 312 313 316 316 317 318 319 321 324 326 328 330

Normans

Origin of the Papal Investitures to the

Normans

1020 1085. Birth and Character of Robert Guiscard 1054 -1080. His Ambition and Success 1060. Duke of Apulia His Italian ConquestsSchool of Salerno

Trade of Amalphi 1060- 1090. Conquest of Sicily by Count Roger 1081. Robert Invades the Eastern Empire Siege of Durazzo The Army and March of the Emperor Alexius Battle of Durazzo 1082. Durazzo taken Return of Robert, and Actions of Bohemond 1081, The Emperor Henry III. invited by the Greeks 1081 1084. Besieges Rome Flies before Robert 1084 Second Expedition of Robert into Greece

..... ..... .......

....

1085 His Death L154. Reign and Ambition of Roger, Great Co nt of 1101Sicily

332 333 334 335 336 338 339341 342 343 344

1127 Duke of Apulia 1130 1139. First King of Sicily 1122 1152. His Conquests in Africa.

CONTEXTS.AD.1146. His In.va.sion of Greece His Admiral delivers Louis VII. of France . . Insults Constantinople 1148, 1149. The Emperor Manuel Repulses the Normans 1155. lie Reduces Apulia and Calabria 1155- -1174. His Design of Acquiring Italy and the Western.

XI

....... ............ ... .... ...... .....

.

PACK 345 346 347 347 34834 9

Empire

Failure of his Designs 1156. Peace with the Normans 1185. Last War of the Greeks and Normans 1154- -1166. William I. the Bad King of Sicily 1166 -1189. William II. the Good Lamentation of the Historian Palcandus 1194. Conquest of the Kingdom oi bicily by.

36o351 351

.

.

.

....the

352 353 354

Emperor356 357

Ik hit VI 1204. Final Extinction of the Normans

CH. LYII. THE TUKKS OF THE HOUSE OF SELJUK. THEIR BEVOLT AGAINST MAHMUD, CONQUEROR OF HINDOSTAN. TOGRUL SUBDUES PERSIA, AND PROTECTS THE CALIPHS. DEFEAT AND CAPTIVITY OF THE EMPEROR KOMANUS DIOGENES BY ALP ARSLAN. POWER AND MAGNIFIENCE OF MALEK SHAH. CONQUEST OF ASIA MINOE AND 8YRIA. STATE AND OPPRESSION OF JERUSALEM. PILGRIMAGES TO

THE HOLY SEPULCHBE.

99'

1028.

The Tubks

Mahmud

the Gazncvide

.

980 1038 103S 1038 1055

His Twelve Expeditions into Hindostan His Character 1028. Manners and Emigration of the Turks, or Turkmans They Defeat the Gaznevides, and Subdue Persia 1152. Dynasty of the Seljukians -1063. Reign and Character of Togrul Beg

He

Delivers the Caliph of

1063 1050 1063 1065 1068 1071 Defeat of the Romans Captivity and Deliverance of the Emperor 1072 Death of Alp Arslan 1072 -1092. Reign and Prosperity of Malek Shah 1092 His Death.

His Investiture And Death The Turks Invade the Roman Empire -1072. Reign of Alp Arslan -1068. Conquest of Armenia and Georgia 1071. The Emperor Romanus Diogenes

.... ......Bagdad

358 359 360 362 364 365 366 367 369 369 370 371371

.... ...... .

372 373.".74

Division of the Seljukian Empire 1074 -1084. Conquest of Asia Minor by the TurksSeljukian

Kingdom

of

Roum

376 379 3S0 3S3 3S4 385 386

IllA.D.

CONTENTS.TAGR388 391 392 393 394

6381099. State and Pilgrimage of Jerusalem 9691076. Under the Fatimite Caliphs.

1009. Sacrilege of llakem 1024. Increase of Pilgrimages107(5

1096'.

.... ....

Conquest of Jerusalem by the Turks

CI I. L VIII. ORIGIN AND NUMBERS OF THE FIRST CRUSADE. CHARACTERS OF THE LATIN PRINCES. THEIR MARCH TO CONSTANTINOPLE. POLICY OF THE GREEK EMPEROR ALEXIUS. CONQUEST OF NICE, ANTIOCH, AND JERUSALEM, BY THE FRANKS. DELIVERANCE OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. GODFREY OF BOUILLON, FIRST KING OF JERUSALEM. INSTITUTIONS OF THE FRENCH OR LATIN KINGDOM.

1095- -1099. The First Crusade Peter the Hermit 1095. Urban II. in the Council of Placentia Council of Clermont Justice of the Crusades Spiritual Motives and Indulgences Temporal and Carnal Motives.

.....

396397 398 402

405 407 410412 413 416 418 420421 422

Influence of

Example

1096. Departure of the First Crusaders Their Destruction in Hungary and Asia The Chiefs of the First Crusade ) I. Godfrey of Bouillon II. Hugh of Vermandois, Robert of Normandy, Robert of Flanders, Stephen of Chartres, &e..

Raymond of Thoulouse IV. Bohemond and TancredIII.

Chivalry 1096, 1097. March of the Princes to Constantinople Policy of the Emperor Alexius Comnenus He obtains the Homage of the Crusaders Insolence of the Franks 1097. Their Review and Numbers Siege of Nice.

........

423 424 428 430 432 435 436 439441

Battle of

Dorylammof L\lii,i

March through the Lesser Asia1097- -1151. Baldwin founds the Principality 1097, 1098. Siege of Antioch 1098. Victory of the Crusaders Their Famine and Distress at Antioaii..

Legend

of the

Holy Lance.

Celestial Warriors

State of the Turks and Caliphs of 1098, 1099. Delay of the Franks 3C89, Their March to Jerusalem

The

Egypt

Siege and Conquest of Jerusalem 1099, 1100. Election and Reigc of Godfrey of Bouilloa

443 444 445 447 448 450 452 453 454 455 456 457

CONTEXTS.A.D.

X11I

r.\r.i:

1099 Battle of Ascalon

4GO42 465 466 463

10991187. The Kingdom of Jerusalem 10991869. Assise ol JerusalemCourt of Peers

of Judicial Combats Court of Burg< ssea .

Law

.

SyriansVillains

.....

and Slaves

469 470 470

C

1 1

LIX. PRESERVATION OF THE SREEK EMPIRE. NUMBERS, PASSAGE AND EVENT, OF THE SECOND AND THIRD CRUSADES. ST. BERNARD. REIGN OF SALADIN IN EGYPT AND STRIA. HIS CONQUESTS OF JERURICHARD THE FIRST OF ENGLAND. NAVAL CRUSADES. SALEM. POPE INNOCENT THE THIRD; AND THE FOURTH AND FIFTH CRUSADES. LOUIS THE NINTH OF FBANCJ 'JHE EMPEROR FREDERIC THE SECOND. EXPULSION OF THE LATINS OR AND THE TWo LAST CRUSDAES..

:

FRANKS BT THE MAMALUEES.1097- -1118. Success of Alexius 1101. 1147. 1189.

1091

1127 1145 1174. Noureddinlit;:;

Expeditions by Land The First Crusade The Second, of Conrad 111. and Louis VII. The Third, of Frederic I. Their Numbers Passage through the Greek Empire Turkish Warfare Obstinacy of the Enthusiasm ot the Crusades 1153. Character and Mission of St. Bernard Progress of the Mahometans The Atabeks of Syria 1145. Zenghi.

.... ....

471

474

474 475 475 47647'."

480

.... ..... .....

482 484 4864S7 4S7 4S7 488 490 492 495 49S 500 501 503 506 507 508 509 509 512 515 516 517

-1169. Conquest of Egypt by the Turks 1171, End of the Fatimite Caliphs 1171- -1193. Reign and Character of Saladin 11S7. His Conquest of the Kingdom And City of Jerusalem 1183. The Third Crusade, by Sea 11891191. Siege of Acre 1191. 1192. Richard of England in Palestine 1192. His Treaty and Departure 1193. Death of Saladin

.

.... .....

11981216. Innocent ITI 1208. The Fourth Crusade 1218. The Fifth Crusade 1228. The Emperor Frederic

II. in Palestine 1243. Invasion of the Carizmians 12481254. St. Louis and the Sixth Crusade 1249. He Takes Damietta

.

31VA.D.

CONTENTS.PAGH 517 518 619 520 522

His Captivity in Egypt 1270. His Death before Tunis, in the Seventh Crusade 1250 1517. The Mamalukes of Egypt 1268. Loss of Antioch 1291. The Loss of Acre and the Holy Land1 2 JO.

SCHISM OF THE GREEKS ANO LATINS. STATE OF CONSTAN'CH. LX. REVOLT OF THE BULGARIANS. ISAAC ANGELUS DETHRONED TINOPLE. BY HIS BROTHER ALEXIUS. ORIGIN OF THE FOURTH CRUSADE.

ALLIANCE OF THE FRENCH AND VENETIANS WITH THE SON OF ISAAC. THEIR NAVAL EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINOPLE. THE TWO SIEGES AND FINAL CONQUEST OF THE CITY BY THE LATINS.

