S. Rappoport - History Of Egypt From 330 B.C. To The Present Time, Volume 11 (of 12)

S >> S. Rappoport >> History Of Egypt From 330 B.C. To The Present Time, Volume 11 (of 12)

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[Illustration: 347.jpg DOOR OF AN ARABIAN HOUSE.]

Harun seems to have been as reluctant as his father and grandfather were
before him to leave a province too long in the hands of a governor, and
he even surpassed them in his precautionary measures. In the year 171
of the Hegira, he recalled Ali ibn Suleiman, and gave the government of
Egypt to Musa ibn Isa, a descendant of the Caliph Ali.

Thereafter the governors were changed on an average of once a year,
and their financial duties were separately administered. Musa ibn Isa,
however, held the appointment of Governor of Egypt on three separate
occasions, and of his third period Said ibn Batrik tells the following
anecdote:

"While Obaid Allah ibn el-Mahdi was ruling in Egypt," he relates, "he
sent a beautiful young Koptic slave to his brother, the caliph, as a
gift. The Egyptian odalisk so charmed the caliph that he fell violently
in love with her. Suddenly, however, the favourite was laid prostrate
by a malady which the court physicians could neither cure nor even
diagnose. The girl insisted that, being Egyptian, only an Egyptian
physician could cure her. The caliph instantly ordered his brother to
send post haste the most skilful doctor in Egypt. This proved to be the
Melchite patriarch, for in those days Koptic priests practised medicine
and cultivated other sciences. The patriarch set out for Baghdad,
restored the favourite to health, and in reward received from the
caliph an imperial diploma, which restored to the orthodox Christians
or Melchites all those privileges of which they had been deprived by the
Jacobite heretics since their union with the conqueror Amr ibn el-Asi."

If this story be true, one cannot but perceive the plot skilfully laid
and carried out by the powerful clergy, to whom any means, even the
sending of a concubine to the caliph, seemed legitimate to procure the
restoration of their supremacy and the humiliation of their adversaries.

[Illustration: 349.jpg A VEILED BEAUTY]

The year 204 of the Hegira was memorable for the death of the Iman
Muhammed ibn Idris, surnamed esh-Shafi. This celebrated doctor was the
founder of one of the four orthodox sects which recognised the Moslem
religion, and whose followers take the name "Shafites" from their chief.
The Iman esh-Shafi died at Fostat when but forty-three years old. His
dogmas are more especially followed in Egypt, where his sect is still
represented and presided over by one of the four Imans at the head of
the famous Mosque Jam el-Azar, or mosque of flowers.

The distance of Egypt from Baghdad, the caliph's capital, was the cause
of the neglect of many of his commands, and upon more than one occasion
was his authority slighted. Thus it happened that for more than five
years the government of Egypt was in the hands of Abd Allah ibn es-Sari,
whom the soldiers elected, but whose appointment was never confirmed by
the caliph. Abd Allah ibn Tahir, the son of the successful general, had,
in the year a.h. 210, settled at Belbeys in Egypt. With a large number
of partisans, he assumed almost regal privileges. In 211 a.h. he
proceeded to Fostat and there dismissed Abd Allah ibn es-Sari and
replaced him by Ayad ibn Ibrahim, whom he also dismissed the following
year, giving the governorship to Isa ibn Yazid, surnamed el-Jalud. In
the year 213, the Caliph el-Mamun ordered Abd Allah ibn Tahir to retire,
and confided the government of Egypt and also that of Syria to his own
brother el-Mutasim, third son of the Caliph Ilarun er-Rashid.

In the year 218 of the Hegira (a. d. 833), Muhammed el-Mutasim succeeded
his brother el-Mamun. He was the first caliph who brought the name of
God into his surname. On ascending the throne, he assumed the title
el-Mutasim b'lllah, that is "strengthened by God," and his example was
followed by all his successors.

