Accession of Hisham — Troubled state of the Empire — Hisham's character — Affairs in the East — In Armenia — In Africa — The Revolt of the Kharijis and Berbers — "The Battle of the Nobles" — Hanzala — Defeat of the Berbers — Spain — Intestine Dissensions — Frequent change of Governors — Appointment of Abdur Rahman al-Ghafeki — Invasion of Northern France — Battle of Tours — Monkish exaggeration — Fresh Invasion of France— Capture of Avignon — Okba's Victories — Tlis Death — Internecine Quarrels — Ruin of the Arab Cause in france — Fall of Khalid al-Kasri — Rising of Zaid in Irak — His Death — The Abbasside Propaganda — Appearance of Abu Muslim — Death of Hisham.
On the death of Yezid II. his brother Hisham succeeded to an empire racked by tribal dissensions, and full of trouble at home and abroad. The wild hordes of Turkomans and Khazars pressing on the north, the Khariji zealots seething within with discontent, and the emissaries of the house of Abbas working under- ground, combined to sap the foundations of Ommeyade.
Shortly after his accession Yezid had been persuaded, in consequence of the minority of his son Walid, to nominate Hisham as his immediate successor ; upon Hisham's death, the throne was to go to Walid. As the latter attained his majority in his father's lifetime, Yezid often cursed those who had persuaded him to postpone his son's succession. According to Masudi, Hisham reigned nineteen years nine months and nine days. The flower of the nation had perished either in the civil wars or under the suspicious policy of a jealous court. The blind confidence reposed by the last sovereign in his ministers had thrown the government into the hands of incompetent and self- seeking functionaries whose incapacity and misrule alienated the people. Here and there, a few men shone, like stars on a darkening horizon, for their devotion to duty, but generally amongst the official classes, the old patriotism and enthusiasm for the Faith had almost died out in the pursuit of individual ambition. At this crisis a master's hand was needed at the helm to save the ship of state from drifting to destruction. But Hisham was little fitted by character or disposition to cope with the difficulties which now beset the empire. He was undoubtedly an improvement upon his immediate predecessor ; the atmosphere of the court became purer, the laxity of the former reign gave way to decorum, the city was purged of the parasites that live on society, and greater regard was paid to the conventionalities and rules of life. But his austerity wore an aspect of sombreness, and his parsimony amounted to avarice. And these failings were aggravated by more serious defects of character. Bigoted in his views, narrow in his sympathies, and suspicious in nature, he trusted nobody, and relied chiefly on espionage and intrigue to prevent hostile combinations and conspiracies. Easily swayed by false reports, he often sacrificed the best servants of the state upon mere suspicion, and the frequent change of governors led to disastrous consequences.
Of the few men who held office under him for any length of time, one was Khalid son of Abdullah, who was viceroy of Irak from the accession of Hisham until 120 a.h. A man of enlightened views, and himself a Yemenite, he held the balance between the two rival stocks with tact and judgment, and during the whole of his administration there was hardly a collision between Modhar and Himyar. His treatment of the Christians and Jews was considerate, just and liberal ; he repaired their churches and synagogues, and threw open to them offices of emolument and trust. His wise and statesmanlike tolerance exposed him to the attacks of fanatics, a result not confined to any particular time or country, but the countenance of his master protected him from the malevolence of his enemies. His fall, however, was as sudden as his success for fifteen years was unprecedented.
Shortly after Hisham's accession, a violent conflict in between Modhar and Himyar broke out in Khorasan, which was repressed with some difficulty. This was followed by a rising of the Sogdians, caused by the rapacity of the deputy-governor, who after promising the remission of the test-tax to such of the people as would embrace Islam, tried to re-impose the burden when a great many had adopted the religion. The insurgents were joined by some of the colonists under an Arab chief named Haris, who reprobated the breach of faith on the part of the governor. They also received support from the head of the Turkoman hordes who roamed towards the east of Transoxiana. Serious efforts were made to quell the insurrection, but without success, until Khalid, the viceroy of Irak, deputed his brother Asad to restore order in the disturbed province. The insurgents were driven from Ferghana and compelled to take retuge Turkomans. As these nomads kept the country in a continual state of ferment by their raids, Asad marched into Khuttal, which lay to the east of Ferghana, and formed the special dominion of the Khakan. Beyond, however, repulsing an attack upon his vanguard and collecting a large booty,he made no impression on the enemy, for the approach of winter soon forced him to retire to Balkh. Here he took up his winter quarters, and the troops were dispersed to their homes. The Turkomans considered this a favourable opportunity to resume their depredations, and they again burst into Transoxiana killing and plundering on every side. Whilst thus engaged in rapine and slaughter they were set upon by the governor, who had collected his men by lighting beacons on the hill-tops, and literally annihilated. The Khakan alone succeeded in making his escape, but was killed shortly after by one of his own chiefs.