523 Schism of the Greeks 523 Their Aversion to the Latins .524 Procession of the Holy Ghost 525 Variety of Ecclesiastical Discipline 357886. Ambitious Quarrels of Photius, Patriarch of Constan526 tinople, with the Popes 1054. The Popes Excommunicate the Patriarch of Constantinople 527 and the Greeks 528 11001200. Enmity of the Greeks and Latins 529 The Latins at Constantinople 530 1183. Their Massacre 531 1185 1195. Reign and Character of Isaac Angelus 532 1186. Revolt of the Bulgarians 533 . 11951203. Usurpation and Character of Alexius Angelas 535 1198. The Fourth Crusade 536 Embraced by the Barons of France 538 6971200. State of the Venetians 540 1201. Alliance of the French and Venetians 542 1202. Assembly and Departure of the Crusade from Venice 544 Siege of Zara Alliance of the Crusaders with the Greek Prince, the young 546 Alexius 548 1203. Voyage from Zara to Constantinople 550 . Fruitless Negotiation of the Eczperor 552 Passage of the Bosphorus 553 First Siege and Conquest of Constantinople by the Latins Restoration of the Emperor Isaac Angelus, and his Sou 557 Alexius 559 Quarrels of the Greeks and Latins 561 The War Renewed 562 Alexius and his Father Deposed by Mourzoufle 563 Second Siege 566 . Pillage of Constantinople. .

...... ..... ...... ....... ......

.

.

.

.

..... ..

.

.

.

.....

Division of the Spoil Misery of the Greeks Sacrilege and Mockery Destruction of the Statues, &c. of the City

.

.

567 568 569 570

THE

HISTORY. 586. p. 123.p.

Abulpbaragiu^Abulpbaragiua,

6

CONQUESTS OP

[OH. LI.

which had been exercised iu the school of civil discord were more usefully applied to propagate the faith and dominion of the prophet. In the sloth and vanity of the palace of Damascus, the succeeding princes of the house of Ommiyah were alike destitute of the qualifications of statesmen and' of saints.* Yet the spoils of unknown nations were continually laid at the foot of their throne, and the uniform ascent of the Arabian greatness must be ascribed to the spirit of the nation rather than the abilities of their chiefs. A large deduction must be allowed for the weakness of their enemies. The birth of Mahomet was fortunately placed in the most degenerate and disordc.ly period of the Persians, the Romans, and the Barbarians uf Europe the empires of Trajan, or even of Constantine or Charlemagne, would have repelled the assault of the naked Saracens, and the torrent of fanaticism might have been;

obscurely lost in the sands of Arabia.f In the victorious days of the Eoman republic, it had been the aim of the senate to confine their consuls and legions to a single war, and completely to suppress a first enemy before they provoked the hostilities of a second. These timid* Their reigns in Eutychius, torn. ii. p. 360 895. Elniacin, p. 59 Abulpharagius, dynast. 9, p. 124139. Abulfeda, p. 111141. D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientate, p. 691, and the particular articles of the Oinrniades. + [The rapid progress of Mahometanisin is not wonderful. Of all Eastern races, the Arabs were the most But they had never known active, hardy, courageous and spoliative. their strength it had been wasted in desultory thieving or sometimes sold by mercenary bands to the Byzantine emperors. Mahomet was the first to perceive what they would be capable of achieving if they could be brought to act in concert. Aroimd them were none but the disheartened, spirit-broken slaves of ecclesiastical despotism, unable to resist and ready to submit. Christianity had not only lost its influence, but, by the corruption of its teachers, had alienated the popular mind. " Their lies, their legends, their saints and their miracles, but, above all, the abandoned behaviour of their priesthood, had brought their churches in Arabia very low." (Bruce, Travels, i. 500.) The people were thus prepared to receive the new religion, which Mahomet designed as a bond of union and excitement of enthusiasm. His success It was at first no more than a political contrivance. allured many to join him, and when their course of external conquest began, the rich spoils, so easily acquired, tempted thousands to swell the train and gratify their habitual love of plunder. Professor Smyth judged very correctly in saying, that at the outset, " Arabia must have been the natural boundary of his thoughts," and that his views and those of his successors expanded with their power. Lectures on Modern His*108.;

A.D. 632.]

TUE AUAB6.

7

maxims of policy were disdained by the magnanimity or enthusiasm of the Arabian caliphs. With the same vigour and success they invaded the successors of Augustus, and those of Artaxerxes and the rival monarchies at the same instant became the prey of an enemy whom they had been In the ten years of tho so long accustomed to despise. administration of Omar, the Saracens reduced to his obedience thirty-six thousand cities or castles, destroyed four thousand churches or temples of the unbelievers, and eddied;

fourteen hundred moschs for tho exercise of the religion of Mahomet. One hundred years after his flight from Mecca, the arms and the reign of his successors extended from India to the Atlantic ocean, over the various and distant provinces, which may be comprised under the names of, III. Egypt IV. Africa and V. Spain. I. Persia II. Syria Under this general division, 1 shall proceed to unfold these memorable transactions; dispatching with brevity the remote and less interesting conquests of the East, and reserving a fuller narrative for those domestic countries, which had been included within the pale of the Roman empire. Yet I must excuse my own defects by a just complaint of the blindness and insufficiency of my guides. The Greeks, so loquacious in controversy, have not been anxious to celebrate the triumphs of their enemies.* After a century of ignorance, the first annals of the Mussulmans were collected Among in a great measure from the voice of tradition.f; ;

;

;

tory, p. 67.

* For the seventh and eighth centuries, we Ed.] have scarcely any original evidence of the Byzantine historians, except the chronicles of Theophanes (Theophanis Confessoris Chronographia, Gr. etLat.

cum

notis Jacobi

Goar.

Paris, 1655, in folio),

and the

abridgment of Nicephorus (Nicephori Patriarchs? C. P. Breviarium Historicum, Gr. ct Lat. Paris, 1648, in folio); who both lived in tho beginning of the ninth century (see Hanckius do Scriptor. Byzant. Their contemporary Photius does not seem to be more 246.). p. 200 opulent. After praising the style of Nicephorus, he adds, Kai iiXaic iroWovt; igti twi> ttqo ctvruv ('nroKpvTrTo^tvoQ ryce ri/c iaropi'ac ry (Phot. Bibliot. ay, and only complains of his extreme brevity. Some additions may be gleaned from the mora cod. 66, p. 100.) recent histories of Cedrenus and Zouaras of the twelfth century. t Tabari, or Al Tabari, a native of Taborestan, a famous imam of Bagdad, and the Livy of the Arabians, finished his general history in At the request of his friends, the year of the Hegira 302 (a.d. 914.). he reduced a work of thirty thousand sheets to a more reasonable Bize. But his Arabic original is known only by the Persian and

8

IHPEBFECTIONS OF ASIATIC UISTOEY.

[CH. LI.

the numerous productions of Arabic and Persian literature,* oar interpreters have selected the imperfect sketches of a The art and genius of history have more recent age.f ever been unknown to the Asiatics,;}; they are ignorant of the laws of criticism and our monkish chronicles of the same period may be compared to their most popular works, which are never vivified by the spirit of philosophy and freedom. The Oriental library of a Frenchman would;

Turkish versions. The Saracenic history of Ebn Amid, or Elmacin, is 6aid to be an abridgment ot the great Tabari. (Ockley's Hist, of the Saracens, vol. ii. preface, p. 39, and, list of authors, D'Herbelot, p. 866, [See Bohn's Ockley, Introduction, p. xxvi. 870. 1014.) Ed.] * Besides the lists of authors framed by Prideaux (Life of Ockley (at the end of his second Mahomet, p. 179 189); volume), tmd Petit de la Croix (Hist, de Gengiscan, p. 521 550,) we find in the Bibliotheque Orientale Tarikh, a catalogue of two or three hundred histories or chronicles of the East, of which not more than three or four are older than Tabari. lively sketch of Oriental literature is given by Reiske (in his Prodidagmata ad Hagji Chalifte librum memorialem ad calcem Abulfedae Tabulae Syrise, Lipsise, 1766) but his project and the French version of Petit de la Croix (Hist, de Tiniur Bee, torn. i. preface, p. 45,) have fallen to the ground. t The particular historians and geographers The four following titles represent will be occasionally introduced. the annals, which have guided me in this general narrative. 1. Annates Eutychii, Patriarchce Alexandrini, ab Edwardo PococHo, Oxen. 1656, two vols, in quarto ; a pompous edition of an indifferent author, translated by Pocock, to gratify the presbyterian prejudices of his friend Selden. 2. Historia Saracenica Georgii Mmacini operd et studio Thomas Erpenii, in quarto, Lugd. Batavorum, 1625. He is said to have hastily translated a corrupt MS. and his version is often deficient in style and

A

;

eense. 3. Historia compendiosa Dynastiarwm a Gregorio Abulpharagio, interprete Edwardo PococJcio, in quarto, Oxon. 1663 ; more useful for the literary than the civil history of the East. 4. Abulfcdce Annales A/oslemici ad Arm. Hegirce 406, a Jo. Jac. ReisJce, in quarto, Lipsiw,

the best of our Chronicles, both for the original and version ; far below the name of Abulfeda We know that he wrote at in the fourteenth century. The three former were Christians of the tenth, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries the two first, natives of Egypt a Melchite patriarch, and a Jacobite scribe. [Abulfeda, whose original name was Ismail, belonged to the same race as the renowned Saladin, and was born 672 a.H. or 1273, a.d. After having gained some distinction in war, ho devoted himself to peaceful pursuits, and took the name of Abulfeda, or Father of Redemption. His history is an abridgment of the great Chronicle of Ebn-al-Athir. Ed.] M. de Guignes (Hist, des Huns. torn. i. pref. p. xix. xx.) has characterized, with truth and knowledge, the two sorts of Arabian historians, the dry annalist, and the tumid and flowery orator. Bibliotheque Orientale, par M. D'Herbelot, in folio, Parte; 1G97,;

1754

yet

how

!

