A history of Egypt in the Middle Ages 9781315888149, 1315888149, 0415426006, 0415440688, 9780415426008, 9780415440684, 9781134537273

Table of contents :
Content: I. The Arab Conquest, 639-641 --
II. A province of the Caliphate, 641-868
Tables of governors and chief ministers --
III. £̀Ơ¿±l¿±n and Ikhsh♯±d, 868-969 --
IV. The Sh♯±ʻa Revolution, 969
Table of alleged descent of Fāṭimid Caliphs --
V. The Fāṭimid Caliphs, 969-1094 --
VI. The attack from the East, 969-1171 --
VII. Saladin, 1169-1193, VIII. Saladin's successors (the Ayy¿±bids), 1193-1250
Table fo the Ayy¿±bid Dynasties --
IX. The first Maml¿±ks, 1250-1279 --
X. The house of ı̀øalāʻūn, 1279-1382 --
XI. The Circassian Maml¿±ks, 1382-1517.

Citation preview

A HISTORY OF EGYPT In the Middle Ages

Stanley Lane-Poole

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: ISLAM

A H IS T O R Y jO F E G Y P T the Middle Ages

By STANLEY LANE-POOLE

•Volume 24

■

First published in 1901 This edition first published in 2008 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, 0 X 14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Transferred to Digital Printing 2008 © 1901 Stanley Lane-Poole All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

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A catalog record for this bool: has been requested ISBN 10: 0-415-42600-6 (Set) ISBN 10: 0-415-44068-8 (Volume 24) ISBN 13: 978-0-415-42600-8 (Set) ISBN 13: 978-0-415-44068-4 (Volume 24) ISBN 13 978-1-134-53727-3 (Ebk) . ,*M

- .4 -

Publisher's Note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of. this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

A

HISTORY OF EGYPT I

n

M

the

id d l e

A

ges

1*Y

STA N L EY L A N E-PO O LE, M .A., L IT T .D . I'R O FK SSO R OK ARAfMC A T T R IN IT Y C O I.L E O S , D U B LfN

W IT H A MAP ANO 101 ILLUSTRATIONS

FOURTH CO ITION

METHUEN 36

ESSEX

& CO. L T D . STREET

LONDON

W .C.

First P u b lis h e d ................ March Second E n itic n , R cviieJ.

.

.

1901

A p r il

Fourth Edition

PRIN TED

.

. . .

IN C R E A T B R I T A I N

1914

*9*4

T h i r d E d i t i o n ............................. O cto b er

1925

PREFACE I n this volume the History of Egypt in the Middle Ages, from its conquest by the Saracens in 64c to its annexation by the O ttom an T urks in 1517, is for the first time related in a continuous narrative apart from the general history of the Mohammadan caliphate. In compressing the events of nearly nine centuries into a single volume, many interesting subjects are of necessity treated very briefly, but the list of authorities at the head of each chapter will enable the student to obtain fuller details, especially if he is acquainted with Arabic. Besides the works thus cited, I am particularly indebted to M. Max van Berchem, not only for permission to reproduce his photographs of inscriptions, but for his invaluable assistance in preparing the lists of inscriptions which precede each chapter, for which he kindly sent me the proof-sheets of the forthcoming volume of his Materiaux pour vn Corpus Inscripttonum Arabicarum, and also :o te s of the Mamluk inscriptions he had collected in Syria. I have also to thank my colleagues Professor K. H. Charles and Professor J. B. Bury for their help in reference to the Ethiopic and Byzantine sources for the history of the Arab conquest ; and M. P. Casanova and M. Herz Bey for the use of some of the illustrations. S. L.-P. T r in it y C o i i .r r b , D u b l in ,

December \%tk, 1900

NOTE TO SECOND EDITION th e original publication o f this history t w o exhaustive w orks dealing w ith the A rab invasion have a p p e ared : Dr. A. J. B utler's Arab Conquest o f E g yp t, and th e A n n a li dell' Islam o f Leone C aetani, Principe di Teano. I have to express my obligations t o b o t h th ese w orks for much o f th e reconstruction o f my first chapter.

S ince

S. L .-P. Christmas, 1913

CONTENTS CHAP. I. II.

PAGK T h e A r a b C o n q u e s t , 6 3 9 - 6 4 1 .............................................1

A

P r o v in c e o f t h e C a l ip h a t e ,

641-868.

Tables of Governors and Chief .Ministers

14

.

45

III.

T O l ON AND IK H S H ID , 8 6 8 - 9 6 9

.

59

IV .

T h e S h I ‘a R e v o l u t i o n , 9 6 9 ...............................................9 2

Table of Alleged Descent of Fatfmid Caliphs. V. V I. V II.

V III.

T he

F a t im id C a l ip h s , 9 6 9 -1 0 9 4

T h e A tt a c k from t h e

S alad in ,

*

.116

•

E a s t , 9 6 9 -1 1 7 1

f 17 .

♦

158

1 1 6 9 - 1 1 9 3 ..................................................

S a l a d i n ’s S u c c k s s o r s ( t h e A y y u b i d s ) ,

19 0

11 9 3 - 1 2 5 0

.

212

Table of the AyyCibid D y n a s t i e s .................................. 212 IX.

T he

F ir s t M a m l u k s ,

X.

T he

H o u s e o k IC a l a u n ,

XI.

1250-1279

,

,

1279-1382.

•

.

1382-1517

«

,

T h e C ir c a s s ia x M a m l u k s ,

vii

.

242 276

.

323

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIG.

1. Mosque of ‘Amr at F u stät...................................... 2 . Glass weight of Osàma b. Zeyd [ a . d . 720] . 3* Glass stamp of ‘Obeydalläh b. el-Habhab, dated 729 4- Glass weight of el-Käsim b. ‘Obeytlallali, 730 5« Glass weight of *Abd-ct-McXk b. Yezid, 750 6. Gla^s weight of Yezül b. Halim. 761 7 - Glass weight of Mohammad b. Sa‘id, 769 . Glass weight of el-Fadl b. Salili. 785 . Dinar (gold coin) of caliph el-Ma'mün, struck at Miçr (Fustät), 814 . . . . . . io. Glass weight of Ashnäs, 834 ff. . i t . Section of Nilometer on island of Róda, 9th century 12. Mosque of Afrmad ibn Tülün at Cairo, 877-79 13- Founder’s inscription in mosque of Ibn-Tiilfin, 879 14. Dinar of Ahmad ibn Tulftn, Misr. 881 I S' Tiile-deed (on wood) to a shop, 882 . 16. Dinar of Härün b. Khumäraweyh, Misr, 904 l 7 ' Dinar of Mohammad el-lkhshid, Palestine, 943 . 18. Dirhem of Abü-1-JCäsirn b. el-lkhshid, Damascus, 949 19. Dinar of Abü-1-Käsim b. el*lkhshld, Misr, 950 . . . . 20. Dinar of el-M o^z, Misr, 969 . 21. ¿-Dinar of el-Mo‘izz, Palestine, 974 . . . . 22. Door of el-Azhar mosque, 972 . . . . . 23- Dinar of el-‘Aziz, Misr, 976 24. ¿-Dinar of el-Hakim, Sicily, 1004 . . . 25* Dinar of cl-Hakim, Misr. 1015 . 26. Glass weight of el-I;Iakim, IOI2 . . . . 27. Mosque of el-Hakim, 991-1003 . . . . 28. Dinar of ez-Zähir, Misr, 1030 . . . . . 29. Glass weight of el-Musransir 30* Dinar of el-Mustansir, Misr, 1047 31- Inscription of Bedr el-G'emali in mosque of Ibn-Tülü» 1077 . . . . 32. Gate of Zawila, Cairo, 1091 33- Gate of Victory (Bäb-en-Nasr), Cairo, 1087 . , 34. Dinar of el-MustaMi, Tripolis, n o i .

PACK

l6 25 27 29 29

32 33 34 37 38 62 64 67

68 70 76

84

86 88

101 1 06 1 10 1 19 1 24 127 129

130 *35 137 138 x5° 153 ISS 162

LIST OF ILLU STRA TIO N S 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46.

Glass weight of el-Amir . . . . . . . 163 Dinar of el-Amir, J£\is, 1123 or 1125 . . . . 166 Dinar of “ the expected Imam,” Cairo, 1131 167 Glass weight of ez-Zafu . . . . 171 Dìnàr of e?-Zafir, Miçr, 1149 . .172 Glass weight of el-'Adid . . . . . . 175 Dinar of e)-‘Âdid, Cairo, 1 1 6 8 ...............................................183 Glass weight of caliph el-MustacJi, issued by Saladin, 117J . 192 Dinar of Nur*ed-din. issued by Saladin, Cairo, 1173 196 Dinar of Saladin, Cairo, 11 7 9 .............................................. 200 Citadel of Cairo (drawn in 179S) . . . . . 201 Saladin’s inscription on the Gate of Steps in the Citadel of Cairo, 1183.......................................................................... 203 47- Gate of Steps in Citadel of Cairo, 1183 . . . . 205 4b. Dirhem (silver coin) of Saladin, Aleppo, 1186 . 207 49. Saladin’s inscription at church of St. Anne. J e r u s a l e m , 1192 208 50. Dinar of el-*Adil, Alexandria, 1 1 9 9 ..................................... 215 51. Carved border of a sheykh’s tomb, 1216 . . . .219 Ç2. Eagle on Citadel of Cairo, probably early 13th century 228 53. Dinar of el-Kamil, Alexandria, 1 2 2 5 ..................................... 229 54. Dinar of es-Sâlih Ayyüb, Cairo, J 239 . . . . 230 55. Inscription on tomb of es-Salih Ayyfib, 1252 231 56. Dinar of queen Sheger-ed-durr, Cairo, 1250 . . 255 57. Dinar of Aybek, Alexandria. 1256 . . . . . 256 58. Dinar of Beybars, Alexandria, 1261 . . . . . 263 59. Lion of Beybars on boss of mosque door, 1268 . 264 60. Tomb-mosque of Kalâ’ûn, 1 2 8 4 ..................................... 283 61. Dinar of Khalil, Cairo, date effaced . . . . 285 62. Dinar of Ketbughâ, Cairo, 1 2 9 4 -9 5 ..................................... 290 63. Inscription on medresa (college) of en-Nâsir at Cairo, 1299 293 64. Arms of a p o l o - m a s t e r .......................................................302 65. Bowl of an emir of en-Nâsir in the British Museum 303 66. Inscription in medresa of princess Tatar el-Iligaziya, at Cairo, 1360.............................................. ......... 307 67. Tower in Citadel of C a iro ...................................................... 3°9 68. Kursi of en-Nâçir, 14th century, in the Cairo Museum 311 69. Mosque of Sengarand Salar, 1323 . . . . . 3! 3 70. Arms of emïr el-Màridànï, 14th century, from a glass lamp . 314 71. Hall of Columns built by en-Na$ir in Citadel of Cairo, 1313 315 72. Arms of emir Tukuzdemir, from a lamp in the British Museum. 14th century...................................................... 316 73. Dinar of en-Nàçir, Cairo, 1340 . . . . . . 317 74. Dinar of sultan Hasan, Cairo, 1 3 4 9 ................................... 318 75. Palace of emir Yeshbek at Cairo, 1476, adjoining mosque of sultan Hasan . . . . . . . . 3*9 76. Memorial inscription in tomb of sultan Hasan, 1384 • 320 77. Mosque of sultan Hasan, 1362, from the Citadel 321 78. Arms of an emir inlaid in ivory and coloured woods 329

LIST OF ILLU STRA TIO N S F IO .

XI

I’A G E

79. Dinar of Bar^uV. Aleppo, 1385 . . . . . . 330 80. Pulpit (minbar) in tomb-mosque of Barkuk outside Cairo. 1401-11 . . . . . . . 331 81. Enamelled glass lamp of Barkii1^ in Arab Museum at Cairo 333 82. Dìnàr of Farag, Cairo, 1 4 0 7 ...............................................334 83. Kufic inscription of el-Mu*ayyad . . . . . 335 84. Dinar of el-Mu-ayyad, Alexandria, 1415 . . . . 336 85. Dinar of Bars*Bey. Alexandria. 1425 . . . . . 340 86. Dinar of Kàì't-Bey, 1468-96 . . . . . . 342 87. Tomb-mosque of Kait-Bey, 1474 . . . . . 343 8&. Door of mosque of Kait-Bey, 1 4 7 4 ..................................... 345 89. Wekàla or caravanserai of Kà’it-Bey, 1477, near Azhai 346 90. Arms of K a i t - B e y .................................................................347 91. Anns of ^Cait-Bey, from a lamp . . . . . . 348 92. Arms of emir Ezbek on his mosque, 149J . . . . 349 93. Inscription of Tiimàn-Bcy I in Citadel of Cairo, 1500 . 350 94. Sixteenth century house at Rosetta . . . 351 95. Dinar of el-Ghuri, Cairo, 1q o 8 ...............................................352 96. Arms of commandant AJctiih, c. 1516. . . . . 353 97. Bab*el-Azab, Gate of the Citadel of Cairo, 18th century 354 98. Altun of sultan Suleyman of Turkey, Misr, 1520 . 355 99. Yigirmlik o f ‘Ali Bey, Misr, 1769 . . . . . 356 100. The Citadel of Cairo in 1 S 5 9 ..................................... 356 Plan of Cairo and suburbs in the 12th century 202 Map of Egypt and adjacent countries . . . . . 1 Table of the Avyubid Dynasties . . .212

%* The coins and glass weights are reproduced from plaster casts of the originals in the British Museum ; the inscriptions are from M. Max von Berchem’s Corpus Jns'riptionum Arabicarum (Métn. de la Miss, archeol. française au Caire xix., where French translations arc given), except tig. 49. which is from his Inscriptions arabes de Syrie {Mem. de VInstitut Egyptien, 1897) ; figs. 47 and 67 are from M. Paul Casanova’s Hist, de ia Citadelle dit Caire {Mem. de la Miss, arcJtéol. française au Caire, vi.) ; the coais of arms are from Rogers Bey’s article in the Bull. dy Here Bey. chief architect nf the Commission for the Preservation of Arab Monuments in Egypt.

PRINCIPAL

AUTHORITIES

695 John, Bishop of Nik in : Chronique, eJ. & tr. H. Zotenberg (Notices et Extraits, xxiv. ), Paris, 1883. 871 Ibn-‘Abd-el Hakam : Futuh i\tisr (Paris codex 655 ; cp. Zeitschr. 'fur Kunde d. At orgen I, iii., 1840). 889 Ibn-Kutayba : ed. F. Wiistenfeld, Gottingen, 1850. 892 El-Bi lad hurl : Liber eipugnationis regionum, ed. M. J. de Goeje, Lugd. Bat., 186 \ 923 Et-Tal>arï : Annales, ed. de Gneje et alii, 13 vols., Lugd. Bat. 1879-96. 956 El-Mas‘üdi : Les Prairies d'or, Arab, et Fr., ed. Barbier de Meynard et Pavet de Courteille, 9 vols., Paris, 1861*1873. 977 ‘Arïb b. Sa*d el-Kurtubï : 7 'abarï continuants, ed. M. J. de Goeje, Lugd. Bat., 1897. 1185 William of Tyre: Hisloria rerum in fa r t ibns transmarinis gestarum (Rec. Hist, des Croisades), Paris, 1844. Ii88 Osâma ibn Munkidh: Kitàb el-Ptibàr ; Vie cTOusawa, ed. & tr. H. Derenbourg, 3 vols., Paris, 1886-93. 1208 Abü-Sâlifr : Churches and Monasteries o f Egypt, Arab, and Engl., ed. B. T. A. Evetts, Anecd. Oxoniens., 1895 1231 ‘Abd-el-Latif : H istoric Æ g y /ti Compendium. Arab, et Lat., ed. J. White, Oxon., 1800 ; Relation de V Egypte, tr. S. de Sacy, Paris, 1810. 1233 Ibn*el*Athir: Chrontcon (el-Kàmil), ed. C. J. Tombcrg, 14 vols., Lugd. Bat., 1867-74. 1234 Bahâ-ed-dîn ibn Sheddàd : Vita Saladini, Arab, et Lai., ed. Schultens, Lugd. Bat., 1732 ; and in Rec. H ist, des Croisades, iii., 1884. 1267 Abu-Shâma : A'itâh er-Rawdnteyn, 2 vols., Cairo. 1870-1871. 1275 El-Melon : Historia Saracenica>Arab, et Lat., ed. T. Erpenius, Lugd. Bat., 1625. 1282 Ibn-Khallikân : W efïyüt eLA'yâtt, ed. F. Wiistenfeld, Gottin­ gen, 1835-50 ; Biographical Dictionary, tr. M. dc Slane, 4 vols., Paris, 1843-71. 1307 Joinville : Mémoires, ed. M. Francisque Michel. Paris, 1881. 1331 Abü-1-Kidâ: Annates MusUrnict, Arab, et I^at., ed. Reiske et Adler, Ilafniae, 1788-93.

PRINCIPAL A U TH O R ITΠS U l EU

1377 Ibn-Batüta : Voyages, Arab, et Kr., ed. C. Defrémery et Sanguinetti, 4 vols., Paris, 1873-9. 1406 Ibn-Khaldün : Kitäb el-'1 bary 7 vols, BiiläV, 1867-8. 1418 EI-£a]fcashandï : Die Geographie u nd Vorwaltung von Aegypten, tr. F . WListenfeld 1 G ottingen, 1879.

1441 F.l-Makrlzî: Khital, 2 vols., Bfiläk 1853-4. ,, Histoire des Suif ans Mamlouks, tr. E. Quatre mère, 2 vols., Pans, 1837-45. 1469 Alm*l-Magasin : Annales (en-NuÇüm ez-Zähira), ed. Juynboll, 3 vols., Luçd. Rat.. 1855-61. 1505 Es-Suyüti : Husn el-Mohàdara, 2 vols., Bülâk. „ * J/istoty o f rhe Caliphs, tr. H. S. Jarrelt, Calcutta, 1881.

1524 Ibn-Iyäs : Kiiàb Ta ril’h M isr, Cairo, 1873. Olhcr authorities are cited in footnotes.

N O TE ON

TRANSLITERATION.