Hisham at first would hardly believe the news, and special messengers were despatched to ascertain the true fact. When it became known that this redoubtable foe of Islam was really dead, it caused great rejoicing at Damascus. Asad himself died shortly before the deposition of his brother Khalid from the viceroyalty of Irak. He was succeeded in the governorship of Khorasan by Nasr, the son of Sayyar, who in spite of the all intrigues held the office until his death. Nasr was a man of moderate views, and anxious to promote the well-being of the people entrusted to his Governor. In the beginning, and before the dissensions which later broke out afresh between Modhar and Himyar, his administration was not only vigorous but just and generous. The insurgent Sogdians, who were still roaming within the Turkoman territories, were invited to return to their allegiance. They asked for two conditions, firsts that no one should be molested in his region or punished unless in due course of law, and second, that apostasy from Islam should not be treated as a crime. These conditions were accepted by the new governor, and the Sogdians returned to their homes.
Whilst these events were taking place in Central Asia, Northern Persia and Armenia were harassed by the incursions of the tribes inhabiting the Caucasian regions. The governorship of Armenia, which included Mesopotamia (designated the Jazirah), Armenia, and the province of Azarbijan, was at this time held by Hisham's brother, Maslamah. In 108 a.h. Persia was raided by a large body of Turks, who, issuing from the mountainous tract beyond the Aras, laid waste Azerbijan ; they were eventually defeated and driven out of the province. The ease, however, with which they had entered Persia encouraged other tribes to follow their example, and four years later the formidable Turkish horde of the Khazars penetrated into Armenia. The Arab governor, Jarrah, who had succeeded Maslamah, was overwhelmed and killed near Ardebil, and the barbarians devastated the country as far as Mosul. Here they were met by an army chiefly composed of volunteers collected by Said al-Harshi, whom Hisham had hurried off to the scene of disaster, and were defeated with terrible slaughter. The demoralised horde fled across the Aras, leaving behind their captives and the booty they had gathered, which was restored to the rightful owners.
With the perversity of mind which characterised Hisham, he now recalled Said and reappointed Maslamah. A year later Maslamah was again removed, and the post was given to Merwan, who afterwards seized the throne. Merwan signalised his entry into office by defeating the Khazars within their own territories. Georgia was conquered, and the Lesghis and other mountain tribes were subdued. But the incessant warfare Merwan had to maintain with the nomads of the north, who continued to press on him, formed a heavy drain on the resources of the empire.
In Southern Arabia also there were serious troubles; whilst in Irak the Kharijis rose on several occasions, and necessitated the employment of large forces for their suppression. In Africa and Spain matters had gone smoothly for a time, and some additions were made to the empire. The Black Country was annexed in 115 a.h., and the following year Sardinia was conquered. In 122 a.h. Sicily was invaded, and Syracuse was reduced after a hard fight. Some conquests were made in France, and on the whole fortune seemed to smile on Hisham in the West. But the year had hardly expired when the whole of Northern Africa was convulsed by a violent and sanguinary revolt of the Berbers and the Kharijis.
