THE ABBASID CALIPHS We now enter upon the history of the new dynasty, under which the power of Islam reached its highest point.
I. Abu'1-`Abbas inaugurated his Caliphate by a harangue to the people of Kufa, in which he announced the era of concord and happiness which was to begin now that the House of the Prophet had been restored to its right. He asserted that the Abbasids were the real heirs of the Prophet, as the descendants of his oldest uncle `Abbas. He did not, however, trust the Kufians. He resided outside the town with the Khurasanian troops, and with them went first to Hira, then to Hashimiya, which he caused to be built in the neighbourhood of Anbar.
The ruin of the Umayyad empire and the rise of the new dy nasty did not take place without mighty convulsions. In Bathan iya and the Hauran, in the north of Syria, in Mesopotamia and `Iraq Khurasan insurrections had to be put down with fire and sword. The new caliph then distributed the provinces among the principal members of his family and his generals. Africa and Spain are omitted from this catalogue, because the Abbasids never gained any real footing in Spain, while Africa remained, at least in the first years, in only nominal subjection to the new dynasty. In 754 Abu Muslim came to `Iraq to visit Abu'l-Abbas and was received with great honour.
Abu'l-`Abbas died on June 5, 754. He seems to have been a man of limited capacity, and had very little share in the achievements accomplished in his name. In the few cases where he had to de cide, he acted under the influence of his brother Abu Ja`far.
2. Reign of Mansur.—Abu'1-Abbas had designated as his suc cessors first Abu Ja`far, surnamed al-Mansur (the victorious), and after him his cousin `Isa b. Musa.
The first care of Mansur was now to get rid of the powerful Abu Muslim. On pretence of conferring with him on important business of state, Mansur induced him to come to Madain (Ctesiphon), and in the most perfidious manner caused him to be murdered by his guards.
About the same time Africa and Spain escaped from the domin ion of the eastern Caliphate ; the former for a season, the latter permanently. But in the year 761 Muhammad b. Ash`ath, the Ab basid general, entered Kairawan and regained possession of Africa in the name of the eastern caliph. From the year Boo, it must be added, Africa only nominally belonged to the Abbasids ; for, under the reign of Harun al-Rashid, Ibrahim b. al-Aghlab, who was in vested with the government of Africa, founded in that province a distinct dynasty, that of the Aghlabites.
At the same time as the revolt in Africa, the independent Caliphate of the western Umayyads was founded in Spain by one of the last survivors of the Umayyads, `Abdarrahman b. Mu`awi yah, grandson of the caliph Hisham. (See SPAIN : History.) While Mansur was thus losing Africa and Spain, he was trying to redeem the losses which the Byzantines had inflicted on the empire on the northern frontier. But from 758 till 763 Mansur was so occupied with his own affairs that he could not think of further raids.
In 758 (others say in 753 or 7J4) a body of 600 sectaries, called the Rawandis, went to Hashimiya, the residence of the caliph, and began to pay him divine honours. These fanatics, having later risen in revolt, were hunted down and massacred to the last man, and thereby the ties that bound the Abbasids to the ultra-Shi`ites were severed. From that time forward the Abbasid caliphs became the maintainers of orthodox Islam, just as the Umayyads had been.
A much greater danger now threatened Mansur. In the last days of the Umayyads, the Shiites had chosen as caliph, Muham mad b. `Abdallah b. Hasan, whom they called the Mandi, and Mansur had been among those who pledged themselves to him by oath. Not unnaturally, the Alids in Medina were indignant at being supplanted by the Abbasids, and Mansur's chief concern was to get Muhammad into his power. In 758 Mansur, informed that a revolt was in preparation, came himself to Medina and ordered `Abdallah to tell him where his sons were. As he could not or would not tell, he together with all his brothers and some other relatives were seized and transported to `Iraq where `Abdallah and his brother `Ali were beheaded and the others imprisoned. Not withstanding all these precautions, a vast conspiracy was formed. In 762 Muhammad took Medina and had himself proclaimed caliph, but was defeated and slain. In the meanwhile Ibrahim had not only gained possession of Basra, Ahwaz and Fars, but had even occupied Wasit. The empire of the Abbasids was in great jeopardy. Had Ibrahim marched at once against Kufa he might have crushed Mansur, but he let slip the opportunity. A terrible conflict took place at Ba-Khamra, 48m. from KUfa, and Ibrahim was finally defeated. His head was cut off and brought to Mansur.
Mansur could now give his mind to the founding of the new capital. He made choice of the admirable site of the old market town of Baghdad on the western bank of the Tigris. Strictly it was a huge citadel, in the centre of which was the palace of the caliph and the great mosque. But around this nucleus there soon grew up the great metropolis which was to be the centre of the civilized world as long as the Caliphate lasted. The building lasted three years and was completed in the year 766.