T he Arabic alphabet is thus represented : I in the middle of a word by • (as el-Ma-mun), b, o t , ¿ j th , £ (English j, but in Lower E gypt pronounced as hard g in “ get ”), ^ h, £ kh, 3 d, i dh (as th in “ this ”), ; r, j z, u - s, sh, ,_*> ?, b t, b z, £ \ £ gh, f> i3 k > J 1. m, n, » h, } w, ^ y. The Persian *4? is represented by g. T he vowels and diph­ thongs are Jl_ a or e (according to the rules of imala), ' u or o, 7 i ; a, 3 ' u, ^ ■- I ; Jl aw, ey or ay. W hen a name is repeated the article is often om itted ; as El-Hakim and Hakim. Ibn (son) is abbreviated as b. D stands for dinar, a gold coin worth about half a guinea.

A HISTORY OF EGYPT UNDER

THE

SARACENS

C H A PT E R I THE AKAB CONQUEST

639—641 Authorities.—John of Nikiu, Ibn-'Abd-el-Hakam , el-Biladhurl, etTabari.

Later accounts from el-MaJfrizT, Abu-I-Maliasin, es-Suyutf.

the prophet of the Arabs, died in 632. In a few years his followers overran Arabia, Syria, and Chaldaea, defeating the forces of the Em peror of Constantinople and the “ Chosroes ” or Sasanian kitig of P ersia; and in 639 the Arabs invaded Egypt, The caliph ‘Omar yielded with reluctance to the_ urgent representations of the general, ‘A mr ibn el-‘Asi, and even stipulated th at if a letter of recall should reach the army before it entered Egyptian territory, it was to march back to Medina. T he letter was sent, but ‘Amr contrived to cross the frontier before opening it, and thus effected his purpose. He had visited Alexandria in his youth, and had never forgotten its wealth. The expedition was arranged whilst the caliph and ‘A mr 639 were together near Damascus on their return from B M ohamm ad,

2

T H E ARAB C O N Q U EST

Jerusalem in th e autum n of 639, and ‘A m r kept th e F east of Sacrifice (10 Dhu-l-Higga, a .h . 18), 12 Dec., 639, at el-‘Arish, th e frontier town of Egypt. T he invading arm y m ustered 3500 or 4000 men, but was quickly reinforced by a second body of 4000. T hey were almost all horsemen, arm ed w ith lances and 6,o swords and bows. T h e first opposition the Saracens met was at Pelusium (el-Farama), where the R o m an ' garrison held out for a m onth, until th e success of the besiegers was attained partly through the aid of th e Copt or native E gyptian population, who were eager to welcome any prospect of release from th e oppression of th e eastern em pire. T h e schism definitely opened at the council of Chalcedon in a .d . 451 had established a sharp hostility between th e national monophysite or “ Ja c o b ite ” church of E gypt and the official “ Chalcedonian ” or “ M elek ite” church which the em perors of Constantinople supported in E g y p t; and th e M elekite persecution of the Jacobites, who formed th e great bulk of th e Egyptians, had alienated w hatever trace of loyalty the people m ight have retained towards th eir distant sovereigns, and had prepared th e way for foreign in te r­ vention. Indeed, th e Persians had quite lately (616) conquered the country, and had only been ejected by the Rom ans a few years (626) before the A rab invasion. T he E gyptians had served m any foreign masters, and had suffered under all, so th a t a change of rulers signified little, and any change from Byzantine intolerance would probably, in th eir eyes, be for the better. This wide­ spread disaffection contributed to the easy trium ph of th e Arabs. It was first seen in the taking of Pelusium, when th e patriarch, called by the Arabs “ Abu-M iyam in,” is said to have advised the C opts to su p p o rt the invaders. T he R om ans m ade a second sta n d a t Bilbeys, som e thirty miles from Misr, w here an o th er m onth was spent 1 The term Roman is used throughout, in preference to Greek, for the east Roman or Byzantine empire. In Arabic the Byzantines are always called er-Rnm ; in the sing. Rumi.

M A R C H O N M IS R

3

in besieg in g i t 1 ; b u t afte r red u cin g th ese sm all o u t­ p o sts n o th in g lay betw een th e in v ad ers an d th e ir objective, th e fo rtress of B abylon, w hich, sta n d in g a t th e ap ex o f th e D elta, w as th e k ey to th e co n q u est of E gypt. T h is an c ie n t c a stle still sta n d s, a t le a st in p a rt, an d is know n now as K asr-esh -S h em a', “ T h e C astle o f th e B eaco n .” 2 I t w as b uilt by T ra ja n on the site o f a E’ersian fo rt, and h ad been refortified by the R om ans n o t lo n g before th e A rab invasion. Its red u c­ tio n w’as obviously essen tial before an y ad v an ce in to th e D e lta could be risk ed . T h e re w as som e kind of tow n, called M isr, en circlin g its n o rth ern an d e a ste rn w alls— for th e Nile a t th a t tim e w’ash ed it on th e so u th and w e st,—o r a t le a st v ario u s su b u rb s d ep en d in g on th e g arriso n ; for ‘A m r’s first b u sin ess w as to occupy T en d u n y as (U m m -D uneyn), a village ly in g a little to th e n orth of th e fo rtre ss, probably very n ear w here th e E zbekiya is now . T h e tow n o f M isr w ith its su b u rb s may be reg ard ed as a n o rth ern ex ten sio n o f th e an cien t M em phis, once an im m ense city on th e o th e r side o f th e Nile, and still in v ig o ro u s life in th e six th cen tu ry , th o u g h soon a fte rw a rd s d esecrated by relig io u s fan a tic­ ism , and th en cefo rth stead ily fallin g to ruin. B ut we know n o th in g o f th e ex ten t or population o f th e tow n o b scu rely referred to as M isr by Jo h n o f N ikiu. ‘A m r had no in ten tio n a t p rese n t o f a tte m p tin g a siege o f th e fo rtress w ith his sm all force. H is plan w as to h a ra ss and alarm th e R om ans by th e rap id a tta c k s o f his lig h t tro o p s. T h e possession o f U m m D uneyn on th e b a n k o f th e Nile g a v e him th e com m and o f plenty of b o ats, an d he se n t b an d s o f his A rabs u p the river to invade th e Fayyom an d rav a g e p a rts o f U p p er E g y p t. T h ey en co u n tered th e R om ans a t th e en tra n ce 1 A rom antic legend of the defence of Bilbeys by Arm enosa, the supposed daughter of el-M ukawkis, may be read in Q uatrem ere’s Mi‘m. sur I'Eeypte, i. 53, 54, or more briefly in Mrs. Butcher’s Story o f the Church of Egypt, i. 359, 360. 2 T he word B.ibylon (in Arabic Bab-al-yun) represents in Graeci/.ed form some such Egyptian name as Pi-H api-n-O n, or Per-H api-n-O n, “ the Nile City of O n ,” which latter was the nam e of the island of Roda, opposite the fortress.

4

B A T T L E O F H E L IO P O L IS

to th e oasis, and inflicted a defeat on John o t M aros, whose body w as fished o u t of the Nile by his friends. In these exploits th e A rabs rightly counted on the aid or a t least the neutrality o f th e native C opts, of whose hostility to th e O rthodox Church o f E ast Rom e ‘A m r had becom e well aw are d u rin g his earlier visit to E gypt. T h ese rapid and unexpected raids baffled and dism ayed th e R om ans, who were in no condition to m eet them , and who, after vainly attem p tin g to cut ‘A m r’s connexions w ith Arabia, and to recover UmmD uneyn, w ere forced to ta k e refuge beneath or behind th e stro n g w alls of Babylon. A bout th e middle of Ju n e the Arab forces were doubled, a t least, by a large division sen t a t ‘A m r’s request, th o u g h perhaps u n ­ willingly, by th e Caliph ‘O niar, under Z ubeyr ibn ‘ Awwam, an a risto crat of M ekka, accom panied by several o f the Com panions of th e P ro p h et. ‘Amr had now more th an 8000, or even, as some A rabic chron­ iclers say, 12,000 men. H e had tak en up a position a t H eliopolis (On, ‘A yn-Shem s), som e miles to th e north of Babylon, in order to be on th e road by w hich the reinforcem ents from A rabia m ust come ; and he drew up his enlarged arm y in th ree divisions in th e hope of effecting a flank a tta c k if the R om ans ventured on a pitched battle. So far th ere h ad been nothing but skirm ishes and the ta k in g o f sm all and slightly fortified tow ns ; b u t it w as obvious th a t the R om ans could not let the enemy go on scouring th e country w ithout m aking some effort to rea ssert th eir old prestige. They cam e out a t last, and a b attle w as fought in midJuly, 640, on the sam e plain o f H eliopolis w here Kldber defeated th e T u rk ish arm y on 20 M arch, 1800. T he Rom ans seem to have fought w ith little h eart, to ju d g e by the slig h t losses of th e A rabs, and th e flank a tta c k by K h arig a and his light horsem en w as com pletely successful. T he Rom ans were routed w ith much slau g h ter, and fled to Babylon. T h e one arm y for th e defence o f E g y p t w as g o n e ; th e upper valley w as abandoned ; and th e A rabs possessed them selves of Mi§r w ithout serious opposition.

PEACE NEGOTIATIONS

5

It w as im possible, how ever, to in v est th e stro n g h o ld d u rin g th e seaso n o f th e in u n d atio n , an d th e A rab arm y w as forced to lie idle till th e flood ceased in S ep tem b er ; all th a t could be done w as to keep the com m unications open w ith A rabia, an d to w ait. It is possible th a t a t som e tim e before th is th e R o m an s en ­ deavoured to sta v e off the im p en d in g c a ta stro p h e by a p aym ent o f m oney,1 as h ad been th e ir custom in fo rm er d ays, w hen th e y p aid ‘ blackm ail ’ to th e B edaw is o f Sinai an d P alestin e ; b u t, in any case, they did n o t tu rn ‘A m r from h is resolve to ta k e B abylon. A se t sie g e or a s s a u lt w as clearly o u t of th e q u estio n . T h e A rabs had no experience n o r ad e q u ate en g in es for b esieging fortresses o f s tre n g th such as the p rese n t w alls o f Babylon testify ; all they could do w as to in v est th e castle, an d even th is in v estm en t does n o t seem to have been com plete, since th e g a rriso n w as able to keep its com m unications open w ith th e o p p o site islan d of erR o d a. T h e sieg e m u st have beg u n early in O cto b er, fo r it is s ta te d to have la ste d six m o n th s, an d th e g a rriso n a t la st c a p itu late d on y A pril, 641. So m uch is certain . B u t a g re a t deal seem s to have h appened d u rin g th e su m m er o f 640 o f w hich th e A rabic chroniclers, w ho for th is period are o u r only a u th o r­ ities, p rese n t confused and d isc re p a n t rec o rd s.2 W e read th a t before th e b a ttle o f H eliopolis, th e g o v ern o r o f E g y p t, w hom th e y call by th e p ecu liar title o f elM u k aw k is,3 and w ho h as been identified by D r. B u tle r 4 1 T his is the impression given by the Byzantine historians. 2 “ No historian has yet issued from that inextricable labyrinth which the Arab w riters have built around the central facts of the conquest w ith a key to its m ysteries” (A. J . Butler, The Treaty o f M isr in Tabari, p, 53). T h e present w riter does not claim to have found the m aster clue. 3 T he m eaning of this title is obscure. In Coptic it appears as Kaukhios, a word which has not been conclusively interpreted. See Butler, Arab Conquest o f Egypt , Appendix C ; Amelineau, Journ. Asia/, v m . xii. 389 ff. ; K arabacek, M itt. Sami. Pap. Rainer, i. I - I I ; Caetani, A nnaii dell' Islam, iii. 86 ft. 4 Arab Co>U]Uist of Egypt , Appendix C (1902). I criticized this identification adversely in the Proceedings o f Royal Irish Academy, xxiv. 249-56 (1904); and L. Caetani, in his learned and critical A nnaii dell’ Islam , iii. 86-96, does not agree with Dr. Butler, at least so fat

6

IN V E S T M E N T O F B A B Y L O N

w ith C yrus, the pow erful p a tria rc h o f A lex an d ria, o pened n eg o tiatio n s w ith the A rab s w ith a view to peace. T h e m etro p o litan (katkolikos) o f M isr, a c ­ com panied by a bishop, cam e to ‘A m r’s cam p, d u rin g a tru ce, an d w as co u rteo u sly received. ‘A m r is said to have show n a friendly disposition ; sp o k e o f th e affection o f th e P ro p h e t M oham m ad for th e C o p ts, as b ein g o f th e race o f H a g a r, from w hose son he h im self claim ed d e s c e n t1 ; an d offered th em th e a ltern ativ e w hich th e M uslim co n q u ero rs w ere in the h ab it o f p lacin g before th e ir o p p o n en ts : conversion to Islam , o r th e p ay m en t o f a p o ll-tax , or w a r to th e knife. A pparently the n e g o tia to rs w ere w illin g to su b m it to th e p o ll-tax, b u t th e C o m m a n d a n t2 an d R om an g a rriso n u tte rly refused, an d b re a k in g th e tru ce by an u n su c ce ss­ ful so rtie p u t an end to th e parley. As th e A rabs continued th e cam p aig n an d th e R o m an s g ain ed no a d v a n ta g e , th e schem e o f n eg o tiatio n s w as renew ed. It a p p e ars to have been h asten e d by a successful escalade by ez-Z ubevr, w hich resu lted in th e c a p tu re of a g a te , probably in som e o u tw o rk o f th e fo rtress. A larm ed by th is, el-M ukaw kis, w ith som e of th e lead ers o f th e E g y p tia n s, cro ssed th e riv er to th e islan d o f er-R o d a , c u ttin g th e co n n ectin g b rid g e, p resu m ab ly because th e re he w ould be free to n eg o tiate w ith o u t interference by th e g a rriso n . It seem s clear, th ro u g h ­ o u t th is v ery ta n g led n a rra tiv e , th a t th e re w ere tw o d isc o rd a n t p a rtie s: the p ea cem ak ers, re p re se n tin g th e as the negotiator of the T reaty of Misr is concerned. T he argum ents, however, adduced by Dr. Butler, in his recent Treaty o f M isr in Tabari (1913), which include some new evidence, appear to me conclusive, and I am pleased to confess myself a convert. It still remains difficult to explain why most of the Arab w riters distinctly call el-M ukaw kis a Copt, and why they were apparently wholly ignorant of his reai name and his ecclesiastical dignity. 1 One of M ohammad’s concubines, moreover, w as the curly-haired M ary, a C opt, who was a gift in 628 from an Egyptian ruler, whom the chroniclers, perhaps prematurely, also call “ el-M ukaw kis.” 2 Variously called Gureyg ibn Mina (Gregory, son of M enas, a name also occasionally given to el-M ukawkis) and ibn-K arkab, and el-Mandafur, and which last, D r. Butler says, perhaps represents Mandator.

T R E A T Y O F M IS R

1

feeling' o f th e E g y p tia n s ; an d th e R o m an s o f th e g a rris o n w ho w ere d e te rm in e d to h old o u t. T h e ren ew ed n e­ g o tia tio n s a r e d is tin c tly s ta te d to h av e ta k e n p lace a t h ig h N ile, o r in o th e r w o rd s a b o u t S e p te m b e r or O c to b e r, w h en th e A ra b s w e re im p ed ed by th e sp re a d o f th e a n n u a l in u n d a tio n , an d th e in v e stm e n t o f B abylon can h av e o nly ju s t b e g u n . T h e A rab ic h isto rie s re la te v a rio u s a n e c d o te s o f th e e x c h a n g e o f e m b a ssie s w hich m ay be q u ite a p o c r y p h a l; b u t th e re s u lt w as u n ­ d o u b te d ly a tr e a ty o f p eace. T h e d o c u m e n t1 h a s been p re se rv e d by th e A rab c h ro n ic le r T a b a ri, in a m o re o r le ss a u th e n tic fo rm , a n d in c lu d es co m p lete im m u n ity for th e “ p eo p le o f M i?r, th e ir p e rso n s, th e ir relig io n , g o o d s , c h u rc h e s, c ro sse s, la n d s a n d w a te r s ,” on co n­ d itio n o f p a y in g th e p o ll-ta x , a f te r th e su b sid en ce of th e N ile, a n d in p ro p o rtio n to th e a m o u n t o f th e in u n ­ d a tio n . T h e in s tru m e n t w as g iv en on “ th e p le d g e a n d w a rra n ty o f G od, an d th e w a rra n ty o f H is P ro p h e t, a n d th e w a rra n ty o f th e K h alifa , th e C o m m an d e r of th e F a ith fu l, an d th e w a rra n tie s of th e F a ith fu l,” an d w as w itn e sse d by ez -Z u b e y r an d his so n s. It w as a tre a ty w ith th e people o f M isr, w ith o p tio n g iv e n to th e R o m a n s to e n te r in to i t ; b u t it does n o t m e n tio n th e fo rtre ss o f B abylon, an d th e re can be little d o u b t th a t th e so ld iers d isa p p ro v e d o f it ; th e re could in an y c a se be no q u e stio n o f th e ir c a p itu la tin g un til th e tre a ty w as ratified by th e E m p ero r. H e ra c liu s, as 1 A discussion o f this transcript would be too technical and tedious in th is place. C aetani, following the destructive school of criticism led by W ellhausen, regards it a s inauthentic, though he concedes th at a large part o f it may be genuine. T h e clauses referring lo N ubians (as generally translated) or to the Rom an garrisons (an em endation of mine which has not been accepted, and which adm ittedly is open to various objections) m ay very probably be later glosses, and I am disposed to agree w ith D r. B utler in regarding th e “ fifty m illio n s” m entioned in the T reaty as another gloss. B ut, like him , 1 tak e a more conservative view of th e value of the A rabic traditions than would be approved by the school of W ellhausen. F o r th e text of th e T reaty and criticism s of it, see my article in Proceedings o f Royal Irish Academy, xxiv., an d th e w orks o f B utler an d C aetani cited in a preceding note.

