Mutawakkil, the Nero of the Arabs— The Decline of the Empire— Muntassir — Mustain — Mutazz — The Negro Insurrection — The Suffarides — Muhtadi — Mutamid — The Negro Insurrection suppressed — Mutazid — The Rise of the Fatimides — The Carmathians — Their devastations — Muktafi — Restoration of Egypt to the Caliphate — The Samanides — Muktadir — Kahir — Razi — Muttaki — The Buyides — The Mayors of the Palace — Mustakfi — The Ghaznevides — Mutii — Taii — Kadir — Kaim — The Seljukides — Tughril Beg.
On the death of Wasik, the chief Kazi, the vizier and most of the Other courtiers desired to raise his young son to the throne; but Wassif the Turk objected, "as the crown, the robes, and the sceptre were much too big for lad". Accordingly they elected Jaafar, a brother of Wasik, with the title of al-Mutawakkil aala Illah. This "Nero of the Arabs" ruled for fifteen years, and under him commenced the decline of the empire. Sunk in debauchery and habitually drunk, he allowed the government to drift to ruin. Nevertheless he was keen for the restoration of orthodoxy. A rescript was issued placing Rationalism under the ban, and proclaiming the re-establishment of the old doctrines in their fullest rigour. The Rationalists were expelled from public offices, and lectures on science and philosophy were interdicted. Kazi Abu Duwad and his son, prominent Mutazalites, were thrown into prison, and their property was confiscated. But Mutawakkil's persecution was not confined to the Rationalists. Non-Moslems too suffered from his frantic zeal. They also were excluded from the employment of the state, and subjected to other galling disabilities.
In his unaccountable rancour against the Caliph Ali and his descendants, he rased to the ground the mausoleum of the martyr Hussain, and had a water-course turned over it. Pilgrimages to the consecrated spot were prohibited under the severest penalties, and the property of Fadak was re-confiscated. Ibn Zayyat, the cruel Vizier of Wasik, who had invented an instrument of torture for the punishment of criminals and enemies; was executed by putting into this for not having shown sufficient deference to the tyrant before he came to the throne.
The Greeks took advantage of the general confusion to resume their raids. They burnt Damietta in Egypt, and devastated Cilicia, carrying away 20,000 prisoners, 12,000 of whom were put to death with the cruellest torture, by the Empress Theodora. Those alone who accepted Christianity were spared. The conduct of Mutawakkil became at last so outrageous that his Turkish guards conspired to put him to death. It is said that his son Muntassir, who abhorred his cruelties, approved of the design. And accordingly one night, as the Arab Nero lay sunk in the stupor of drink, the conspirators entered his apartments and despatched him.
Upon Mutawakkil's death Muntassir b'Illah was proclaimed as Caliph. He is described as a pious and just sovereign, forbearing and generous in character, possessed of a keen intellect and honestly desirous for the welfare of his subjects. He rebuilt the desecrated mausolea of Ali and Hussain, restored to their descendants the property that had been confiscated by Mutawakkil, and withdrew all the disabilities and restrictions that had been placed his father upon non-Moslems. But unfortunately he died after a reign of barely six months.
Turkoman chiefs, who were at this time the virtual arbiters of the fate of the Caliphate, raised to the throne another grandson of Mutasim, under the title of Mustain b'Illah but allowed him no power or authority. In the convulsions that followed the death of Muntassir, the provincial governors gradually converted themselves into feudatories, and the supremacy of the Caliphs dwindled into a more or less nominal suzerainty. The Abdullah bin Tahir, who had died in the reign of Mutasim, left his province in the hands of his son Tahir, who received the investiture as of right. His administration, like that of his father, was enlightened, just, and liberal. The Tahirides held their court at Nishapur, which was the capital of Khorasan. Tahir died in 862 a.c., and was succeeded by his son Mohammed, who governed the province until 873 a.c. The power exercised by the Tahirides encouraged others, and the whole of the East soon escaped from the hands of the Banu Abbas.