Isa b. Musa had been designated, as we have seen, by Abu'1 `Abbas as successor to Mansur. The latter having vainly tried to compel `Isa to renounce his right of succession, in favour of Man sur's son, Muhammad al-Mandi, produced false witnesses who swore that he had done so. However unwillingly, `Isa was obliged at last to yield. One of the false witnesses was, it is asserted, Khalid b. Barmak, the head of that celebrated family, the Barme cides (q.v.), who played so important a part in the reign of Harun al-Rashid. This Khalid, who was descended from an old sacerdotal family in Balkh, and had been one of the trusty sup porters of Abu Muslim, Mansur appointed as minister of finance.
In 775 Mansur died after having reigned for 2 2 years. He was a man of rare energy and strength of mind. His ambition was boundless and no means, however perfidious, was despised by him. But he was a great statesman and knew how to choose able officers for all places.
3. Reign of MandL.—As soon as Mansur was dead, Rabi`, his client and chamberlain, induced all the princes and generals who accompanied the caliph, to take the oath of allegiance to his son Muhammad a1-Mandi, who was then at Baghdad. In 161, Mandi was menaced by a dangerous revolt, led by a sectary, known gen erally as Muqanna` (q.v.), or "the veiled one," because he always appeared in public wearing a mask. He took up his abode in the Transoxianian province of Kish and Nakhshab, where he gathered around him a great number of adherents. Af ter some successes, the pretender was ultimately cornered at the castle of Sanam near Kish, and took poison together with all the members of his family. His head was cut off and sent to Mandi.
During the reign of Mansur the annual raids against the Byzan tines had taken place almost without intermission, but the only feat of importance had been the conquest of Laodicea, called "the burnt" (' by Ma`yuf b. Yahya in the year 77o. At first the armies of Mandi were not successful. The Greeks even conquered Marash (Germanicia) and annihilated the Muslim army sent from Dabiq. In 778, however, Hasan b. Qahtaba made a victorious raid as far as Adhruliya (Dorylaeum) ; it was on his propositiqn that Mandi resolved on building the frontier town called Hadath (Adata), which became an outpost. In 779 the caliph decided on leading his army in person. Traversing Meso potamia and Syria, he entered Cilicia, and established himself on the banks of the Jihan (Pyramus). Thence he despatched an ex peditionary force, nominally under the command of Harlin, but in reality under that of his tutor, the Barmecide Yahya b. Khalid. Harlin captured the fortress Samalu after a siege of 38 days. In consequence of this feat, Mandi made Harlin governor of the whole western part of the empire, including Azerbaijan and Ar menia. Two years later war broke out afresh between the Muslims and the Greeks. The Muslims invaded Cilicia under the orders of `Abdalkabir who, being afraid of encountering the enemy, re tired with his troops. Irritated by this failure, the caliph in 781 sent Harlin, accompanied by his chamberlain Rabi`, with an army of nearly ioo,000 men, with orders to carry the war to the very gates of Constantinople. Harlin marched against Nicomedia, where he vanquished the domesticus, the chief commander of the Greek forces, and pitched his camp on the shores of the Bosporus. The regent, Irene, sued for peace, and obtained a truce for three years, but only on the humiliating terms of paying an annual tribute of 90,000 denarii, and supplying the Muslims with guides and markets on their way home. This brilliant success so increased Mandi's affection for Harlin that he appointed him successor-designate after Musa and named him al-Rashid ("the follower of the right cause") . Three years later, he died suddenly, at the age of only 43.
The reign of Mandi was a time of great prosperity. Much was done for the organization of the huge empire ; agriculture and commerce flourished ; the revenues were increasing, whilst the people fared well. The power of the State was acknowledged even in the Far East : the emperor of China, the king of Tibet, and many Indian princes concluded treaties with the caliph. He was an ardent champion of the orthodox faith, and persecuted merci lessly the Manichaeans and all kinds of freethinkers.
Hadi, who had never been able to forget that he had narrowly escaped being supplanted by his brother, formed a plan for ex cluding him from the Caliphate and transmitting the succession to his own son Ja`far. To this he obtained the assent of his min isters and the principal chiefs of his army, with the exception of Yahya b. Khalid, Harun's former tutor, who showed such firmness and boldness that Hadi cast him into prison and resolved on his death. Some historians say that he had already given orders for his execution, when he himself was killed (Sept. 14, 786) by his mother Khaizuran, who had systematically and successfully in trigued against him with the object of gaining the real power for herself.
5. Reign of Harlin al-Rashid.--Harun ascended the throne without opposition. His first act was to choose as prime minister his former tutor, the faithful Yahya b. Khalid, and to confide im portant posts to the two sons of Yahya, Fadl and Ja`far, of whom the former was his own foster-brother, the latter his intimate friend. Loaded with all the burdens of government, Yahya brought the most distinguished abilities to the exercise of his office. He put the frontiers in a good state of defence ; he filled the public Treasury, and carried the splendour of the throne to the highest point. His sons, especially Fadl, were worthy of their father.