8

C A P IT U L A T IO N O F BA B Y LO N

we know from Greek so u rces,1 u tterly repudiated the weak accom m odation, sum m oned Cyrus to C o n stan ti­ nople to account for his conduct, overw helm ed him with reproaches, an d disgraced him. T he trea ty was so far inoperative, and th e investm ent w ent on unabated th ro u g h o u t th e w inter. T h e hopes of the defenders dwindled, as no succour came from A lexandria, and the death o f H eraclius in F ebruary an d th e anarchy th a t ensned forbade any prospect o f relief from Con­ stantinople. A ccordingly, on 9 April, 641, th e w eary garriso n subm itted, and sailed down th e river to Nikiu. T he to tal inadequacy of th e Rom an forces in E g y p t to cope w ith th e fiery A rabs is a sufficient explanation o f C y ru s’s subm ission, and a com plete answ er to the criticism th a t a M elekite P atriarch , w ho had been conspicuous in p ersecuting th e m onophysite church, w as not likely to bestir him self in favour of th e Copts. T he people o f E gypt were not all Copts, and th e Rom an g arriso n h ad to be extricated. A trea ty seem ed the only way, and C yrus show ed himself, not a traito r, but a m an of prudence and com m on sense. B ut th e mild­ ness o f the conqueror’s term s confirmed the favourable im pression w hich th e d ealings of the A rabs w ith the E gyptians had already produced, and it is not surprising to read th a t, after ‘Amr had show n his honourable intentions by sta n d in g to th e letter of th e treaty , in spite o f th e E m p ero r's repudiation, the E gyptians ab etted the Muslims and helped them w ith m aterials o f tra n sp o rt and supplies. T he Arab h istorians, in th eir n atu ral desire to exalt th e feats o f th e ir an cesto rs and to m ake out th a t E g y p t fell vt et arm is and not by peaceful su rren d er (a distinction o f significance in Muslim law), relate various tales o f the siege o f Babylon, which are chiefly in terestin g as rep resen tin g cu rren t traditions as to the im pression produced by the invaders upon th e Rom ans and E gyptians. T he sim plicity of m anners, devoutness, 1 Nicephoros, cd. Bonn, 28. See Bury, Later Roman Empire, ii. 271. There is an indistinct idea running through the Greek accounts that Cyrus agreed at an early date to pay tribute to the Arabs.

A D V A N C E U P O N A L E X A N D R IA

9

and heroic courage of th e A rabs are chiefly dw elt upon. F or exam ple, it is told how an Arab dism ounted one day from his horse to say his appointed prayers, when a p arty o f R om ans, richly accoutred, sallied out o f the fortress to su rp rise him. As they drew near, he in ter­ rupted his devotions, m ounted his horse, and charged upon them . T ak en aback by his hardihood, they took to th eir heels, th ro w in g down th eir arm s and acco u tre­ m ents in th eir haste. T he A rab took no notice of these spoils, b u t after chasing them into the fortress, quietly returned to the spot w here he had been distu rb ed , and finished his prayers. A gain, when the m essengers from the M ukaw kis, after being en tertained some days in ‘A m r’s cam p, returned to their m aster, he asked them to describe th e A rabs. T hey answ ered, “ W e found a people who love death b etter th an life, and set hum ility above pride, who have no desire or enjoy­ m ent in th is w orld, who sit in the d u st and e a t upon th eir knees, b u t frequently and thoroughly w ash all their m em bers, and hum ble them selves in prayer : a people in whom th e stro n g er can scarce be distinguished from th e w eaker, o r th e m aster from th e slav e.” W hen the fortress of Babylon w as taken, the Arab general prepared to m arch n o rth . T he Rom an troops were concentrated in a few la rg e cities ; b u t ‘Amr found th a t the prefect an d m ost of th e Rom an arm y had retired to A lexandria, leaving D om entianus a t Nikiu, and D ares o f Sem ennud to g u ard “ the tw o riv ers.” O n the approach o f th e A rabs D om entianus fled from Nikiu and took b o at for A lexandria. T he A rabs then entered Nikiu unopposed on 13 May, 641, and are said to have m assacred all the in h ab itan ts and perpetrated atrocious cruelty th ro u g h o u t the “ island o f N ikiu,” enclosed betw een the arm s o f th e Nile. If this be true, it only confirms th e view already expressed th a t the clemency o f the trea ty of Misr extended only to those who had subm itted, not to th e d istricts still in arm s ag a in st the invaders. From Nikiu ‘Amr pressed n o rth w ard s, anxious to subdue the whole of the delta before the inundation should check

IO

C A P IT U L A T IO N OK A L EX A N D R IA

operations. H e was repulsed, however, at D am ietta, and finding himself impeded by the cauals and arms of th e river, retu rn ed to Misr, w hence he made a fresh start. Choosing this tim e the west bank, he marched by way of T erenuthis, fought th ree battles w ith th e Romans, and reached K ary an , tw enty miles south of Alexandria. T h e first attack was repulsed, but the capital was then torn by factions, Blues ” and “ G reens,” Byzantines and N ationals, G reeks and Copts, and was in no condition for resistance ; T heodorus, th e augustal prefect, was at Rhodes, and D om entianus was a poor substitute, and was at enm ity with his colleague, Menas, the prefect of Lower Egypt. T h e distracted state of the city and th e general panic can alone explain th e surrender of a well-fortified stronghold which could be provisioned and reinforced at will by sea. Accordingly, w hen th e Arabs arrived near Alexandria, they found th e enemy eager to treat. T h e report of a man who served under ‘A m r at the taking of Misr and Alexandria has been handed down and preserved by Tabari (i. 2581-3). This man, Ziyad ez-Zubeydi, said th a t after taking Babylon th e Muslim arm y advanced into th e R if (delta) between Mi?r and Alexandria, and arrived at Belhib, w here th e governor of Alexandria sent to ‘A m r, offering to pay th e poll-tax on condition th a t th e Rom an prisoners should be surrendered. ‘A m r replied th a t he m ust refer the proposal to the caliph at M ed in a; he w rote what th e governor had said, and the letter was read to th e troops. T hey waited at Belhib, during the armistice, till th e caliph ‘O m ar’s answer came. ‘A m r read it aloud. It required th e Alexandrians to pay th e poll-tax; th e prisoners were to be given th e choice of accepting Islam or rem aining true to the religion of th eir own fo lk ; if they chose Islam, they belonged to th e Muslims; if they held to their own creed, th ey should be sent back to Alexandria; but those prisoners who had already been sent to Arabia could not be returned. So they gave the rem aining prisoners th eir choice, and when some chose Islam, the army shouted “Allah» A k b a r “ God is Most G reat,”—

TREATY W ITH T H E ROMANS

II

“ it was the loudest T e Deum (tekbir)/’ said Ziy3d, “ that we had shouted since we conquered the land.” T he rest returned to Alexandria, and the amount of the poll-tax was fixed. Thus Alexandria capitulated and the Muslims entered in. John of Nikiu, like Ziyad, mentions no prolonged siege of Alexandria, but says that the patriarch Cyrus, who had returned from Constantinople armed with full powers to treat, went to ‘Amr at Babylon 1 to propose terms of peace and offer tribute, and it was settled that the Alexandrians should pay a monthly tribute, and deliver up 150 soldiers and 50 civilians as hostages; that the Muslims should not interfere with the churches and affairs of the Christians ; that the Jews (who doubtless helped to furnish the tribute money), should be allowed to remain at Alexandria; and that the Muslims shou’d hold aloof from the city for eleven months, during which the Romans would leave the city and embark, and no other Roman army would be sent to regain it. T he solem n treaty was signed at the beginning of November, 641, and they embarked on 17 September, 642.* 1 Perhaps a transcriber’s error for Belhib; the two could be easily confounded in a careless Arabic MS., from which the Ethiopic version of John of Nikiu appears to have been made It is possible, however, that it was considered desirable that the final treaty should be signed at the same place as the repudiated treaty of Misr. 2 The received tradition, however, recorded by many of the Arab historians, is that Alexandria endured a siege of fourteen months, during which the Muslim«; lost more than 20,000 men ; and many incidents of this siege have been handed down, some of which may really refer to the later reconquest of the city in 645. They state that at the time of the battle of Heliopolis several detachments were sent to various parts of Egypt, and one went to Alexandria. There may have been a corps of observation near Alexandria for fourteen months, but the story of a siege is contradicted by Ziyad’s plain tale, as well as by John of Nikiu. The Arab siege material, moreover, must have been extremely weak. Though they early made use of mangonels and stone-s ings, these could hardly have been powerful enough to reduce the forts of Alexandria. The legends o f ‘Amr .being made prisoner, and eluding discovery by the presence of mind of his slave, and of his narrow escape in a bath, are improbable. What the relations were between the Muslims and the Romans during the eleven months of

12

A L E X A N D R IA

The Muslim writers describe Alexandria as it was in 642 with their customary exaggeration : it had, they say, 400 theatres, 4000 public baths, &c., and its population numbered 600,000 (without reckoning women and chil­ dren), of whom 200,000 were Romans, and 70,000 Jews. Of any destruction or spoliation by the Arabs there is not a word in any of the early authorities, nor, since the city capitulated on terms, was any spoliation permissible. John of Nikiu records that ‘Amr levied the taxes agreed upon, but took nothing from the churches, nor wrought any deed of pillage or spoliation, but protected them throughout his government. T he story of the destruc­ tion o f “ the Alexandrian library,” and the distributing of the books to light the fires in the 4000 public baths, is found in no early record. It is not mentioned by any Greek writer, nor by John of Nikiu, Ibn-‘Abd-el-Hakam, or Tabari. Jt first appears in the thirteenth century, six hundred years after the alleged event, in the works of ‘Abd-el-Lalif and Abu-l-Farag. It is absolutely contra­ dictory to John of N ikiu’s account o f ‘Am r’s protecting policy. The legend may have had its origin in the destruction of books of the fire-worshippers during the Arab conquest of Persia. grace we do not know. It is recorded by John of Nikiu that the Muslims came to Alexandria to collect the poll-tax, and that disturb­ ances ensued, which were allayed by Cyrus the patriarch : but whether, after this, the Muslims occupied Alexandria, as the Arabic historians would have us believe, or (as seems more probable) received the tax outside the city, and observed the truce, there is no evidence to show. According to a tradition repeated by several Arabic historians, Alexandria was tak< 11 by storm, but almost immediately retaken by the Romans, who were then driven out a second time, and fleJ by sea and land, but this may r fer either to the disturbances caused by the collection of the poll-tax, • r to the second conqnest of Alexandria from Manuel in 645. The fact, generally admitted, that the Alexandrians were allowed to pay the poll-tax, instead of having all their property confiscated, is presumptive evidence of a capitulation, though some of the chroniclers explain it away as an act of grace. There was an obvious motive on the part of the Arabs to represent that Egypt was conquered v i et armis* because a country so conquered would, according to Mohammadan law, be deprived of all rights, and be exposed to confiscations, which would not be the case if it had capitulated upon terms.

CHRONOLOGY OF T H E CONQUEST

13

One anecdote of the alleged siege of Alexandria may be quoted as illustrating the spirit which inspired the Arab warriors. ‘Am r’s son ‘Abdallah was severely wounded, and groaning in his pain he let the regret escape that his father would not lead his army back to peace and rest. ‘Amr’s reply was typical of the race : “ R e st/’ he said, “ is in front of you, not behind.” N ote o n th e C hronology

The chronology of the Arab conquest of Egypt is almost hopelessly bewildering, and the difficulties are too complex to be discussed here. The account given above is based chiefly upon John of Nikiu and Ibn‘Abd-el-Hakam, compared with Tabari and later historians. John’s chronicle, however, is obviously transposed in some of its chapters, and I have transferred chapters cxvi.-cxviii. to precede cxiv. I am glad to see that Mr. E. W. Brooks, who has carefully examined the subject in the Byzantinis'-he Zeitschrift, iv. 435-444, has arrived independently at the same conclusion. Such slips are not surprising in an Ethiopic version translated from a probable Arabic version of a probable Coptic original. The one valuable date supplied by the Arabic historians is Ibn-‘Abdel-Hakam’s statement that ‘Amr celebrated the Feast of Sacrifice, 10 Dhu-Hig^a, A.H. 18, i.e. 12 Dec., 639, at el-‘Arish on entering Egypt; the other dates of Arabic writers frequently conflict with each otner and cannot be relied upon; but the references to the Nile inundation help to fix the season and order of events. The one date in John of Nikiu on which there seems to be no ground for doubt is that of the death of the patriarch Cyrus on “ 25 Magabit, the Thurs­ day before Easter,” which can only be 21 March, 642. The importance of this date is that it fixes the last celebration of Easter by Cyrus (a ceremony specially described by John) as Easter, 641, and makes his negotiation of the capitulation of Alexandria, for which he had been sent back by the emperor armed with lull powers, fall certainly in 641, not 642. Another important indication is furnished by the Arabic hisiorians’ statement that Alexandria capitulated nine months after the death of Heraclius. His death took place on Feb. 11, 641, and the ninth month would therefore fall in October to November, which allows the stated term of eleven months before the evacuation on Sept. 17, 642. The traditional Arabic date for the capitulation, 1 Mo^arram, 20 A .H . (21 Dec., 640), is incredible as to the month: but the year 20 given by the earliest chroniclers, Ibn-Isha^ and elWalridi, as quoted by Tabari ti. 2 57 9 ft'.), for the conquests of Babylon and Alexandria, agrees with the data given above, ana is confirmed by Ibn-'Atd-el-Hakam’s statement that Alexandria fell in the eighth year

C H A PT E R II A P R O V IN C E O F T H E C A L IP H A T E

641— 868 Authorities.—Ibn-'Abd-el-Hakam ; Abu-Salih, Ibn-Khallikân, elMakiïzi. Abü-l-Mahâsin, es-Suyüti. Monuments. — Nilometer or. island of er-Rôda. Inscriptions.—Gravestones from Fustât. and Aswan in Cairo Museum, Miss, archdul. française, Egypt. Inst., and private collections at Cairo, and a few in Europe (Brit. Mus., Louvre, Vatican). Coins.—A few of the caliphate coins struck at Misr (Fustât) bear the names of governors. Glass weights and s t a m p s Many show the names of governors, treasurers, and other officials (see pp. 47—56). , T h e surrender of Alexandria was the last important act

in the conquest of Egypt. No serious resistance was encountered elsewhere, and the whole country from Eyla on the Red Sea to Barka on the Mediterranean, and from the first cataract of the Nile to its embouchure, became a province of the Muslim caliphate. The Arabs spread over the country during the winter of 641-2, restoring order and levying taxes, for ‘Amr was not the man to keep them idle : “ Go forth,” he said, u now that the season is gracious : when the milk curdles, and the o f the reign of ‘Omar, which began in the middle of A. IT. 20. The two dates, April and October, 6 4 1, for the taking of Babylon and the capitulation of Alexandria respectively, completely bear out the prevalent Arabic tradition that Babylon fell after a six months’ siege, and Alexandria after fourteen months. The siege of Babylon would thus have begun in Sept., 640, immediately after the fall of Misr, during the inundation, and the appearance of the Arabs in the neighbourhood of Alexandria (though not a siege) would be brought to the same month.

S U B JE C T IO N O F EG Y PT

IS

leaves w ither and the mosquitoes multiply, come back to your te a ts.” E ven N ubia was made trib u tary by an expedition of 20,000 men, under ‘A m r’s lieutenant ‘Abdallàh b. Sa‘d. T h e Copts, who had aided th e invaders, welcomed th e change of masters, and were rewarded. ‘A m r retained Menas th e prefect in his governm ent for a time, and appointed Shinuda and Philoxenos governors of th e Rif and th e Fayyum : all three were of course friendly w ith the Muslims, and exerted themselves to levy th e taxes. Alexandria, the m onthly trib u te of which was rated at 22,000 pieces of gold,1was squeezed by Menas till it paid over 32,000. M any E gyptians became Mohammadans to escape th e poll-tax ; others hid themselves because they could n o t pay. In th e country towns and villages, the conquerors mixed w ith the conquered, and the m aidens o f Sunteys in the d elta becam e th e m others of fam ous Muslims by th eir willing union w ith Arab w arriors T h e capital of E g y p t was no longer to be Alexandria. T he great commercial em porium was liable to be cut off by th e Nile inundation from land com m unication with Medina, then th e seat of the caliphate ; and the caliph ‘Omar was so far from thinking of perm anent colonisation, and so averse from depriving himself of the services of ‘A m r’s fine army, th at he forbade the soldiers to acquire land and take root in E gypt, in order th a t they m ight always be ready for a fresh campaign elsewhere. A lex­ andria, moreover, was th e symbol of Rom an dominion and the tyranny of the orthodox church, and was th e re ­ fore distasteful to the Copts. ‘A m r was ordered by th e caliph to select a more central position, and he chose the plain close to the fortress of Babylon, and not far north of the old E gyptian .capital M emphis, where his camp had been pitched during the siege of Misr. H ere he 1 These must be solidi, represented by the Arabic dinar. Beladhuri mentions (223) that the poll-tax of Alexandria in about 730 was raised from the previous suir. of 18,000 to 36,000 D. .U the rate of two dinars a head per annum, this monthly payment implies a taxable male population not exceeding 192,000 in 'Amr’s time, and 216,000 a centuiy later.