Hamah,

;

;

L.\i.

G32.]

INVASION OF PERSIA.

9

instruct the most learned mufti of the East; and perhaps the Aral's might not find in a Bingle historian, so clear and comprehensive a narrative of their own exploits, as that which will be deduced in the ensuing sheds. I. In the iirst year of the firsl caliph, his lieutenant Caled, the sword of God, and the Bcourge of the infidels, advanced to the banks of the Euphrates, and reduced cities of Anbar* and Hira. Westward of the ruins of Babylon a tribe of sedentary Arabs had fixed themselves on the verge of the desert; and Hira was the seat of a race of kings who had embraced the Christian religion, and reigned above six hundred years under the shadow of the throne of Persia.f The last of the Mondars was defeated and slain by Caled his son was sent a captive to Medina his nobles bowed before the successor of the prophet the people were tempted by the example and Buccess of their countrymen and the caliph accepted as the first-fruits of foreign contpiest. an annual tribute of seventy thousand pieces of gold.I

;

;

:

;

For the character of the respectable author, consult his friend Thevenot. (Voyages du Levant, part 1, chap. 1.) His work is an agreeable miscellany, which must gratify every taste but I never can digest the alphabetical order, and I find hiui more satisfactory in the Persian than the Arabic history. The recent supplement from the papers of MM. Visdelou and Galland (in folio, La Haye, I77t>) is of a different cast, a medley ot tales, proverbs, and Chinese antiquities. * [Anbar was Perisabor, the first place of importance taken by the emperor Julian, in his Persian campaign. See ch. 24, vol. iii. p. 22.;

-En.]+ Pocock will explain the chronology (Specimen Hist. Arabum and D'Auville the geography (l'Euphrate et le Tigre, p. 125), The English scholar understood of the dynasty of the Almondars. more Arabic than the mufti of Aleppo (Ockley, vol. ii. p. 34); the French geographer is equally at home in every age and every climato of the world. [The kingdom of Hira was founded about a.d. 220, and was conquered in 632 it existed, therefore, little more than fourp. 66. 71),;

centuries (see note, ch. 42, vol.

iv.

p.

469).

The

succession of

its

given by Ersch and Qruber (Sec. 2. Part S, p. 277). About fifty years after their fall, one of their palaces seems to have been converted into the mosque of AIL Sir It. K. Porter saw its "golden cupola" only at a distance, the disturbed state of the country preventing his nearer approach. Put the description given to him of its internally sculptured walls, ill covered by a coat of plaster, proves it to have been an older building, originally used for some purpose accescory to the little grandeur of the kings of Hira. Travels, ii. 327. 405.

Almonsars

is

Ed.]

10

BATTLE OF

[CH. LI

The conquerors, and even their historians, were astonished by the dawn of their future greatness. " In the same year,"says Elmacin, " Caled fought many signal battles an immense multitude of the infidels was slaughtered and spoils, infinite and innumerable, were acquired by the victorious Moslems. "* But the invincible Caled was soon transferred to the Syrian war; the invasion of the Persian frontier was conducted by less active or less prudent commanders the Saracens were repulsed witli loss in the pas; ; ;

sage of the Euphrates and, though, they chastised the insolent pursuit of the Magians, their remaining forces still hovered in the desert of Babylon. The indignation and fears of the Persians suspended for a moment their intestine divisions. By the unanimous sentence of the priests and nobles, their queen Arzema was deposed the sixth of the transient usurpers who had arisen and vanished in three or four years, since the death of Chosroes and the retreat of Heraclius. Her tiara was placed on the head of Tezdegerd, the grandson of Cho3roes and the same era, which coincides with an astronomical period,t has recorded the fall of the Sassanian dynasty and The youth and inexperience of the religion of Zoroaster. J; ; ;

* Fecit et Chaled plurima in hoc anno prcolia, in quibus vicerunt Muslimi, et infidelium, immensa inultitudine occisa, spolia infinita et The Christian innumera sunt nacti. (Hist. Saracenica, p. 20.) annalist slides into the national and compendious term of infidels, and I often adopt (I hope without scandal) this characteristic mode of

cycle of one hundred and twentyexpression. f years, the end of which, an intercalary month of thirty days, supplied the use of our bissextile, and restored the integrity of the solar year. In a great revolution of one thousand four hundred and forty years, this intercalation was successively removed from the first to the twelfth month ; but Hyde and Freret are involved in a profound controversy, whether the twelve, or only eight of these changes, were accomplished before the era of Yezdegerd, which is unanimously fixed How laboriously does the curious to the 16th of June, a.d. 632. spirit of Europe explore the darkest and most distant antiquities ! (Hyde, de Religione Persarum, c. 14 18, p. 181 211. Freret, in the Mem. de 1'Academie des Inscriptions, torn. xvi. p. 233 267.) Nine days after the death of Mahomet (7th June, a.d. 632), wo find the era of Yezdegerd (16th June, a.d. 632); and his accession cannot be postponed beyond the end of the first year. His predecessors could not therefore resist the arms of the caliph Omar, and these unquestionable dates overthrow the thoughtless chronology ol Abulpharagius. See Ockley's Hist, of the Saracens, voL i. p. 130.

A

A.D.

G3C]

CADESIA.

11

the prince, he was only fifteen years of age, declined a perilous encounter the royal standard was delivered into the hands of Ins general Sustain; and a remnant of thirty thousand regular troops waa swelled in truth, or in opinion, to one hundred and twenty thousand subjects, or allies, of tin' great king. The -Modems, whose numb< rs were reinforced from twelve to thirty thousand, had pitched their camp in the plains of Cadesia:* and their Hue, though it;

consisted of fewer men, could produce more soldiers than I shall here observe, the unwieldy host of the infidels. what 1 must often repeat, that the charge of the Arabs was not like that of the Greeks and Eomaus, the effort of a firm and compact infantry: their military force was chiefly formed of cavalry and archers; and the engagement, which was often interrupted and often renewed by single combats and living skirmishes, might be protracted without any The decisive event to the continuance of several days. ]>criods of the battle of Cadesia were distinguished by their The first, from the well-timed appearpeculiar appellations. ance of six thousand of the Syrian brethren, was denominated the day of succour. The day of concussion might express the disorder of one, or perhaps of both, of the contending armies, The third, a nocturnal tumult, received the whimsical name of the night of harking, from the dis[Clinton has shown (F. 11. ii. 262) how imperfectly Abulpharagiua was acquainted with Persian history, and (p. 172) that the era of Yezdegerd determines the accession of that monarch to the year 632. Major Sir John Malcolm, in his History Price is wrong in iixing it at 635. Scaliger, Petavius, and others, of Persia, uses the correct date. erroneously make the era of Yezdegerd commence from his death in Ockloy (p. 276, edit. Bohn) says rightly that it begins from tho 652. time of his accession; but the historian of the Saracens was entirely misled by his authorities, when he placed the deposition of Arzema, or This event preceded tho Ar/.einidoeht, in the second year of Omar. a (or according to Eutychius, Pharacorad death of Mahomet, for Chosra) was interposed for one month between her and Yezdegerd. It was the progress of Mahomet, in his last year, that alarmed tha * Cadesia, says the Nubian geographer Ed.] Persians. (p. 121), is in margine Bolitudinis, sixty-one leagues from Bagdad, and two stations from Cufa. Otter (Voyage, torn. i. p. 163) reckons fifteen leagues, and observes, that the place is supplied with dates and water. [Mr. Layard, when descending the Tigris, between Samarrah aud Bagdad, passed a place "still called Gadesia or Cadesia, near which the great battle was fought." (Nineveh aud Pabylon, p. 471.) With others it Las the name of Kudseah. Ed.]l

;

12

DEATE OK RUSTAM.