Although the administration of Harun's States was committed to skilful hands, yet the first years of his long reign were not free from troubles. Towards the year 793 a man of the house of `Ali, named Yahya b. `Abdallah, another brother of Muhammad and Ibrahim, publicly claimed the Caliphate, but he was induced to submit by a promise of safety and a brilliant position at the court of Baghdad. At the end of some months, however, he was calumniously accused of conspiracy, and the caliph, seizing the opportunity of ridding himself of a possible rival, threw him into prison, where he died, according to the majority of the his torians, of starvation. Others say that Ja`far b. Yahya b. Khalid, to whose care he had been entrusted, suffered him to escape, and that this was the real cause of Harun's anger against the Barme cides (q.v.). Dreading fresh insurrections of the Alids, Harlin secured the person of another descendant of `Ali, Musa b. Ja`far, surnamed al-Kazim, who enjoyed great consideration at Medina, and had already been arrested and released again by Mandi. The unfortunate man was brought by the caliph himself to Baghdad and there died, apparently by poison.
Meanwhile Harlin did not forget the hereditary enemy of Islam. Almost every year successful raids were made into Asia Minor, in the year 797 under the command of the caliph himself, so that Irene was compelled to sue for peace. Even in the midst of the cares of war, Harlin was assiduous in his religious duties, and few years passed without his making the pilgrimage.
It was in the beginning of the following year, at the very moment when the Barmecides thought their position most secure, that Harlin brought sudden ruin upon them. The causes of their disgrace have been differently stated by the annalists. (See BAR MECIDES.) The principal cause appears to have been that they abused the sovereign power which they exercised. Not a few were jealous of their greatness and sought for opportunities of instilling distrust against them into the mind of Harlin, and of making him feel that he was caliph only in name. The secret dissatisfaction thus aroused was increased, according to some apparently well-informed authorities, by the releasing of the Alid Yahya b. `Abdallah, already mentioned. Finally Harlin re solved on their destruction, and Ja`far b. Yahya was arrested and beheaded. The following day, his father Yahya, his brother Fadl, and all the other Barmecides were arrested and imprisoned; all their property was confiscated. The only Barmecide who re mained unmolested with his family was Muhammad the brother of Yahya, who had been the chamberlain of the caliph till 795, when Fadl b. Rabi` got his place. This latter had henceforward the greatest influence at court.
In the same year hostilities broke out again with the Greeks, and the new emperor, Nicephorus, was so completely beaten that he was compelled to submit to very harsh conditions.
The disturbances in Khurasan were caused by the malversa tions of the governor of that province, `Ali b. Isa b. Mahan. The caliph went in person to Merv, in order to judge of the reality of the complaints which had reached him, but confirmed `Ali in his post, and, after having received the chiefs of Tabaristan who came to tender their submission, returned through Baghdad to Rakka on the Euphrates, which city was his habitual residence. In the following year Rafi` b. Layth, a grandson of Nasr b. Sayyar, raised the standard of revolt in Samarkand. The caliph's hope that Rafi` would submit on condition of receiving a free pardon was not fulfilled, and he resolved to set out himself to Khurasan, taking with him his second son Ma'mun. On the journey he was attacked by an internal malady, from which he died, ten months after his departure from Baghdad in March 8o9, just on his arrival at the city of TUs. Harun was only 45 years of age. As long as the Barmecides were in office, he acted only on their direction. After their disgrace he was led into many impolitic actions by his violent and often cruel propensities. But the em pire was, especially in the earlier part of his reign, in a very prosperous state, and was respected widely by foreign Powers. Embassies passed between Charlemagne and Harun in the years 797 and 8oi, by which the former obtained facilities for the pilgrims to the Holy Land, the latter probably concessions for the trade on the Mediterranean ports.
Under the reign of Harun, Ibrahim b. al-Aghlab, the governor of Africa, succeeded in making himself independent of the Cen tral Government, on condition of paying a fixed annual tribute to his suzerain the caliph. This was, if we do not take Spain into account, the first instance of dismemberment, later to be followed by many others.
6. Reign of Amin.—On the death of Harun his minister, Fadl. b. Rabi`, with the view of gaining the new caliph's con fidence, hastened to call together all the troops of the late caliph and to lead them back to Baghdad, in order to place them in the hands of the new sovereign, Amin. War soon broke out between the two brothers, and their respective armies met under the walls of Rayy (May 811), where Ma'mun's general Tahir gained a brilliant victory. Ma'mun now no longer hesitated to take the title of caliph.