MOSQUE OF ‘AMR

F O U N D A T IO N O F F U S T A T

17

built his mosque, which still stands, though repeatedly altered or resto re d ; 1 and here he began the foundation of th e city which he called el-Fustat, ‘“th e t e n t / ’ 011 th e spot where, according to the story, w hen he marched n orth to take Alexandria, his ten t had been left standing, because he would not suffer his farrashes to disturb th e doves which were building th eir nest there. F ustat remained the capital of Egypt for m ore than three centuries, until el-Kahira (Cairo) was founded close by in 969 ; and, even after th at, it continued to be th e com ­ mercial, as distinguished from the official, capital, until burned on th e invasion of th e crusading king Amalric in 1168. “ T he site of F ustat," says el-Makrizi (K/ so,” rep lied ^» # fein e, i

?ss IB- revenue the arm y, oftic ent to the calij

3»

S U P P R E S S IO N O F R E V O L T

destroyed, if these are but th eir re m n a n ts ! ” T he caliph then disgraced th e ineffective governor, beheaded a leader of th e revolt, and sent an arm y under th e T u rk Afshin into th e Hawf, w here th e rebellious Copts were massacred in cold blood, th eir villages b u rn t, and th eir wives and children sold as slaves. This stern repression broke th e spirit of th e Copts, and we hear no m ore of national movements. M any of them apostatized to Islam, and from this date begins th e num erical prepon­ derance of th e Muslims over the Christians in Egypt, and th e settlem ent of th e Arabs in th e villages and on th e land, instead of as heretofore only in th e great cities. E g y p t now became, for th e first tim e, an essentially Mohammadan country. Meanwhile, th e caliph had visited A lexandria and S a k h a ; th ere is also a legend, resting on no early authority, th a t he attem pted to open th e great pyram id of G'iza in search of treasure, but gave it up on finding th a t his workm en could m ake no perceptible impression on th e vast mass.1 A fter over a m o n th ’s stay, el-M a'm un retu rn ed to Baghdad. H e left th e country in a state of peace, which, save for a brief outbreak am ong th e L akhm i Arabs of the delta, was not disturbed for m any years. W h atev er dissensions arose were caused by theological differences am ong th e Muslims themselves. E l-M a-m un’s enforcem ent of th e doctrine of th e createdness of th e Fig. 10—Glass weight of K oran, as a test w ithout which Ashnas [ 34 •]• no kadi or judge could be en ­ rolled, produced m ore heart-burning th an th e subject seems to m erit. A chief kadi, who would not conform to th e established doctrine, was shorn of his beard, whipped, and driven through th e city on an ass. H is > Cf. ‘Abd-el-Latif, 176, and de Sacy’s note, 219; Wiistenfeld, Stattha/ter, 4 3 n.

T H E C H IE F K A D I

39

successor continued to scourge him at the rate of tw enty cuts a day, till he extorted th e desired bakhshish. Followers of th e (orthodox) sects of th e Hanafis and Shafi'Is were driven out of th e mosque. A suspicious slip in reading th e K oran brought a flogging. A similar system of p etty interference vexed th e Copts a little later. A series of new regulations of the caliph elMutawekkil was prom ulgated th ro u g h o u t th e provinces of E gypt in 850. T h e Christians were ordered to wear honey-coloured clothes, with distinguishing patches, use wooden stirrups, and set up wooden images of th e devil or an ape or dog over th eir doors ; th e girdle, the symbol of fem ininity, was forbidden to women, and ordered to be worn by men ; crosses m ust not be shown nor processional lights carried in th e streets, and their graves must be indistinguishable from th e earth around. T hey were also forbidden to ride horses. Such childish persecution could only be designed to furnish occasion for disobedience, and thus for fines and extortion. T he independent spirit of th e kadi, who was whipped for non-compliance w ith superior orders, was typical of his class and office. In a period of grasping governors and extortionate treasurers, w'hen corruption and injustice prevailed throughout the adm inistration, th e chief kadi, or lord chancellor and prim ate of E gypt, could almost always be trusted to m aintain the sacred law, despite threats and bribes. T he law may have been narrow, and the kadi a bigot, but he was at least a m an of some education, trained in M ohammadan jurisprudence, and generally of high character and personal rectitude. So im portant was his office and so great his influence th a t when oth er m inisters were changed with th e rapid succession of governors, th e kadi frequently rem ained in office for a series of adm inistrations, and even when deposed he would often be restored by a later governor or caliph. Sooner than submit to any interference w ith his legal judgm ents, he would resign his post, and so beloved were m any of the ljadis th a t a governor would th in k twice before he risked the unpopularity which

40

C H IE F K A D IS

would follow any meddling w ith th eir jurisdiction. Indeed in ‘Abbasid tim es he had scarcely th e power to dismiss them , for from th e tim e of Ibn-L ahi‘a, who was appointed kadi by th e caliph el-Mansur in 771-2, the nom ination to th e office seems generally to have been made at Baghdad, and th e salary fixed, if not paid, by th e caliph. T h e salary of Ibn-L ahi‘a was 30 dinars a m onth, but in 827 ‘Isa b. el-M unkadir received m onthly 4000 dirhem s (or 300 D .), and a fee of 1000 D . Kadi G haw th ^ 7 8 5 ) was a model of uprightness, and accessible to any petition; every new moon he attended public sittings w ith th e lawyers. His successor, el-Mufaddal, also bore a very high character, and he was th e first to insist on th e necessary reform of keeping full records of causes. I t was a laborious office, dem anding besides juridical sessions th e regulation of th e religious festivals, keeping th e calendar, often preaching in th e mosque, and other duties, so th a t we read of several m en refusing a post which taxed th eir energy and probity so severely. A bu-K huzeym a accepted it only after th e governor had sent for th e executioner’s axe and block. T his kadi had been a rope-m aker, and one day when on th e bench he was asked by an old acquaintance for a halter, w here­ upon th e good man fetched one from his house, and then w ent on w ith th e case before th e court. T h e com bination of extrem e simplicity and benevolence w ith a firm and dignified m aintenance of th e law of Islam procured him vast popularity. «5* T he last A rab governor of E g y p t, ‘Anbasa, was the best of them all—a strong, ju st man who held a tig h t hand over his officials, and showed his subjects such goodwill as they had not known before. U nostentatious, he always w ent on foot from th e governm ent house at el-‘A skar to th e mosque; strict in his religious duties, he never failed to observe the fast of Ram adan in all its rigour. H e was not only th e last governor of Arab blood; he was also th e last to take his place in th e mosque as leader of th e prayers, which was th e d u ty of governors in the absence of th e caliph, the suprem e head of religion. ‘A nbasa’s ten u re of office was m emorable

‘ANBASA

41

for two invasions of E gypt from opposite ends. In May, 853, whilst the governor was celebrating the Feast of Sacrifice (1oth Dhu-l-Higga) at Fustat, for the due observ­ ance of wnich he had ordered uup most of th e troops in garrison from D am ietta and Tinnis, and even from Alexandria, to take part in a grand review, th e news arrived th a t the Rom ans were raiding the coast. T hey found D am ietta deserted, and burned it, m aking prisoners of boo women and children. By the tim e ‘Anbasa reached the city they were off by sea to Tinnis, and when he pursued, they had sailed home. As a precaution against similar surprises a fort was built to guard th e approach to D arnietta—as th e Crusaders long afterwards discovered to th eir cost—and T innis was similarly strengthened. T he other attack came from the Sudan. In 854 th e S54 Baga people of Nubia and the eastern desert repudiated the annual tribute, consisting of four hundred male and female slaves, a num ber of camels, two elephants, and two giraffes, which th ey had been compelled to send to Egypt ever since th e campaign of 652. T h ey p u t to th e sword th e E gyptian officers and miners in th e Em erald mountains, and then falling upon the Sa'id, plundered Esne, Edfu and o th er places and sent th e inhabitants flying north in a panic. This was a formidable affair, and 'Anbasa wrote to the caliph at Baghdad for instruc­ tions. In spite of the alarm ing accounts given him by several travellers as to th e wildness of th e countrjr and th e ferocity of th e Bagas, the caliph el-M utawekkil decided to bring them to order. G reat preparations were made in E g y p t; quantities of stores, weapons, horses and camels were collected, and troops assembled, at Kuft, Esne, E rm en t, Aswan, on th e Nile, and K useyr 011 the Red Sea. Seven ships laden w ith stores sailed from Kulzum to Sanga near ‘A ydhab, at th a t tim e the chief port on the African coast of th e Red Sea. The marshal, Mohammad of K um m , marched from Kus with 7000 soldiers, crossed th e desert to th e emerald mines, and even approached Dongola. T h e news of his advance spread over the Sudan, and ‘Ali Baba, its king, collected

42

W AR IN SUDAN

a vast arm y to resist him. Fortunately for the Muslims these Sudanis, instead of wearing mail, were com pletely naked, and armed only w ith short spears, whilst th eir camels were ill-trained and unm anageable, as is th e m anner of th eir kind. W hen they saw th e weapons and horses of th e Arabs, they understood th at they would have no chance against them in a set battle ; but by m anoeuvring and skirmishing from place to place th ey hoped to wear o u t the enem y and exhaust th eir provisions. In this they had nearly succeeded, when th e seven ships from Kulzum appeared off th e coast. To cut off the Arabs from their supplies, th e Sudanis were forced to attack at all costs. T h e Arab general, however, had h ung camel-bells on the necks of his horses, and let th e blacks come up till th ey were almost at spear le n g th ; then, w ith a great shout of “ Allahu A kbar,” he ordered a general charge, amid a deafening din of bells and drums, which so terrified th e enemy s camels th a t they threw th eir riders and turned tail in a stampede. T he plain was strewn w ith corpses, and ‘Ali Baba, who escaped, was glad to make peace and pay th e arrears of tribute. T h e Muslim leader received him honourably, seated him on his own carpet, made him handsome presents, and induced him not only to pay a visit to F ustat, but even to go and see the caliph at Baghdad. T o th e credit of th e Muslims he was allowed to retu rn in safety to his own people.' After four years of good governm ent and valiant gj6 service, A n b asa was recalled, and a series of T urkish governors misruled th e country. Disliking the Arabs w ith th e hatred of race, and supported by a decree of th e caliph el-M usta‘in, they favoured the Copts, re­ stored many of their confiscated lands and possessions, and perm itted th e rebuilding of th eir churches. T o the A rabs they were intolerable, and the Muslims were the victims of their eccentricities. O ne of them , Yezid, entertained a strong aversion to eunuchs, and had them flogged out of the tow n; he also disliked th e weird sound 1 Ibn-Miskaweyh, ed. de Goeje, 550 ff.

T U R K IS H GOV ERN O R S

43

of th e women’s wailing at funerals, and objected to horseracing. In his governm ent th e second N ilom eter at R5da was founded, and th e charge of m easuring th e rise of th e Nile was taken away from the Copts, who had always fulfilled it. H e possessed an evil genius in his finance m inister, Ibn-M udebbir, who invented new taxes, and besides th e kharatf (land-tax) and hilali (monthly duties on shops and trades, etc.), established governm ent monopolies in the natron mines and th e fisheries, and imposed taxes on fodder and on wine-shops. T h e usual disturbances followed; first a rising at Alexandria, then in th e Hawf, scarcely p u t down before another occurred at G'iza, and a fourth in th e Fayyum . T h e whole country fell into disorder, much bloodshed ensued, m any were cast into prison, and the people were cruelly and fantastically oppressed. W om en were straitly ordered to keep to their hou ses; they could not even visit the graves or go to th e bath. Public performers and th e professional keening women were imprisoned. No one m ight even say “ In G od’s nam e ” aloud in th e mosque — a test point in orthodoxy—or deviate an inch from the orderly rows of the worshippers: a T u rk stood by with a whip to marshal th e congregation and keep th e ranks, like a sergeant. A num ber of frivolous rules and changes in rites and customs exasperated th e people. A t last a T u rk came who knew how to govern. His nam e was Ahm ad ibn Titlitn, and he and his dynasty dem and a separate chapter. T h e following tables give the lists of the caliphs and governors, together w ith th e heads of th e departm ents of war (marshal), finance (treasurer), and justice (chief kadi). T h e list of m inisters is doubtless incom plete; b u t a good many of the gaps are explained by th e fact th a t a governor was often his own finance minister, and some­ tim es marshal as well. T h e genealogical complication of the names is necessary for identification, and the tribal names (as el-Ba^eli, el-Kelbi, el-Azdi) are interesting as showing th eir origin. I t will be noticed th at there was evidently a species of official class; for th e same names, or the same families, often recur, and th e man who was

44

GLASS WEIGHTS

marshal m ight become in turn Ijadi or governor. Some of the governors’ and treasurers' names occur on coins, and on the glass weights and stamps impressed on measures of capacity, which are apparently peculiar to E gypt, and ot which many examples have been published from the British Museum, the Khédivial Library, and Dr. Fouquet’s fine collection at Cairo.

GOVERNORS OF EGYPT I. UNDER EARLY CA LIPH S C A L IP H

G O V ER N O R

F IN A N C E

W AR

JU S T IC E

V IC E -G O V E R N O R

632 AbûBekr 634 ‘Ornar 640 ‘Amr b. el-‘Äsi

‘Othman b. Keys

K hä riga b. Hudheyfa E s* S âtb b Iiishâm

644 ‘Othmän

644 ‘Abdalläh b. Sa'd

656 ‘Ali

656 l£eys b. Sa'd 657-8 Mohammad b. Abl-Bekr [Malik b. el-Iiarilh el-Ashtar]

‘Ofcba b. ‘Ämir el-G'uhenî

Suleym b. ‘Itr et-Tn^ïbï ,,

IL UNDER OMAYYAD CALIPHS 658 ‘Amrb. el ‘Äai bis Sulcym b. ‘Itr

661 MoHwiya 664 ‘Abdallah b. ‘Amr 664 ‘Otba b. Abi-Sufyän 1

Mo'àwiya

b. II udeyg

1 Brother of the caliph Mo‘5wiya. Tabari makes ‘Abdallflh succeed his father ‘Ami in 664 and govern Egypt till 667 (A.II. 47), when he was replaced by

Khäripa b. Hudht*yfa ‘Abdalläh b. Keys b. *1 Ilärith

Mo'awiya b. ITudeyg (47-50), who was followed by Maslama in 670 (50, Tab ii. 93, 94) : thus ignoring ‘Otba and ‘Okba ; Biladhuri and Abft-I*Mahasin adopt

II. U N D ER OMAYYAD C A LIPH S (continued) C A L IP H

661 Mo‘äwiya

WAR

GOVERNOR

66$ ‘O^bab. ‘Ämir eîG'uheni 667 MasJama b. Mukhallad

680 Yezïd [‘Abdallah b. 682 Sa*Td b. Yezïd clAzdï Zubeyr] 684 ‘Abd-er-Rahiuân 683 Marwän

F IN A N C E

JU S T IC E

E s ’S aïb b. H ish âm

£s-Saïb b. Ilishâm

‘Abis

‘Äbis

V ICE-G O V ER N O R

Es-Sâïb b. Hishäm

b. ‘O tbab. C'ait-

dam el-Çurash? 685 Abd-el-‘AzTz Marwan 1

b.

‘Amr b. Sa‘id ‘Abd-er-Rahmän b. Hugeyra el-Khawläni

685 ‘Abd-el-Melik

Yünus b . ‘Atiya ‘Abd-er-Rahmân b. Mo’âwiya 70S ‘AbtîalRlh b. ‘Abdel-Melik3

Imrin b. ‘Abd-erRaî^mân b. Shurahbîl this version. Tabari, however, is singularly defective in his scanty notices of Egyptian governors, and the same remark applies to his follower, Ibn-el-Athtr.

Bashïr b. en-Nadr ‘Abd-er-Ral>män b. Hugeyra Mâlik b. Sharà^Tl Yünus b, ‘A^xya ‘Abd-er-Rahmân b. Mo‘âwiya b . Hudeyé ‘Abd-er-Rahman ‘Imrân b. . . ♦ b. ‘Amr Shurahbil

1 Brother of the caliph ‘Abd-el-Melik. 2 Son of the caliph.

O O M & Z o » co o w a *T3

H

II. UNDER OMAYYAD CALIPHS (continued) GOVERNOR

FINA N C E

705 El-Welid 709 'Kurra b. Sharik el-‘Absï

‘Abd - cl - ‘Ala b. Khälid

714 ‘Abd-el-Melik b. Rifa'ael-Fehmi

Kl-Welid b. Rifa'a - Osama b. Zeyd

715 Suleyman 717 ‘Omar b. 717 Ayitib b. Shurah- El-I.lasan b. Yezïd 3 Ilay.än b. Shurcyh M1 el-Asbahl ‘Abd-el-'Azîz 720 Bishr b. Safwän Shu'eyb b. el-Ha720 Yezïd II. mid el-Kelbi ' „ 4OI>eydaliah b. 721 Ilnndhala b. Saf­ el-Tlabhâb wän el-Fehmi Hafs b. el-Wehd 724 Mohammad b. 724 Hishâm ‘Abd-el-Melik b. Marwän 1A glass stamp (for a measure of capacity) in the Fouquet Coll., with this governor’s name, is published by Casanova in Alem. de ta Miss, archioi. du Caire, vi. P- 367’ (¡lass weights of Osama are in the British Museum (Lane-Poole, Catalogue of Arabic Glass Weights in the B M No. 2) and Fouquet Coll. Osama b Zaid is men­ tioned as governing Egypt in A.H. 102 (720-1) by Ibn-el-

JU STIC E

VICE-GOVERNOR

‘Abd-el-‘Alä b. Khälid ‘Abdallah b.‘Abder-Ra(imän b. Hugeyra ‘Iyädh b. Abdallah Ibn-Hugeyra (again)

O

§

M >0

o fö (/> Yahyä b. Meymün

‘Okba b. Maslama

Athir, v. 77 ; but other historians do not give his name in that year. 3 Glass weights of this treasurer are in B.M. and Fouquet. * Several glass weighis and stamps of this treasurer in B.M. and Fouquet; one dated A.H. 11 =■ 729-30 (Calal. K.M., p. 108).

c tn

s

II. UNDER OMAYYAD CALIPHS (continued) CA LIPH

724 Hisham

GOVERNOR

724 El-Hurr b. Yüsuf 727 Hafs b. el-Welid el-1 !ad rami 727 ‘Abd-el-Melik b. Rifa'a Us 727 El-Welid b. Rila'a el-Fehmi

JU S T IC E

Hafs b. el-Welid

VICE-GOVERNOR

‘Obeydalläli b. el- Yahyä b. Meynnin Ilafs b. el-Welid Habhäb

O O
o

E l-‘Abbâs b.'A bdcr-Rahmàn Ahû-s-Ç ihbâ b. Hassâ'i Musa b. Zarïk Hâshim b. ‘Abd­ allah ‘Abd-el-‘Alâ b. Sa‘d ‘Assùma b. ‘Amr E l-A k h d ar b. Mar-

R

§ 1Abü-Katïfa Ism â‘11

Ism â'il b. Sumey1 G haw th

781 2Ibrâhim b Sali h b. ‘Ali ei-‘AbhasI

‘Assàma b. ‘Amr

1 Class stamps and weights of these officials have been published (B M. Catalogue and Collection fuuqiu'J). 1 A coin of Ibrahim dated M isr 167=783-4 a . d . i s

published ( Cat. Cairo, 863) ; also a weight and stamp (B M.. Fouquet).

l/l W

III. U N D E R ‘ABBÀSID C A L IP IIS (continued) C A L IP H

775 Ei*Mahdi

G O V ERN O R

WAR

7S4 M üsâ b. M u s‘ab 785 ‘A s-am a b.A m r

‘Assâma b. ‘Amr

F ÎN A N C R

V IC E -G O V E R N O R

J U S T IC E

G haw th El-Mi» fadd al b. F u d à la A biï-Tâhir el-A ‘rag

785 ‘E l-F ad l b. Salili b. A li el-‘A bo§si

785 E l-H adi 786 ‘A ll b. Suleyman b. A lìe l-‘A bbàsi

786 Er-Rashid 787 ]Miisa b ‘ïsâ ‘A bhàsï

el-

789 M -slama b. Yahyâ e l-Babeli 789 M oham m ad b. Zuheyr el-A zdi 790 D âw üd b. Yezïd b. H â tim el - Muhailebi

‘A bd-er-R ahm an b. M usa E l-H asan b. Yezïd Is m a il b. ‘Isa ‘A ssâm a b. ‘Amr ‘A bd-er-R alim àn b. Maslama H a b ib b. A bân ‘A m m âr b. Muslim

‘O m ar b. Gheylàn Ibrâhîm b. Çàiih

El-M ufaddal

b.