From the commencement of this reign, el-Mutasim b'lllah was forced to
defend himself against insurgents and aspirants to the caliphate. In
the year 219 of the Hegira, Kindi, the Governor of Egypt, died, and the
caliph named his son, Mudhaffar ibn Kindi, as his successor. Mudhaffar
ibn Kindi, dying the following year, was succeeded by Musa, son of
Abu'l-Abbas, surnamed esh-Shirbani by some writers, esh-Shami (the
Syrian) by others. In the year 224 Musa was recalled and his place
taken by Malik, surnamed by some el-Hindi (the Indian), by others ibn
el-Kindi. A year later the caliph dismissed Malik, and sent Ashas to
Egypt in his place. This was the last governor appointed by el-Mutasim
b'lllah, for the caliph died of fever in the year 227 of the Hegira.

Oriental historians have noticed that the numeral eight affected this
caliph in a singular manner. Between himself and Abbas, the head of his
house, there were eight generations; he was born in the month of Shaban,
the eighth month of the Mussulman year; he was the eighth Abbasidian
caliph, and ascended the throne in the year 218, aged thirty-eight years
and eight months; he reigned eight years, eight months, and eight days,
and died in the forty-eighth year of his age, leaving eight sons and
eight daughters. He fought in eight battles, and on his death eight
million dinars and eighty thousand dirhems were discovered in his
private treasury. It is this singular coincidence which gave him the
name Mutamma.

[Illustration: 351.jpg TOMB OF A SHEIKH]

But a sadder fatality exercised its influence over the Caliph Mutamma,
for from him dates the beginning of the decadence of his dynasty, and
to him its first cause may be ascribed. The fact is, Mutasim was
uneducated, without ability, and lacking in moral principles; he was
unable even to write. Endowed with remarkable strength and muscles
of iron, he was able, so Arab historians relate, to lift and carry
exceptionally heavy weights; to this strength was added indomitable
courage and love of warfare, fine weapons, horses, and warriors. This
taste led him, even before the death of his father, to organise a picked
corps, for which he selected the finest, handsomest, and strongest of
the young Turkish slaves taken in war, or sent as tribute to the caliph.

The vast nation, sometimes called Turks, sometimes Tatars, was
distributed, according to all Oriental geographers, over all the
countries of Northern Asia, from the river Jihun or Oxus to Kathay or
China. That the Turks and the Arabs, both bent upon a persistent
policy of conquest, should come into more or less hostile contact
was inevitable. The struggle was a long one, and during the numerous
engagements many prisoners were taken on both sides. Those Turks who
fell into the hands of the Arabs were sent to the different provinces
of their domain, where they became slaves of the chief emirs and of the
caliphs themselves, where, finding favour in the eyes of the caliphs,
they were soon transferred to their personal retinue. The distrust which
the caliphs felt for the emirs of their court, whose claims they were
only able to appease by making vassals of them, caused them to commit
the grave error of confiding in these alien slaves, who, barbaric
and illiterate as they were, now living in the midst of princes, soon
acquired a knowledge of Muhammedanism, the sciences, and, above all, the
politics of the country.

It was not long before they were able to fill the most responsible
positions, and, given their freedom by the caliphs, were employed by the
government according to their abilities. Not only were they given the
chief positions at court, but the government of the principal provinces
was entrusted to them. They repaid these favours later by the blackest
ingratitude, especially when the formation of a Turkish guard brought
a number of their own countrymen under their influence. Ever anxious to
augment his own body-guard, and finding the number of Turks he annually
received as tribute insufficient, el-Mutasim purchased a great many
for the purpose of training them for that particular service. But these
youths speedily abused the confidence shown them by the caliph, who,
perceiving that their insolence was daily growing more insupportable to
the inhabitants of Baghdad, resolved to leave the capital, rebuild the
ancient city of Samarrah and again make it the seat of the empire.