Tahir continued his victorious march and one after the other the provinces fell away from Amin, and he soon found himself in possession of Baghdad alone. The city, though blockaded on every side, made a desperate defence for nearly two years. Ulti mately the eastern part of the city fell into the hands of Tahir, and Amin, deserted by his followers, was compelled to surrender and was put to death. His head was sent to Ma'mun (Sept. 813) . Amin was only 28 years old. As a ruler he was wholly incom petent, and the five years of his reign were disastrous to the empire, and in particular to Baghdad, which never entirely re covered its old splendour.
7. Reign of Ma'mun.—On the day following the death of Amin, Tahir caused Ma'mun to be proclaimed at Baghdad, and promised in his name a general amnesty. The accession of this prince appeared likely to restore to the empire the order necessary for its prosperity. It was not so, however. The reign of Ma'mun had a very stormy beginning ; he was in no haste to remove to Baghdad, but continued to reside at Merv. The Alids seized on his elevation as a pretext for fresh revoltF., and Mecca, Medina and Yemen fell into their hands, and several cities of `Iraq were occupied by rebels, but at last the tide of disaster was checked. The troops of the Alids were everywhere driven back, and the whole of `Iraq fell again into the hands of the Abbasids, and peace seemed within reach. This, however, was by no means the case. The disorder of civil war had caused a multitude of robbers and vagabonds to emerge from the purlieus of Baghdad. These ruffians proceeded to treat the capital as a conquered city, and it became necessary for all good citizens to organize themselves into a regular militia.
Meanwhile, at Merv, Ma'mun was adopting a decision which fell like a thunderbolt on the Abbasids. In 817 under pretence of putting an end to the continual revolts of the partisans of `Ali, he publicly designated as his successor in the Caliphate `Ali ar Rida, a son of that Musa al-Kazim who perished in the prison of Mandi. The people of Baghdad refused to take the oath to `Ali b. Musa, declared Ma'mun deposed, and elected his uncle, Ibrahim, son of Mandi, to the Caliphate. Ma'mun was much incensed and wrote that he was coming to Baghdad in a short time. From that moment the pseudo-caliph Ibrahim found himself deserted, and was obliged to seek safety in concealment. His precarious reign had, however, lasted nearly two years. Having taken all precautions, Ma'mun now made his solemn entry into Baghdad in Aug. 819.
When welcoming Tahir, Ma'mun bade him ask for any reward he might desire. Tahir, fearing lest the caliph, not being able to endure the sight of the murderer of his brother, should change his mind towards him, contrived to get himself appointed governor of Khurasan. Like most of the great Muslim generals, Tahir, it is said, had conceived the project of creating an independent king dom for himself. His death (A.D. 822), prevented its realization; but as his descendants succeeded him one after the other in the post of governor, he may be said in reality to have founded a dynasty in Khurasan.
The pseudo-caliph, Ibrahim was eventually arrested, but Ma'mun generously pardoned him.
Tranquillity being now everywhere re-established, Ma'mun gave himself up to science and literature. He caused works on mathe matics, astronomy, medicine and philosophy to be translated from the Greek, and founded in Baghdad a kind of academy, called the "House of Science," with a library and an observatory. Ma'mun interested himself, too, in questions of religious dogma. He had embraced the Mu`tazilite doctrine about free will and predestination, and in 827 he published an edict by which the Mu`tazilite doctrine was declared to be the religion of the State, the orthodox faith condemned as heretical. At the same time he ordered all his subjects to honour `Ali as the best creature of God after the Prophet, and forbade the praise of Mu`awiyah. In 833 a new edict appeared by which all judges and doctors were summoned to renounce the error of the untreated word of God. In the reign of Mutawakkil the orthodox faith was restored, never to be assailed again.
In spite of these manifold activities Ma'mun did not forget the hereditary enemy of Islam. In the years 83o, 831 and 832 he made expeditions into Asia Minor with such success that Theoph ilus, the Greek emperor, sued for peace, which Ma'mun haugh tily refused to grant. Accordingly, he decided on marching in the following year against Amorium, and thence to Constantinople itself. He set out for Asia Minor to put himself at the head of the army, but died of a fever brought on by bathing in the chill river, Pedendon, 4om. from Tarsus, in Aug. 833, at the age of forty-eight.
Ma'mun was a man of rare qualities, and one of the best rulers of the whole dynasty after Mansur. By him the ascendancy of the Persian element over the Arabian was completed. Moreover, he began to attract young Turkish noblemen to his court, an example which was followed on a much larger scale by his succes sor and led to the supremacy of the Turks at a later period.
Mu`tasim wanted officers for his bodyguard. Immediately after his coming to Baghdad, he bought all the Turkish slaves living there who had distinguished themselves. But the excesses of his Turkish soldiery so stirred up the anger of the inhabitants of Baghdad, that he resolved to move the capital, and having bought in 834 territories at Samarra, a small place situated a few leagues above Baghdad, he established himself there in 836. This resolu tion of Mu`tasim was destined to prove fatal to his dynasty; for it placed the caliphs at the mercy of their praetorians. In fact, from the time of his son, Wathiq, the Caliphate became the play thing of the Turkish guard, and its decline was continuous.