[OH LL

cordant clamours, which were compared to the inarticulate sounds of the- fiercest- animals. The morning of the succeeding day determined the late of Persia and a seasonable whirlwind drove a cloud of dust against the faces of the unbelievers. The clangour of arms was re-echoed to the tent of Rustam, who, far unlike the ancient hero of his name, was gently reclining in a cool and tranquil shade, amidst the baggage of his camp, and the train of mules that were laden with gold and silver. On the sound of danger he started from his couch but his flight was overtaken by a valiant Arab, who caught him by the foot, struck off his head, hoisted it on a lance, and instantly returning to the field of battle, carried slaughter and dismay among the The Saracens confess a loss thickest ranks of the Persians. of seven thousand five hundred men and the battle of Ca;;

;

desia is justly described by the epithets of obstinate and The standard of the monarchy was overthrown atrocious.* and captured in the field, a leathern apron of a blacksmith, who, in ancient times, had arisen the deliverer of Persia but this badge of heroic poverty was disguised, and almost

concealed, by a profusion of precious gems.f

After this

victory, the wealthy province of Irak or Assyria submitted to the caliph, and his conquests were firmly established by

the speedy foundation of Bassora,J a place which ever commands the trade and navigation of the Persians. At the distance of fourscore miles from the gulf, the Euphrates and* Atrox, contumax, plus semel renovatum, are the well-chosen (Reiske, p. 69.) expressions of the translator of Abulfeda. t D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 297. 348. [Ockley does not name Cadesia, and dismisses this important battle in two lines, but this omission is supplied in Bonn's edit. (pp. 147 150) by extracts from Malcolm, Weil, aud Price. The Darufsh-e-Kawanee, or royal standard of Persia, is said to have been enlarged to the dimensions of twenty-two feet in length and fifteen in breadth. When it was seen conspicuously displayed by its captors, the Persians believed that with this palladium the empire was gone from them, and felt themselves En.] already conquered. J The reader may satisfy himself on the subject of Bassora, by Geograph. Nubiens. p. 121. D'Herconsulting the following writers belot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 192. D'Anville, l'Euphrate et le Tigre, Raynal, Hist. Philosophique des deux Indes, torn. ii. p. 130. 133. 145. Voyages de Pietro della Valle, torn. iv. p. 370 391; p. 92100. de Ta vernier, torn. i. p. 240 247 ; de Thevenot, torn. ii. p. 545 584; d'OtVsr, torn. ii. p. 45 78; de Niebuhr. torn. ii. p. 172 199.

:

X.O. 036.]

FOUNDATION OF BASSOBA.

13

Tigris unite in a broad and direct current, which is aptly In the midway, between the Btyled the river of the Arabs. junction and the mouth of these famous streams, the new

settlement was planted on the western bank: the first colony was composed of eight hundred Moslems; but the influence of the situation Boon reared a flourishing and populous capital. The air, though excessively hot, is pure and healthy; the meadows arc tilled with palm-trees and cattle and one of the adjacent valleys has been celebrated among the four paradises or gardens of Asia. Under the first caliphs, the jurisdiction of this Arabian colony extended ever the southern provinces of Persia; the city has been sanctified by the tombs of the companions and martyrs; and the vessels of Europe still frequent the port of Bassora, as a convenient station and passage of the Indian;

trade.iffcer

the defeat of Cadesia, a

country intersected bj

and canals might have opposed an insuperable barrier and the walls of Ctesiphon or to the victorious cavalry Madavn,* which had resisted the battering-rams of the Eomans, would not have yielded to the darts of the Saracens. But the flying Persians were overcome by the belief, that the last day of their religion and empire was at hand the strongest posts were abandoned by treachery or cowardice and the king, with a part of his family andrivers;:

;

treasures, escaped to Holwan at the foot of the Median hills. In the third month after the battle, Said, the lieutenant of Omar, passed the Tigris without opposition the capital was taken by assault; and the disorderly resistance;

of the people gave a* keener edge to the sabres of the Moslems, who slmuted with religious transport, "This is the white palace of Chosroes, this is the promise of the apostle The naked robbers of the desert were suddenly of God " enriched beyond the measure of their hope or knowledge. Each chamber revealed a new treasure secreted with art, or ostentatiously displayed; the gold and silver, the various wardrobes and precious furniture, surpassed (says Abul!

feda) the estimate of fancy or numbers; and another historian defines the untold and almost infinite mass, by the*A.1

["Ctesiphon aud Seleucia received from the Arabs the name of Madain, or the twin cities." L&yard, N. and B. p 571. Ed.

14

SACK OF MADAYK.

[OH. LX

fabulous computation of three thousands of thousands of thousands of pieces of gold.* Some minute though curious From facts represent the contrast of riches and ignorance. the remote islands of the Indian ocean, a large provision of camphor f had been imported, which is employed with a mixture of wax to illuminate the palaces of the East. Strangers to the name and properties of that odoriferous gum, the Saracens, mistaking it for salt, mingled the camphor in their bread, and were astonished at the bitterness One of the aparments of the palace was decoof the taste. rated with a carpet of silk, sixty cubits in length, and a3 many in breadth a paradise or garden was depictured on the ground the flowers, fruits, and shrubs, were imitated by the figures of the gold embroidery, and the colours of the precious stones and the ample square was encircled by a The Arabian general pervariegated and verdant border. suaded his soldiers to relinquish their claim, in the reasonable hope that the eyes of the caliph would be delighted with the splendid workmanship of nature and industry. Kegardlcss of the merit of art and the pomp of royalty, the rigid Omar divided the prize among his brethren of Medina the picture was destroyed but such was the intrinsic value of the materials, that the share of Ali alone was sold mule that carried away for twenty thousand drachms. the tiara and cuirass, the belt and bracelets of Chosroes, was overtaken by the pursuers the gorgeous trophy was presented to the commander of the faithful, and the gravest of the companions condescended to smile when they beheld the white beard, hairy arms, and uncouth figure, of the veteran, who was invested with the spoils of the great king.;};:

;

;

:

;

A

;

Mente vix potest numerove comprehend! quanta spolia .... Yet I still suspect, that the cesserint. Abulfeda, p. 69. extravagant numbers of Elmacin may be the error, not of the text, but of the version. The best translators from the Greek, for instance, I find to be very poor arithmeticians. *r The Camphortree grows in China and Japan but many hundred weight of those meaner sorts are exchanged for a single pound of the more precious gum of Borneo and Sumatra (llaynal, Hist. Philosoph. torn. i. p. 362*nostris;

Diotionnaire d'tlist. Natureile, par Bomare. Miller's Gardener's These may be the islands of the first climate from Dictionary). whence the Arabians imported their camphor (Geograph. Nul>. i>. '-',1, D'Herbelot, p. 232). ?5. J See Gagnier, Vice le Mahomet, 1 may credit the fact without believing tha torn. L p. 376, 377.i.

A.D. G37.]

FOUNDATION OF COFA.

15

The sack of Ctosiphon was followed by its desertion and gradual decay. The .Saracens disliked the air and situation of the place, and Omar was advised by his general to remm a the seat of government to the western side of the Euphrates. In every ago the foundation and ruin of the Assyrian cities has been easy and rapid; the country is litute of stone and timber, and the most solid structures* are composed of bricks baked in the sun, and joined by a cement of the native bitumen. The name of Citju f describes a habitation of reeds and earth but the importance of the new capital was supported by the numbers, wealth, and spirit, of a colony of veterans; and their licentiousness was indulged by the wisest caliphs, who were apprehensive of provoking the revolt of a hundred thousand " Ye men of Cufa," said Ali, who solicited their sworda aid, "you have been always conspicuous by your valour. You conquered the Persian king, and scattered his forces, till you had taken possession of his inheritance." This mighty conquest was achieved by the battles of Jalula and Nehavend. After the loss of the former, Tezdegerd fled from Ilolwan, and concealed his shame and despair in the mountains of Farsistan, from whence Cyrus had descended with his equal and valiant companions. The courage of the nation survived that of the monarch among the hills to the south of Ecbatana or Hamadan, one hundred and fifty thousand Persians made a third and final stand for their and the decisive battle of Nehavend religion and country; ;

;

* The most considerable ruins of Assyria are prophecy. the tower of Belus at I.abylon, and the hall of Chosroes at Ctesiphon : they have been visited by that vain and curious traveller, Pietro della [The buildings of Assyria were Valle (torn. i. p. 713-718. 731735). more substantial. Their remains have been attentively explored by The foundation? or terraces were Sir R. K. Porter and Mr. Layard. cemented with bitumen, to resist the effects of the humid soil, and many The bitumen pits of Is, menof them remain firm to the present day. tioned by Herodotus, exist still at Hit or Heat, four days north-west of lad. Some of the bricks were hardened by the heat of the sun, others baked in large furnaces. In many of the superstructures tiny were fastened together by rivets of iron, with layers of reeds between them. This explains what is said of Cufa, for which city the materials Were chiefly supplied by the ruins of Babylon, ami these bricks, mado from the clay of tin' country, were the "earth" that was used. Ed.] f Consult the arliele of Coufdh in the Kibliutheque of D'Herbelot (p. 277, 278); and the second volume of Oekley's History, particvlrvrly

; ;

IS

THE CONQUESTthe victory of

[CH.victories.