At this time the captain of the caliph's guard was one Tulun, a
freedman, whom fate would seem to have reduced to servitude for the
purpose of showing that a slave might found a dynasty destined to rule
over Egypt and Syria. Tulun belonged to the Toghus-ghur, one of the
twenty-four tribes composing the population of Turkestan. His family
dwelt near Lake Lop, in Little Bukhara. He was taken prisoner in battle
by Nuh ibn Assad es-Samami, then in command at Bukhara. This prince,
who was subject to the Caliph Mamun, paid an annual tribute of slaves,
Turkish horses, and other valuables. In the year 815 a. d., Tulun was
among the slaves sent as tribute to the caliph, who, attracted by his
bearing, enrolled him in his own body-guard.

Before long he had so gained the caliph's confidence that Mamun gave him
his freedom and the command of the guard, at the same time appointing
him Emir es-sitri, prince of the veil or curtain. This post, which was a
mark of the greatest esteem, comprised the charge of the personal safety
of the sovereign, by continually keeping watch without the curtain or
rich drapery which hung before the private apartments, and admitting no
one without a special order. Tulun spent twenty years at the court of
el-Mamun and of his successor, Mutasim, and became the father of several
children, one of which, Ahmed ibn Tulun,* known later as Abu l'Abbas,
was the founder of the Tulunide dynasty in Egypt and Syria.

* Ahmed ibn Tulun was, according to some historians, born at
Baghdad in the year 220 of the Hegira, in the third year of
the reign of el-Mutasim b' Illah. Others claim Samarrah as
his birthplace. His mother, a young Turkish slave, was named
Kassimeh, or some say, Hachimeh. Some historians have denied
that Ahmed was the son of Tulun, one of them, Suyuti, in a
manuscript belonging to Marcel, quotes Abu Asakar in
confirmation of this assertion, who pretends he was told by
an old Egyptian that Ahmed was the son of a Turk named Mahdi
and of Kassimeh, the slave of Tulun. Suyuti adds that Tulun
adopted the child on account of his good qualities, but this
statement is unsupported and seems contradicted by
subsequent events.

Before Ahmed ibn Tulun had reached an age to take part in political
affairs, two caliphs succeeded Mutasim b'lllah. The first was his son
Harun abu Jafar, who, upon his accession, assumed the surname el-Wathik
b'lllah (trusting in God). Wathik carried on the traditional policy of
continually changing the governors of the provinces, and, dying in the
year 847, was succeeded by his half-brother Mutawakkil. In the following
year the new caliph confided the government of Egypt to Anbasa, but
dismissed him a few months later in favour of his own son el-Muntasir
ibn el-Mutawakkil, whom two years afterwards the caliph named as his
successor to the throne. El-Muntasir was to be immediately succeeded by
his two younger brothers, el-Mutazz b'lllah and el-Mujib b'lllah.

Mutawakkil then proceeded to divide his kingdom, giving Africa and
all his Eastern possessions, from the frontier of Egypt to the eastern
boundary of his states, to his eldest son. His second son, el-Mutazz,
received Khorassan, Tabaristan, Persia, Armenia, and Aderbaijan as his
portion, and to el-Mujib, his third son, he gave Damascus, Hemessa, the
basin of the Jordan, and Palestine.

These measures, by which the caliph hoped to satisfy the ambitions
of his sons, did not have the desired effect. Despite the immense
concessions he had received, el-Muntasir, anxious to commence his rule
over the whole of the Islam empire, secretly conspired against his
father and meditated taking his life. Finding that in Egypt he was too
far from the scene of his intrigues, he deputed the government of that
country to Yazid ibn Abd Allah, and returned to his father's court to
encourage the malcontents and weave fresh plots. His evil schemes soon
began to bear fruit, for, in the year 244 of the Hegira, his agents
stirred up the Turkish soldiery at Damascus to insurrection on the
ground of deferred payment. Whereupon the caliph paid them the arrears,
and left Damascus to retire to Samarrah.

[Illustration: 356.jpg THE MOSQUE OF IBN TULUN, CAIRO.]