Mu`tasim was faced with the difficult task of suppressing the revolt of Babak al-Khurrami in Azarbaijan. The Khurrami were not really Muslims, but Persian Mazdaqites, or communists. Their object was to abolish Islam and to restore "the white religion." During the civil war their power was steadily increasing, and spread not only over Azarbaijan, but also over Media (Jabal) and Khurasan. The numerous efforts of Ma'mun to put them down had been all in vain, and they were now in alliance with the Byzantine emperor. Therefore, in the year 835, Mu`tasim made Afshin, a Turkish prince, governor of Media, with orders to take the lead of the war against Babak. After three years' fighting, Babak was taken prisoner, carried to Samarra, and put to death.
In the hope of creating a diversion in Babak's favour, Theoph ilus in 837 fell upon and laid waste the frontier town of Zibatra. There and in several other places he took a great number of prisoners, whom he mutilated. The news arrived just after that of the capture of Babak, and Mu`tasim swore to take exemplary vengeance. He assembled a formidable army, penetrated into Asia Minor, and took the city of Amorium, where he gained rich plunder.
Mu`tasim had just returned to Samarra when a serious revolt broke out in Tabaristan, which was suppressed with great diffi culty. Mu`tasim died a year later, in Jan. 842.
One of the first acts of Mutawakkil was the release of all those who had been imprisoned for refusing to admit the dogma of the created Qur'an, which was declared heresy ; therewith began a persecution of all the adherents of that doctrine and other Mu`tazilite tenets. Orthodoxy triumphed, never again to lose its place as the State religion. Hand in hand with these reactionary measures came two others, one against Jews and Christians, one against the Shiites. Mutawakkil, in 85o, formulated an edict by which these sectaries were compelled to wear a distinctive dress and to distinguish their houses by a figure of the devil nailed to the door, excluding them at the same time from all public employ ments, and forbidding them to send their children to Muslim schools. He showed his hatred for the Shiites by causing the mausoleum erected over the tomb of Husayn at Karbala, together with all the buildings surrounding it, to be levelled to the ground and the site to be ploughed up, and by forbidding anyone to visit the spot.
In the year 848-849 a revolt broke out in Azerbaijan and an other, in 851-852, in Armenia. The annual raids of Muslims and Greeks in the border districts of Asia Minor were attended with alternate successes, though on the whole the Greeks had the upper hand. In 856 they penetrated as far as Amid (Diyarbakr), and returned with io,000 prisoners. But in the year 8S9 the Greeks suffered a heavy defeat with losses of men and cattle, the emperor, Michael, himself was in danger, whilst the fleet of the Muslims captured and sacked Antalia. This was followed by a truce and an exchange of prisoners in the following year.
In 8S5 a revolt broke out in Homs (Emesa), where the harsh conditions imposed by the caliph on the Christians and Jews had caused great discontent. it was repressed after a vigorous resist ance. A great many leading men were flogged to death, all churches and synagogues were destroyed and all the Christians banished.
About this time Sijistan liberated itself from the supremacy of the Tahirids. Ya`qub b. Layth al-Saffar proclaimed himself amir of that province in the year 86o, and was soon after con firmed in this dignity by the caliph.
In 858 Mutawakkil, hoping to escape from the arrogant patron age of the Turkish guard, contrived to enrol in his service nearly 12,000 men, for the greater part Arabs, in order to crush the Turks. The day had been fixed on which Muntasir, Wasif and several other Turkish generals were to be assassinated. But Wasif and Muntasir had been informed, and resolved to anticipate him. In the night before Dec. I o, 861, Mutawakkil was murdered.
I I. Reign of Muntasir.—On the very night of his father's assassination Muntasir had himself proclaimed caliph. He was a man of very feeble character, and a mere puppet in the hands of his vizier and the Turkish generals. He died six months after, by poison, it is said.
In 864 a descendant of `Ali, named Hasan b. Zayd, gained pos session of Tabaristan and occupied the great city of Rayy near Teheran. A year later the province was reconquered by the Tahirid governor of Khurasan, so that Hasan was obliged to re treat for refuge to the land of the Dailam. But he returned soon, and after many reverses ruled over Tabaristan and Jurjan for many years.
The dismemberment of the empire continued fast in these years, and the caliph was compelled to recognize the virtual independ ence of the governors Ya`qub the Saffarid (see SAFFARIDS and PERSIA, HISTORY, § B) in Sistan, and Ahmad b. Tulun in Egypt.
Mu`tamid had also to deal with a rising of the negro slaves in the province of Basra; it lasted from 869 to 883, and tasked the Government to its utmost. He died in Oct. 892. The seat of the Caliphate had already been restored to Baghdad.