Unable to stand the tyranny of his Turkish guards, Mustain escaped to Bagdad, where he expected the support of the Arab and Persian soldiery. The Turks failing to induce him to return, proclaimed the second son of Mutawakkil as Caliph, under the title of Mutazz b’Illah and proceeded to besiege Bagdad. Mustain was persuaded to abdicate on the solemn engagement that he should be allowed to reside peaceably at Medina, but at Wasit, on the route to Hijaz, the deposed sovereign was treacherously murdered by an emissary of Mutazz.
The Turkomans now commenced to quarrel amongst themselves. Two of the chief actors in the late scenes, Wasif and Bugha, were murdered by their rivals, and one Babikial seized the vizierate. He obtained from the worthless Caliph the viceroyalty of Egypt, and appointed the celebrated Ahmed bin Tulun as his deputy. On the murder of Babikial shortly after, Ahmed bin Tulun virtually became the independent ruler of Egypt. He proved himself an able, honest, and just administrator. The apostolical Imam Ali (al-Naki) died in the year 868 a.c, and a.c was succeeded by his son Hassan, surnamed al-Aaskari. This title was given him because he was born and died at the camp at Samarra, which was called al-Aaskar or the camp.
Mutazz occupied the throne for nearly three years. In 255 a.h. the troops became clamorous for their pay, and as Mutazz expressed himself unable to comply with their demands, they dragged him out of the palace, subjected him to various indignities, and forced him to abdicate. He was then thrown into prison, where he was assassinated. To this condition had the descendants of Mansur and Rashid now fallen!
Upon the abdication of Mutazz, the Turkoman chiefs raised to the throne a son of Wasik, under the title of Muhtadi b’Illah. He was a man of strong character, virtuous, just, and anxious to do his duty. In happier times he would have proved himself a capable ruler. He expelled from the palace the singers, musicians, dancing-women, and other parasites, and tried to rule the state according to law. This soon brought him into collision with the Turks. He met them bravely with a handful of men. Deserted by his supporters, he was seized by the insurgents, and after considerable ill-treatment was forced to abdicate. He was then thrown into confinement, where he died in a very short time.
The eldest surviving son of Mutawakkil, who was living at Samarra, was then proclaimed Caliph, under the name of Mutamid aala'Illah He was weak, unstable, and fond of pleasure. But his brother, Abu Ahmed, surnamed Muwaffik, a man of ability and great military talent, in reality governed the empire, and proved the mainstay of the Caliphate until his death, shortly before that of Mutamid. Partly owing to Muwaffik's personality and partly to the fact that the Court was now again at Bagdad, where it was supported by national patriotism, during this and the two succeeding reigns, the Turkish guards were kept in check, and there were gleams of returning vigour and prosperity in the dismembered empire of Mamun. Tabaristan had broken away in 864 a.c. A descendant of Ali, named Hassan bin Zaid, converted the inhabitants to Islam and made himself sovereign of that country. In 870 a.c. the famous Yakub, son Lais the coppersmith, the founder of the Suffaride dynasty, who had commenced life as a common soldier, conquered Sijistan from the Tahirides, and gradually extended his power over the whole of modern Persia. In 873 he drove Mohammed, the grandson of Tahir, out of Khorasan, and shortly after annexed Tabaristan. His success so inflamed his pride that he invaded Irak, but was met near Wasit by Muwaffik, and defeated with heavy loss. Yakub then retired to his dominions. The following year, having repaired his losses, he again threatened the Caliph, when death surprised him at Jundisapur. His brother and successor, Amr bin Lais, in 879 a.c. made peace with Mutamid, and obtained by letters patent the free possession of all the country he occupied.
Transoxiana, cut off from the seat of the empire by the Suffaride principality, became virtually independent under its governor, Ismail the Samanide. Saman was an owner of camels and leader of caravans; his family owed their rise to Mamun, who in 819 a.c. appointed Saman's grandson Ahmed to the governorship of Ferghana. Ahmed was succeeded in the office by Nasr, his son. Nasr died in 892 a.c, when Ismail, his brother, became the ruler of the province. Ismail was a man of great ability and strength of character. He neglected no measure for the consolidation of his power. He drove beyond the Jaxartes the Turkoman hordes who were pressing on Transoxiana, won the attachment of his subjects by a wise, liberal, and just administration, and placed his dynasty by these means on a solid foundation. As in the case of Amr bin Lais, the Caliph invested him with the government of the province, which was made hereditary in his family, subject to the payment of a nominal tribute.