At length, in the year 861 (a.h. 247), Mutawakkil discovered the
scarcely concealed treachery of his son, and reproved him publicly.
Some days later the caliph was murdered at night by the captain of his
Turkish Guard, and Muntasir, who is commonly supposed to have
instigated the crime, was immediately proclaimed as his successor in the
government.

The most important event in Egypt during the reign of Mutawakkil was the
falling in of the Nilometer at Fostat. This disaster, was the result of
an earthquake of considerable violence, which was felt throughout
Syria. The caliph ordered the reconstruction of the Nilometer, which was
accomplished the same year, and the Nilometer of the Island of Rhodha
was then called Magaz el-jedid, or the New Nilometer.

After reigning scarcely a year, Muntasir himself succumbed, most
probably to poison, and his cousin Ahmed was elected to the caliphate by
the Turkish soldiery, with the title of Mustain. During his brief reign
the Moslems were defeated by the Byzantines at Awasia, and in 866 the
Turkish soldiers revolted against the caliph and elected his brother
Mutazz in his place. Mustain was, however, allowed to retire to Ma'szit.
He was permitted to take an attendant with him, and his choice fell upon
Ahmed, the son of Tulun, already mentioned. Ahmed served the dethroned
prince truly, and had no part in the subsequent murder of this unhappy
man.

In the meantime the mother of Ahmed had married the influential General
Baik-Bey, and when the latter was given the rulership of Egypt in the
year 868 a. d. (254 a.h.), he sent his stepson as proxy, according to
the custom of the time. On the 23d Ramadhan 254 (15th September, 868),
Ahmed ibn Tulun arrived at Fostat. He encountered great difficulties,
and discovered that at Alexandria and also in other districts there were
independent emirs, who were not directly under the ruler. Soon after his
arrival an insurrection broke out in Upper Egypt. Ahmed showed himself
born to the place; he crushed the uprising and also suppressed a second
revolt that was threatening. By degrees he cleverly undermined the power
of his colleagues, and made his own position in Fostat secure.

When Muaffik was nominated commander-in-chief of the West by his brother
Mustamid (elected caliph in 870), Ahmed managed to secure the good-will
of the vizier of the caliph and thus to obtain the command in Egypt.
He kept the regent in Baghdad in a state of complacency, occasionally
sending him tribute; but, as wars with the Sinds began to trouble the
caliphate, he did not think it worth while to trouble himself further
about Baghdad, and decided to keep his money for himself. Muaffik
was not the man to stand this, and prepared to attack Ahmed, but the
disastrous results of the last war had not yet passed away. When the
army intended for Egypt was camping in Mesopotamia, there was not enough
money to pay the troops, and the undertaking had to be deferred.

Ahmed had a free hand over the enormous produce of Egypt. The compulsory
labour of the industrious Kopt brought in a yearly income of four
million gold dinars ($10,120,000), and yet these people felt themselves
better off than formerly on account of the greater order and peace that
existed under his energetic government. It cannot be denied that Ahmed
in the course of years became much more extravagant and luxurious,
but he used his large means in some measure for the betterment of the
country. He gave large sums not only for the erection of palaces and
barracks, but also for hospitals and educational advancement. To this
day is to be seen the mosque of Ibn Tulun, built by him in the newer
part of Fostat,--a district which was later annexed to the town of
Cairo.

[Illustration: 359.jpg SANCTUARY OF THE MOSQUE OF IBN TULUN]

The numerous wars in which Muaffik was involved gave Ahmed the
opportunity of extending his power beyond the boundaries of Egypt. The
ruler of the caliphate of Damascus died in the year 897, and soon after
Ahmed marched into Syria, and, with the exception of Antioch, which
had to be taken by force, the whole country fell into the hands of
the mighty emir. The commanders of isolated districts did not feel
themselves encouraged to offer any resistance, for they had no feeling
of faithfulness for the government, nor had they any hope of assistance
from Baghdad.