16. Reign of Mu`tadid.--Mu`tadid may be called, after Mansur, the most able and energetic of all the Abbasid rulers. He took good care of the finances, reformed the administration, was an excellent commander in war, and maintained order as far as possible.
Almost simultaneously with the rising of the negro slaves in Basra there arose in the province of Kuf a the celebrated sect of the Carmathians (q.v.), Fatimites or Isma`ilites. The founder of a Carmathian state in Bahrein, the north-eastern province of Arabia (actually called Lahsa) in the year goo routed an army sent against him by Mu`tadid.
17. Reign of Muqtafi.—Muqtafi inherited his father's intre pidity, and seems to have had high personal qualities, but his reign of six years was a constant struggle against the Carma thians. But, to avenge their defeat, they lay in wait for the great pilgrim caravan on its return from Mecca in 906 and massacred 20,000 pilgrims, making an immense booty. This horrible crime raised the whole Muslim world against them.
The war with the Byzantines was conducted with great energy during the reign of Muqtafi, and the dominion of the Tulunids in Egypt was overthrown.
18. Reign of Muqtadir.—The sudden death of Muqtafi in Aug. 908 was a fatal blow to the prestige of the Caliphate, for the new caliph, his brother, al-Muqtadir billah ("the powerful through God") was only 13 years of age when he ascended the throne, and allowed himself to be governed by his mother and her ladies and eunuchs. The 24 years of Muqtadir's reign are a period of rapid decay. The most important event in the reign was the foundation of the Fatimite dynasty, which reigned first in the Maghrib and then in Egypt for nearly three centuries. (See FATIMITES and EGYPT : History, "Muhammadan.") Far more dangerous, however, for the Caliphate of Baghdad at the time were the Carmathians of Bahrein. In 923 they took and ransacked Basra ; in the first month of the following year the great pilgrim caravan on its return from Mecca was overpowered ; 2,50o men perished, while an even larger number were made prisoners and brought to Lahsa, the residence of the Carmathian princes, together with an immense booty. Then Kuf a underwent the fate that had befallen Basra.
In 926 the caravan was allowed to pass on payment of a large sum of money. The Government of Baghdad resolved to crush the Carmathians, but a large army was utterly defeated in 927 and Baghdad was seriously threatened. Next year Mecca was taken and plundered; even the sacred Black Stone was trans ported to Lahsa, where it remained till 95o, when by the express order of the Imam, the Fatimite caliph, it was restored to the Ka`bah. Muqtadir fell in battle against a rebel commander in Oct. 932 at the age of 38 years. His reign, which lasted almost 25 years, was in all respects injurious to the empire.
19. Reign of Qahir.—A brother of Muqtadir, named Qahir, succeeded him ; he was a drunkard, and derived the money for his excesses from promiscuous confiscation. In April 934 he was dethroned and blinded, and died in poverty seven years later.
During the last years of Muqtadir and the reign of Qahir a new dynasty rose in the north of Persia, the Buyids. (See PERSIA: History.) 20. Reign of Radi.—Muqtadir's son, who was then pro claimed caliph under the name of ar-Radi billdh ("the content through God"), was pious and well-meaning, but inherited only the shadow of power. He created the office of Amir al-Umara, which nearly corresponds to that of Mayor of the Palace among the Franks. The empire was by this time practically reduced to the province of Baghdad ; Khurasan and Transoxiana were in the hands of the Samanids, Fars in those of the Buyids; Kirman and Media were under independent sovereigns ; the Hamdanids pos sessed Mesopotamia; the Sajids Armenia and Azerbaijan; the Ikshidites Egypt ; as we have seen, the Fatimites Africa, the Carmathians Arabia.
21. Reign of Muttaqi.—Radi died in Dec. 940. Another son of Muqtadir was then proclaimed caliph under the name of al-Muttaqi billah ("he who guards himself by God") . At the time of his accession the Amir al-Umara was the Turkish general, Bajkam. Unfortunately Bajkam died soon after, and his death was followed by general anarchy. A certain Baridi, who had carved out for himself a principality in the province of Basra, laid siege to Baghdad, and Muttaqi fled to the Hamdanid, prince of Mosul, who then marched against Baghdad, and succeeded in repelling Baridi. In return he obtained the office of Amir al Umara. But the Dailamite and Turkish soldiery did not suffer him to keep this office longer than several months. Tuzun, a former captain of Bajkam, compelled him to return to Mosul and took his place. Muttaqi fled again to Mosul and thence to Rakka. Tuzun found means to entice him to his tent, and had his eyes put out (Oct. 944).