A new sect of zealots had about this time appeared in Mauritania. They called themselves Soffarides, and in violence and bigotry equalled the Azarika of the East. Maddened like their Eastern brethren by persecution, they denounced their oppressors as worse than heathens, and proclaimed against them a war of extermination. All who submitted to the Ommeyade yoke were regarded as misbelievers. The oppression of the Viceroy's son, who was acting on behalf of his father at Tangiers, and his attempt to impose the test-tax on Moslems, roused them to fury, and, joined by the Berbers, they killed the governor and seized the city. From Tangiers they marched upon Kairowan. All further progress in Sicily was now stopped, and the general operating in that island was recalled to stem the Berber insurrection. On their way to the capital the insurgents were met by the son of the Sicilian commander with a force hardly adequate to check the advance of the barbarian host. Though terribly outnumbered, with the recklessness or audacity which characterised the Arabs, he engaged them at once. But heroic valour was of no avail against numbers; the Arab chiefs as usual broke their scabbards and fought on foot, and the men followed the example of their leaders. The Saracens were surrounded, overwhelmed, and killed almost to a man. This disastrous battle is known in Islamic history as " the fight of the nobles," from the number of Arab cavaliers and knights who fell that day.
The destruction of Ibn Habib's army threw into disorder the whole of Northern Africa. Its effect was even felt in Spain, where the people rose in revolt against their governor, and elected in his place an officer who had been deposed by Hisham. The news of the reverse sustained by his army threw Hisham into a violent rage; and he swore an oath that he would make the rebels feel the full weight of his wrath. The viceroy whose son's misgovernment had led to the revolt was recalled, and an able general of the name of Kulsum (Kulthum) was sent in haste to retrieve the disaster. An unseemly quarrel between two of his captains on the eve of battle was followed by the usual result : the Arabs were again defeated, and their principal leaders killed. A part of the Syrian army went off to Spain, whilst the remainder threw themselves into Kairowan, which was now beleaguered by the Berbers and the zealots, led by a rebel chief named Okasha,i who had taken up arms at Cabes. Successive assaults delivered by the barbarians were repulsed with slaughter, and Okasha for a time retreated into the desert.
Hisham now appointed Hanzala, the son of Safwan, of the tribe 124 a. h. of Kalb, to the governorship of Africa. Hanzala's first care on reaching Kairowan was to put the fortifications in order and rouse the courage of the defenders. It was not long before his generalship and resources were put to the test, for three hundred thousand Berbers swooped down on the African capital and prevented all the transportation to the city. The Arabs were reduced to dire straits ; but Hanzala was a hero of the old type. He combined the religious enthusiasm of the days of Omar with a gentleness of heart unusual in that cruel age. Standing in the great square in front of the Cathedral Mosque, he addressed the people from his pulpit that the struggle between the up Moslems and the rebels outside was one of life and death, that a Berber victory would mean the promiscuous slaughter of the inhabitants, in which neither age nor sex would be spared. It was a crisis never to be forgotten in the history of Islam. The beleaguering host raged round the city, whilst the wearied defenders stood and watched the struggle with beating hearts from the ramparts. To Hanzala's appeal for volunteers a ready response was made by the citizens. The women of the Arabs, accustomed to danger, and to the use of arms, have often proved valuable auxiliaries to their husbands and brothers on the field of battle. Hanzala formed a reserve of the women, who were to hold the city whilst the soldiers and volunteers attacked the enemy. All night long Hanzala and his officers were engaged in distributing arms and giving orders for the morrow's fight. After the morning prayers the defenders broke their scabbards and issued against the enemy. The battle was fierce and terrible, and lasted from daybreak till sundown, when the barbarians broke and fled. The pursuit was kept up until the rebels had lost all cohesion and power of resistance. One hundred and eighty thousand Berbers, with their principal leaders, are said to have been killed in this fight, whilst the Saracenic loss, though severe, was not great. The straits to which the Arabs had been reduced, and the importance of the victory gained by Hanzala, is shown by the fact that after the destruction of the rebels thanksgivings were offered up in all the mosques of Kairowan. Hanzala was now able to restore peace and order in the disaffected tracts, and so long as he held the reins of office the country was free from disturbance; under his mild and just government Northern Africa soon recovered its prosperity.