The triumphant march of Tulun was hindered in the year 879 by bad news
from Fostat. One of his sons, El-Abbas, had quarrelled with his father,
and had marched to Barca, with troops which he led afterwards to
disaster, and had taken with him money to the amount of 1,000,000 dinars
($2,530,000). He thought himself safe from his enraged father there,
but the latter quickly returned to Fostat, and the news of the ample
preparations which he was hastening for the subjection of his rebel
son caused El-Abbas to place himself still farther out of his reach. He
suddenly attacked the state of Ibrahim II. (the Aghlabite), and caused
serious trouble with his soldiery in the eastern districts of Tripolis.
The neighbouring Berbers gave Ibrahim their assistance, and Abbas was
defeated and retreated to Barca in 880. He remained there some time
until an army sent by Ahmed annihilated his troops and he himself was
taken prisoner.

The rebellion of his son was the turning-point in Ahmed's career: Lulu,
his general in Mesopotamia, deserted him for Muaffik, and an endeavour
to conquer Mecca was frustrated by the unexpected resistance of numbers
of newly arrived pilgrims. Ahmed now caused the report to be spread that
Muaffik was a conspirator against the representatives of the Prophet,
thus depriving him of his dignity.

[Illustration: 361.jpg THE MOSQUE OF IBN TULUN]

The emir had also besieged in vain at Tarsus his former general
Jasman, who had become presumptuous on account of his victory over the
Byzantines. He would eventually have made up for this defeat, but
an illness overcame him while encamped before Tarsus. He obeyed his
doctor's orders as little as the caliph's, and his malady, aggravated
by improper diet, caused his death in his fifty-first year at Fostat in
884, whither he had withdrawn. He left seventeen sons,--enough to assure
a dynasty of a hundred years. Khumarawaih, who inherited the kingdom,
had not many of his father's characteristics. He was a good-natured,
pleasure-loving young man, barely twenty years old, and with a marked
distaste for war. He did, however, notwithstanding his peace-loving
proclivities, fight the caliph's forces near Damascus, and defeat them,
never having seen a battle before. The emir fled from the scene in a
panic.

When Muatadid became caliph in 892, he offered his daughter Katr en-Neda
(Dewdrop) in marriage to the caliph's son. The Arabic historians relate
that Khuma-rawaih was fearful of assassination, and had his couch
guarded by a trained lion, but he was finally put to death (a.h. 282),
according to some accounts by women, and according to others by his
eunuchs. The death of Khu-marawaih was the virtual downfall of the
Tulunid dynasty.

The officers of the army then at first made Gaish Abu'l-Asakir (one of
Khumarawaih's sons) emir; but, when this fourteen-year-old boy seemed
incapable of anything but stupid jokes, they put his brother Harun on
the throne. Every commanding officer, however, did as he liked. Rajib,
the commander of the army of defence, declared himself on the side of
the caliph, and the Syrian emirs gave themselves up to his general,
Muhammed ibn Suleiman, without any resistance. At the close of the year
he was before Fostat, and at the same time a fleet appeared at Damietta.
A quarrel arose amongst Harun's body-guard, in which the unlucky prince
was killed (904). His uncle Shaiban, a worthy son of Ahmed, made a last
stand, but was obliged to give in to the superior force.

Muhammed behaved with his Turks in the most outrageous way in Fostat:
the plundering was unrestrained, and that part of Fostat which Ahmed
had built was almost entirely destroyed. The adherents of the reigning
family were grossly maltreated, many of them killed, and others sent to
Baghdad. The governors changed in rapid succession; disorder, want, and
wretchedness existed throughout the entire country west of the caliph's
kingdom. At this period the provinces of the empire had already fallen
into the hands of the numerous minor princes, who, presuming on the
caliph's weakness, had declared themselves independent sovereigns.
Nothing remained to the Abbasids but Baghdad, a few neighbouring
provinces, and Egypt.