22. Reign of Mustakfi.—As successor Tuzun chose al-Mus takfi billah ("he who finds full sufficiency with God") , a son of Muktafi. This prince, still more than his predecessors, was a mere puppet. One of the Buyid princes marched about this time against Baghdad, which he entered in Dec. 945 and was acknowledged by the caliph as legal sovereign, under the title of sultan. He assumed at this time the name of Mu'izz addaula. Mustakfi was soon weary of this new master, and plotted against him. At least Mu'izz addaula suspected him and deprived him of his eyesight (Jan. 946) . There were thus in Baghdad three caliphs who had been dethroned as well as blinded, namely, Qahir, Muttaqi and Mustakfi.
23. Reign of Mug`.—htuizz addaula's choice fell on a son of Muqtadir, who took the title of al-Muti` billah ("he who obeys God") . The sultan, reserving to himself all the powers and reve nues of the Caliphate, allowed the caliph merely a secretary and a pension of 5,000 dirhems a day. Muti` was compelled to abdi cate in Aug. 974.
26. Reign of Qa'im.—He was succeeded by his son, who at his accession took the title of al-Qa'im bi-amri' llah ("he who maintains the cause of God"). During the first half of his long reign took place the development of the power of the Seljuk Turks. In 1038 Tughril Beg, their chief, beat the army of the Ghaznavids and made his entry into Nishapur. Thenceforth his progress was rapid. (See SELJUKS.) The situation in Baghdad had become so desperate that the caliph called Tughril to his aid. This prince entered Baghdad in Dec. 1o55, and overthrew finally the dynasty of the Buyids. In 1058 he received from the caliph the title of "King of the East and West"; he was succeeded by his nephew, Alp Arslan, who died in 1072. Qa'im died two years later, April 1075.
27. Reign of Muqtadi.—In the first year of the Caliphate of al-Muqtadi bi-amri' llah ("he who follows the orders of God") , a grandson of Qa'im, the power of the Seljuk empire reached its zenith. All the eastern provinces, a great part of Asia Minor Syria with the exception of a few towns on the shore, the main part of West Africa acknowledged the caliph of Baghdad as the Imam. Yemen had been subjected, and at Mecca and Medina his name was substituted in the public prayers for that of the Fatimite caliph. But after the death of Malik Shah a contest for the sultan ate took place ; the day after his son, Barkiyaroq entered Baghdad in triumph (Feb. 1094) the caliph died suddenly, apparently by poison.
3o. Reign of Rashid.—Al-Rashid billah ("the just through God") tried to follow the steps of his father. But the Seljuk sultan, Mas`ud took Baghdad and had Rashid deposed (Aug. 1136). Rashid escaped, but was murdered two years later.
In vain, three years later, did Abu'l-Qasim Abmad, a scion of the race of the Abbasids, who had taken refuge in Egypt with Baybars the Mameluke sultan, and who had been proclaimed caliph under the title al-Mustansir billah ("he who seeks help from God"), make an effort to restore a dynasty which was now for ever extinct. At the head of an army he marched against Baghdad, but was defeated and killed before he reached that city. Then another descendant of the Abbasids, who also had found an asylum in Egypt, was proclaimed caliph at Cairo under the name of al-Hakim bi-amri'llah ("he who decides according to the orders of God") . His sons inherited his title, but, like their father, remained in Egypt without power or influence. (See EGYPT : History, "Muhammadan period.") This shadow of sov ereignty continued to exist till the conquest of Egypt by the Turkish sultan, Selim I., who deposed the last of them, Muta wakkil. (See TURKEY : History.) He died at Cairo, a pensionary of the Ottoman Government, in 1538.
There has been much diversity of opinion in the Muslim world on the subject of the Caliphate since the 1st century of the Muhammadan era, but only one theory—that of Sunni orthodoxy —has obtained more than temporary or local realization. (See ISLAMIC INSTITUTIONS.) This theory of the Sunni Caliphate grew out of the actual political facts connected with the establish ment of the vast Arab empire stretching from the shores of the Atlantic to Transoxiana ; it assumed that all believers would always live under one Muslim ruler, who would be of the tribe of Quraysh (to which the Prophet himself had belonged), and for nearly nine centuries the caliph was actually a Qurayshite. But the empire remained undivided for little more than a century, and broke up into a number of independent states ; so that by the loth century the authority of the caliph in Baghdad hardly ex tended beyond the walls of that city, and he himself was a pup pet in the hands of his Turkish mercenaries. The theory, however, survived its failure to realize itself and even independent mon archs recognized the caliph as the source of all authority, and would apply to him for a diploma of investiture or a title of honour, in order that their position might be legitimatized and the tender consciences of their subjects satisfied. After the last Abbasid caliph in Baghdad was put to death by the Mongols in 1258, a shadowy continuation of the dynasty was set up in Cairo under the protection of the Mameluke sultans and, though the caliph was now powerless to exercise any influence on political affairs, he was still regarded in popular sentiment as the only legitimate source of authority, and requests still came for titles and diplomas from independent princes. On the other hand, par ticularly after the Mongol conquests, a new theory of sovereignty was devised by the Muslim legists, who began to represent the authority of the ruler as derived directly from God Himself, "Who giveth the kingdom to whomsoever He wills, and raiseth whomso ever He wills to honour." No authorization, therefore, from the caliph was any longer held to be necessary, and the legists im pressed the duty of obedience to any ruler who had established his position by force of arms.