Andalusia The vast dependency of Andalusia, which included Spain, the Iberian peninsula, with Gascony, Languedoc, and part of Savoy, formed at this period an integral part of the Ommeyade Caliphate. As usual in other countries and other times, with the Saracenic rule, the people inhabiting this region had, for the most part, assumed the manners and adopted the civilisation of their conquerors. But its distance from the heart of the empire weakened the central authority; and the system upon which the government was conducted was always productive of mischief. To use a designation borrowed from modern India, Spain was regarded as a subordinate presidency to Ifrikia and the Viceroy of Kairowan was vested with the power of appointing the governors of Andalusia without the sanction of the sovereign. Naturally, public interests were often sacrificed to tribal or family bias; and the frequent change of governors gave rise to civil wars. When as-Samh fell under the walls of Toulouse, Abdur Rahman {al-Ghafeki) was elected by the army in his place, but he held the office only for a few months until the arrival of Anbasah, who was nominated to governorship by the Viceroy of Africa. Abdur Rahman,who is described as "a man of great courage and considerable abilities, honest in his proceedings, and impartial in his judgment," kept under control the discordant elements within the Peninsula until the arrival of his successor, who took up the reins of government in the month of Safar 103 a.h.
Shortly after accession Anbasah led an expedition into France, which August resulted in the conquest of Carcassone, Nimes, and several other places of importance, and the formation of a defensive and offensive alliance with the Gothic communities of the neighbourhood. The conquests of Anbasah were due more to tact and management than to force ; and his efforts to conciliate the good-will of the inhabitants strengthened the Saracenic position in Southern France. The hostages furnished by the French cities were sent to Barcelona, where they were treated with consideration, and helped in forming bonds of union between the people of the province and the Arabs. Unfortunately, Anbasah was killed in an ambush placed by the rebellious Biscayans in one of the Pyrenean defiles. His death again threw the Peninsula into disorder, all operations in France were stopped, and his lieutenant Uzrah (Udhrah) hastened back into Spain with the bulk of the army. During the five years that elapsed from the death of Anbasah to the reappointment of Abdur Rahman in 113 A.H., five governors ruled over the province, some of whom held the office only for a few months. The administration of the country was completely paralysed by these changes, and the rebels under Pelayo acquired strength. Under Haisem (Haithem) some endeavour was made to destroy their strongholds and to resume the work of conquest beyond the Pyrenees. Lyons, Macon, Chalons-on-the- Saone were captured ; Beaune and Autun were seized and plundered, and other places were put under contribution. But in the end this invasion bore no fruit, for the Arabs, owing to their own differences, were unable to retain possession of these cities, and the excesses of the Berbers, who composed the bulk of the Saracenic army, converted the friendly-disposed Septimanians into bitter enemies.
Upon the death of Haisem, Abdur Rehman al-Ghafeki was called by Hisham to fill the appointed office of Governor of Andalusia. His appointment was hailed by the Spaniards as a happy augury for the Peninsula; Abdur Rahman was incomparably the ablest and most patriotic ruler that country ever had under the Ommeyade domination. He combined in an eminent degree a capacity for civil administration with military talents of the highest order. His influence over both Himyar and Modhar was unbounded ; whilst adored by administration. his soldiers, his gentleness of heart, generosity and justice endeared him to the people. He made a complete tour of the provincial cities and districts to settle the complaints that poured in from all sides ; the kadis or local magistrates found guilty of breach of duty or trust were dismissed and replaced by men of position and probity; all classes were treated alike and with equal justice, without distinction of race or creed ; the churches that had been wrongly taken from the Christians were restored to their rightful owners ; the fiscal administration was carefully revised ; and disorders against public peace were repressed with severity. But the task of reorganising the government did not distract his attention from the necessity of safeguarding the northern frontiers. Animated by a natural desire to avenge the check sustained by the Saracens before Toulouse, and anxious to emulate the glorious achievements of Tarick and Musa, he persistently endeavoured to create an army which would prove irresistible in its advance towards the north. Religious zeal was still at its height, and service under a veteran and daring commander drew a large number of volunteers. The Moslem governor on the other side of the Pyrenees, Osman bin Abu Nessa, or Abu Neza, had married the beautiful daughter the Duke of Aquitaine, and entered into a defensive and offensive alliance with him. In concert with his father-in-law he raised the standard of revolt. Abdur Rahman, however, was not the man to dally with insurrection. A body of troops was promptly despatched to al-Bab, where Munuza resided with his wife. The rebel chief fled to the mountains, but was overtaken and slain. His happy wife fell into the hands of Abdur Rahman's lieutenant, and was sent with all respect to Damascus, where she afterwards married a son of Hisham.
The defeat and death of Munuza threw into commotion the Christian principalities with whom he was in alliance, and Abdur Rahman found himself compelled to take the field before his preparations for the projected invasion of the north were completed.