F u d â la 791 M usa b. ‘ïs à el‘A bbasi bis 792 Ibrahim b. $alij) el-‘A bbâsî Ois

N asr

b. K u l-

thûm K hâlid b. Yezïd

‘As«âma b. ‘Am r etc.

1 G lass stam ps and weights of the e officials have been published (B .M . Catalogue, and Collection Foiitjuc ).

III. UNDER ‘ABBÄSID CALIPHS (continued) C A LIPH

786 Er-Rashid

GOVERNOR

793 ‘Abdallah b. elMusayyab

WAR

FINANCE

JUSTIC E

Abii-i-Mukis

793 Uliäk 1) Suleymän Muslim b Bekkär el-‘Okeyl! b. ‘Alicl-'Abbäsi 794 Harthama b.A'yan 794 ‘Abd-el-Melik b. §älili b. ‘Ali el‘Abbasi (non­ resident) 705 ‘Obeydalläh b. tl- Mo‘awiya b. Surad Mahdi el-'Abbä»I ‘Ammär b. Muslim 796 MGsä b. ‘isa el‘Abbäsi U> 796 ‘Obeydalläh b. elMahdi bis 797 'Ism ä‘11 b. Sälih b. Stiieymän h. esSimma ‘All el-‘Äbbäsi 798 Ismä‘il b. ‘Isä b. Zeyd b. ‘Abd-el‘Aziz Mfisä el-‘Abbäsi 799 El-Leythb el-Fadl ‘Ali b. el-Fadl

VlCE-GOVKRNOR

E l - Mufaijtjal b.

Fudäla Mohammad Masriik

»1 »

8 ‘Abdallah b. el-Musayyab

p so

in O 1)

»

Mahfudh Suleyro

b,

Ishäk b. el-Furät

Däwüd b. Hubeyth ‘Awn b. Wahb

‘Ali b. el-Fadl

1 A « eight of Isma'il is in B M.(Cai. 23), but of the time when he was nwhlcsif of Egypt under the caliph el-Mahdi.

•< 2

Vi -(>■

III. UNDER ‘ABBASID CALIPHS (continued) C A l.IPH

GOVERNOR

WAR

FIN A N C E

786 Er-Rashid

JU STICE

VICE-GOVERNOR

‘A txl-er-R alnuan b. ‘A bdallah

Hâsbim b. ‘At>d-

M oham m ad

«Hâh ‘Abd-er-Rahmân b. Mïisâ Hâ-htm b. ‘Abd­ allah

803 Ahmad b. Ismä‘51 Mo'äwiya b. Surad i).‘AlieI-‘Abbasi 805 Obeydalläh (Ibn- Ahmad t>, Müsä Zeyncb) el-‘Abbäsi b.

‘Assäma 806 El-Huseyn

b.

GVrnil

El-Kämil e l-H u n ai

807 Mälik b. Delhem

Mohammad b. Tuba

el-Kelbi I

809 El-IIasan b. Takhlal)

809 El-Amin

E I-‘Alä b .'À s im

et-

Mohammadb. G'eld Mohammad Ziyäd Salih b. ‘Abd-elKerim Suleymän b.Ghälib 810 Halim b.H artham a ‘Ali h.el-Muthanna b. A*yan 'Obeydalläh etTarsvisi 812 G 'äbirb. el-Ash'ath et-Tä'i

b.

•Awf b. Wuheyb

Käsim el-Bekrî ] brâhim Bekkâ

b

el-

O O W 53 Z O 53 w O *TJ W o •< T> H

III. UNDER ‘ABBÄSID CALIPHS (continued) C A LIPH

809 El-Amin

GOVERNOR

JUSTICE

812 l‘Abbad el-Balkhi

Hubeyrab.Hashim b. Hudeyg

VICK-GOVERNOR

L ahi'a el-Had"

rami

813 El-Ma’mün 813 2£1-Muttalib

el-

Khuzä‘1

814 3El-‘Abbäs b.Miisä b. Isäel-'Abbäsi 815 El-Muttalib bis 816 4Es-Sari b. elMohammad b. Ilakam ‘Assäma 816 Suleyman b.Ghälib Abii-Bekr b. G'uel-Bareli näda El-‘Abbäs b.LahPa Mohammad b. 817 Es-Sari bis Osäma EI-Harith b. Zur‘a Meymiin b. cs-Sarl Ibn-el-Mukharik

O C
§ 4 ^;.%lk. p # $ besidrfthepyra-‘^ U B 1* ; ■■'■:• ¡ « F ipid^ kept Cairo , ina fgver of alarm. W hen a t t e s t k f 'Vas crushed i n ' * à a btoodv battle, and le c tu r e d in Niraia, his head and w . 30,000 skulls of his followers were sent in procession -V- th ro u ^ i a ji th e towns (jf Syria on th e backs of a hundred ,o°7 c a < ig ||^ iii^ th f i» -thrown into th e E uphrates T he g e tV ^ H K a lf who had ricHthe çahph o f this rival, reaped t t an iH re\ÆgJ for his service' He had tbe'm isfortune Ur % » --.afc e n ter th ero v al presence when 5lukiin was? busilÿf V -é cu ttin g up the body of a beairtTful litile child w h ^ p H i e ^ ^ ^ Th^d ju st m urdered w ith his own knife. El-Fadl .could n o t restraui his jmrror, but he knew th e consequences ««" “ he w ent straight n o me, made his will, and adm itted the ' ^ .*

.

c a lip h ’s h e a d sm e n a n h o u r . la te r. H e . h a d seen to o i f m u ch . W r - r * ;• ** W it h all his fra n tic s a v a g e ry , H à k im h ad 'g le a m s of* ‘ ; ¿ in t e llig e n c e ant i/ c e r t a in ly o f' p ie ty ; a n c h jy s re ig n \yas ’ n o t alto g eth e jttrtv an tin g in ~ re lig io u s a n d -p u b lic w o rk s. , Jl i H is m ost fan® us m o tiu m e n f 1s th é, in o sg u e t h â t ’ sjtilll * » • ’

,_bears his n a in e .^ p s e tô the north g jte or ^a,b-en-Nasr< Begun by his fatîjter in 99 j, it was corM je y d ¿11 1003,1 except the heiatiteniijg of th a rn iiia re |p rifiU g » # à )L ift' the Rashida m Jg iie , ¿fid ofldjr pfayed w l-'A a n d 'a t Maks he founded both a m o s q u ^ o ^ n e next world ,^md a beijjgdere for this, near th e river bank. .

1 Hi* adopted titles were É^aSl®*1 an^ el-Muntasir min-a‘dtii-llah, both fa v o u rite s ^ ^ ^ H ^ i» ^ î^ o iÿ ^ r > J hut strange in an

■ • -*

129 ‘

m

ü

w

130 *

T H E HALL OF SCIENCE

His most original foundation, however, was the . a month (or about ¿£70 a year), and the landlord of the house in which the traveller lodged refused 5 D. a month for the top storey. 1 They remained there unli! the restoration of orthodoxy by Saladin, who sent bade the turban and robe to Baghdad. The iron throne or lectern was retained, and eventually placed in the mosque of Beybars II. 2 Stftr Nameh: relation du voyage dc Nassiri Khosrau, ed. & tr. Ch. Schefer, 1S81, pp. n o —162.

140

C A IR O IN

1046

All th e houses in Cairo belonged to th e caliph, and the rents were collected every m onth. T h e shops, which were reckoned at 20,000, were also his property, and were let at from 2 D . to 10 D . a m onth, which, even taking so low an average as 5 D ., represents an annual income of about ^650,000. T h e old wall of th e city was no longer standing in 1046, and the second wall had not y et been begun ; but th e Persian traveller was struck by th e high blank walls of the houses and still more of the palace, th e stones of which were so closely united th at they looked like a solid block. H is account of the interior is disappointingly brief, but he m entions the celebrated throne-room , with its th ro n e of gold sculptured w ith hu n tin g scenes, surrounded by a golden lattice screen, and ascended by silver steps. H e was told th at th e palace contained 30,000 people, including 12,000servants, and th at th e guard m ounted every night consisted of 1000 horse and foot. T he city of Misr (Fustat) was separated from Cairo by a space of nearly a mile, covered w ith gardens, flooded by th e Nile in th e inundation, so th at in sum m er it looked like a sea. T his was th e wellknown and well-loved “ L ake of th e Abyssinians,” (B irket el-Habash), w ith its surrounding gardens, a favourite resort of Cairenes, of which Ibn-Sa‘id sings : “ O lake of th e Abyssinians, where my day was one long spell o f happy peace ; so th a t H eaven seemed on thy bosom, and ail my tim e a joyous feast. How lovely is th e flax when it rises upon th ee w ith its flowers or buds in knots, and its leaves.unsheathed from thee like swords.” H ard by was th e m onastery of St. John, w ith its beau­ tiful gardens, laid out by Tem im th e son of th e caliph Mo'izz, and afterwards a favourite spot of th e caliph Hafiz; and the “ W ell of the S te p s ” shaded by a giant sycamore.' Misr was built on an elevation, to escape the water, and to th e Persian traveller looked “ like a m ountain ” from a distance, w ith its houses of seven to fourteen storeys, standing each on a space of 30 cubits square, and capable of holding 350 people. Some of th e 1 AbB-SSlitj, ff. 7b, 40b.

CU T T IN G T H E CANAL

141

streets were covered, and lighted by lamps. T here were seven mosques in Misr and eight in Cairo ; the number of khans (wekalas) was reckoned at 200. A bridge of 36 boats joined Misr to “ the Islan d ” (Roda), but there was no bridge from the island to G'iza, only a ferry. T he traveller was especially struck by the M arket of Lamps at Misr, where he saw rarities and works of art such as he saw in no other city, and was astonished at the profusion of fruits and vegetables in the bazars. H e describes the pottery made at Fustat as so delicate that you could see your hand through it, and remarks th e metallic lustre which is still seen in fragments found in the mounds which occupy the site of the city. H e also saw some fine transparent green glass made there. The shopkeepers sold “ at a fixed price,” and if they cheated they were put on a camel and paraded through the streets, ringing a bell and confessing their fault. All the tradespeople rode donkeys, which were on hire in every' street, to the number of 50,000. Only the soldiers rode horses. Nasir-i-Khusrau found Egypt in a state of the utmost 1046 tranquillity and prosperity. The shops of the jewellers and money changers, he says, were left unfastened, save by a cord (perhaps a net, as in the present day) stretched in front, and the people had full confidence ¡11 the government and in the amiable caliph. He saw Mus­ tansir riding his mule at the high festival of cutting the canal : a pleasant-looking young man, with shaven face, dressed very simply in a white kaftan and turban, with a parasol enriched with precious stones and pearls carried by a high officer. Three hundred Persians of Deylem followed on foot, armed with halberds and axes. Eunuchs burnt incense of ambergris and aloes on either side, and the people threw themselves on their faces and called down blessings on the caliph. T he chief kadi and a crowd of doctors and officials followed, and the escort included 20,000 mounted Kitama Berbers, x0,000 Batilis, 20.000 blacks, 10,000 “ O rientals” (Turks and Persians), 30.000 purchased slaves, 15,000 Bedawis of the l.ligaz, 30.000 black and white slave attendants and chamber­

142

THE WEZIR YAZURI

lains (ustad), 10,000 palace servants (serayl), and 30,000 negro swordsmen. Besides these (which constituted the whole arm y, and probably were only represented by select divisions), th e caliph’s suite included various princes visiting the court, from M aghrib, Yemen, Rum, Slavonia, Georgia, Nubia, Abyssinia, and even T atars from T urkestan and the sons of the king of Delhi. P oets and men of letters, in th e caliph’s pay, attended ; and all Cairo and Misr, Christians included, turned out to see th e cutting of th e dam by th e caliph, beside the pavilion esSukkara, built by his ancestor 'Aziz near th e m outh; and then to go sailing on th e Nile. T h e first boat-load was of deaf and dum b people, whose presence made an auspicious opening of the festivities. T hough his descriptions relate chiefly' to th e capital, th e Persian traveller records enough about the country, from T innis to Aswan, to confirm th e impression th a t in agriculture and in general appearance it differed little from the E gypt of to-day. T h e adm inistration of el-Yazurl (1050— 58), a man sprung of a hum ble sailor’s family at Yazur near Jaffa, w ho rose to be ^a very am 1 ,i p. The :nt » ,n. Jfanged l i v''r y large, ^ ’al7 varied at different times. Tfte Tne pay fengSoJ fijqm 2 D. to ! zo D montph. .* 20 D-. a mcmth. The fleetjwhieh was stationed at Alexaiidria, Darnietti, 4 ^scalou.arW ggher Syrian’pr>rts, and:‘lA^-rfhatron the.R ed Sea, numbered over-seventy-five g^leys, tSn'ttra^sp$rts, and ten galleasses, under a high admiral. .

O F F IC E R S O F STATE

enjoyed the privilege of presenting ambassadors. 3. T he field marshal (isfehsalar) or commander-in-chief, who commanded the whole of the forces, and looked to the protection of the palace. 4. The umbrella-bearer, a great emir, who carried the parasol of state over th e caliph. 5. The sword-bearer. 6. T he lance-bearer. 7. T he equerries. 8. The commandant of Cairo. 9. T he commandant of Misr (Fustat). To the men of the sword belonged also the household attendants, stewards, chamberlains, ink-bearer, and various court function­ aries. T he men of th e pen included (besides the wezir, unless he belonged to the military order): 1. The chief kadi, endowed with very great powers, the head of the law, director of the mint, who held his court in th e mosque of ‘Am r on Tuesdays and Saturdays, seated on a raised divan, with his inkstand before him, the witnesses ranged on either hand in the order of their causes, four lawyers seated in front, and five ushers to keep order. 2. The chief preacher, who presided in the hall of science. 3. T he inspector of markets (mohtesib), who held unrestricted control over the bazars and streets, assisted by two deputies for Cairo and Misr, supervised weights and measures, prices, and trade generally, and punished cheats and defaulters. 4. T he treasurer, who presided over the Beyt-el-MSl or state treasury, and had besides various duties, such as manum itting and m arry­ ing slaves, making contracts for building ships, etc. 5. The deputy chamberlain, who joined the “ lord of the door ” in introducing an ambassador to the caliph, each holding one of his hands, and never letting him loose. 6. The reader, who recited the Koran to the caliph, in season and out of season. A lower division of the men of the pen comprised the whole body of civil servants, attached to the following departm ents: 1. The wezirate (unless the wezir were a man of the sword). 2. The chancery, subdivided into the secretariate and the two branches of the record office or registry of the caliph’s acts, one to take down and draft his instructions, the other to w rite them out in

LOCAL GOVERNM ENT

*57

fair copy. 3. T he army pay office, which also attended to the proper m ounting and furnishing of the troops. 4. The exchequer, subdivided into fourteen departm ents, dealing with every branch of the finances, accounts, allowances, presents, pensions, tribute, crown inheritance, royal factories, with special bureaux for U pper Egypt, Alexandria, etc. The physicians, of whom the caliph always kept four or five, and the poets, whose name was legion, also formed separate classes of the men of the pen attached to the court. Outside these court functionaries were the local officials who governed the three divisions of the empire, Egypt, Syria, and the borders of Asia Minor. Egypt was administered by the four governors of Küs, or U pper Egypt, Sharkiya (Bilbeys, Kalyüb, Ushmflm), Gharbiya (Mahalla, Menüf, and Abyâr), and Alexandria (including all Buheyra). T he governor of Upper E gypt ranked almost next to the wezïr, and had several deputy governors under him in the various provinces. Under these were the district officials and heads of towns and villages. T he management of all local affairs was en ­ trusted to the local authorities, including the m ainten­ ance by troops and corvée labour of the irrigation canals and dams belonging specifically to th e district or village ; but the larger dikes, which could not be assigned to one local authority, were managed by inspectors appointed annually from Cairo, with a large staff of skilled assistants. T he system reads well on paper, but in practice there was doubtless much corruption and pecula­ tion. T he general testimony of the Arabic historians, however, points to a mild and even benevolent treatm ent of the fellàhïn as the prevailing policy of the Fàtimid government.