LUIf

was styled by the Arabsit

be true that the flying general of the Persians was stopped and overtaken in a crowd of mules and camels laden with honey, the incident, however slight or singular, will denote the luxurious impediments of an Oriental army.* The geography of Persia is darkly delineated by the Greeks and Latins; but the most illustrious of her cities appear to be more ancient than the invasion of the Arabs. By the reduction of Hamadan and Ispahan, of Caswin, Tauris, and Rei, they gradually approached the shores of the Caspian sea and the orators of Mecca might applaud the success and spirit of the faithful, who had already lost sight of the Northern Bear, and had almost transcended the bounds of the habitable world. t Again turning towards the west and the Roman empire, they repassed the Tigris over the bridge of Mosul, and, in the captive provinces of Armenia and Mesopotamia, embraced their victorious brethren of the Syrian army. Prom the palace of Madayn their eastern progress was not less rapid or extensive. They advanced along the Tigris and the Gulf; penetrated through the passes of the mountains into the valley of Estaehar or Persepolis and profaned the last sanctuary of the Magian empire. The grandson of Chosroes was nearly surprised among the falling columns and mutilated figures a sad emblem of the past and present fortune of Persia ;J;;

* See the article of Nehavend, in 40 and 153. I'Herbelot, p. 607, 668, and Voyages en Turquie et en Perse, par [The canal of the Naharwan (Layard, X. and B Otter, torn. i. p. 191. p. 470), probably marks the scene of this battle, which Malcolm says 642. a.d. Ed.] + It is in such a was fought near Cufa,p.I

Btyle of ignorance and wonder that the Athenian orator describes the Arctic conquests of Alexander, who never advanced beyond the shores of the Caspian, A\kai'pog i',u> rT/c uoktov kcii rijg biKovfi'tvt^g, ./Eschines contra Ctesiphontem, bXiyov itlf, rraftjQ ynQtiariiKti. This memorable cause torn. iii. p. 554, edit. Grscc. Orator. Eeiske. was pleaded at Athens, Olymp. 112. 3. (b.c. 330) in the autumn (Taylor, prsefat. p. 370, &c.), about a year after the battle of Arbela and Alexander, in the pursuit of Darius, was marching towards Hyrcania and Bactriana. + We are indebted for this curious particular to the Dynasties of Abulpharagius, p. 116; but it is needless to prove the identity of Estaehar and Persepolis (D'Herbelot, p. 327), and still more needless to copy the drawings and [The ttill descriptions of Sir John Chardin, or Corneille le Bruyn.

k.V.lie

G37 051.]

OF FEBSTA.

17

fled with accelerated haste over the desert of Kirman, implored tlie aid of the warlike Segestans, and sought an humble refuge on the verge of the Turkish and Chinese in a victorious army is insensible of fatigue; the power. .Arabs divided their forces in the pursuit of a timorous enemy; and the caliph Othman promised the government of Chorasan to the first general who should enter that large and populous country, the kingdom of the ancient Bactrians. The condition was accepted; the prize was deserved; tie standard of .Mahomet was planted on the walls of Herat, Merou, and Balch; and the successful leader neither halted nor reposed till his foaming cavalry had tasted the waters of the Oxus. In the public anarchy, the independent, governors of the cities and castles obtained their separate capitulations; the terms were granted or imposed by the esteem, the prudence, or the compassion of the victors; and a simple profession of faith established the distinction between a brother and a slave. After a noble defence, [iarmozan, the prince or satrap of Ahwaz and Susa, was compelled to surrender his person and his state to the discretion of the caliph; and their interview exhibits a Jn the presence, and by portrait of the Arabian manners. the command, of Omar, the gay Barbarian was despoiled of his silken robes embroidered with gold, and of Ins tiara bedecked with rubies and emeralds. "Are you now sentilde," said the conqueror to his naked captive, "are you now sensible of the judgment of God, and of the different rewards of infidelity and obedience ?" " Alas !" replied llarmozan, li I feel them too deeply. In the days of our common ignorance, we fought with the weapons of the God was thenneuter: flesh, and my nation was superior. since he has espoused your quarrel, you have subverted out kingdom and religion." Oppressed by this painful dialogue the Persian complained of intolerable thirst, but discovered some apprehension lest he should be killed whilst he was drinking a cup of water. " lie of good courage," said theI

t

/ magnificent ruins of this great city have been since more described by Professor Heeren in his Historical Researches (Asia, vol. ii. pp. 01 154, Bohn's ed.), and by Porter (Travels, vol. ii. p. 527 They are now called by the people of the neighbourhood 6S0). Tackt-i-Jemsheed, the Throne of famsheed, its traditional founder.

-Ed.}

VOL. VI.

O

18caliph, "

COITVERSIOIS'

OF HABMOZAN.

[CH.

M.

your life is safe till you have drunk this water;" the crafty satrap accepted the assurance, and instantly dashed the vase against the ground. Omar would have avenged the deceit but his companions represented the sanctity of an oath; and the speedy conversion of liarmozan entitled him not only to a free pardon, but even to a stipend of two thousand pieces of gold. The administration of Persia was regulated by an actual survey of the people, the cattle, and the fruits of the earth ;* and this monument, which attests the vigilance of the caliphs, might have instructed the philosophers of every age.f The flight of Yezdegerd had carried him beyond the Oxus, and as far as the Jaxartes, two rivers X of ancient and modern renown, which descend from the mountains of India towards the Caspian sea. He was hospitably entertained by Tarkhan, prince of Fergana, a fertile province on the Jaxartcs the king of Samarcand, with the Turkish tribes of Sogdiana and Scythia, were moved by the lamentations and promises of the fallen monarch and he solicited by a suppliant embassy, the more solid and powerful friendThe virtuous Taitsong,** ship of the emperor of China. If; ; ;

* After the conquest of Persia, Theophanes adds, avriji Si t X9^:V tKtXivatv Ov/.iapoc avaypa. 651, and his death is thereClinton fore generally placed in that year of our era (Ockley, p. '277). b inclu (F. R. ii. 263) more correctly places it in a.d. 6'.

*

out of the

1

wel\

a

AralV

"the house of Sassan reigned in Iran lor inn juaro," th.it is from the rise of Artaxerxes in 'J.-0, to the death of

u2

20

THE CONQUEST OP

[OH. LI.

preserved by a colony of loyul exiles in the province of Bucharia. llis grandson inherited the regal name; but after a faint and fruitless enterprise, he returned to China and ended his days in the palace of Sigan. The male line of the Sassanides was extinct but the female captives, the daughters of Persia, were given to the conquerors in servitude, or marriage and the race of the caliphs and imams was ennobled by the blood of their royal mothers.* After the fall of the Persian kingdom, the river Oxus divided the territories of the Saracens and of the Turks. This narrow boundary was soon overleaped by the spirit of the Arabs the governors of Chorassan extended their sucand one of their triumphs was adorned cessive inroads with the buskin of a Turkish queeu, which she dropped in her precipitate flight beyond the hills of Bochara.f But the final conquest of Transoxiana,J as well as of Spain, was reserved for the glorious reign of the inactive Walid and the name of Catibah, the camel driver, declares the origin and merit of his successful lieutenant. While one of his colleagues displayed the first Mahometan banner on the banks of the Indus, the spacious regions between the Oxus, the Jaxartes, and the Caspian sea, were reduced by the arms of Catibah to the obedience of the prophet, and of the caliph. tribute of two millions of pieces of gold; ; ; ; ;

A

degerd in 652. Ed.] Yezdegerd married Hassan, the son of

Ali,

* The two daughters of and Mohammed, the son of

Abubeker

and the first of these was the father of a numerous ; progeny. The daughter of Phirouz became the wife of the caliph Walid, and their son Yezid derived his genuine or fabulous descent from the Chosroes of Persia, the Csesars of Rome, and the Chagans of the Turks or Avars (D'Herbelot, Eibliot. Orientale, p. 96. 487). (It was valued at two thousand pieces of gold, and was the prize of Obeidollah, the son of Ziyad, a name afterwards infamous by the murder of Hosein. (Ockley's History of the Saracens, vol. ii. p. 142, His brotber Salem was accompanied by his wife, the first 143.) Arabian woman (a.d. 6S0) who passed the Oxus; she borrowed, or rather stole, the crown and jewels of the princess of the Sogdians (p. 231, 232). J A part of Abulfeda's geography is translated by Greaves, inserted in Hudson's collection of the minor geographers (torn, iii.) and entitled, Descriptio Chorasmiai et Maicaralnahrce, id est, regionum extra fiuvium Oxuin (p. 80). The name of Transoxiana, softer in sound, equivalent in sense, is aptly used by Petit de la Croix (Hist, de Gengiscan, &c), and some modern Orientalists but they are mistaken in ascribing it to the writers of antiquity. The conauta o* Catibah are faintly marked by Klmaciu (Hist.;

i.D. 710.J

TRANSOXiANA.

21

wag imposed on the

infidels; their idols were burnt or broken; the Mussulman chief pronounced a sermon in tho new mosch of Carizme; after several battles, the Turkish hordes were driven back to the desert and the emperors of China solicited the friendship of the victorious Arabs. To their industry, the prosperity of the province, the Sogdiana of the ancients, may in a great measure be ascribed; but the advantages of the soil and climate had been understood and cultivated since the reign of the Macedonian kings. Before the invasion of the Saracens, Carizme, Bochara, and Samarcand, were rich and populous under the yoke of the shepherds of the north. These cities were surrounded with a double wall and the exterior;

;

larger circumference, enclosed the fields and gardens of the adjacent district. The mutual wants ot India and Europe were supplied by the diligeuce of thefortification, of a

Sogdiau merchants and the inestimable art of transforming linen into paper, has been diffused from the manufacture of Samarcand over the "Western world.* II. Xo sooner had Abubeker restored the unity of faith and government, than he dispatched a circular letter to the Arabian tribes. " In the name of the most merciful God, Health and happiness, to the rest of the true believers. and the mercy and blessing of God be upon you. I praise the most high God, and I pray for his prophet Mahomet. This is to acquaint you, that I intend to send the true believers into Syria t to take it out of the hands of the;

Saracen, p. 84), D'Herbelot (Bibliot. Orient. Catbah, Samarcand, Valid), aud De Guignes (Hist, des Huns, torn. i. p. 58, 59). * curious description of Samarcand is inserted in the Bibliot Arabico-Hispana, toni. i. p. 208, &c. The librarian Casiri (torn. ii. 9) relates, from credible testimony, that paper was first imported from China to Samarcand, a.h. 30, and invented, or rather introduced at The Escurial library contains paper MSS. as old Mecca, a.h. 88. as the fourth or fifth century of the Hegtra. separate history of the conquest of Syria has been composed t by Al Wakidi, cadi of Bagdad, who was born a.d. 748, aud dud A.n. 822; he likewise wrote the conquest of Egypt, of Diarbekir, &c. Above the meagre and recent chronicles of the Arabians, Al Wakidi His tales and has the double merit of antiquity and copiousness. Yet his traditions afford an artless picture of the men and the times. Till narrative is too often defective, trilling, and improbable. tiling better shall be found, his learned and spirited interpreter (Ocldev, in his History of the Saracen*, vol. i. "> 21342), will not

A

A

;

22infidels.

