Part 20

Motamid had appointed his son al-Mofawwid as successor to the Caliphate, and after him his brother Mowaffaq. When the latter died in the year 891, his son Abu 'l-'Abbas, _al-Mo'tadid_ ("he who seeks his support in God"), was put in his place. Next year Mofawwid was compelled to abdicate in favour of his cousin. Shortly after Motamid died, Rajab 279 (October 892). Not long before these events, the seat of the Caliphate had been restored to Bagdad.

16. _Reign of Motadid_.--Motadid 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. The Kharijites in Mesopotamia, who for many years had molested the government, were finally crushed with the aid of their former ally Hamdan, who became the founder of the well-known dynasty of the Hamdanites. The mighty house of Abu Dolaf in the south-west of Media, which had never ceased to encroach on the Caliphate, was put down. The governor of Azerbaijan and Armenia, belonging to the powerful Turkish house of the Sajids or Sajites, whose loyalty was always doubtful, planned an invasion of Syria and Egypt. Motadid frustrated it by a quick movement. The citizens of Tarsus who were involved in the plot were severely punished. The chief punishment, however, the burning of the fleet, was a very impolitic measure, as it strengthened the hands of the Byzantines.

Almost simultaneously with the rising of the negro slaves in Basra there arose in the province of Kufa the celebrated sect of the Carmathians (q.v.), Fatimites[41] or Isma'ilites. This powerful sect, which save for a difference of opinion would have joined the negro rising, remained outwardly quiet during Motamid's reign, but under Motadid the government began to have misgivings about them. Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi, who had founded a Carmathian state in Bahrein, the north-eastern province of Arabia (actually called Lahsa), which could become dangerous for the pilgrim road as well as for the commerce of Basra, in the year 900 routed an army sent against him by Motadid, and warned the caliph that it would be safer to let the Carmathians alone. In the same year the real chief of the sect, whose abode had been discovered by the caliph, fled from Salamia in Syria, where he lived, to Africa, and hid himself at Sijilmasa (in Tafilalt) in the far west, whence he reappeared ten years later at Kairawan as the Mahdi, the first caliph of the Fatimites.[42]

Motadid died in Rabia II. A.H. 289 (March 902), leaving the Caliphate to his son _al-Moktafi billah_ ("he who sufficeth himself in God").

17. _Reign of Moktafi_.--Moktafi inherited his father's intrepidity, and seems to have had high personal qualities, but his reign of six years was a constant struggle against the Carmathians in Syria, who defeated the Syrian and Egyptian troops, and conquered Damascus and other cities. Moktafi led his troops in person, and his general, Mahommed b. Suleiman, gained a signal victory. Three of their chiefs were taken and put to death. But, to avenge their defeat, they lay in wait for the great pilgrim caravan on its return from Mecca in the first days of 294 (906), and massacred 20,000 pilgrims, making an immense booty. This horrible crime raised the whole Moslem world against them. Zikruya their chief was defeated at last and perished.

After the defeat of the Syrian Carmathians, Mahommed b. Suleiman was sent by the caliph to Egypt, where he overthrew the dominion of the Tulunids. 'Isa b. Mahommed al-Naushari was made governor in their stead (905).

The war with the Byzantines was conducted with great energy during the reign of Moktafi. In the year 905 the Greek general Andronicus took Marash, and penetrated as far as Haleb (Aleppo), but the Moslems were successful at sea, and in 907 captured Iconium, whilst Andronicus went over to the caliph's side, so that the Byzantine emperor sent an embassy to Bagdad to ask for a truce and an exchange of prisoners.