CHAPTER VI T H E ATTA CK

FKOM T H E

EA ST

969-II7I

Authorities. —As preceding; also Osama, Baha-ed-din, William of Tyre. Monuments, Inscriptions, Coins, etc.—See preceding chapter.

had been a dependency of E gypt, w ith brief intermission, since th e days of ibn-Tulun, but under th e Fatim ids th e connection had been growing more and more strained. T h e orthodox inhabitants, especially in Damascus, strenuously repudiated th e Shi'a heresy, and could be induced only by force to recognize the caliphs of Egypt. T h e Fatim id conquest by G'a'far b. Fellan in 9 6 9 was im m ediately followed by revolt, and th e in te r­ vention of th e K arm atis practically severed Syria from E g y p t for th e next eight years. Even after th e caliph ‘Aziz in person had led a successful campaign in 9 7 7 , and quashed the insurrection under Aftegin, Damascus was still b u t nominally under th e control of Egypt, and it 988 was not till 9 8 8 th a t th e Syrian capital was thoroughly subdued for th e tim e. T h e northernm ost city of the Fatim id em pire was then Tripolis.1 A ntioch still belonged to th e eastern Rom an e m p ire ; and A leppo was in th e possession of th e last descendants of the S y r ia

1 The earliest Fatim id coinage at Tripolis dates from 974 5 ; the latest is n o i- 2 . But the Syrian coinage of the Fatimids was too interm ittent (or too few examples have come down) for it to be taken as a chronological guide. The most regular mints were Filestin (i.e. Ramla), Tyre, and Tripolis. Under el-Amir, when S>ria had nearly all fallen to the Crusaders, ‘Askalan (Ascalon) became the Syrian mint of the Fatimids, 1109—17.

ROMAN CAM PAIGNS

Hamdanids, ever sworn foes to Egypt, and protected by the Romans as a necessary buttress to Antioch, which the emperor Nicephorus had recently recovered from the Arabs (969). W hen Mangutegin, the Fatimid general, besieged Aleppo for thirteen months in 993-4, after defeating an army of 50,000 men despatched to its relief 994 by the Roman governor of Antioch, th e emperor Basil II himself, abandoning a campaign against the Bulgarians, came to its support. A t his approach the Egyptians retired on Damascus, and the emperor sacked Hims and Sheyzar and made an unsuccessful attack on Tripolis. A parade of 250 Roman prisoners at Cairo was the only trium ph enjoyed on this occasion by the caliph ‘Aziz. Under Hakim, after two victories over the Romans, by sea off Tyre and by land near Apamea, peace was con­ cluded for ten years with the em p ero r: but Syria 998 remained in a chronic state of revolt. Tyre had to be reduced, and the G'arrilh family at Ramla set up a rival caliph in the sherif of Mekka, with the title of er-Rashid ; defeated the Fatimid army near Darum ; and were with difficulty brought to some degree of submission by judicious bribes and diplomacy. Nominally, the Egyptian caliph acquired some prestige by the acknowledgment of his sovereignty in the mosques of the Euphrates valley, from Mosil to Kufa, by the Arab (‘Okeylidj ruler Ivirwash ; but this temporary adhesion ion was summarily severed by the Buweyhid sultan of ‘Irak. Nor was the brief accession of Aleppo to the Fatimid party in i o n , when the Hamdanids were expelled by their freedman, Ibn-Lu'lu, of much value. Such homage was in reality in the nature of an appeal for help against some pressing danger. On the accession of Zahir, the authority of the 1021 Egyptian government was scarcely felt in Syria. The capable commander of their army, Anushtegin ed-Dizbiri, the governor of Caesarea, had to face an insurrection under Hassan b. Daghfal in Palestine, another under Sinan around Damascus, and the hostility of Salih b. Mirdas, who took Aleppo in 1025 from the Princess

6

l o

A N U S H T E G IN IN SY RIA

Royal's Indian slave FirQz, by whom th e city had been held for the last three years. A nushtegin at last defeated and killed Salih at the battle of U khuw ana near Tiberias, drove Hassan into exile among th e Romans, and restored most of Syria, except th e north, to the Egyptian caliph. A nother defeat of the Mirdasid A rabs 1038 on th e Orontes, near Sheyzar, gave A leppo 1 and the rest of northern Syria, except th e Rom an territory, to his m aster th e child caliph M ustansir, and A nushtegin’s firm rule not only preserved peace and order in Damascus, but induced th e governor of H arran , by th e E uphrates, to proclaim th e caliphate of E gypt in th e mosques of Harran, Sarug, and Rakka. Meanwhile a ten years’ peace had been concluded w ith th e em peror Michael IV , who was allowed to com plete th e restoration of th e ruined Church of th e R esurrection in 1048. i°43 T h e governm ent of A nushtegin m arks high-w ater in th e Fatim id relations w ith Syria. F rom 1043 th eir power rapidly declined. T h e new governor, Naair-eddawla b. Hamdan, afterwards notorious in E gypt, found himself powerless at Damascus; Palestine was once more in revolt under Hassan; and two attem pts to recover Aleppo from th e Mirdasids, in 1048 and 1049, proved fruitless, though 30,000 E gyptian troops were sent in th e second year. I t is tru e the Mirdasid Mo‘izz-ed-dawla afterwards subm itted, sent th e caliph 40,000 D .x and presently made his home at Cairo ; 2 but his nephew 1060 carried on th e struggle in 1060, after which Aleppo was never a Fatim id city. A greater power, however, was rapidly advancing from th e east, which merged all m inor contests in a struggle for bare existence. T h e Sel^uk T urkm ans had subdued Persia, and in 1055 th eir leader, T ughril Beg, was recognized at Baghdad in th e Friday prayers as th e caliph’s lieutenant, or in o th er words master. T he Selguks were sternly orthodox and zealous for the faith : 1 There is a coin of Aleppo, A.H. 429 (1037-8), with (lie name of Mustansir, in ihe BibU Paris. 2 Coin^ 0. Aleppo from 1050 to 1053 bear the name of the caliph Mustan$ir.

s El g c k

161

in v a s io n

to extirpate the E gyptian heresy was th eir sacred duty. T o reduce Syria, as a first step, was no very difficult task, in its divided and rebellious state. T h e Selgfik general Atsiz conquered Palestine and entered Jerusalem in 1071, and after laying siege to Damascus annually for five years and destroying the crops around, at last, with th e connivance of one of its inveterate factions, acquired th e city in 1076. Damascus never again belonged to ta76 th e Fa£imids.1 T h e only capable leader in E gypt, Bedr el-G'emali, was fully occupied in recovering th e Nile valley for his indolent master, and had no force to spare for Syria. H e bribed A tsiz to abstain from crossing th e frontier— he had advanced as far as Gaza and el-‘A rish, th e border tow n—and meanwhile prepared ships to convey th e Fatim id court to Alexandria if the worst should happen. H ad Atsiz been adequately supported from th e east, the fears of the great wezir m ight have been realized, and the Selguks m ight have extinguished th e S hi‘a dynasty a hundred years before its actual fall. As it was, as soon as E g y p t was pacified, the troops were free to be employed in Syria, and Damascus was at once besieged. T he E gyptians had to retire on th e approach of T utush (the brother of Melik Shah, th e greatest of 107 the Seiguk sultans), who was appointed viceroy in Syria and entered Damascus in 1079. Still undaunted, Bedr himself, despite his seventy years, led a fresh campaign against th e invaders in 1085, but his siege of Damascus was equally fruitless. H e lived, however, to 1 5 see some m inor successes on th e coast, where th e Fatim id armies sent by his order took T yre, which had been many years in revolt, and re-conquered ‘A kka and G'ubeyl. T h e deaths of Bedr el-G'emah and th e caliph M ustansir 1089 made little difference in the situation. Bedr was succeeded in the wezirate by his son el-Afdal Shahanshah, who hastily set th e youngest of the seven sons of the late caliph on th e throne w ith th e title of el-M usta‘li (1094— n o i . ) 2 1 The latest Fatim id coin of Damascus bears the date 1066-7. 5 Abu-I-Kasim Ahmad el-M usta'li-bi-llah, “ the exalted of God,” struck coins at Misr (1095— 1100-1), Alexandria, ‘A kka, Tyre, and Tripolis (1101). M

THE FIRST CRUSADE

'

'

The one enatossing fcpic of Afdal s rule was th e danger v,» 5l | from the ekst* Not from the Selguks, for on the deaths •1. ' of Melik Shah (1092) and •kTiitusl broke into fragments, . cs^Ail thut '

even had the Fatimid's* name prort w .- u. claimed in the mosques in the hope Fir- ,35, —Glass Weight .r of el-Amir. â of winning Egyptian support against .096 his brother. But though the Selguk power was broken in Syria, the impiilse that brought *!h em westward was still strong,"and numerous bodies of jj# hardy Turkmans, were gathered round the standards of daring chiefs, trained in 'th e Sel^iik wars, and read v to ' embark 011 fresh conquests whenever a fresh ‘'leader- •** f r t l f l d appear _who could unite themv for a. common *p«?pose. Meanwhile, in the lull between th e ’ Selguk htffricane and thé gathering storm which was to b rea k s upon Egypt in the armies of Nur-ed*din, a new force appeared which at first threatenedro'carry all .before it. ’ fc^SThe temporary paralysi&^pf the Mohainoiadai} dynasties — in Persia and Syria, and Tfie degenerate loxuriousness o f ^ ^ the Fatimids in Egypt, offered anTtpp&ye'nity for in v a s io n ^ J H In 1096 “ the first,Crusadë JjèganMts eastward march • in 1098 the great cities of Eaessa' and Antiocn and 1 many fortresses were taken ; in 1099 the Christians«4^ •¿■►regained possession of Jerusalem itself. In the next few » ? years thêgreater part of Palestine and the cqast of Syria, T ortosaj‘Akka, Tripolis, and Sidon (11 io)’t hands of the Crusaders, and the conquest of T\'r£'Sj F124 marked the~a^>gee of their power. It was the" precise 'moment when a successful invasion from Europe w a ^ ^ possible. A generation earliefi the Sel£uk grower w as^ ^ ^ inexpugnable. A generation later,-a Zengi or a Nur-eddin, firmly established in the Syriiuftseats of the Selguks, would probably have driven the^^^aders into the sea. A lucky star led the preachgfteip?|}^..;first Crusade »to ik

{¿4

T H E F IR S T CR U SA D E

seize an opportunity of which they hardly realized th e significance. P eter the H erm it and U rban II. chose th e auspicious m om ent with a sagacity as unerring as if they had made a profound study of Asiatic politics. T h e Crusade penetrated like a wedge between the old wood and th e new, and for a while seemed to cleave th e tru n k of Mohammadan em pire into splinters.” 1 W hen th e news of the approaching Crusade reached Egypt, Afdal welcomed it as a source of stren g th against the Selguks, and seems to have even anticipated an alliance w ith the Christians against th e com mon enem y.2 Em boldened by the prospect, he marched into P alestine ^098 an{j t00k Jerusalem after more than a m onth’s siege ’ from its Sel^uk com m andants, th e brothers Sukm an and Il-Ghazi.3 The dismissal of these valiant defenders only paved th e way for th e Crusaders, and when th e Christian 1099 conquerors massacred 70,000 defenceless Muslims in the H oly City, Afdal at last understood w hat he had to expect from his presumed allies. H e received a further lesson 1099 when the F ranks surprised him before Ascalon, and A“*- attacking th e Egyptians, in spite of a flag of truce, u tterly routed them , captured th eir camp and baggage, and set fire to a wood in which many of the fugitives had sought refuge. Afdal sailed hurriedly for E gypt, and Ascalon bribed the Franks to leave it alone. So long as he lived, however, th e A rm enian wezir waged war against th e invaders. In 1101 th e Crusaders were again «■os victorious near Jaffa, but in 1102 an E gyptian arm y, composed probably of some of B edr’s Syrian veterans, had th eir full revenge near Ascalon, defeated Baldwin and 700 knights, and compelled th e king of Jerusalem to take refuge in a bed of rushes, w hence he was smoked out and hunted as far as Jaffa. Ram la once m ore became a Saracen city. In th e following year, several engage­ m ents took place. Afdal sent his son, who beat th e

Saladin,

1 Lane-Poole, 24, 25. 5 He may even have proposed to become a Christian in order to cement the alliance. Cp. Hist. Occ. des Croisades, iv. 48, 78. 3 They afterwards founded the Ortukid dynasties at Maridin and Keyfa in Diyar-Bekr, one of which subsisted to the time of Timur.

LOSS O F P A L E S T IN E

F ranks at Yazur (when Baldwin hid in a haystack), took Ramla, and sent 300 knights as prisoners to E g y p t, after killing the rest. A force of 4000 Egyptian horse was sent to Jaffa the same year, supported by a f le e t; but th e Crusaders were also reinforced, and no effort of the Egyptians could arrest th eir progress. By 1104 most of Palestine was in Christian hands, except a few coast for­ tresses, and of these ‘A kka and G'ubeyl fell in th a t year. T he struggle centred round Ramla for some tim e, and th e A tabeg or Selguk governor of Damascus, T ughtegin, made common cause w ith th e Fatim ids in endeavouring to save th e rem nant of Muslim power in the Holy L and; but after an indecisive battle between Jaffa and Ascalon in Septem ber, 1104, both sides retired exhausted. A fter 1109, when Tripolis at length fell after an heroic siege, , T yre became th e hope of Islam and resisted all attem pts of the Crusaders until 1124, w hen Ascalon rem ained the n o rth ern outpost of E gypt and almost th e only relic of h er former sway in Syria. In 1117 K ing Baldwin even , invaded E g y p t itself, b u rn t part of Faram a, and reached T innis, when his fatal illness compelled him to return. T h e Egyptians attem pted no reprisals, and henceforth, until the end of th e Fatim id dynasty, defensive diplomacy was th e prevailing policy» of th eir wezirs. T he wise rule of Afdal came to an end when his , sovereign, growing to manhood, chafed in leading strings, and had the great wezir assassinated in th e street at the close of 1121. T he caliph visited th e dying m an and exhibited the deepest sym pathy ; and, as soon as his eyes were closed, spent forty day's in plundering his house of th e treasures which he had amassed during his long adm inistration. T he historian G'emal-ed-dln, who was acquainted w ith one of Afdal’s officers, declares th at the wezlr’s wealth comprised 6,000,000 D . in gold, 250 sacks (5 bushels each) of Egyptian silver dirhem s, 75,000 atlas (satin) dresses, 30 camel-loads of gold caskets from ‘Irak, etc., together with an am ber frame or lay figure on which to display th e state robes. T h e m ilking of his vast herds was farmed o u t during his last year for 30,000 1). Among his institutions was th a t of a sort of

jm

166

T H E C A L IPH AM IR

^EL *

r".-.,. I ! t order of chivaliy, called the “ squires of th e chamber," a body of youths furnished each with a horse and arms, and pledged to execute without faltering any command he gave them. ^ Those who distinguished themselves were promoted to the rank of emir. His successor, Ibnel-Bataihi, styled el-Ma'mun, though a capable financier and a tolerant minister, could not keep his place; he was n*5 imprisoned in 1125 and afterwards crucified.1 T he caliph now tried the experiment of being his own wezir, aided only by the monk AbVi-Negah b. Kenna, who farmed the taxes of the Christians for 0 0 0 D. The im i of but gave himself such airs that the caliph had him flogged 0 'i'i death with tnong; .. '. El-Amir’s sol de. him universally detestei showei Oppression of evffcyy kind and wanton executions exec------ - „-------. the innate cruelty"of his nature, and in November, 1130, 1no as he rode back from the Hawdag—a delightful pleasurehouse on the island of Roda, which he had built for hisfavourite Bedawi mistress, and which rivalled his charm ­ ing rosaries a t Kafyub—the caliph Was set upon by ten of the Isma'ilian Assassins» and died ’of "hi* w ounds the same night. A part frorft his taste in roses, the most r~ notable facf'about his private life is that 5000 sheep,' at 5 I ) . a head, were, consumed in his kitchen every month. ~ _ El-Amir-left no son, and'his cousin el-Hafiz/ succeeded him (113^-1-140), at first as^rfigent, pudding the delivery 1 He built the Grey Mosque (G'ami“ el-Akmar) in 1121-2, of which the ruins are still to be seen in the Beyn-el-Kasreyn. Abu-4-Meyinun ‘Abdel-Megtd el-H afiz-li-dini-llah,the gu; dian of the- religion of God, struck coins only at Misr (Fusi 1. A lexandria, with dates from 1131 to 1148-9.

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U nluckily for her, she b o re' aughter, b u r before th e regent became actual cal >h a curious interregnum occurred^ A fdal’s son A b u ^ All, nicknam ed Katifat, who had been made wezir by th e over. w helm ing voice of th e army', was a stauqgh Im am ian or T * u m l . i ' 3*n e v e r t h e l e s s — iH e tr a d itio n of g ood overiim ent w asistru n g in his f a m i l y h e was ju st, la n d benevolent, tolerant and generous to th e Copts, an«' a great lover of po'dtry. His autocracy could not 1'aSt however, w ith th e rightful caliph intriguing in st him in th e palace ; and in Decem'ber, 1131, whilst " g out to play' polo, he wa the caliph’s personal corps or

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age of 57, with Yanis, an A rm enian slave of Afdal, as wezir. Yanis was a strict disciplinarian, a hard, upright, intelligent, and detested man. In nine m onths he was found too overbearing, and th e caliph had him poisoned >>32 by th e court doctor. A fter this, perhaps in order to avoid arousing jealousy am ong th e troops, or to escape th e ty ran n y of a too powerful minister, Hafiz tried for a tim e to do w ithout any wezir, and proved him self no mean adm inistrator, till the quarrels of his sons over the appointm ent to th e heirship brought about civil war between the rival battalions of th e Reyhaniya and th e G 'uyushiya black soldiery, to whom th e caliph was forced to sacrifice his elder son. T h e victorious G 'uyushiya mustered to th e num ber of 10,000 in th e Beyn-el-Kasreyn square, and dem anded th e head of prince H asan, who had caused the deaths of many emirs. T h e helpless caliph summoned his two court doctors : Abu-M ansur th e Jew refused to do th e job, b u t his Christian colleague, IbnKirfa, mixed a deadly draught, which Hasan was forced to drink. Ibn-Kirfa was a man of considerable attainm ents in science, apart from his practical acquaintance w ith toxicology ; he held several lucrative court appointm ents, such as master of the wardrobe, and possessed a charm ing house on th e canal ; but the caliph could not endure him after he had poisoned his son, and th e too subservient doctor was cast into prison and executed soon after his victim. T h e rem aining years of Fatim id rule in E gypt were marred by th e continual contests of rival ministers, supported by factions in th e army. T he troops set up as wezir Bahram, an A rm enian Christian, who was nevertheless styled “ th e Sword of Islam ,1’ b u t his whole­ sale appointm ent of his fellow countrym en to all th e offices and departm ents of state, and th e consequent indulgence of Christians, led to his expulsion, together w ith 2000 of his A rm enian protege's,’ and his eventual

1 The number n>ay be exaggerated, but it should be noted that Bedr el-G'emali brought an Armenian bodyguard with him to Cairo, and that for more than half a century the government had been in Armenian

RU D W A N W E Z IR

adoption of th e monastic life.1 H is successor, Rudwan, 1137 a gallant soldier and a poet, was th e first to assume the title of king (melik), afterwards used by all Fatim id wezirs : he was styled el-Melik el-Afdal and Seyyid elAgall (“ the most excellent king and most illustrious n o b le ”), but his titles did not save him from a fa ll: he was throw n into prison, and though after ten years he ” 39 contrived to bore his way through th e prison wall with the proverbial iron nail, and assembling many followers established himself in th e G rey Mosque (el-Akmar) in front of the great palace of th e caliph, he was cu t down and his head was throw n into his wife’s lap. A horrible »14* story is told th a t his body was cut into small pieces and devoured by budding warriors, in th e belief th a t they would thus assimilate his pith and courage. T he last year of th e old caliph’s reign—if reign it could be called when his authority hardly extended beyond the palace and was only m aintained th ere by his drunken negro guard—was passed in a scene of constant faction and tu m u lt; th e streets were unsafe, and th e people lived in a perpetual terror. T h e caliph was now 75 years of age, and suffered grievously from indigestion. His physician invented a drum , cunningly composed of the seven metals, welded at th e exact m om ent when th e south­ ing of each of the seven planets promised fortunate resu lts; and whenever this magic drum was beaten, th e caliph’s flatulence was relieved. T his interesting m achine was in th e palace at th e tim e of Saladin’s conquest, and one of his K urdish soldiers carelessly thrum m ed it, in igno­ rance of its peculiar properties. T h e effect was so astonishing th a t the man dropped th e drum in confusion, and it was broken. T here is no doubt th a t under the Fatim ids, on the whole, th e Christians of E g y p t were treated w ith unusual consideration, far more th an under succeeding dynasties. S etting aside the persecutions of H akim , which were merely p art of a general tyranny, th e Copts and hands, no doubt to the great increase and aggrandisement of the Armenian colony.