The Ahmed bin Tulun possessed Egypt and Syria. Ahmed died in 884 a.c. was succeeded by his son Khumarwieh, who established his residence at Damascus.
The rise of these independent dynasties, though it weakened the empire, was not without benefit to the people of the countries over which they ruled, for they proved themselves liberal patrons of art and literature and promoted commerce and industry.
The Negro Revolt in Chaldaea, which commenced in reign of Mutazz, was most disastrous. It was headed by a Persian, who allowed the wildest licence to his followers, and thus acquired the name of Khabis (Reprobate). Negro slaves from all parts of the country flocked to his standard, and he made himself master of Chaldaea and Ahwaz, and for several years defied all efforts to reduce him. In 882 a.c. he was attacked and annihilated by Muwwafik. His stronghold was destroyed, his followers were dispersed, and he himself was killed.
In 882 a.c. the Caliph's dominion extended over Arabia, Mesopotamia, Babylonia and Chaldaea (Irak Arab), Irak Ajam, Azarbijan, and Armenia, and the provinces bordering on the Indian Ocean. Still a vast empire worthy of being cherished and preserved.
The Byzantines took advantage of the troubles that beset the Caliphate and made several inroads into Moslem territory. At first they carried everything before them, but when Syria fell into the hands of Ahmed bin Tulun they were opposed by the Tulunide governor of Tarsus, and defeated in a series of battles.
The apostolical Imam Hassan al-Aaskari died in the 874 a.c. year 260 a.h., during the reign of Mutamid. Upon his death the Imamate devolved upon his son Mohammed, surnamed al-Mahdi (the Conducted), the last Imam of the Shiahs. The story of these Imams of the House of Mohammed is intensely pathetic. The father of Hassan was deported from Medina to Samarra by the tyrant Mutawakkil, and detained there until his death. Similarly, Hassan was kept a prisoner by the jealousy of Mutawakkil's successors. His infant son, barely five years of age, pining for his father, entered in search of him 265 a.h. a cavern not far from their dwelling. From this cavern the child never returned. The pathos of this calamity culminated in the hope — the expectation — which fills the hearts of Hassan's followers, that the child may return to relieve a sorrowing and sinful world of its burden of sin and oppression. So late as the fourteenth century, when Ibn Khaldun was writing his great work, the Shiahs were wont to assemble at eventide at the entrance of the cavern and supplicate the missing child to return to them. After waiting for a considerable time, they departed to their homes, disappointed and sorrowful. This, says Ibn Khaldun, was a daily occurrence. When they were told it was hardly possible he could be alive, they answered that as the prophet Khizr was alive, why should not their Imam be alive too? Upon this., Ibn Khaldun remarks that the belief about Khizr being alive was an irrational superstition. This Imam is therefore called the Muntazzar, the Expected One, — the Hujja or the Proof (of the Truth), and the Kaim, the living.
Muwaffik died in 278 a.h., and was shortly followed by the Caliph his brother. Mutamid was succeeded by his nephew Ahmed, the son of Muwaffik, under the Mutazid b'Illah. During this and the succeeding reign there was no further dismemberment of the empire. On the contrary, a combination of favourable circumstances contributed to strengthen the power of the Caliphs, who succeeded in reuniting to their dominions, several of the detached provinces. Mutazid is called Saffah the Second, as he is supposed to have restored the power of the House of Abbas, which had become weak and effete. He is described as a bold and active man, vigorous and wise administrator, and a capital soldier. Merciless like his ancestor, the first Saffah, he seems to have kept in check the spirit of disorderliness among the people; and the awe and dread which he inspired lulled all dissensions.
He was successful in his wars with the Byzantines, and several cities were either recovered or taken from them. He drove the Kurds out of Mesopotamia, and repressed with firmness the insurrection of the Ameer Hamdan of Mosul, who had attempted to make himself independent. But his greatest achievement consisted in peacefully obtaining the practical restoration of Egypt to the Caliphate. Khumarwieh, the son and successor of Ahmed bin Tulun, of his own accord, solicited investiture as viceroy of Egypt upon payment of an annual tribute of a million pieces of gold. This willing submission was further strengthened by the marriage of his daughter Katr-un-nada ("the Dewdrop") to Mutazid.