18. _Reign of Moqtadir._--The sudden death of Moktafi, Dhu'l-qa'da 295 (August 908), was a fatal blow to the prestige of the Caliphate, which had revived under the successive governments of Mowaffaq, Motadid and himself. The new caliph, _al-Moqtadir billah_ ("the powerful through God"), a brother of Moktafi, was only thirteen years of age when he ascended the throne. Owing to his extreme youth many of the leading men at Bagdad rebelled and swore allegiance to Abdallah, son of the former caliph Motazz, a man of excellent character and of great poetical gifts; but the party of the house of Motadid prevailed, and the rival caliph was put to death. Moqtadir, though not devoid of noble qualities, allowed himself to be governed by his mother and her ladies and eunuchs. He began by squandering the 15,000,000 dinars which were in the treasury when his brother died in largesses to his courtiers, who, however, merely increased their demands. His very able vizier, the noble and disinterested Ali b. 'Isa, tried to check this foolish expenditure, but his efforts were more than counterbalanced by the vizier Ibn abi'l-Forat and the court. The most shameless bribery and the robbery of the well-to-do went together with the most extravagant luxury. The twenty-four years of Moqtadir'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_, "Mahommedan").

Far more dangerous, however, for the Caliphate of Bagdad at the time were the Carmathians of Bahrein, then guided by Abu Tahir, the son of Abu Sa'id Jannabi. In 311 (A.D. 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; 2500 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. The caravan which left Bagdad towards the end of this year returned in all haste before it had covered a third of the way. Then Kufa underwent the fate that had befallen Basra. In 313 (A.D. 926) the caravan was allowed to pass on payment of a large sum of money. The government of Bagdad resolved to crush the Carmathians, but a large army was utterly defeated by Abu Tahir in 315 (927), and Bagdad was seriously threatened. Next year Mecca was taken and plundered; even the sacred Black Stone was transported to Lahsa, where it remained till 339 (950), when by the express order of the Imam, the Fatimite caliph, it was restored to the Ka'ba.

In 317 (929) a conspiracy was formed to dethrone Moqtadir, to which Munis, the chief commander of the army, at first assented, irritated by false reports. Very soon he withdrew, and though he could not prevent the plundering of the palace, and the proclamation as caliph of another son of Motadid with the title _al-Qahir billah_ ("the victorious through God"), he rescued Moqtadir and his mother, and at the same time his imprisoned friend Ali b. 'Isa, and brought them to his own house. A few days later, a counter-revolution took place; the leaders of the revolt were killed, and Moqtadir, against his wish, was replaced on the throne. In 320 (A.D. 932) Munis, discovering a court intrigue against him, set out for Mosul, expecting that the Hamdanids, who owed to him their power, would join him. Instead of doing this, they opposed him with a numerous army, but were defeated. Munis took Mosul, and having received reinforcements from all parts, marched against Bagdad. The caliph, who wished nothing more than to be reconciled to his old faithful servant, was forced to take arms against him, and fell in battle Shawwal 320 (October 932), at the age of 38 years. His reign, which lasted almost twenty-five years, was in all respects injurious to the empire.

19. _Reign of Qahir_.--After the victory Munis acted with great moderation and proclaimed a general amnesty. His own wish was to call Abu Ahmad, a son of Moktafi, or a son of Moqtadir, to the Caliphate, but the majority of generals preferring Qahir because he was an adult man and had no mother at his side, he acquiesced, although he had a personal dislike for him, knowing his selfish and cruel character. Qahir was a drunkard, and derived the money for his excesses from promiscuous confiscation. He ill-treated the sons of Moqtadir and Abu Ahmad, and ultimately assassinated his patrons Munis and Yalbak, whose guardianship he resented. In Jomada I. 322 (April 934) he was dethroned and blinded, and died in poverty seven years later.

During the last years of Moqtadir and the reign of Qahir a new dynasty rose. Buya, the chief of a clan of the Dailam, a warlike people who inhabit the mountainous country south-west of the Caspian Sea, had served under the Samanids, and found a footing in the south of Media (Jabal), whence his three sons--well known under the titles they assumed at a later period: 'Imad addaula ("prop of the dynasty"), Rokn addaula ("pillar of the dynasty"), and Mo'izz addaula ("strengthener of the dynasty")--succeeded in subduing the province of Fars, at the time of Qahir's dethronement (see PERSIA: _History_).