INVASION OF STRIA.

[CH. LI.

I would have you know, that the fighting an act of ohediencc to God." His messengers returned with the tidings of pious and martial ardour which they had kindled in every province ; and the camp of Medina was successively filled with the intrepid bands of the Saracens, who panted for action, complained of the heat of the season, and the scarcity of provisions and accused with impatient murmurs the delays of thetor

And

religion

ia

caliph. As soon as their numbers were complete, Abubeker ascended the hill, reviewed the men, the horses, and the arms, and poured forth a fervent prayer for the success of their undertaking. In person and on foot, he accompanied

the

first

day's march;

and when the blushing leaders

attempted to dismount, the caliph removed their scruples by a declaration, that those who rode, and those who walked, His in the service of religion, were equally meritorious. instructions * to the chiefs of the Syrian army, were inspired by the warlike fanaticism which advances to seize, and affects to despise, the objects of earthly ambition. " Eemember," said the successor of the prophet, " that you are always in the presence of God, on the verge of death, in the assurance of judgment, and the hope of paradise. Avoid injustice and oppression; consult with your brethren, and study to preserve the love and confidence of your When you fight the battles of the Lord, acquit troops. yorselves like men, without turning your backs but let not your victory be stained with the blood of women or clnldren. Destroy no palm-trees, nor burn any fields of corn. Cut down no fruit trees, nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill to eat. "When you make any covenant or article, stand to it, and be as good as your word. As you go on, you will find some religious persons who live retired in monasteries, and propose to themselves to serve God that way: let them alone, and neither kill them nor destroy;

fleserve the petulantlific

Tabulas, p. 23G).

animadversion of Reiske (Prodidagmata ad Hagji I am sorry to think that the labours of

Oeklcy were consummated in a jail. (See his two prefaces to the first vol. a.d. 1708, to the second, 1718, with the list of authors at the end.) * The instructions, &c. of the Syrian war, are described by Al Wakidi and Ockley, torn. i. p. 22 27, &c. In the sequel it is neces-

sary to contract, and needless to quote, their circumstantial narratives My obligations to others shall be noticed.

A.D. G32.]

INVASION OF SYIUA.

23

and you will find another 8 rl ol people that belong to the synagogue of Satan, who have shaven crowns ;f be sun- you cleave their skulls, and give them do quarter til] they either turn Mahometans, or pay tribute." All profane or frivolous conversation; all dangerous recol1\ prohibited among lection of ancient quarrels, was tlu- Arabs in the tumult of a camp, the exercises of religion were assiduously practised; and the intervals of actiontheir monasteries ;*i

;

were employed in prayer, meditation, and the study of the Koran. The almse, or even the use of wine, was chastised by fourscore strokes on the soles of the feet, and in thefervour of their primitive zeal,

many

secret sinners revealed

their fault, and solicited their punishment. After some hesitation the command of the Syrian army was delegated to

A.bu( >beidah,one of the fugitives of Mecca and companions of

Mahomet; whose zeal and devotion were assuaged, without being abated, by the singular mildness and benevolence of his temper. But in all the emergencies of war, the soldiers demanded the superior genius of Caled and whoever might be the choice of the prince, the sword of God was both in He fact and fame the foremost leader of the Saracens. obeyed without reluctance ; he was consulted without jealousy and such was the spirit of the man, or rather of the times, that Caled professed his readiness to serve under the banner of the faith, though it were in the hands of a child or an enemy. Glory, and riches, and dominion, were indeed promised to the victorious .Mussulman; but he was carefully instructed, that if the goods of this life were his only incitement, they likewise would be his only reward. One id" the fifteen provinces of Syria, the cultivated lands to the eastward of the Jordan, had been decorated by;;

* Notwithstanding this precept, M. Pauw (Recherches sur lea Egyptians, torn. ii. p. 192, edit Lausanne) represents the Bedoweena For my own pan;, as the implacable enemies of the Christian monks. 1 am more inclined to suspect the avarice of the Arabian robbers, man ihilH.~oi.hcr. and the preju f Even in the seventh century, the monks were generally laymen; they wore their hair long and dishevelled, and shaved their heads when they were ordained priests. The circular tonsure was sacred and mysterious: it was the crown of thorns; but it was likewise a royal diadem, and every priest was a king, &c. (Thomassin, Discipline

de

l'Eglise, torn.

L

p.

721758,

especially p. 737, 738.)

;

2

i

TE 231Bvanity with the

[CH. LI.

Roman

arms of the Saracens were;

;* and the first by the semblance of a national right. The country was enriched by the various benefits of trade by the vigilance of the emperors it was covered with a line of forts and the populous cities of Gerasa, Philadelphia, and Bosra,t were secure, at least from a surprise, by the solid structure of their walls. The last of these cities was the eighteenth station from Medina: the road was familiar to the caravans of Hejaz and Irak, who annually visited this plenteous market of the province find the desert; the perpetual jealousy of the Arabs had trained the inhabitants to arms and twelve thousand horse could sally from the gates of Bosra, an appellation which

name of Arabiajustified

;

;

signifies, in

the Syriac language, a strong tower of defence.

Encouraged by their first success against the open towns and flying parties of the borders, a detachment of four thousand Moslems presumed to summon and attack the fortress of Bosra. They were oppressed by the numbers of the Syrians they were saved by the presence of Caled, he 'blamed the enterprise, with fifteen hundred horse restored the battle, and rescued his friend, the venerable Serjabil, who had vainly invoked the unity of God and the;;

promises of the apostle. After a short repose, the Moslems performed their ablutions with sand instead of water ;$* Huic Arabia est conserta, ex alio latere Nabathfeis contigua opima varietate commercioruui, castrisque oppleta validis et castellis, qure ad repellendos gentium vicinarum excursus, solicitude- pervigil veterum per opportunos saltus erexit et cautus. Animian. Marccllin.14. 8.

Reland. Palestin. torn.

i.

p. 85, 86.

+ With Gerasa and Philadelphia, Ammianus praises the They deserved the same of Bosra, firmitate cautissimas.

fortifications

praise in the

time of Abulfeda (Tabul. Syrise, p. 99), who describes this city, the metropolis of Hawran (Auranitis) four days' journey from Damascus. The Hebrew etymology I learn from Reland. Palestin. torn. ii. p. 666. [For Bosra or Bostra, see notes to ch. 7, vol. i, p. 243, and ch. 23, Theophanes (p. 279 D.), who is followed by Cedrenus, vol. ii. p. 520. says that Omar took Bostra and other cities in the 24th of Heraclius But all this occurred in the preceding year, while Abu(a.d. 634). beker was yet caliph; nor did Omar command in the Syrian war. Ed.] X Th e apostle of a desert and an army was obliged to allow this ready succedaneum for water (Koran, c. 3, p. 66 c. 5, p. 83); but the Arabian and Persian casuists have embarrassed his lice permission with many niceties and distinctions (Reland. de Relig. Mohammed. I 1, p. 82, 83. Chardin, Voyages en Perse,

;

A.D. 632.]

OP BOPttA.