Mutazid's rule was on the whole vigorous and firm, and some of his measures were undoubtedly beneficent. He expelled from the city vagabonds and bad characters, who in the day sat by the wayside plying the trade of story and fortune-telling, and at night indulged in robbery. But the reform which, more than anything, obtained for him the benedictions of the people was one connected with the law of intestate succession. Under the Reform of old Arabian custom, relatives connected to a deceased person through a female, such as daughters or sisters’ children, were excluded from inheritance, and this archaic rule was at first embodied in the Sunni law. Accordingly, on failure of agnatic relatives, the property escheated to the state. Mutazid abolished the escheat office, and directed that relations in the female line should take after the agnates.
Up to this time the beginning of the solar year was celebrated with the same festivities as among the ancient Persians. On the New Year's Day, called the nairuz khassa, the Caliph held an audience, received presents, and bestowed gifts. The people interchanged visits, sent round presents of coloured eggs, delicate pastry and sweets, and amused themselves with letting off fireworks, and sprinkling on each other coloured or perfumed water. As the sprinkling of water was sometimes carried to the verge of scandal, and promiscuous fireworks were dangerous, Mutazid prohibited both the customs. The prohibition regarding the sale of philosophical works by booksellers was, however, of problematical benefit. He also altered the New Year's Day from March to the Syrian month of Huzairan (June). It was thenceforth called Mutazid's Year's Day.
The rise of the Fatimides in Africa, and the appearance of the communistic Carmathians (the Karamita) who soon filled with rapine and carnage the whole of Arabia, Syria, and Irak, and ultimately brought ruin and disaster on the Moslem world, occurred in this reign. The Carmathians appeared first in the neighbourhood of Kufa. Their doctrines were carried to al-Bahrain, the refuge of all the free-lances and revolutionaries of Islam, and here, under the leadership of the notorious Abu Said al-Jannabi (i.e. of Jannaba), they gained such strength that they were able to invade Chaldsea and inflict a disastrous defeat on the troops of Mutazid. Two years later they entered Syria, and devastated the province. In 301 a.h., upon Abu Said's assassination, his son Abu Tahir became their leader. Under him they seized Bussorah, and laid waste with fire and sword the countries within their reach. They continued in this course, defeating army after army, until in the year 317 of the Hegira (in the reign of Muktadir), they suddenly swooped down upon Mecca during the most important day of the Hajj, slaughtered the pilgrims, desecrated the Kaaba, and carried away the Black Stone. The cup of their iniquity was now full. The Moslems on all sides combined to destroy these enemies of humanity, and a cruel, sanguinary war, which lasted for nearly fifteen years, ended with the annihilation of this pestilential sect. However, the disastrous consequences of their rising were never effaced. Arabia and a great portion of Syria and Chaldaea were converted into a wilderness. The arm of the Caliphate, at the moment when it was recovering its strength, was paralysed. And the Byzantines, the natural enemies of the empire, were thus enabled to ravage Moslem territories with absolute impunity.
Mutazid died in the year 299 a.h., and was succeeded by his son Abu Mohammed Ali, under the title of Muktafi b’Illah. Muktafi proved a wise, generous, and just ruler. He was at Rakka at the time of his father's death, and the oath of fealty was taken for him by the Vizier Kasim, son of Obaidullah, an honest and hammed capable minister. Muktafi arrived at Bagdad in a ship which sailed down the Tigris amid the acclamations of the people. On his arrival he destroyed the underground prisons of his father, and converted them into places of worship. He restored to the rightful owners the lands and gardens that had been acquired by Mutazid for building his palace. He thus won the love of the people, who had been inspired with fear by his father.
In spite of the Karmathian scourge, which kept the arms of the Caliphate incessantly occupied in Irak, Hijaz, and Southern Syria, Muktafi had been able to bring Egypt under his direct control and to beat back the Byzantines and inflict some punishment on them. Antalia, one of their most important cities, was taken by storm, and Thessalonica was sacked.
