But Khoosroo was aroused from his dream of happiness and of conquest, by the victories of the Emperor Hera clius. This prince, who was as remarkahle for his weak ness and indecision in the cabinet, as for his extraordina ry valour and skill in the field, had long endeavoured by negotiation, to avert the total overthrow of the Roman name, and had even sent deputies to express his desire to purchase peace upon any terms. He was, however, awakened from his lethargy by the insulting answer of the Persian king. " I will hearken to no terms, till your mas ter shall renounce his crucified God, and adore the God of the Persians " 11craclius, upon this, took the field in person, and in six glorious campaigns, strips Khoosroo of all his conquests, overran the finest provinces of his em pire, destroyed his magnificent palaces, plundered his hoarded treasures, and dispersed, in every direction, the countless slaves of his pleasures. The troops of Persia were overthrown in every encounter ; and Khoosroo was at last deposed by his own subjects, and murdered by the command of his own son. Schiroueh enjoyed the reward of his parricide only eight months; and, during the four succeeding years, the kingdom was so distracted by in testine divisions, that seven sovereigns, two of whom were daughters of Khoosroo Purvecz, were raised to the throne by the ambitious nobles, and successively murder ed. Yczdijird III. the grandson of Khoosroo, was next called to wield the sceptre of Persia ; and he has obtained celebrity only as being the last sovereign of the house of Sassari ; and in whose reign the Arabs accomplished the subversion of the Persian empire.
The first attempt of Mahomed to extend his religion over Persia was in the reign of Khoosroo Purveez, who was so enraged at being called upon by an obscure Ara bian to renounce the religion of his fathers, that he tore to pieces the letter of the prophet; and to that sacrile gious act, Mahomedan historians impute all that prince's subsequent misfortunes. The next attempt was made by the Caliph Omar, who commanded a body of Arabs to pass the Euphrates. They were at first severely repulsed in several engagements ; but by their valour and perseve rance they at last obtained an important victory, which laid the foundation of the MaLomedan power in that coun try. This action took place a few years before the acces sion of Yczdijird, whose first measure was to dispatch an envoy to Saad, the leader of the Arab forces. A deputa tion of three Arab chiefs were, in consequence, sent to Madain, by order of the Caliph, and after a long confer ence with the Persian king, one of the deputies conclud ed in these words, " We now solemnly desire you to re ceive our religion. If you consent to this, not an Arab shall enter Persia without your permission ; and our lea ders will only demand the established taxes, which all be lievers are bound to pay. If you do not accept our reli gion, you are required to pay the tribute fixed upon infi dels : and should you reject both these propositions, you must prepare for war." Yezdijird instantly rejected these degrading conditions, and prepared for hostilities. But
he was unable to uphold the declining glories of his coun try; and in the first general engagement, the Persian army was almost annihilated, and the famous blacksmith's apron, the royal standard of the empire, fell into the hands of the enemy. Yezdijird fled to Hulwan, with all the property he could carry, and left his capital to the conqueror. The war was protracted for a few years; but the battle of Nahavund decided the fate of Persia, and Yezdijird, driven from his throne, and a fugitive in his own kingdom, dragged out a miserable existence for ten years, when he was murdered.
The armies of the faithful soon extended the authority of their master from the Euphrates to the Oxus, destroy ing with savage fury every vestige of idolatry, and the in habitants were every where compelled to submit to the re ligion of the conquerors, or seek an asylum in other lands. Lieutenants were then appointed to the different districts of the country, and Persia, for more than two centuries, was held as a province under the Arabian Caliphs. In process of time, however, the fever of religious frenzy abated, and the power of the caliphs declined. The dis contented and mutinous armies of the impotent successors of Omar and My were scarcely able to protect the capital, much less hold in subjection the distant provinces of the empire, whose governors exercised almost regal power, carried on war with each other, and gave no mark of al legiance to the vicegerent of the prophet, except the merely using his name in the public prayers.
While the kingdom was thus divided and distracted by the contentions of its petty rulers, the sceptre of Persia was won by the wisdom and valour of Yacoob•ben-Lcis, the son of a pewterer and a robber. This daring chief was an inhabitant of Seistan, and was characterised by great simplicity of manners. He possessed the devoted attach ment of his followers, and in no instance did he abuse his success, by any wanton act of cruelty or oppression. Hav ing first established his authority in his native province, he, from thence, carried his arms over the finest districts of Persia, and his ambition even led him to threaten de struction to the power and the government of the caliphs. He was, however, defeated in the vicinity of Bagdad; but, undismayed by his reverse, he recruited his army, and returned again to the attack of the capital. The ca liph dreaded the result, and dispatched a messenger to the camp of Yacoob. This leader, though lying danger ously ill, having commanded that his sword, some coarse bread, and dried onions should be laid before him, desir ed the envoy to be introduced. "Tell your master," said he, "that, if I live, that sword shall decide betwixt us: if I conquer, I will do as I please; if he is victorious, that bread, and those onions, which thou seest, is my fare; and neither lie nor fortune can triumph over a man accus tomed to such diet." But the resolute chief survived only a few days, and almost the whole of Persia fell by suc cession to his brother Amer.