1 Abu-Salil), f. 84a.

T O L E R A T IO N

O F C H R IS T IA N S

A rm enians had never before received so much bene­ volence from Muslim rulers. U nder ‘Aziz th ey were favoured beyond th e M ohammadans and were appointed to th e highest offices of state. U nder M ustansir and his successors, Arm enians (w hether Christians or not) pro­ tected th eir fellow-countrymen and through them th e other Christians during th e long period when the wezirate was in th eir hands. Most of the financial posts of governm ent were then, as always, in th e possession of Copts. T h ey were th e farmers (datnin) of taxes, and the controllers of accounts ; and th eir ability made them indispensable. T h ro u g h o u t th e reigns of the later caliphs we read constantly of the building and restoration of churches, recorded by the Christian Abu-Salih, whose contem porary history accurately reflects the state of E gypt at th e close of th e Fatim id rule. T h e caliph Hafi? even welcomed th e A rm enian patriarch at his usual public levees on M ondays and T hursdays every week, to receive his instruction in history, and continued th e practice up to his death. Hafiz was fond of visiting monasteries, where a manzara or belvedere was som e­ times erected looking on the secluded gardens and com m anding a view of “ the blessed Nile,” and he and his son Zafir, and the last caliph ‘Adid, used for this reason to frequent th e m onastery of O ur Lady at el-'Adawiya, eighteen miles south of Cairo, and contributed to its support in retu rn for th e m onks’ hospitality. T h e caliph Amir, a great lover of gardens, delighted in the monastery of Nahya, west of G'iza, w here he built a belvedere, and whence he used to go out hunting. Every tim e he w ent he gave th e m onks a thousand dirhem s. He amused himself by standing in th e priest’s place in th e church, but he refused to bow in order to en ter th e low door, and compromised m atters by stooping and going in backwards.1 T he revenue of the E gyptian churches, largely derived from Fatim id gifts, am ounted in 1180 to 2923 D . and 4826 sacks (of 5 bushels) of corn, and they owned 915 acres of land. 1 Abu-§alih, ff. 2b, 7a, 46A, 61-2, etc.

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a - . p ^ n . T ^ e ^ ^ ; h of Hafiz in OctQber 114Q, his youyiijest' " /-_• :S s# = was set on the throne. H e was -S^jgay, B ~:} "1' ' " ? ‘ hatuisome. careless youth of 16, . * X “fwho thought’ more of girls and ” • , “ songs than of arms and-pplitrcs, ‘;'v5 .** ancTwas wholly managed-.by the ’»- I •_ ¡t ."Shrewd wezir Ibn-gs-Salar. a ¿ V jK u rd and an ortf&dox Sunni, ; -■ - ’"who was srvied el-Meijk el-‘Adil. F’g 3**. H e had driven o u k ih e califiH’s. Glass weight of ez-Zafir. nominee,. Ibn-Masai;.* ¡and w a s j consequently -frated ‘by .ez-.ZafifjL (whose “ young guard ” he suppressed .and \velL-nigl8eS exterminated in 1150), and as heartily detestedsaby people, whose lives were never safe from his exeCiii.ijfeS[^^SP His assassination by his wife’s grandson, Nasr, by the murder, qf the caliph by the same u eacherous^ hands, belongs to one of the darkest chapters o f Egyptian history. -We have the Story from th e pen of a contemporary, the Arab chief Osatiia, who used to hawk cranes and herons with Hafiz’s court, was the guest of Ibn-esSalar, and the intimate, if not instigator, of his m ur­ derer.4 T he wezir’s skull was placed in the Museum of Heads in the finance departm ent by the pyerjoy edcaliph, who gave th e handsome young assassin tw enty sil\er* " plates covered each with 20,000 />.. and encouraged him to follow up his first essay in the fine art. T he suggestion was that he should make away with his own father and*' ,. iellow-conspirator ‘Abbas, who had succeeded to the wezirate ot his murdered stepfather, Ibn-es-Saiar. Nasr was not indisposed to the second crime, and ‘Abbas, scentina*danger, prepared to poison his_son. The.,strained f s.;; situation was relieved b y -th e murder of the *trusting r caliph at a friendly entertainm ent iir thej youygiyillain’s own house. The next 3a£.O sam a was sitnng in the >154 palace porch, when he suddenly hearcP'the clash of pr'

1 Abii-Man.nir Ism a‘:l ei-Za'ir-li-'adai-dtwpTlah, “ the conqueror of the eneinies of God’s religion ,’1stniclc-gons only at Misr and Alexandria, .'dated from r i 4 ^ j o to n 53-4. . K a • See H . i)er«nhouig, Fie tP&i&aniar2Qh hanm s threw stones ’ *1 from the windows upon tfcu; wezirV retainers, fri* . V wh'o immediately de-. . 4. ' seated him. ‘Abbas • 39, could not withstand ifii, Misr,1149. , ^ ^jle storm of in d ig n a­ tion and _ veifgfeance, ana ned towards Un the way he was was.si^rprisog Is Syria.‘ Syria.1 On sumriseci _ and killed by the Franks, probably those of McnitreaT ¡Vfcnitrea'T1 ‘or of K arak JjyI the Dead Se^, who had be.en set on A ihts' ara c k bjjpim sisters. onee of the murdered caliph’s sisters, "The'Source qf all ill this tragedy, the inhuman Nasr, was ,* iipl^tfcto ’^old by the.-»inpl.a ^ tto the avengers for 60,000 D., sent . to''Caij’oJjaiSni" iron rage, to.rtured tortured bv’ b y Iihh e women of the ron Sasre. -court, pa^tjed thrdiigh the city without nose or ears, i f crucified alive at the Bab-Zawila, and left to 'jfen g there for rfjjfriy months. »'* 'i& h p .W tfittl^ d jild of four years, who entered upon •his 'calipTMjte amidst all these horrors; Sijd nearly died of ^ •fright on th e awful day of his accession, was proclaimed with the tide of el’BBz (1154-1 i6o).! Duping the tumult

Vie,

1A graphic accoiun of these events is given by the eye-witness......' Osama, ¡possibly the lago of the tragedy (Dcrenbourg, 238 258). ! 2 Aby -1 Kasim ' Isft* el-Kaiz-bi-nasri- llah, “ t}Sfca>vercf-3lTtsr aiicKAlexandria, ¡*¿54-510 u 6 6 . «EgsC-

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th a t succeeded th e m urder of his kindred, th e women of th e palace had cut off their hair in m ourning and sent it —the strongest possible sign of en treaty in a Muslima— to th e em irTalai1 ibn-RuzzIk, the governor of U shm uneyn, imploring him to come to th e rescue. It was his advance, supported by the A rab tribes of the desert, and joined by the Sudani troops of the household, m any emirs, and the general mob of Cairo, th at had compelled the instant flight of ‘A bbis. W aving th e women's tresses upon his lance, Ibn-Ruzzik entered Cairo and took possession of th e Dar-el-Ma'mun, th e sum ptuous palace of ‘Abbas and before him of Ibn-el-Bataihi.1 H e w ent to the room of “ S'1 th e m urderer Nasr, raised a flagstone pointed o u t in the pavem ent, and th ere found the body of the m urdered Zafir, which he interred in th e mausoleum of the caliphs amid universal lam entation. T hen he set about restor­ ing order, punishing the guilty, executing the truculent generals who had made havoc in Cairo for so m any years, and establishing a reign of law. El-M elik es-§alih, as he was now styled, was a strong man, and E gypt was sorely in need of strong m en at th a t time. Ascalon, her last outpost in Palestine, had fallen away from her during the divisions and confusion th a t followed upon Ibn-es-Salar’s assassination. It had long been a source of great solicitude, frequently attacked by th e kings of Jerusalem , and doggedly defended by a large garrison, which was renewed twice a year from E gypt. T h e hurried return of one of these six-m onths’ com­ manders, ‘Abbas, to enjoy the fruits of his stepfather’s assassination, left it com paratively unprotected ; the Christians seized th e occasion, and w ith th e capture of Ascalon in th e sum m er of 1153 vanished the last hold of th e Fatim ids on Palestine. T h at the Crusading rule had not been extended over Egvrit itself was chiefly due to th e growing power of the T urkish states on the east. T h e king of Jerusalem was too closely occupied, first w ith th e savage onslaughts of Zengi, the A tabeg of Mosil, who 1 It was converted by Saladin in 1177 into the H anafl “ College of the Swordmakers ” (Mafcr. ii. 365-6).

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had joined Aleppo to his dominions on th e Tigris and E uphrates, harried Syria and defeated the Crusaders w ith great slaughter at A tharib in 1130, and had finally taken Edessa, “ the conquest of conquests,” in 1144.1 A fter th e death of Zengi two years later, his son Nur-ed-din succeeded to his'post as champion of Islam in Syria, and greatly strengthened his position by the annexation in 1154 of Damascus, which had long been in defensive alliance w ith the Crusaders. T h e collapse of th e second Crusade under th e em peror Conrad and Louis V II had disheartened and discredited the Franks ; and th e establishm ent of so strong a power as Nur-ed-din’s kingdom at Aleppo and Damascus in the im m ediate north and east rendered th e position of th e Jerusalem kingdom extrem ely insecure. H ad E g y p t been strong, had E g y p t been of th e same orthodox creed, a com bina­ tion w ith Damascus would doubtless have driven the Crusaders to th e coast—as such a union did a little later. T h e E gyptian wezirs were fully alive to the value of Nur-ed-din’s support, and Ibn-es-Salar had opened negotiations w ith him th ro u g h th e mediation of Osama, who was well-known at both courts. B ut th e weak point of Nur-ed-din was excessive caution, and his am bition was satisfied w ith the am ple dominions he possessed, w ithout v en turing upon wider schemes. Moreover, whilst as a notably devout Muslim he was bound to wage the Holy W ar against th e infidels, his very piety raised scruples against any alliance w ith th e schismatic caliph of Egypt. T hus it fell out th a t whilst th e fear of Nur-eddin restrained the F ran k s from invading Egypt,4 th e horror of heresy w ithheld th e sultan of Damascus from co-operation with E g y p t against th e common enemy. N either Damascus nor Jerusalem could afford to let E gypt fall into th e hands of the other, and thus we find Cairo becoming th e centre of diplom atic activity. T h e 1 See an outline of Zengi’s career in Lane-Poole, Life 0 / Saladin,

3S-61 •

2 The Sicilian fleet made a descent on T innis in 11 S3, and again in 1155, bat alter plundering the coast cities it attem pted no serious occupation of the country.

EGYPT AND SYRIA ik f & u v 3i # ■ih ibn-Ruzzik was eager for an alliance with and his pourparlers, expressed in elegant addressed to his friend O sam ayfho was now again I t 1Damascus, enlarged on a victory won by the Egyptian' army under Dirgham near Gaza over^the Franks in March, 1158, extolled the valour and numbers of the troops and ships of Egypt, and urged Js’ur-ed-din MAp bestir himself to similar efforts, sketching a glorious ■campaign 'of combined trium phs.1 He got nothing but. evasive replies, couched in vague poetic metaphor, from

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collection of the wezir's war-songs, offering 70,000 D. towards the Holy W ar, but wholly in vain. Failing in his policy of combined action against the Crusaders, Ibn-Ruzzik was yet suc^ssful in maintaining order in Egypt itself. “ He was efWnent by his personal merit,” says Ibn-Khallikan, “ profuse tn-largesse, accessible to suitors, a generous patron to men of talent, and a good poet.” His verse was collected in two volumes, and he had a bad habit qf reciting it to his friends, not without retaliation. Like other wezirs, he built a mosque, the ruins of which are still to be seen close to the Bab-Zawila, though much of , the decoration is attributed to a later SA restoration. He was not above avarice, however, afjd farmed .the j. taxes to the highest bidders 011 six isto tjhe great injury of the feÉfcj&In. He survived t^eir discontent, but he Tan a risk in,imposing. a strict regimen upon the hold; fl'i e littfe caliph F iiz had died in ly, 1160, at the age of eleven, after six years of virtual sjfe captivity and constant epileptic seizures. His successor, ¡¿fc I T l A/,'.:' 1 See the poetical correspondence in the .autobiography of Qsama, .'U d'Outdma,

176

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el-‘A d id l (1160-1171), the last of th e Fatim id caliphs, was only nine, and was chosen from th e various possible heirs simply because his childhood made him easy to m anage. B ut the wezir had to reckon w ith th e women of th e harim , who hated his rigorous control; and an au n t of th e caliph succeeded in procuring th e great m an’s assassi­ nation. As Ibn-Ruzzik lay dying, he begged th e child to send th e guilty woman to be punished, and had her executed before his eyes. His last words were a regret th a t he had not conquered Jerusalem and exterm inated the Franks, and a w arning to his son to beware of Shawar, the Arab governor of U pper E gypt. T h e reg ret and the warning were well founded, Shawar deposed and executed th e wezir’s son, el-‘Adil Ruzzik, at the beginning of 1163, and within th e year the Christian king of Jerusalem was in E gypt. T h e interference of A malric was th e result of a fresh »>«.i change in th e wezirate. Shaw ar was driven from Cairo ug' by th e popular favourite, Dirgham, a L akhm i Arab, who had successfully com manded the troops against the Crusaders at Gaza, and held th e post of colonel of the Barkiya battalion and “ lord of th e door ”—an office second only to th at of wezir. Shavvar fled to Nur-eddin and implored his help. H e offered not only to pay th e cost of an expedition, but promised a third of th e revenues of E g y p t in th e form of an annual trib u te.3 T he king of Syria was not indifferent to the im portance of obtaining a hold upon E g y p t: he knew th a t it was th e master-key of the political situation and would form a prolific source of revenue. Yet he hesitated to accept S h aw ars overtures. D istrust of th e man himself, and apprehension of the risks to w hich an expedition would be exposed when m arching through th e desert on th e Crusaders’ flank, made him pause. Events, however, moved too fast for his prudence. Dirgham quarrelled 1 Abu-Motiammad ‘Abdaliah el-1A

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the Franks on his borders as an obstacle to Nür-ed-dm’s advance." 1 This dread in some measure accounts for his desultory and half-hearted attacks upon Montréal and Karak, near the Dead Sea, in 2171 and 1173, and it is conjectured with much probability that his southern campaigns of 1173-4 were undertaken with a view to providing a place of retreat in case Nûr-ed-dîn carried out his threat of invading Egypt. A division of Saladin’s army had already conquered the African littoral from Barka to Gabes in 1172-3; but this strip of coast offered no strategic position for defence. T he expedition to the Südàn was prompted by the necessity for castigating 1173 the retreating but still rebellious blacks, but another probable object was to examine the resources of the country as a possible refuge. Saladin's elder brother, Türànshàh, after pursuing the blacks into Nubia, took the city of Ibrim (the Roman Primis) near Korosko, pillaged the church of the monophysite Christians, tortured th e bishop, and satisfied his Muslim prejudice by slaughtering 700 of the pigs th at there abounded.2 But his report on the climate and products of the Sudan was discouraging, and Saladin sent him to Arabia to seek a better country. Tiirànshâh reduced the whole of the Yemen (Arabia Felix), with its cities of San‘a, ‘Aden, Zebld, and G'ened, and established his government ” 7* at Ta'izz, whence the Yemen was ruled by members of Saladin’s family for fifty-five years. The absence of a gallant general and a considerable army in the Yemen furnished an opportunity to the partisans of the Fatimids who still hoped to eject the young “ mamhik,” as they called Saladin, from his seat, and to re-establish the old order, which promised better profits to the hangers-on of a luxurious court. T he plot was generally ascribed to the Arab poet ‘Omâra, but whoever was the original instigator, it found wide support. Egyptian and Südâni officers, abetted even by some of Saladin’s jealous Turkm ans, joined in the con1 Lane-Poole, Saladin, 118-120.

* Abü-Sälilj, f. 96.