Muktafi unfortunately died after a short reign of five years, and was succeeded by his brother Jaafar, a lad of thirteen years, under the title of Muktadir b’Illah. He occupied the throne for nearly twenty-five years. The virtues and ability of the viziers, who held the real power, maintained the dignity of the empire in beginning of this reign, but towards the end it declined rapidly, owing to the sovereign's recklessness.
The Fatimide sovereign, Obaidulldh al-Mahdi, conquered whole of Northern Africa, and drove out Ziadatullah bin Aghlab, the last Aghlabite prince of Ifrikia, who fled to Egypt and thence to Irak.
The Deilemites, who inhabited the northernmost part of ancient Media, were about this time converted to Islam by a descendant of Ali named Hassan, also called al-Utrush (the deaf), who conquered Tabaristan and Ghilan from the Samanides. In the year 305 a.h. we read of the arrival at Bagdad of an embassy from the Byzantine emperor, which was received with great pomp and ceremony, and of the opening in the following year of the great Muktadirieh hospital, for the maintenance of which an annual allowance of 7000 dinars was set apart.
Towards the end of Muktadir's reign, the actual government was in the hands of his mother, a woman of character and ability. She issued edicts and ordinances under her own hand, and on Fridays, surrounded by the Kazis and nobles, held audiences to receive petitions and complaints. The reactionary Hanbalites acquired great influence in Muktadir's time. Their unruly fanaticism led to frequent riots in Bagdad. Encouraged by the weakness of the government, they assumed the position of public censors. They invaded the privacy of houses, and, in these domiciliary visits, forcibly took and destroyed whatever offended their fanatical tastes. Their special hatred was directed against philosophical and scientific works, which they seized in the shops of booksellers and publicly burnt.
In 320 A.H. Muktadir was killed in the course of a fight with one of his insurgent nobles. Another son of Mutazid, named Abu Mansur Mohammed, was thereupon raised to the throne with the title of al-Kahir b’Illdh. He was cruel and depraved in disposition, and those who had proclaimed him Caliph themselves deposed and blinded him. In his reign Egypt again became independent under its famous governor, Ikshid the Turk.
The Turkish nobles then placed on the throne a son of Muktadir named Abu Abbas Mohammed, and called him ar-Razi b’Illah. With him vanished the last vestiges of power or dignity that had been left to the Caliphs. Soon after his accession, Mohammed bin Raik, governor of Wasit and Bussorah, seized the supreme power, and was invested by the helpless Razi with the title of Ameer ul-Omara, a dignity specially created for him. With the exception of Bagdad and its environs, nothing now remained in the hands of the phantom Caliph; the governor of each province assumed an independent role. Hitherto the Ommeyades of Spain had scrupulously abstained from the assumption of the titles of Caliph and Commander of the Faithful. But the degradation and practical effacement of the Abbasside sovereignty at this epoch led Abdur Rahman III. to assume the dignity and insignia of the Caliphate.
Mohammed bin Raik was overthrown by his Turkish general Bajkam, who was then invested with the title and authority of Ameer ul-Omara. Upon the death of Razi in 329 a.h., Abu Ishak Ibrahim, another son of Muktadir was proclaimed Caliph under the title of al-Muttaki b’Illah. He was a mere puppet in the hands of Bajkam's secretary. Shortly after Bajkam was slain, and another Turk succeeded him in power, but he was routed by Ibn Raik, who again became the Ameer ul-Omara. Attacked by another Turkoman chief, Ibn Raik fled to Mosul, carrying the puppet Caliph with him. Here the grandsons of Ameer Hamdan, the Lords of Mosul and Tikrit, were holding at bay the Greeks, and making such head against Byzantine depredations as their limited resources could enable them to do. Ibn Raik was assassinated, and the two Hamdanite princes, Hassan and Ali, under the title of Nasir ud-Dowla and Saif ud-Dowla respectively, became the guardians of the Caliph. Carrying Muttaki with them, they entered Bagdad in state, and again installed him on his throne. Another outbreak, headed by a Turkish general named Tuzun, compelled them to leave Bagdad. Muttaki now fell into the hands of Tuzun.