Taking the route through Aragon and Navarre, he entered France in the spring of 732 by the valleys of Bigoral and Beam. Aries, described by the Arab writers as a city situated in a plain in a vast solitude, and built on a river three leagues from the sea, had agreed to the payment of a tribute. On the death of Munuza it refused to abide by the treaty. Abdur Rahman marched first against Aries ; a sanguinary battle on the banks of the Rhone was followed by the capitulation of the city. Abdur Rahman retraced his steps towards Bordeaux, which was captured after a slight resistance. The Duke of Aquitaine, who tried to oppose the passage of the Abdur ur Rehman, suffered a terrible defeat. With this victory all defeat of opposition was Swept out of Aquitaine ; Burgundy was overrun, and the proud standard of Islam floated on the walls of Lyons, Besangon and Sens. Leaving strong garrisons in these cities, which, however, weakened the strength of his army, the victorious general marched towards the capital of the Prankish kingdom. After his defeat on the banks of the Dordogne, finding himself unable further to cope with the invaders, Eudes invoked the aid of Charles, a natural son of Pepin of the king of France.
Able and unscrupulous, Charles perceived in the appeal of Eudes a means of aggrandisement, and responded to it with alacrity. Collecting a vast horde of savage auxiliaries from the borders of the Danube, the Elbe and the wilds of Germany, he marched to the south. The Saracens in the meantime had advanced upon Tours, which was carried by assault. The Arabian writers ascribe the disaster which now overtook the Saracenic arms to divine wrath at the excesses committed in Tours by the half-disciplined Berbers, in spite of stringent orders. Misled by his spies as to the strength of the Franks, the Saracenic commander was endeavouring to cross the Loire, when the approach of Charles with his horde undeceived him. Finding the enemy vastly superior to him in number, he hurriedly drew in his outposts, and falling back from the banks of the river, took up a position between Tours and Poitiers. The condition of his own army was such as to cause Abdur Rahman the gravest anxiety. The tribal legions, laden with spoil, and always jealous of each other, and unwilling to act for long in unison, were clamouring for retreat. The booty they had gathered in their march towards the north, and to which they clung, had introduced considerable laxity in their ranks, and slackened the bonds of discipline. Abdur Rahman naturally feared, as Charles hoped, that at the moment of action the spoil acquired by the troops would prove a serious hindrance to the Saracens and a cause of embarrassment. He therefore thought of inducing the men to abandon a portion of the loot; at the same time he did not wish to create discontent by insisting upon obedience. The result of this weakness, if it can be so called, was, as the sequel shows, most fatal.
The hordes of Charles, composed partly of horsemen, and partly of foot-soldiers clad in wolf-skins, with long matted hair hanging down over their shoulders, crossed the Loire a few miles above where the Arabs were encamped, and Tours, took up a position with the river at their back. Several days were spent in light skirmishes, in which the advantage lay with the Saracens ; on the ninth day a general engagement began, which raged until the shades of night separated the two armies. Next morning the action recommenced ; the Moslem warriors redoubled their efforts, and the Franks began to waver, when suddenly, whilst on the verge of a decisive victory a cry arose that the Arab camp with all its treasure was in danger. At this news, the Saracens quitted their ranks and flew to the defence of their booty; in vain Abdur Rahman endeavoured to restore order ; all his efforts were useless, and he fell pierced by a lance. The fall of the general threw the whole army into disorder, and the enemy, taking advantage of the confusion, committed great havoc. But the Frank had felt the weight of the Arab's sword, and welcomed the darkness which again separated the foes ; as the night closed in the two armies retired to their respective quarters.