Development from 13th Century.—Accordingly from the latter part of the 13th century onwards, independent sultans Maghrebins, Indians, Seljuks and even Turkomans and Shay banids— began to assume to themselves the title of caliph in addi tion to other high-sounding titles, and this title, which in earlier ages had been considered to be the exclusive prerogative of one supreme sovereign, now came to be applied to any number of princes, some of whom were persons of quite insignificant status. The rising power of the Ottoman sultans naturally fell in with the prevailing fashion, and we accordingly find that the title Khalifah was applied as early as 1362 to Murad I., and after wards to each one of his descendants on the Ottoman throne. There is, therefore, no justification for the legend that the first of the Ottoman sultans to assume this title was Selim I., and still less historical evidence is there for the story that after his occupation of Cairo in 1517 the dignity of the caliph was trans ferred to him by the last of the Abbasid caliphs, Mutawakkil. This legend was first put forward in 1787 by D'Ohsson and passed unchallenged from one European history to another, and was adopted by Turkish writers also, and in modern times it became a commonplace in the propagandist literature of the Muhammadan world in support of the Ottoman claim to the Caliphate. As the Ottoman conquests extended the boundaries of their enormous empire, it became clear that the Turkish sultan was the only Muhammadan monarch possessing territories, power and wealth commensurate with the dignity of so exalted a title, and the same halo of glory gathered round Constantinople as in former centuries had been associated with the cities of Damascus and Baghdad.
The Ottoman Diplomacy.—The Ottoman sultans do not appear to have attached much importance to the title of Khalifah until in the 18th and 19th centuries Turkish diplomatists found it convenient in their relations with Christian Powers to make use of the false analogy current in Europe between the caliph and the pope, and to claim for the sultan spiritual authority over Muslims who were not actually his subjects. Abdul Hamid II. (1876-1908) especially emphasized this claim, and from the out set of his reign endeavoured to obtain recognition of himself as caliph by sending emissaries to Egypt, Tunis, India, Afghanistan, Java and China. His deposition in 1908 did not entail the aban donment of this policy, and in the treaties made between the new constitutional Government in Turkey and the States which be tween 1908 and 1913 annexed territories formerly provinces of the Turkish empire, e.g., Bosnia, Hercegovina, Libya, Bulgaria and Macedonia, it was stipulated (in regard to the first three) that the name of the sultan should continue to be mentioned in the public prayers as caliph, and that in all of them the appointment of Muslim ecclesiastics should be authorized by the Shaykh al Islam in Constantinople.
When Turkey entered into the World War in 1914 a further attempt was made to make political use of the Turkish claim to the Caliphate by the proclamation of a Jihad in which all Muslims were called upon to fight in defence of the Khalifah and were threatened with the punishment of hell if they supported his enemies. The lack of response to this appeal revealed the un reality of this assumption of authority, but many Muslims, espe cially in India, were undoubtedly distressed at the fact of hostili ties between Turkey and the Governments under which they them selves lived, and after the Armistice in 1918 much sympathy was aroused for the Caliphate, and fears were expressed lest the terms of peace should cripple the power of Turkey.
Abolition of Sultanate and Caliphate.—In Nov. 1922 the National Assembly declared a republic and abolished the Sultan ate; Muhammad VI. was deposed and his cousin, Abdul Majid, elected Khalifah of all the Muslims, but the exact nature of his functions had not been clearly defined before he was sent into exile in March 1924 and the Ottoman Caliphate abolished alto gether. A few days later King Husayn of the Hijaz was pro claimed caliph in Mecca and Transjordan, and received some recognition also in Palestine and Syria; but in the following October he abdicated, just before the victorious Wahhabis entered Mecca. All three of these claimants have since died, and the recognition paid to any holders of this title is merely local, e.g., the sherif of Morocco is regarded as caliph by his own subjects. and four petty chiefs in the Malay archipelago enjoy the title.
Future of the Caliphate.—Meanwhile the problem that faces the Muslim world is being much discussed. The orthodox Sunni legists maintain that the Muslim world must always have a Khalifah as head of the community, and those in sympathy with this view held an international Caliphate Congress in Cairo in May 1926; but no practical conclusion was arrived at. The num ber of those Muslim theologians who brave orthodox opinion by declaring that there is no longer any need for such an institution, is small ; but, outside theological circles, there is a growing readi ness to accept the altered circumstances of the case.