Once he escaped to Rakka, but was induced by treacherous promises to return, when he was blinded and deposed. In this reign the Greeks raided as far as Edessa (Roha), slaughtering the Moslems on all sides. Edessa was saved only by the surrender of the reputed napkin of Jesus, which was preserved in the cathedral of the city.
Tuzun then installed Muttaki's brother, Abu Kasim Abdullah, as the Caliph, under the title of al-Mustakfi b’Illah. Tuzun died shortly after Mustakfi's accession, in 944 a.c. and was succeeded in the office of Ameer ul-Omara by his secretary, Jaafar bin Shirzad. The Deilemite princes, the sons of Buwaih, now began to press upon Irak. In order to win their favour and support, Mustakfi conferred the title of Muiz ud-Dowla on Ahmed the eldest, that of Imad ud-Dowla on his brother Ali, and of Rukn ud-Dowla on Hassan. Muiz ud-Dowla soon made himself master of Bagdad and of the Pontiff. He received the Mayors of title of Sultan and his name was inscribed on the coinage, the Palace, and recited in the Cathedral services along with the Caliph's. He was the virtual sovereign, whilst the Caliph was merely his dependent, receiving a daily allowance of 5000 dinars from the public treasury. Muiz ud-Dowla, although a patron of arts and literature, was cruel by nature. He was a Shiah; and it was he who established the l0th day of the Moharram as a day of mourning in commemoration of the massacre of Kerbela. The Byzantines carried their arms everywhere, and the distracted empire of Islam was powerless to oppose their progress or prevent their depredations.
Suspecting Mustakfi of conspiring against his power, Muiz ud-Dowla deposed and blinded him in January 946, Abu’l Kasim al-Fazl, another son of Muktadir, was then installed as Caliph under the title of al-Mutii b'lllah. The Buyedes held the power for nearly a century almost without a rival to contest their title. The Turkish military element was annihilated, the Hamdanites were driven out of Mosul, and the whole of Mesopotamia, Irak Arab, and Western Persia became subject to their rule. Some of them were undoubtedly cruel, but on the whole their mayoralty conduced to the prosperity of the people and the cultivation of literature and science.
Muiz ud-Dowla died in 356 a.h., and was succeeded in the office of Ameer ul-Omara by his son Bakhtyar, who received the title of Izz ud-Dowla. Seven years later Mutii (the Caliph), struck with paralysis, abdicated on the requisition of the Buyide prince in favour of his son Abu Bakr Abdul Karim, who was installed on the pontifical throne under the title of at-Taii b'Illah. The munificence of the Hamdanite and Buyide princes, and patronage of arts and letters, are shown by the number of eminent men who flourished at this time. Masudi the historian, Abu Nasr Farabi the philosopher, Mutannabi the poet, Abu'l Faraj the author of the Kitab ul-Aghani, Abu'l Kasim at-Tanukhi, ad-Dinawari the rhetorician, and a host of others — philosophers, scientists, poets, jurists — were contemporaries of Mutii b'lllah.
The accession of Taii b’Illah was coeval with the conquest of Syria and Hijaz by the Fatimide Caliph, the great al-Muiz li-din Illah, in whose name prayers were offered in the Holy Cities.
Shortly after, Izz ud-Dowla was deposed by his uncle Aazd ud-Dowla, and the impotent Caliph was compelled not only to invest him with the insignia of office, but to allow him regal honours, with the title of Taj ul-Millat ("Crown of the Faith"). Aazd ud-Dowla died in 372 a.h. and was succeeded by his son Samsam ud-Dowla who received the title of Shams ul-Millat ("Sun of the Faith"). Samsam ud-Dowla was deposed by his brother Sharf ud-Dowla, who held the office for nearly four years. He died in 379 A.H., and was succeeded by his son Abu Nasr, who received the title of Baha ud-Dowla and Ziya ul-Millat ("Glory of the State" and "Lustre of the Faith").