No sooner had the Arabs reached their camps furious dissensions broke out among Abdur Rahman's lieutenants, and the legionaries turned their arms against each other. Victory over the Franks was now out of the question; a safe retreat was the only possible course open. Under cover of night, the Saracen generals quietly withdrew the army towards Septimania. At the dawn of day, the stillness of the hostile camp caused Charles and his ally Eudes to suspect some deep-laid design. Timorously and cautiously they approached the Saracenic encampment, and were overjoyed to find it empty and deserted, save for a number of wounded who could not accompany the retreating force. These were immediately butchered by the Franks. Charles, however, did not venture to pursue the retreating Saracens, and immediately retraced his steps northwards. On the plains of Tours the Arabs lost the empire of the world by the when almost in their grasp. Insubordination and inter-tribal jealousies, which have ever been the curse of Moslem communities, led to that disastrous issue. The field of battle is called in Arabian history Baldt-ush- Shiihadd, or the Pavement of Martyrs, from the number of prominent men who lost their lives with Abdur Rahman. And the pious still believe that the angels of Heaven may be heard there calling the Faithful to the Moslem vespers.
The monkish writers represent the Arab loss to have amounted to 360,000 men, more than four times the number with which Abdur Rahman actually entered France ! The exaggeration is demonstrated by the fact, that before a few months were over the Saracens, in spite of intestine wars and disorders, again assumed the offensive with a numerous army, although not so well equipped or organised as that under Abdur Rahman.
Infuriated at the death of their great chief, the Saracens are said to have burnt the Abbey of Solignan at Limousin in their retreat towards the south. The lieutenant of Abdur Rahman sent in all haste to the Viceroy of Africa, and to Hisham at Damascus, the news of the disaster. Hisham at once despatched a new governor, Abdul Malik bin Kattan, with instructions to retrieve the prestige of the Saracenic flag. The people of Spain, inhabiting the mountainous regions in the north of the Peninsula had attempted to profit by the death of Abdur Rahman, and to throw off the Saracenic rule. The new governor directed his first efforts against Aragon and Navarre. The insurgents were defeated in several battles, and were compelled to sue for pardon. He then entered Languedoc, and strengthened the positions held by the Saracens in that province. In 734 a.c. the deputy governor of Narbonne, Yusuf, joining hands with Maurontius, Duke of Marseilles, who was in alliance with the Moslems, crossed the Rhone, captured Saint Remi (then called Fritta), and marched upon Avignon.
In vain the Frankish hosts tried to oppose the passage Avignon of the Durance; they were beaten, and Avignon conquered. After the capture of Avignon Abdul Malik returned to the south; but, owing either to a check received by his troops in the defiles of the Pyrenees, or, as the Arabian historian says, "owing to his cruel propensities and the excessive rigour of his judgment," he was deposed in the month of Ramazan, 116 a.h.(734 A.C.). He was replaced by Okba, "a man of great pointed justice and irreproachable conduct," says our author of Spain, "virtues which obtained for him the veneration of all Moslems." During the five years of his administration he entered France several times, and carried the Moslem armies far beyond the former limits. Under him the Saracens of Languedoc established fortified positions in all places susceptible of defence up to the river Rhone.
Okba converted Narbonne into a hugh citadel, and stored it with provisions and arms. In 118 a.h. (736 A.c.) he entered Dauphiny, and captured Saint Paul, Trois Chateaux, Donzere, Valence, and New Okbah Lyons. The Saracenic detachments spread into Burgundy Dauphiny and threatened the capital of France. Piedmont had been invaded a year earlier, and military colonies had been established in favourable situations. Charles, who had, since the battle of Tours, assumed the title of Martel finding himself unable to cope unaided with the Saracens, invoked the assistance of king of the Lombards. Coalition brought a host of wild auxiliaries from the eastern territories of the Prankish kingdom, and the united horde descended upon the Saracenic possessions. At the same time Charles instigated the Basques and Gascons to create a diversion in the south by closing the Pyrenean passes. The Saracens were thus attacked from all sides. Avignon was taken by assault after a long siege, and all the Moslems were put to the sword. Narbonne was besieged, but although an army sent by sea for its relief was beaten by the allies, the defence was so vigorous that Charles lost heart and raised the siege. In order, however, to oppose an impassable barrier against any further Saracenic advance, he converted a vast tract of the country to the south of Loire into a veritable desert, Bezier, Agde, and number of other cities of importance, which had been beautified by the Saracens, were razed to the ground. Nimes, the city with its magnificent amphitheatre and its glorious monouments of antiquity, was committed to the flames. Even the French historian is compelled to call this senseless vandalism a " deplorable thing." Maguelone, which had attained a pitch of prosperity it had never known under the Goths or Franks, was totally destroyed, whilst these events were taking place in France, Africa was convulsed with the great Berber revolt already described.