25

and the morning prayer was recited by Caled before tbey mounted on horseback. Confident in their strength, tlio people of Bosra threw open their gates, drew their forc< into the plain, and swore to die m the defence of their But a religion of peace was incapable of withreligion.standing the fanatic cry of " Fight, fight! Paradise, paradise!" that re-echoed in the ranks ot the Saracens; and the uproar of the town, the ringing of lulls.* and the exclamations of the priests and monks, increased the dismay and disorder of the Christians. With the loss of two hundred and thirty men, the Arabs remained masters of the field; and the' ramparts of Bosra, in expectation of human or divine aid, were crowded with holy crosses and consecrated banners. The governor Komanus had recommended an early submission despised by the people, and;

I

The bells rang I Ocklcy, vol. i. p. 38. Yet this expression can be justified by the text of At Wakidi, or the practice of the times. Ad Grsecos, says the learned >ucange (Glossar. med. et infim. Groecitat. torn. i. p. 771), campanarumtorn. iv.).*

much doubt whether

I

usus Beriua transit et etiamuum rarissimus est. The oldest example which he can find in the Byzantine writers is of the year 1040; but the Venetians pretend that they introduced bells at Constantinople in [The bells of Zachariah (xiv. 20) are a doubtful the ninth century. version but they were certainly known in the East at a very early Mr. Layard not only found them represented in sculptures at period. Bira Nimroud (Nineveh and its Remains, ii. p. 28. 358), but afterwards (Nineveh and Babylon, p. 177) discovered the bells themselves, which They were certainly not unknown to are now in the British Museum. Pliny, describing the "tintinnabula" on Poraena'a the Greeks. perhaps fabulous tomb at Clusium (H. N. 36. 19), refers to the brazen vssel, raised on a lofty column, at Dodona, and which, when struck by a rod, rang sonorously. The AweWaiov XoXkuov (Dodonrcan In the Encyclopedic Methobrass) of the Greeks, was in fact a bell. dique (torn. i. p. 709) we find that the people were thus summoned to the temple f Proserpine at the hour of sacrifice, and the rites of ') hele accompanied by the same sound. Ducange in his Latin Glossary (torn. ii. p. 94) states, that the ancient Latins and Greeks had long been acquainted with the use of bells, "priscis Latinis Ci-ecisque longe antea notus." But he afterwards adds (p. 95), "in Bells were introduced into the tcclesia Orientali prorsus ignotus." r,h by Paulinus, of Nola in Campania, about a.d. 410, when e the The Greeks may have been slow to use for name of Campaua. religious purposes what had been associated with the ceremonies ..J idolatry. Yet in the capitulation of Jerusalem, in a.d. 037, the twelfth article stipulated that the Christians "thall not ring, but only toll, Ockley, p. 212, edit. Bohn. See also at p. 133 of Ockley their bells." and p. 32 of this volume, " the great bell of Damascus" Ed.]; (

26

THE SIEGE,

[oH. LI.

degraded from Ids office, he still retained the desire and opportunity of revenge. In a nocturnal interview, he informed the enemy of a subterraneous passage from his house under the wall of the city; the son of the cnliph, with a hundred volunteers, was committed to the faith of this new ally, and their successful intrepidity gave an easy entrance to their companions. After Caled had imposed the terms of servitude and tribute, the apostate or convert avowed in the assembly of the people his meritorious " I renounce your society," said Romanus, " both treason. in this world, and the world to come. And I deny him that was crucified, and whosoever worships him. And I choose God for my Lord, Islam for my faith, Mecca for mytemple, the

my

prophet

;

Moslems for my brethren, and Mahomet for who was sent to lead us into the right way,in spite of those

and to exalt the true religion partners with God."

who

join

The conquest of Bosra, four days' journey from Damascus,* encouraged the Arabs to besiege the ancient capital of Syria. t At some distance from the walls, they encamped among the groves and fountains of that delicious territory, J and the usual option of the Mahometan faith, of tribute or of war, was proposed to the resolute citizens,amply described by the Slierif al Edrisi (Geograph. and his translator, Sionita (Appendix, c. 4), Abnlfeda (Tabula Syrise, p. 100), Schultens (Index, Geograph. ad Vit. Saladin), D'Herbelot (Bibliot. Orient, p. 291), Thevenot, Voyage du Levant (part 1, p. 688 698), Maundrell (Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 122 130), and Pocock (Description of the East, vol. ii. [Among recent works relating to Damascus may be 127). j). 117 named Damascus and Palmyra, by Chas. G. Addison, 2 vols. 8vo. Loud. 1838. Ed.] f Nobilissima civitas, says Justin. According to the Oriental traditions, it was older than Abraham or Semiramis. Joseph. Antiq. Jud. 1. 1, c. 6. 7, p. 24. 29. edit. Havercamp. Justin.* is

Damascus

Nub.

p. 116, 117),

"

36. 2.ti]Q

Eaters

+ "Edet yap, oljxai, ty]v Aioc itokiv ct\?j9wg, Kal tov tnramjtj odiOaX/xov' ti)v Itpav Kal jUEyiwrjjv AajiaoKov

Xeyai* to!q rt

XXo. 69. sonThomas was the that believe, Arabs to t Vanity prompted the We knew the children of Heracliua by his two in-law of the emperor. wives; and his august daughter would not have married in exile at Damascus. (See Ducange, Fam. Byzaritin. p. 118, 119.) Had he I might only suspect the legitimacy of the damsel. At Wakidi (Ockley, p. ltd) says ' with poisoned arrows;" but thiu savage invention is so repugnant to the practice of the Greeks and llouiaus, that 1 must ,-iiispeot, on this occasion, the malevolent crcdulitji

1

.

,

,

:;.

32

HE30ISM OF OALED.

[CH. LI.

my dear: thou art gone to thy Lord who first joined us together, and then parted us asunder. I will revenge thy death, and endeavour to the utmost of my power to come to Henceforth the place where thou art, because I love thee. shall no man ever touch me more, for I have dedicated myself to the service of God." Without a groan, without a tear, she washed the corpse of her husband, and buriedhim with the usual rites. Then grasping the manly weapons, which in her native land she was accustomed to wield, the intrepid widow of Aban sought the place where his murdererfought in the thickest of the battle. Her first arrow pierced the hand of his standard-bearer her second wounded Thomas in the eye; and the fainting Christians no longer beheld their ensign or their leader. Tet the generous champion of ])amascus refused to withdraw to his palace his wound was dressed on the rampart the fight was continued till the evening and the Syrians rested on their arms. In the silence of the night, the signal was given by a stroke on the great bell the gates were thrown open, and each gate discharged an impetuous column on the sleeping camp of the Saracens. Caled was the first in arms at the head of four hundred horse he flew to the post of clanger, and the tears trickled down his iron cheeks, as he uttered a fervent ejacu" lation God who never sleepest, look upon thy servants, and do not deliver them iuto the hands of their eneThe valour and victory of Thomas were arrested by mies." the presence of the sword of God ; with the knowledge of the peril, the Moslems recovered their ranks, and charged the assailants in the flank and rear. After the loss of thousands, the Christian general retreated with a sigh of despair, and the pursuit of the Saracens was checked by the military engines of the rampart. After a siege of seventy days,* the patience, and perhaps:

:

;

;

;

;

:

!

of the Saracens. for the siege of

Damascus (Annal. Moslem,this

Elmacin,

who mentions

Abulfeda allows only seventy days but p. G7, vers. Reiske) opinion, prolongs the term to six months,;

*

and notices the use of balistce by the Saracens (Hist. Saracen, p. 25. 32). Even this longer period is insufficient to fill the interval between the battle of Aiznadin (July, a.D. 633) and the accession of Omar (24th July, A.D. 634), to whose reigu the conquest of Damascus is unanimously ascribed. (Al Wakidi, apud Ockley, vol. i. p. 115. Abulhharagius, Dynast, p. 112, vers. Pocock.) Perhaps, as in the Trojan wr. the operations were interrupted by excursions and detachments,

A.

D. 031. J

DAMASCUS TAKKK

\:\

TIIK

SAKACENS.

33

the provisions, of the Damascenes wrere exhausted; and the bravest of their chiefs submitted to fcbe hard dictates of necessity. In the occurrences of peace and war, they had been taught to dread the fierceness of Caled, and to revere At the hour \' midnight, the mild virtues of Ahu Obeidah. one hundred chosen deputies of the clergy and people were He introduced to the tent of that venerable commander. They returni d received and dismissed them with courtesy. with a written agreement, on the faith of a companion of Mahomet, that all hostilities should cease; that the voluntary emigrants might depart in safety, with as much as they could carry away of their effects; and that the tributary subjects of the caliph should enjoy their lands and houses, with the use and possession of seven churches. On these terms, the most respectable hostages, and the gate nearesthis camp, were delivered into his hands: his soldiers imitated the moderation of their chief; and he enjoyed the submissive gratitude of a people whom he had rescued from destruction. But the success of the treaty had relaxed their vigilance, and in the same moment the opposite quarter of party of a the city was betrayed and taken by assault. hundred Arabs had opened the Eastern gate to a more inexorable foe. "No quarter," cried the rapacious and sanguinary Caled, "no quarter to the enemies of the Lord." J lis trumpets sounded, and a torrent of Christian blood was pound down the streets of Damascus. "When he reached the church of St. Mary, he was astonished and provoked by the peaceful aspect of his companions; their swords were in he scabbard, and they were surrounded by a multitude of Abu Obeidah saluted the general; priests and monks. " God," said he, " has delivered the city into my hands, by way of surrender, and has saved the believers the trouble of "And am I not," replied the indignant Caled, fighting." ' am I not the lieutenant of the commander of the faithful ? Have I not taken the city by storm ? The unbelievers shall The hungry and cruel Fall on." perish by the sword. Arabs would have obeyed the welcome command; and Damascus was lost, if the benevolence of Abu Obeidah had not

to

A

1

till

the last seventy days of the siege. [Ockley's words are (p. I3S), Abubeker the caliph died the same day that Damascus was taken, which was on Friday, the 23rd Aug., a.d. b'34." This also is altered Ut Tuesday by Clinton" F. It. ii. 173. Ed.] D VOL. VI."

