KAEHA'THIANS, CARMATMANS, so-called from Abu SaTd Al-Jenabi, surnamed Al-Karmata, a Mohammedan sect which sprang up in the 9th c. A.D., under the caliphate of Al-Motamed, and which, by a combination of extraordinary circumstances, suc ceeded in establishing itself for a time, as a political power whch threatened to overturn the caliphate itself. What we have said.of the particular creed and tendencies of the IsmaIlls, under that heading in the SUPPLEMENT, began first to be fully realized and developed about the middle of the 2d c. of the Hedjrah, through one Abdallah lbn /daimon; an oculist (kaddah) by profession and a Persian by birth. It was he first who, aided by favorable circumstances, maimed a plan which, for the boldness and genius of conception and for the energy and vigor with which it was carried out, has not many parallels in history. Nothing less was contemplated than the union of the Arabic con querors and the many races they had subjected since Mohammed's death, and the enthronement of what afterwards was called " Pure Reason" as the sole deity to be wor shiped. The advanced should be free of all so-called religious fetters, which, as sym bols and allegorical actions, should be laid all the heavier on the necks of the less advanced strata of society. The "Believers" and " Conquerors" were to be made missionaries for unbelief and the implements fpr the destruction of their own empire. Whatever the ultimate plans of Abdallah may have been, there can be no doubt about the astute way in which he set to work for the new faith. With an extraordinary knowledge of the human heart and human weakness, he offered devotion to the believer; liberty, if not license, to the "free in spirit;" philosophy to the "strong-minded "; mystic hopes to the fanatics; miracles to the masses. To the Jews, he offered a Messiah; to the Christians, a Paraclete; to the Moslems, a Mandi; and to the Persian and Syrian "pagans," a philosophical theology. His practical exertions, and their wonderful results, soon attracted the attention of the authorities. Obliged to flee from place to place, he sought refuge successively in Karaj, in Ispahan, in Ahwaz, in Basra, finally in Salarnia, in Syria. where he died, leaving his son Ahmed his successor as chief of the sect of the Ismailis. This Ahmed, warned by the fate of his father, proceeded with greater caution, more especially with regard to the name Imam or great Prophet, which he left rather uncertain.
Among the missionaries he sent to Irak there was one named Husein Ahwazi. In tbe province of Kufa this missionary, according to some of the authorities, met a man ..timed Hamdan Karmat, whom he converted to the new faith, and at his death laid his mission upon Karmat's shoulders., whom he had previously initiated into the whole extent of the faith. According to others, however, it was Husein himself, who from
some cause received the name of Karamita or Karmat, a word the meaning of which is rather uncertain—indicating, according to some, a man who, having short feet, makes small steps; according to others, a man who has red. eyes, etc.
Whoever Karmat was, he was the fittest man to carry out the original intentions of the founder. He very soon succeeded in gaining the full confidence of his flock, which increased daily, and in making them blind instruments of his will. He introduced, according to some of the authorities, absolute eonununkan, not only of property, but even of wives, among them, and founded one particular colony, consisting of chosen converts, around his own house in Kufa. This residence of his, called the house of refuge, became the center of an immense conspiracy. From this place all the mission aries were sent out, and all the threads of the great. movement were directed. Amongst the most noted of those missionaries was one Abu Said, who was sent first to southern Persia, and afterwards to Bahrein, in the Persian gulf.
The inhabitants of Bahrein, which had formerly been a province of Persia, were partly Jews, partly Persians, who had capitulated with Mohammed, and had been allowed to retain their own creeds. After the prophet's death, they had at once shaken off the unwelcome yoke, which, however, had again been put upon them by Omar. The interior of the country was inhabited by certain Arabs, highly disaffected against Islam, the innnmerable precepts of which they disliked with an intense dislike. No wonder that Abu paid made the most marvelous strides in his conversions. In less than two years be had brought over a great part of the people of Bahrein. In 287 Hedjrah the caliph sent an army of 10,000 men against Abu Said and his followers, but the latter remained victorious, and made the caliph's own general prisoner. He now gained undisputed possession of the whole country, part of which lie had only conquered as yet, and having destroyed the old capital Hajar, made Lahsa, his own residence, the capital of the country. While the court of Bagdad was threatened with destruction by this newly-established power on one side,.two chiefs of another Karmathian branch appeared, the one in the neighborhood of Kufa, the other in Syria. The first was defeated, captured, and turtured to death ; the other, was inure successful. The governor of Damascus, who marched against him, was beaten most ignominiously. This Karmathian triumph, however, though followed by a few. others, was of but short duration. A decisive victory (291 Hedjrah), won by the caliph's general, Wasif, forever put an end to this branch of the Karmathians.