The disorder in Africa incited troubles in Spain, and in 123 a.h. an insurrection, headed by old Abdul Malik bin Kattan, the deposed governor, broke out against Okba, who was taken prisoner and put to death by the rebels. Abdul Malik then seized the reins of authority. But he had not been long in possession of his ill-gotten power, when the Syrians under Balj, who had escaped from the slaughter seizes the Kulsilm's army in Africa, arrived in Spain, and added to the elements of strife within the Peninsula. In the struggle between Abdul Malik and Balj, the former was killed and his body ignominiously impaled on a cross.
His enemy died shortly after from the effects of wounds received in a fight with Abdul Malik's son. The Syrians thereupon elected Saalaba (Thalaba), son of Sallamah, as governor of Andalusia, and the civil war proceeded merrily. The Biladiun, or the Spanish Moslems, sided with the sons of Abdul Malik, the Syrians with the chief they had elected, whilst the Berbers fought for their own hand. The administration of Spain was completely paralysed, and the military stations and outposts in France were left to look after themselves, Narbonne was deserted by its commander, who had marched with his best troops to the succour Abdul Malik and his sons, and the other cities possessed by the Saracens were equally bereft of their defenders. Had Pepin the Short, who had succeeded his father Charles in the mayoralty of the Merovingian Palace, attacked the Arab settlements then, the Saracens would have been powerless to offer any opposition. But the lessons learnt in former wars had not been forgotten, and the Franks waited to strike the blow until the Arabs were thoroughly weakened by their own dissensions. Whilst the Moslems in Spain were engaged in this fratricidal war, affairs at home, in spite of various successes in Asia Minor,! were going from bad to worse.
The government of Irak, as already mentioned, had been held ever since the accession of Hisham by Khalid, who had ruled the province with vigour and justice. His successful and tolerant administration had raised a host of enemies, and they poisoned the mind of Hisham against him. The chief ground of suspicion against him was that he favoured the Hashimides (the descendants of Hashim). Probably Hisham was also influenced by avarice, for he suspected that during the fifteen years Khalid had held office, he had amassed a large fortune by peculation. In 120 a.h. Khalid was removed from the viceroyalty of Irak, and his place was taken by Yusuf (bin Omar), described as a hypocrite and a man of changeable temperament and cruel propensities. He was a Modharite and hated Khalid. The deposed governor was put to the torture to discover his suspected wealth, but was released under the orders of the sovereign. Hisham did not, however, interfere with Yusuf's persecution of the Hashimides, who were subjected to cruel ill-treatment. Zaid, the grandson of Hussain, who went to Hisham for redress, was driven from his presence with ignominy. Zaid came to Kufa, and against the advice of his relatives, who tried to dissuade him from the mad enterprise and from placing any reliance on the faithless Irakians, he attempted a rising which failed.
Zaid was killed, and his body was surreptitiously buried by his followers. But the vindictive Ommeyades discovered the grave ; the body was exhumed and impaled on a cross ; after a time it was taken down and burnt, and the ashes thrown into the Euphrates — an act of insensate barbarism which brought on the Ommeyades fearful and ruthless reprisals. Zaid's son, Yahya, a high-minded youth of seventeen, escaped into Khorasan. The death of Zaid strengthened the propaganda in favour of the Abbassides by removing from their path a possible rival, and was coeval with the appearance of Abu Muslim, who eventually wrought the downfall of the Ommeyade dynasty. Mohammed, the great-grandson of Abbas, the real projector of the design to oust the Ommeyades from the sovereignty of Islam, and to supplant the descendants of the Prophet, died in 124 a.h., leaving to his eldest son Ibrahim the fulfilment of his ambitions. Abii Muslim, a native of Isphahan, but descended from an Arab stock, had of entered the service of Mohammed, who, struck by his intelligence and powers of organisation, had deputed him to Khorasan to head the Abbasside propaganda. By his address Abii Muslim drew over large numbers to the cause of the Hashimides ; and the death of Hisham rendered his task easy. Hisham died in 743 and was succeded by his nephew Walid-II.
The Imam Mohammed al-Bakir died in this reign, and was succeeded by his son the celebrated Jaafar the True (as-Sadik).
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