31

DISTRESS OF THE DAMASCENES

[OH. LI,

been supported by a decent and dignified firmness. Throwing himself between the trembling citizens and the most eager of the Barbarians, lie adjured them by the holy name of God, to respect his promise, to suspend their fury, and to waitthe determination of their chiefs. The chiefs retired into the church of St. Mary and after a vehement debate, Caled submitted in some measure to the reason and authority of who urged the sanctity of a covenant, tho his colleague advantage as well as the honour which the Moslems w ould derive from the punctual performance of their word, and the obstinate resistance which they must encounter from the It distrust and despair of the rest of the Syrian cities. was agreed that the sword should be sheathed that the part of Damascus which had surrendered to Abu Obeidah, should be immediately entitled to the benefit of his capitulation and that the final decision should be referred to the large majority of the justice and wisdom of the caliph.* people accepted the terms of toleration and tribute and Damaseus is still peopled by twenty thousand Christians. But the valiant Thomas, and the freeborn patriots who had fought under his banner, embraced the alternative of poverty and exile. In the adjacent meadow, a numerous encampment was formed of priests and laymen, of soldiers and the^y collected, with haste citizens, of women and children and terror, their most precious moveables and abandoned with loud lamentations or silent anguish their native homes, and the pleasant banks of the Pharphar, The inflexible soul of Caled was not touched by the spectacle of their distress he disputed with the Damascenes the property of a magazine of corn endeavoured to exclude the garrison from the benefit of the treaty consented with reluctance, that each of the fugitives should arm himself with a sword, or a lance, or a bow and sternly declared, that, after a respite of three days, they might be pursued and treated as the enemies of the Moslems. The passion of a Syrian youth completed the ruin of he nobleman of the city, of the name exiles of Damascus.; ;

r

;

;

A

;

:

;

;

;

;

;

1

A

distinction

appears from Abulfeda (p. 125) and Elmacin (p. 32), that this of the two parts of Damascus was long remembered, though not always respected, by the Mahometan sovereigns. See* Itii.

Likewise Eutychius (Anna.!, torn.

p. 379, 330. 383).

A.D 634.]

PURSUIT Of THE FUGITIVES.

135

of Jonas,* was betrothed to a wealthy maiden; but her parents delayed the consummation of bis nuptials, and their daughter was persuaded to escape with the man whom she had chosen. They corrupted the nightly watchman of the gate Keisan; the lover, who led the way, was enc ed by a squadron of Arabs but his exclamation in the Greek "The bird is taken," admonished his mistress to tongue, In the presence of Caled, and of death, hasten her return. the unfortunate Jonas professed his belief in one God, and his apostle Mahomet; and continued, till the of his martyrdom, to discharge the duties of a brave and sincere Mussulman. When the city was taken, he ilew to the monastery where Eudocia had taken refuge but the lover was the apostate was scorned, she preferred her reliforgotten gion to her country; and the justice of Caled, though deaf to mercy, refused to detain by force a male or female inhaFour days was the General confined bitant of Damascus. to the city by the obligation of the treaty, and the urgent His appetite for blood and cares of his new conquest. rapine would have been extinguished by the hopeless computation of time and distance but ho listened to the importunities of Jonas, who assured him that the weary fugitives might yet be overtaken. At the head of four thousand horse, in the disguise of Christian Arabs, Caled undertook the pursuit. They halted only for the moments of prayer; and their guide had a perfect knowledge of the country. For a long way the footsteps of the Damascenes were plain and conspicuous: they vanished on a sudden; but the Saracens were comforted by the assurance that the caravan had tin-, aside into the mountains, and must speedily fall into their hands. In traversing the ridges of the Libanus, they endured intolerable hardships, and the sinking spirits of the

;

;

;

;

I

* On the fate of these lovers, whom he names Phocyas and Eudocia, Mr. Hughes has built the Siege of Damascus, one of our most popular -dies, and which possesses the rare merit of blending nature and Tho history, the manners of the times and the. feelings of the heart. foolish delicacy of tho players compelled him to soften the guilt of the base Instead of a renegado, hero and the despair of the heroine. Phocyas serves the Arabs as an honourable ally; instead of prompting countrymen, and, after his succour of to the he flies their pursuit, kTling Caled and l'crar, is himself mortally wounded, and expires in the presence of Eudocia, who professes hpr resolution to take the veil frigid catastrophe J ttt Constantinople.

A

d2

36

JU'.ATH

OF

Et

DOCiA.

[dl. LI.

veteran fanatics were supported and cheered by the unconquerable ardour of a lover. Prom a peasant of the country, they were informed that the emperor had sent orders to the colony of exiles, to pursue without delay the road of the apprehensive, perhaps, sea-coast, and of Constantinople that the soldiers and people of Antioch might be discouraged by the sight and the story of their sufferings. The Saracens were conducted through the territories of Gabala* and Laodicea, at a cautious distance from the walls of the cities the rain was incessant, the night was dark, a single mountain separated them from the Roman army and Caled, ever anxious for the safety of his brethren, whispered an ominous dream in the ear of his companion. With the dawn of day, the prospect again cleared, and they saw before them, in a After a short inpleasant valley, the tents of Damascus. terval of repose and prayer, Caled divided his cavalry into four squadrons, committing the first to his faithful Derar, and reserving the last for himself. They successively rushed on the promiscuous multitude, insufficiently provided with arms, and already vanquished by sorrow and fatigue. Except a captive who was pardoned and dismissed, the Arabs enjoyed the satisfaction of believing that not a Christian of either sex escaped the edge of their scymetars. The gold and silver of Damascus was scattered over the camp, and a royal wardrobe of three hundred load of silk might clothe an army of naked Barbarians. In the tumult of the battle, Jonas sought and found the object of his pursuit but her resentment was inflamed by the last act of his perfidy and as Eudocia struggled in Ins hateful embraces, she struck a dagger to her heart. Another female, the widow of Thomas, and the real or supposed daughter of Heraclius, was spared and released without a ransom but the generosity of Caled was the effect of his contempt and the haughty Saracen insulted, by a message of defiance, the throne of the Caesars, Caled had penetrated above a hundred and fifty miles into; ;; ;

;

:

;

*

The towns of Gabala and Laodicea, which the Arabs

passed,

etill

(Maundrell, p. 11, 12. Pocock, vol. ii. p. 13.) not the Christians been overtaken, they must have crossed tlio Orontes on some bridge in the sixteen miles between Antioch and the Bea, and might have rejoined the high road of Constantinople at Alexandria. The itineraries will represent th? directions and distances

exist in a state of decay.

Had

(ii.

U6.

148. 581, 582, edit. Wesseliiig).

A.D.

63

I.J

Tin:

i

An;

01

AB1:

1

i.

37

the heart of the Roman province he returned to Damascus with the same secrecy and speed. On the accession of Omar, the sword oj God was removed from the command; but the caliph, who blamed the rashness, was compelled to applaud the vigour and conduct of the enterprise. Another expedition of the conquerors of Damascus will equally display their avidity and their contempt for the riches of the present world. They were informed that the produce and manufactures of the country were annually collected in the fair of AJbyla,* about thirty miles from the city that the cell of a devout hermit was visit* d at the same time by a multitude of pilgrims; and that the festival of trade and superstition would be ennobled by the nuptials of the daughter of the governor of Tripoli. Abdallah, the son of Jaafar, a glorious and holy martyr, undertook, with a banner of live hundred horse, the pious and profitable comAs he approached the mission of despoiling the infidels. fair of Abyla, he was astonished by the report of the mighty concourse of Jews and Christians, Greeks and Armenians, of natives of Syria and of strangers of Egypt, to the number often thousand, besides a guard of five thousand horse that attended the person of the bride. The Saracens paused. "For my own part," said Abdallah, " I dare not go back,

;

;

our foes are many, our danger is great, but our reward vs splendid and secure, either in this life or in the life to come. Let vwvy man, according to his inclination, advance or retire." Not a Mussulman deserted his standard. "Lead the way," said Abdallah to his Christian guide, "and you shall see what the companions of the prophet can perform." They charged in five squadrons but after the first advantage of the surprise, they were encompassed and almost overwhelmed by the multitude of their enemies; and their valiant baud is fancifully compared to a white spot in the skin of a black camel.f About the hour of sunset, when;

After retrenching the last word, the epithet discovered the Abila of Lysaniaa between Damascus and 11 liopolis: the name (Abil signifies a vineyard) concurs with the situation to justify my conjecture (Reland. Palestin. torn. i. j>. 317; [Ockley (p. 163) translates Dair Abi'l Kodos, torn. ii. p. 525. 527). "The Monastery of the Holy Fathi i."-Ea] + I am bolder than Mr. Ockley (vol. i. j\ 164), who dares not insert this figurative expression in the text, though he observes iu a marginal*

Dair Abil Kodos.I

h //,

38their

FLIGHT OF THE CHRISTIANS.

[CII. LI.

weapons dropped from their hands, when they panted the verge of eternity, they discovered an approaching they heard the welcome sound of the tecbir ;* .'loud of dnst tnd they soon perceived the standard of Caled, who flew to The their relief with the utmost speed of his cavalry. Christians were broken by his attack, and slaughtered in They left behind their flight, as far as the river of Tripoli. them the various riches of the fair; the merchandises that were exposed for sale, the money that was brought for purchase, the gay decorations of the nuptials, and the governor's daughter, with forty of her female attendants. The fruits, provisions, and furniture, the