20. _Reign of Radi_.--Moqtadir's son, who was then proclaimed caliph under the name of _ar-Radi billah_ ("the content through God"), was pious and well-meaning, but inherited only the shadow of power. The vizier Ibn Moqla tried to maintain his authority at least in Irak and Mesopotamia, but without success. The treasury was exhausted, the troops asked for pay, the people in Bagdad were riotous. In this extremity the caliph bade Ibn Raiq, who had made himself master of Basra and Wasit, and had command of money and men, to come to his help. He created for him the office of Amir al-Omara, "Amir of the Amirs," which nearly corresponds to that of Mayor of the Palace among the Franks.[43] Thenceforth the worldly power of the Caliphate was a mere shadow. The empire was by this time practically reduced to the province of Bagdad; Khorasan and Transoxiana were in the hands of the Samanids, Fars in those of the Buyids; Kirman and Media were under independent sovereigns; the Hamdanids possessed Mesopotamia; the Sajids Armenia and Azerbaijan; the Ikshidites Egypt; as we have seen, the Fatimites Africa, the Carmathians Arabia. The Amir al-Omara was obliged to purchase from the latter the freedom of the pilgrimage to Mecca, at the price of a disgraceful treaty.

During the troubles of the Caliphate the Byzantines had made great advances; they had even taken Malatia and Samosata (Samsat). But the great valour of the Hamdanid prince Saif-addaula checked their march. The Greek army suffered two severe defeats and sued for peace.

21. _Reign of Mottaqi_.--Radi died in Rabia I. A.H. 329 (December 940). Another son of Moqtadir was then proclaimed caliph under the name of _al-Mottaqi billah_ ("he who guards himself by God"). At the time of his accession the Amir al-Omara was the Turkish general Bajkam, in whose favour Ibn Raiq had been obliged to retire. 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, marched against Bagdad and made himself master of the capital, but was soon driven out by the Dailamite general Kurtakin. Ibn Raiq came back and reinstated himself as Amir al-Omara. But Baridi again laid siege to Bagdad, and Mottaqi fled to Nasir addaula the Hamdanid prince of Mosul, who then marched against Bagdad, and succeeded in repelling Baridi. In return he obtained the office of Amir al-Omara. 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. Mottaqi fled again to Mosul and thence to Rakka. The Ikshid, sovereign of Egypt and Syria, offered him a refuge, but Tuzun, fearing to see the caliph obtain such powerful support, found means to entice him to his tent, and had his eyes put out, Saphar 333 (October 944).

22. _Reign of Mostakfi._--As successor Tuzun chose _al-Mostakfi billah_ ("he who finds full sufficiency with God"), a son of Moktafi. This prince, still more than his predecessors, was a mere puppet in the hands of Tuzun, who died a few months later, and his successor Ibn Shirzad. Such was the weakness of the caliph that a notorious robber, named Hamdi, obtained immunity for his depredations by a monthly payment of 25,000 dinars. One of the Buyid princes, whose power had been steadily increasing, marched about this time against Bagdad, which he entered in Jomada I. A.H. 334 (December 945), and was acknowledged by the caliph as legal sovereign, under the title of Sultan. He assumed at this time the name of Mo'izz addaula. Mostakfi was soon weary of this new master, and plotted against him. At least Mo'izz addaula suspected him and deprived him of his eyesight, Jomada II. A.H. 334 (January 946). There were thus in Bagdad three caliphs who had been dethroned and blinded, Qahir, Mottaqi and Mostakfi.

23. _Reign of Moti._--Mo'izz addaula soon abandoned his original idea of restoring the title of caliph to one of the descendants of Ali, fearing a strong opposition of the people, and also dreading lest this should lead to the recovery by the caliphs of their former supremacy. His choice fell on a son of Moqtadir, who took the title of _al-Moti' billah_ ("he who obeys God"). The sultan, reserving to himself all the powers and revenues of the Caliphate, allowed the caliph merely a secretary and a pension of 5000 dirhems a day. Though in public prayers and on the coins the name of the caliph remained as that of the supreme authority, he had in reality no authority out of the palace, so that the saying became proverbial, "he contents himself with sermon and coin."