Under the Caliphs Muktadir, Kahir, and Rahdi, Egypt had an almost
constant change of governors. One of them, Abu Bekr Muhammed, ultimately
became the founder of a new dynasty,--the Ikshidite,--destined to rule
over Egypt and Syria. Abu Bekr Muhammed was the son of Takadj, then
governor of Damascus. His father had been chief emir at the court of the
Tulunid princes, and, after the fall of this dynasty, remained in Egypt,
where he occupied a post under the government. Intrigues, however, drove
him to Syria, whither his partisans followed him. He first entered the
army of the caliph, and, capturing the town of Ramleh, was given the
governorship of Damascus as reward. His son Abu Bekr Muhammed did not go
to Egypt to fulfil the duties with which he had been invested, and only
retained the title for one month. He was subsequently reinstated,
and this time repaired thither. But Ahmed ibn Kighlagh, who was then
governing Egypt, refused to retire and was only defeated after several
engagements, when he and his followers proceeded to Barca in Africa.

In the year 328 of the Hegira, the caliph Radhi bestowed the honour of
Emir el-Umara (Prince of Princes) upon Muhammed ibn Raik. This officer,
discontented with the government of Palestine, led an army into Syria
and expelled Badra, the lieutenant of Muhammed el-Ikshid. The latter
left Egypt at once, entrusting the government of that country to his
brother, el-Hassan, and brought his forces to Faramah, where the troops
of Muhammed ibn Raik were already stationed. Thanks to the mediation
of several emirs, matters were concluded peacefully, and Muhammed
el-Ikhshid returned to Fostat. Upon his arrival, however, he learnt that
Muhammed ibn Raik had again left Damascus and was preparing to march
upon Egypt.

This intelligence obliged Muhammed el-Ikshid to return at once to Syria.
He encountered the advance-guard of the enemy and promptly led the
attack; his right wing was scattered, but the centre, commanded
by himself, remained firm, and Muhammed ibn Raik retreated towards
Damascus. Husain, brother of el-Ikshid, lost his life in the combat.
Despite the enmity between them, Muhammed ibn Raik sent his own son
to el-Ikshid, charged with messages of condolence for the loss he had
sustained and bearing proposals of peace. Muhammed el-Ikshid received
the son of his enemy with much respect, and invested him with a mantle
of honour. He then consented to cede Damascus, in consideration of an
annual tribute of 140,000 pieces of gold, and the restoration of all
that portion of Palestine between Ramleh and the frontiers of Egypt.
After having concluded all the arrangements relative to this treaty,
Muhammed el-Ikshid returned to Egypt in the year 329 of the Hegira.

[Illustration: 365.jpg COIN OF ABU BEKR.]

The Caliph Rahdi died in the same year (940 a. d.). He was thirty
years of age, and had reigned six years, ten months, and ten days. His
brother, Abu Ishak Ibrahim, succeeded him, and was henceforth known by
the name of Muttaki. A year later Muhammed el-Ikshid was acknowledged
Prince of Egypt by the new caliph. Shortly after, he learnt that his
former enemy, Muhammed ibn Raik had been killed by the Hamdanites;
he thereupon seized the opportunity to recover those provinces he had
granted him, and, marching into Syria, captured Damascus and all the
possessions he had relinquished upon the conclusion of their treaty.
Feeling now that his position was secure, he caused his son Kasim to be
recognised by the emirs and the entire army as his successor.

The year 332 of the Hegira was a disastrous one in Baghdad. The office
of Prince of Princes, bestowed according to the caprice of the Turkish
officers upon any of their leaders, was now become a position superior
even to that of caliph. It was held at this time by a Turk named Turun,
who so oppressed the caliph Muttaki that the latter was forced to fly
from his capital and retire to Mosul. He then besought help from the
Hamdanites, who immediately rallied their forces and, accompanied by the
caliph, marched upon Baghdad. They were, however, completely routed by
Turun and obliged V to retreat. Muttaki showed his gratitude to the two
princes by conferring a mantle of honour upon them, which, for some
time past, had been the only gift that Islam sovereigns had been able to
bestow.

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