Both Aazd ud-Dowla and Sharf ud-Dowla (949 — 989 a.c.) re-animated the taste for letters and revived the School of Bagdad, which had suffered during the revolutions of the Caliphate. Among the scientists whom they patronised were Ibn us-Salam, Abdur Rahman Sufi, and the celebrated astronomer and geometrician Abu'l Wafa. Besides supporting poets and savants, Aazd ud-Dowla undertook works of public utility. Engineers of the highest merit were charged with the task of deepening the channels of the river Bendemir, and making it navigable to ships as far as Shiraz. This when completed had the effect of stopping the periodical inundations hitherto so destructive to the surrounding districts. He also built a magnificent hospital and several colleges at Bagdad.
Taii was deposed by Baha ud-Dowla, and forced to abdicate in favour of his brother, Abul Abbas Ahmed, who was placed on the throne under the title of al-Kadir b'Illah. Taii resided in the palace of his brother, and appears to have been treated with great consideration and respect — an unusual circumstance for the times. He died in the year 373 a.h. (1002 a.c). Kadir b'lllah is described as a virtuous man, distinguished for his piety and rectitude. He spent most of his nights in devotion, and gave a large portion of his income in charity. It cannot be denied, however, that he was narrow in his sympathies and bigoted in his views, and the circumstances of the times forced him to assume a strong reactionary attitude towards all development.
The Fatimides were extending their power in every direction. Aziz, the successor of al-Muiz, had made himself the master of Emessa, Hamah, and Aleppo, and his sovereignty was acknowledged in Mesopotamia. Mutazalaism also was making great progress. Kadir, who himself was a jurist of some eminence, deprived of all temporal authority, now devoted himself to the consolidation of the spiritual authority and prestige of the Abbasside Caliphate. Synods of doctors were held, at which he presided as the Pontiff of the Church; anathemas were drawn up and fulminated against the Fatimides; Rationalism was condemned, and "conformity" was insisted upon as essential to orthodoxy. He himself wrote pamphlets against the Mutazalites, declaring Rationalism to be heresy. The consequence of all this was to inflame sectarian bitterness; and to impart a rigidity to the dogmas of the Church that has made the work of reform so difficult in later times.
The Samanides, who had ruled Transoxiana and Khorasan with such brilliant success, disappeared at this epoch, and their place was taken by another dynasty. Their rule had lasted from 874 to 999 a.c. A Turkish soldier who had commenced life as a mamluke, had by his merits attained a high position in the service of his sovereign. Incurring the displeasure of the succeeding prince, Alptagin escaped from Bokhara and established himself in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan. His seat of government was Ghazni, and here for sixteen years he defied all endeavours to subjugate him. On his death in 995 a.c, his power descended to his son-in-law, Subaktagin, who by his wise and vigorous administration won the love of his subjects and the respect of his neighbours. His power and authority were recognised by the Caliph, which gave to his rule the coveted legitimacy. The title of Nasir ud-Dowla, with the standard and customary robes of honour, was conferred on him from Bagdad, and Subaktagin became the legitimate founder of the Ghaznavide dynasty. He carried his arms across the Hindoo Kush into the Punjab, and founded the cities of Bost and Kusdar. As the faithful ally of the Samanide prince, he defended Transoxiana against the incursions of the Turkoman hordes.
On his death there was a struggle for power between his sons Mahmud and Ismail. Mahmud was willing to share the Sultan dominion with his brother, but the latter desired to rule alone. Mahmud was successful in the fight, but treated Ismail with great generosity and kindness. The Samanide power now broke to pieces, and in 1000 a.c. the Ghaznavide sovereign made himself the master of Khorasan. The Caliph sent him the usual diploma of investiture, with the title of Yemin ud-Dowla ("the Right Hand of the Empire"), and Amin ul-Millat("Custodian of the Faith "). Sultan Mahmud's reign was one of the most brilliant in the history of Asia. He beautified Ghazni, and might have said, like the first emperor of Rome, that he found his capital a town of huts and left it a city of marble palaces. He was a patron of learning and arts; and although his generosity was sometimes marred by ill-timed parsimony and narrowness of views, his court was the resort of famous scholars and savants. Al-Beiruni, Firdousi, Dakiki, and many other philosophers and poets flourished in his reign.