The Hamdanid prince of Mosul, who began to think his possessions threatened by Mo'izz addaula, tried without success to wrest Bagdad from him, and was obliged to submit to the payment of tribute. He died in 358 (A.D. 969), and ten years later the power of this branch of the Hamdanids came to an end. The representative of the other branch, Saif addaula, the prince of Haleb (Aleppo), conducted the war against the Byzantines with great valour till his death in 356 (A.D. 967), but could not stop the progress of the enemy. His descendants maintained themselves, but with very limited power, till A.H. 413 (A.D. 1022).

Mo'izz addaula died in the same year as Saif addaula, leaving his power to his son Bakhtiyar 'Izz addaula, who lacked his father's energy and loved pleasure more than business.

While the Abbasid dynasty was thus dying out in shame and degradation, the Fatimites, in the person of Mo'izz li-din-allah (or Mo'izz Abu Tamin Ma'add) ("he who makes God's religion victorious"), were reaching the highest degree of power and glory in spite of the opposition of the Carmathians, who left their old allegiance and entered into negotiations with the court of Bagdad, offering to drive back the Fatimites, on condition of being assisted with money and troops, and of being rewarded with the government of Syria and Egypt. The former condition was granted, but the caliph emphatically refused the latter demand, saying: "Both parties are Carmathians, they profess the same religion and are enemies of Islam." The Carmathians drove the Fatimites out of Syria, and threatened Egypt, but, notwithstanding their intrepidity, they were not able to cope with their powerful rival, who, however, in his turn could not bring them to submission. In 978-979 peace was made on condition that the Carmathians should evacuate Syria for an annual payment of 70,000 dinars. But the losses sustained by the Carmathians during that struggle had been enormous. Their power henceforward declined, and came to an end in A.H. 474 (A.D. 1081).

Mo'izz addaula, as we have seen, professed a great veneration for the house of Ali. He not only caused the mourning for the death of Hosain and other Shi'ite festivals to be celebrated at Bagdad, but also allowed imprecations against Moawiya and even against Mahomet's wife Ayesha and the caliphs Abu Bekr, Omar and Othman, to be posted up at the doors of the mosques. These steps annoyed the people and the Turkish soldiery, who were Sunnites, and led at last to an insurrection. Moti was compelled to abdicate, and Bakhtiyar was driven out of Bagdad Dhu'l-qa'da 363 (August 974).

24. _Reign of Tai._--Moti left the empty title of caliph to his son _al-Ta'i li-amri'llah_ ("the obedient to the command of God"). The Turks who had placed him on the throne could not maintain themselves, but so insignificant was the person of the caliph that 'Adod addaula, who succeeded his cousin Bakhtiyar in Bagdad, did not think of replacing him by another. Under this prince, or king, as he was called, the power of the Buyids reached its zenith. His empire stretched from the Caspian to the Persian Sea, and in the west to the eastern frontier of Syria. He did his best to remedy the misery caused by the intestine Wars, repaired the ruined mosques and other public edifices, founded hospitals and libraries--his library in Shiraz was one of the wonders of the world--and improved irrigation. It was also he who built the mausoleum of Hosain at Kerbela, and that of Ali at Kufa. But after his death in the year 372 (A.D. 983), his sons, instead of following the example of their predecessors, the three sons of Buya, fought one against the other. In 380 (A.D. 990) the youngest of them, Baha addaula, had the upper hand. This prince, who was as avaricious as he was ambitious, wishing to deprive the caliph Ta'i of his possessions, compelled him to abdicate A.H. 381 (A.D. 991).