Sultan Mahmud entered India several times, but did not make any permanent conquest beyond the confines of the Punjab. Whilst Mahmud was employed in the
East, a large body of Turkomans from the Khirgiz steppes crossed the Jaxartes and settled themselves in Transoxiana. The Ghaznavide Sultan made the fatal mistake of leaving them in possession of this province, contenting himself with a nominal tribute and acknowledgment of fealty. With the object of weakening them as he thought, he deported into Khorasan one of the tribes, under their leader Seljuk. Here the Seljuks waxed in strength and number, until they were able successfully to measure swords with their former masters.
Sultan Mahmud died in 1030 a.c, leaving a glorious empire to his son and successor Masud. He tried to remove from Khorasan the redoubtable subjects whom a mistaken policy had implanted in the very heart of the kingdom. In a memorable battle near Herat, Masud was vanquished, and the Seljukian power rose on the wreck of the Ghaznavide. Sultan Masud's dominions were now confined to Afghanistan proper and the Punjab to the east. On his death the throne was occupied by several princes, in rapid succession, one after another. The affairs of the Ghaznavide dynasty remained in disorder until the accession of Sultan Ibrahim, the friend and patron of the poet-philosopher. Hakim Sanai,- who concluded a peace with the Seljukian prince of Khorasan, and directed his efforts solely to the consolidation of his power in the direction of India.
After the defeat of Sultan Masud, the Seljuks had elected Tughril Beg, the grandson of the chieftain whose name they bore, to the over-lordship of the tribe. Tughril Beg is described by Ibn ul-Athir as a wise sovereign, forbearing and generous, virtuous and simple in his life, and devoted to learning. Tughril rapidly reduced under his sway Jorjan, the Persian Irak, Khwarism, and other important provinces to the west. He soon found himself in presence of the Buyide princes in Northern Persia, who were either driven from their principalities or compelled to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Seljukian chieftain. Whenever Tughril took a city, he established a mosque and a school in commemoration of his victory, and the fame of his piety enhanced and accelerated his success over his opponents.
Whilst the power of Tughril was overshadowing that of the Buyides in Persia, the old orthodox Caliph, Kadir b’Illah, was breathing his last. He died in 422 a.h., at the age of 87, after having occupied the pontifical throne for over forty-one years. Many eminent scholars who have left a lasting impression on the history of Islam flourished in his time, such as the Kazi Abdul Jubbar, the Mutazalite doctor, and his opponent, Abu Ishak al-Isfaraini the Ashaarite; the Allamah Shaikh Mufid, the most learned of the Shiahlegists; the poet Abu Omar bin Darraj; the jurists Dar Kutni and Ibn Shahin, and others.
On Kadir b'lllah's death, his son, Abu Jaafar Abdullah, was installed on the throne, under the title of al-Kaim bi-amr-Illah. He is described as virtuous, pious, devout, and learned, full of trust and faith in God, and charitable and patient. "He was assiduous in the cultivation of learning", says the annalist, "skilled in writing, and prompt to do justice and benevolence." He seems to have played quietly, for nearly twenty-four years, the part of a Pontiff without power, under the tutelage of the Buyides. In 466 A.H., a Turkish chief, Arslan al-Basasiri, seized the supreme power, and practically displaced Malik Rahim, the Buyide, from the office of Ameer ul-Omara, or Mayor of the Palace. At this juncture, Kaim invoked the assistance of the Seljukian sovereign. Tughril hurried to Bagdad, and on his approach, Basasiri retired to Mosul. The moment, however, Tughril left Bagdad to suppress a revolt in Persia, Basasiri returned to the capital, deposed the Abbasside Pontiff, and proclaimed in his place the Fatimide Caliph, al-Mustansir b,Illah, the spiritual Head of Islam. The mantle, sceptre, and pulpit were sent to Egypt, and prayers were recited for Mustansir in every mosque in Irak. Tughril hurried back to Bagdad, Basasiri was defeated and slain, and Kaim was replaced on the throne of his ancestors. The Pontiff invested the Turkish sovereign with the supreme temporal power over the dommions of Islam that still recognised the spiritual sway of the Abbassides.
The ceremony of investiture took place in Bagdad. The Caliph himself placed two crowns on Tughril's head as the symbol of power over the Arabs and Persians, and invested him with seven robes emblematical of the seven countries of Islam. The heralds then proclaimed Tughril Sultan of the East and the West.
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