25. _Reign of Qadir._--A grandson of Moqtadir was then made caliph under the name of _al-Qadir billah_ ("the powerful through God"). The only deed of power, however, that is recorded of him, is that he opposed himself to the substitution of a Shi'ite head cadi for the Sunnite, so that Baha addaula had to content himself with giving to the Shi'ites a special judge, to whom he gave the title of _naqib_ (superintendent). During this caliphate the Buyid princes were in continual war with one another. Meanwhile events were preparing the fall of their dynasty. In 350 (A.D. 961) a Turkish general of the Samanids had founded for himself a principality in Ghazni, arid at his death in 366 (A.D. 976) his successor Sabuktagin had conquered Bost in Sijistan and Qosdar in Baluchistan, beaten the Indian prince Diaya Pala, and been acknowledged as master of the lands west of the Indus. At his death in 387 his son Mahmud conquered the whole of Khorasan and Sijistan, with a great part of India. He then attacked the Buyids, and would have destroyed their dynasty but for his death in the year 421 (A.D. 1030).

In 389 (A.D. 999) Ilek-khan, the prince of Turkistan, took Bokhara and made an end to the glorious state of the Samanids, the last prince of which was murdered in 395 (A.D. 1005). The Samanids had long been a rampart of the Caliphate against the Turks, whom they held under firm control. From their fall dates the invasion of the empire by that people. The greatest gainer for the moment was Mahmud of Ghazni. In Mesopotamia and Irak several petty states arose on the ruins of the dominions of the Hamdanids and of the Abbasids.

Qadir died in the last month of A.H. 422 (November 1031). He is the author of some theological treatises.

26. _Reign of Qaim_.--He was succeeded by his son, who at his accession took the title of _al-Qaim 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 Ghuzz, a great Turkish tribe, who took the name Seljuk from Seljuk their chief in Transoxiana. Already during the reign of Mahmud large bodies had passed the Oxus and spread over Khorasan and the adjacent countries. In the time of his successor the bulk of the tribe followed, and in the year 429 (A.D. 1038) Toghrul Beg, their chief, beat the army of the Ghaznevids and made his entry into Nishapur. Thenceforth this progress was rapid (see SELJUKS). The situation in Bagdad had become so desperate that the caliph called Toghrul to his aid. This prince entered Bagdad in the month of Ramadan A.H. 447 (December 1055), and overthrew finally the dynasty of the Buyids.[44] In 449 (A.D. 1058) the caliph gave him the title of "King of the East and West." But in the following year, 450, during his absence, the Shi'ites made themselves masters of the metropolis, and proclaimed the Caliphate of the Fatimite prince Mostansir. They were soon overthrown by Toghrul, who was now supreme, and compelled the caliph to give him his daughter in marriage. Before the marriage, however, he died, and was succeeded by his nephew Alp Arslan, who died in 465 (25th December) (A.D. 1072). Qaim died two years later, Shaaban A.H. 467 (April 1075).

In the year 440 Mo'izz b. Badis, the Zeirid ruler of the Maghrib, made himself independent, and substituted in prayer the name of the Abbasid caliph for that of Mostansir. In order to punish him, the latter gave permission to the Arab tribes in Egypt to cross the Nile, and granted them possession of all the lands they should conquer. This happened in 442 (A.D. 1050) and was of the greatest significance for the subsequent fate of Africa.

27. _Reign of Moqtadi_.--In the first year of the Caliphate of _al-Moqtadi bi-amri'llah_ ("he who follows the orders of God"), a grandson of Qaim, 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 Bagdad 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 sultanate took place. The caliph, who had in 1087 married the daughter of Malik-Shah, had been compelled two years after to send her back to her father, as she complained of being neglected by her husband. Just before his death, the Sultan had ordered him to transfer his residence from Bagdad to Basra. After his death he stayed and supported the princess Turkan Khatun. This lost him his life. The day after Barki-yaroq's triumphant entry into Bagdad, Muharram 487 (February 1094), he died suddenly, apparently by poison.

28. _Reign of Mostazhir_.--_Al-Mostazhir billah_ ("he who seeks to triumph through God"), son of Moqtadi, was only sixteen years old when he was proclaimed caliph. His reign is memorable chiefly for the growing power of the Assassins (q.v.) and for the first Crusade (see CRUSADES). The Seljuk princes were too much absorbed by internal strife to concentrate against the new assailants. After the death of Barkiyaroq in November 1104, his brother Mahommed reigned till April 1118. His death was followed about four months later by that of Mostazhir.