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spiracy ; th e kings of Sicily and Jerusalem were induced to co-operate by promises of gold and territory ; th e master of th e Assassins was invited to send some of his secret m urderers ; and preparations were made for a combined attack by sea and land, in which Saladin was to be enm eshed. F ortunately the intended victim got wind of th e secret, seized the leading conspirators, including th e poet-poiitician, and crucified them all. APr- T h e inferior ranks of th e plotters were exiled to U pper Egypt. “ T h e sea attack, which was to have supported the Cairo conspiracy, did not take place till th e late sum m er. T he Franks of Palestine did not move when they heard th a t th e plot had failed ; but the king of Sicily, less well-informed, despatched a large fleet, estim ated at 282 Ju ly vessels, w hich arrived off A lexandria on 28 July. T he scanty garrison were com pletely taken by surprise, but they tried to resist th e landing, which was nevertheless effected near th e pharos. T he catapults and mangonels which th e N orm ans had brought were soon playing upon th e curtain of th e city walls, and th e defenders were obliged to fight desperately all the first day till night fell, to resist the storm ing parties. T he next day the Christians advanced their machines close up to the walls, but reinforcem ents had joined the garrison from the neighbouring villages, and again the attack was beaten off. On th e th ird day, th ere was a vigorous sortie : th e machines were burnt, th e enem y lost severely, and the garrison returned flushed w ith trium ph. Scarcely were the)’ within th e gates, w hen an express arrived from Saladin, to whom they had sent for support. T he courier had ridden from Cairo th at same day w ith relays of horses, and, reaching Alexandria between th ree and four in th e afternoon, loudly proclaimed th e approach of Saladin’s army. T he tidings put fresh heart into the defenders, and they rushed out again in th e gathering darkness, fell upon th e camp of th e Norm ans, and drove them , some to the ships, some into th e sea. T he news th at Saladin was on the march finished th e fiasco : the Norm ans slipped their moorings and fled, as swiftly and

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199

suddenly as they had come. T h e th ree days’ wonder vanished on th e horizon, and A lexandria breathed again.” 1 T he conspiracy had been suppressed at Cairo in A p ril; the N orm an invasion was repelled in J ul y ; in the same m onth Amalric, th e king of Jerusalem , died, and was succeeded by Baldwin, a child and a le p e r; but m ean­ while a still greater obstacle to Saladin’s career had been removed in May by th e death of Nur-ed-din, the noble sultan of Syria. By this far-reaching event, Saladin be­ came at one bound th e leading Muslim sovereign of th e near East. His only possible rivals were N ur-ed-dln's son, a mere child, in Syria ; N ur-ed-dln's nephew, Seyfed-din, th e prince of Mosil and head of th e family of Zengi ; and th e Seljuk sultan of R um or Asia M inor, and none of these was his equal in m ilitary power or capacity. T o oppose th e Crusaders successfully there must be one king and one consolidated Muslim em pire, and these several principalities m ust be brought into line in a general advance. T hus began the second—th e Syrian or Consolidating period of his career. Saladin dealt w ith them separately. Syria was, of n. course, his first object. Its child-king was in the hands of a clique, and th e scheming emirs were m aking term s with th e Franks. An appeal from Damascus supplied th e necessary justification for th e first step. W ith only 700 picked horsemen, Saladin rode across th e desert to ,,,4 th e Syrian capital and took possession in th e nam e of the child-king. Passing through Emesa and H am ah, he reached Aleppo, w here N ur-ed-din’s heir, or rather his wezir, prudently shut the gate in his face. Saladin's Dec. protestations of loyalty to his old m aster’s son were not believed, and an attem p t was made to assassinate him bymeans of th e emissaries of th e “ Old Man of th e M oun­ tain,” whilst th e Franks, under Count Raym ond of Tripolis, made a diversion in favour of th eir Muslim ally. T he siege of A leppo was therefore raised, and Saladin was checked. H e had to be content for the 1 Lane-Poole, Salculin, 127-8.

to fiold this., w inte< rf«ret)ce. Atabeg of Mosil atcned a from Mesopi combine cousin of A!epp: ^ ¡^ 4 4 .—Oiniu; of S^ai th e j o i n t f o r d e s marched upon Hamah. ¿|]r faifip■ oolf this formidable a attack, 9 in -essayed to make terms, but all overturies Apeing rej d he won a b.rjlliant victory at the Horns of pursued7: 1176 Aleppo.1 ^A second victSfy in the following year, at the ♦A1r’Ir' Turkraarfs Wells, over Steyf ed-dïn himself, ended in the j uiy total rout of the Mesopotamians, and a treaty of alliance “9 with the young king of Aleppo, by which Saladin w asm „ recognized as sovereign overfall the countries Tie h ad ^ , ’conquered,’from Egypt almost to the Euphrates^ ^ An interval of six years passed (1177-82) beflSre this

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201

■

knighthood.1 T he organisation of his wide dominions, and th e fortification of Cairo, occupied much » h i s time. T he new stone walls were laid o u t,lin d the Building of the Citadel was hegun, though it was not finished till the reign of his nephew Kamil th irty years later. T h e enceinte may still be recognized through a considerable v extent of walls, but the citadel has so often been testo red and remodelled by th e Mamluk sultans and by Moham­ mad ‘A h Pasha, th at it is difficult to identify much of the. original work ; • the founder’s inscription, however, inayrstill be read roei^the old “ G ate p.f th e Steps,’’ a dark portal in th e w ^ l Tace of j th e $rigi fnaF’ enççinte. rcçoïds how “ th e building of this splend}diiijAade|,=

T H E C IT A D E L O F . C A IR O

>.

io ;

£' lE K ing S trong-to-aidr-nonour of th e W orld and th e E ai\h Conquest-laden, Yusuf, son of A yyiibpR estofer of the E m pire of the Caliph ; j à t h the divert ion of his brothei and heir the Just K in g ^p ^'d il)'S £ * y f-ed -d :n Abu-Betd Mohammad, friend of ffié ^ o m m a n d e j^ o f th e Faithful and üiîder the m anagem ent of the E m ir of his KiWMom and Support of his Em pire KiftSkush son of ‘A’ÇK&Îah the slave of ehM elik en jv asir, ji r t h e year 579 (1183-4).’

Fig. 46.— SafacBn’s- inscription on the G a te jjf Steps in the Citadel of Cairo, I

,

•M ' i j k ; ,* - T 4 . *5 , . T ne fanioos “ W ell o fffh e W inding S tairs,’’. 280 - feet d ee p ,T j^ iiex ta v ated in the solid rock by th e lg u n u ch . Karukush binder Saladin’s jarders ; h u t the o ther b u ild .-^ ' ings (now demolished) associated wirft hisflfefue belonged to later times. T ip * p eo p le of Egypt w ere^proud to JR * V n a m e ’p ublic works a fte r their great sultan, and thus his | m e m o ry ^ preserved iiffthe Cairo aqueduct (a M an#uk j * \ work), a t # e v e n in tjjJpchieT~ canal of U pper E gjffi, which is still known as th e “'R iver of Joseph,” Kanr Yusuf, thq ag h it dajes from th e tim e of the Pharaohs. PF Saladin’s chief public w ork outside Cairo was the great dike of G'iza. built (1 i83-4Viike th e Citadel w ith stones taken from the smaller pyramids, and carried ou forty

ÎÔ4

T H E M E D R E SA OR C O L L E G E

arches along th e border of th e desert, as an outw ork against a possible invasion from th e west.1 B ut perhaps none of his innovations had m ore p er­ m anent influence than th e medresa or collegiate mosque. H ith e rto th ere had been no theological colleges at Cairo. Beyond th e ordinary elem entary schools, almost th e only lectures th a t could be attended were given in th e old mosque of ‘Amr. T h e Fatim id “ Hall of Science ” was an exception, but it was largely devoted to initiation into th e several degrees of S hi‘a mysticism and the discussion of speculative philosophy. T h e college— or mosque where regular teaching was given, generally quite gratuitously, to all who came— was an innovation from Persia, introduced into Syria by Nur-ed-din, and im ­ ported into Egypt by Saladin, who was eager to im part th e Shafi'ite form of orthodoxy to th e misguided Egyptians. H e founded colleges for th is purpose at Alexandria and Cairo, th e earliest being built close to the tom b of th e Im am Shafi‘1 himself in th e southern Kerafa or cemetery. O thers were th e Nasirlya (or Sherifiya) and Kamhiya colleges near th e mosque of ‘A m r at Fustat, and th e M edresa of th e Swordmakers, installed in th e old palace of Ma-mun in Cairo itself. None of these has been preserved, b u t it is only after Saladin’s tim e th at we find th e familiar cruciform medresa or collegiate mosque w ith its four deep porticos, w here th e doctors of the four orthodox sects (Hanafi, Shafi'i, Malikl, and Hanbali) tau g h t th eir circles of students. In the adm inistration of his kingdom Saladin had the valuable assistance of a faithful and learned servantT he K adi el-Fadil, an A rab of Ascalon, had been in th e secretariate of the Fatim id caliph since th e tim e of el‘Adil th e wezir, and on Saladin’s accession to power became his chancellor or wezir, and exercised great influence i n- t ha t high office during th e whole of th e reign of Saladin and his son and grandson, until his own death in Jan., 1200. H e was famous for his ornate styde and th e elegant finish of his despatches. Saladin trusted 1 M akr., K hitat, ii. 204, 151 ; Ibn-G'ubeyr, 49.

KADI

E L -F A D T L

205

him implicitly. He was as devout and orthodox as h i^ master, and also founded a theoltigical college in Caircfif It was perhaps due to his rigid tenets that the Christians, • who had been indulged under ttie later ignoble Fatimids, ; rwere subjected, if not to persecution, certainly to con"A fiscations under, the enlightened rule of Saladin.1 The six y a p * interval, however, was not wholly spent in works of peace!'* ' " 7 ~~ There were several M BH| brushes with the I ( , ii, . Franks, who had |1Uj£ v. - - ,r *• already forgatCgfk J; ' i 4 their truce,, '.;a£dj! ' hH H j l r ’ 'i f *«' * " a b o u t Damascu'jttffiflB '*c~ i Saladin retorted ’ 1, ‘ , invading their .pe­ culiar province, the ! . , j; Holy Land. At Tell Gezer,^ n e a r-R a g i^ ^

was hS first, indeed p .

^'E- 47— Gate o f Stera ¡11 Citadel of

f

S e fe a f^ In

T

l £

months, however, he^yas able to tike the field again at Hints with a fresh army, and in 1179^^17011 a brilliant victory over the king '

’

of Jerusalem at Marg -Gyun(Mergibn), and took seventy \ i , knights prisoners, including them asters of theTem ple and .. H ospital^gym ond j? f Tripolis, Balian^and Baldwin of Ibelin, an"d Hugh of Tiberias. The victory wa&J oil owed Aug_ by the destruction of the castle at Jacob’s )§|{j3*wbich the king had erected as a menace to th^aaitticgps. 1 A b u - ^ iU , 25a, 67b, etc.

forayed the country

.

206

WAR W IT H BALDW IN

Meanwhile the Egyptian fleet of seventy vessels harried the coast of Palestine and brought back a thousand Christian prisoners, who were usefully employed in build­ ing the Citadel of Cairo. T h e winter was spent in equipping a larger navy, and when Saladin opened the campaign in the spring with a combined advance by sea ■ ¡8° and land, king Baldwin prudently proposed a truce, which was forthwith concluded for two years and con­ firmed by solemn oaths. T urning north to Cilicia, Saladin entered into negotiations with the Sel^uk sultan of Koniya, the king of Lesser Armenia, and the princes of Mo^il, G'ezlra, Irbil, Keyfa, and Maridln, who all set Oct. 2 their seals to a solemn pact, whereby they bound them ­ selves on oath to keep peace and am ity with one another for th e space of two years. For this tim e war was to be unknown within their borders, and a holy truce, a Magna Pax Saracenica, was to reign throughout the near East. The great truce showed th at Saladin’s influence now overawed all smaller powers from the Black Sea and the Persian Gulf to the M editerranean, and the temporary union of all the neighbouring Muslim states was a long step towards th at united effort which he intended to make against the crusading powers. It was the beginning of the policy which used the warlike tribesmen of Mesopotamia as recruits for the Holy W ar. The death n8i 0f Nur-ed-dln’s son, the king of Aleppo, and the perfidious negotiations between the Mesopotamian princes and the Franks, opened the way; and when Saladin left Cairo, as it proved for ever, on i i May, r 182, it was to carry out his great schemes as the champion of Islam. A fter some engagements with the Franks, and an unsuccessful 1,82- siege of Beyrut, he marched into Mesopotamia and 1,83 subdued the whole country, excepting the city of Mosil. June Aleppo was purchased by exchange ; and, after two unsuccessful but exhausting sieges, Mosil at last consented nS6 t0 become Saladin’s vassal. By this treaty th e whole ay of N orthern Mesopotamia and part of Kurdistan were permanently joined to his empire. T he object of his long and arduous campaigns on the

’coin)«! Saladii

2o&

S B

CON QUEST O F JE R U SA L EM

the tw c ^ ^ a t military orders were burning, as ardenfly~ as Saia3ttS£ftimself, to? strike a blow for the faith. 'Hie smallest spark would kindle th e conflagration. The spark came from Reginald ofiChatmon, who for the third tim e, in spite of the treaty, pounced upon a peaceful cat .of merchants who were journeying past his stfpnghowi2 Tt was not only a rich prize, but w as'rum oureJSs^includg onfr of Saladin’s sisters. T he provocation w a ^ ^ jp le .-n Safedin vowed to kill the truce-breaker with m v owtishand, and kept his word. T he history of the Holsi W ar of i iS j^ p 1192 is ^ n ilia rjj To students, and forms no part of th d pBstory. of E gypt. T he orden ;of events is all that n e jH g jte ^ e n tio u e d .

T Y R E AND ACRE

209

inland fastnesses of Belvoir, Safed, and Karak, that still held out, were taken in December and January. N othing remained of all the conquests of the Crusaders but Tyre and Belfort. Tyre, however, was the rallying point of the Franks. T hither the garrisons let free by Saladin, with more magnanimity than prudence, as each city or fortress capitulated, immediately betook themselves. T hither came king Guy and most of th e nobles and knights who had been released 011 their solemn pledge never again to bear arms against the sultan. From T yre marched the army which began the memorable siege o f ‘A kka,‘ and welcomed the powerful reinforcements of the third Crusade. T yre was the fatal wooden horse of Saladin’s Troy. Had he overcome the impatience or revived the ex­ haustion of his troops, and sacrificed every other interest to the one object of taking Tyre, there might have been no siege of ‘Akka and no third Crusade. W ithout that iroi even Richard of England would have found it hard to bring his Danish battle-axe to bear upon the Saracens. T he siege of ‘Akka by Guy of Lusignan began on ‘189 28 August, 1189 ; th e siege of the besiegers by Saladin began two days later. T he first great battle between the Franks and the double enemy—the garrison within and the relieving army encircling the Christians—was fought on 4 October, and ended in the repulse of the Crusaders with heavy loss. Saladin neglected to follow up his victory, and the Franks spent the winter in entrenching and strengthening their position before ‘Akka. In the spring the reports of th e approach of the xigo G erman crusade under Frederick Barbarossa drew off a large part of the Saracen forces. A second great attack 011 the Muslims on 25 July, however, was severely punished; but the success was not followed up, and th e chances of annihilating the besieging army were sensibly diminished by the landing of H enry of Champagne with 10,000 fresh men. T he siege and countersiege went on, with constantly lessening hopes for the Saracens. T he 1 The Arabic ‘Akka represents the ancient Akko. The modem French spelling, Acre, should be abandoned in English. P

210

T H E T H IR D C R U S A D E

D uke of Swabia brought th e survivors of th e G erm an arm y into ‘A kka in O ctober, and the first E nglish fleet arrived Oct. in th e same m onth. Still Saladin more than held his 12 own. A n attem pt of th e Christians to bring in proNov. visions from Haifa was checked by a strenuous engage,J'M m ent at th e Spring-H ead, and then w inter turned the plain into a sea of mud, and both sides waited for the spring, while famine and fever decim ated th e Christian camp. M eanwhile Saladin had revictualled ‘A kka, and relieved th e exhausted garrison. ■ Winkelmann, Kaiser Friedrich 1 I> Röhricht, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Kreuzzüge 7 and various arts. ; cf. Regesta regrti Mierosol. Mumwients.—Tomb of Imäm Shäfi‘5, 1211; completion of the citadel of Cairo ; medresa of el-Kamii (almost disappeared), 1224 ; tombs of emir Isma‘iL, 1216, and Sheykh el-Färisi, 1225 ; minaret of (old) Hasaneyn, 1235-6 ; medresa of es-Sälifc Ayyüb, 1243. Inscriptions.—On monuments enumerated above ; ‘Ädil on fortress at Mt. Tabor, 1211. Casket of el-‘Ädil II in V. & A. M us.; Coins.—See under each reign. S in c e 1182, when Saladin left Cairo for the last time,

Egypt had played a subsidiary part in the empire of which it was the head. T he centre of politics was removed to Syria, and E gypt had to be content to act as a recruiting'ground for the levies which its sultan was constantly demanding for the reinforcement of his exhausted armies. T he practice throughout these wars was to fight in the summer; and when the winter rains stopped military movements in Syria and Palestine the various contingents were sent to their homes to recover health and attend to their farms. In E gypt this practice saved much hardship, for the winter was the season for the principal agricultural operations. During the sultan’s absence, his brother el-‘Adil Seyf-ed-dln, the “ Saphadin” of the Crusaders, administered Egypt with the assistance of the £ ä d l el-Fadil In 1184, indeed, he was trans-

T H E AYYUBID D Y N A STIES. Th« subjoined tables (taken from The Mohammedan Dynasties, by the present writer) show the succession of the various members of the Ayyubid family in the seven chief divisions of the empire. They all desceuded from five sons of Ayy&b—Saladin. ‘Adil, Shahar>hah, Tiiranshah, and Tu^htegln.—except the Emesa branch which descended from Shirkuh, Avyfib's brother. An upright. stroke between successive names indicates sonship. D. —M E S O P O T AM I A.

A. -E G Y P T . A.D-

K n -N ä $ ir S a lâ h -e d -d in Y u su f ( Saladin )

1169

E l- 'A z tz A y y üb* (b ro th e r)

124O

E l- M u ‘a z z a m T ù râ n s h â h *

1 24 9

1

E l-A s h ra f M u sa

1250

.

— 1252 " T h e s e S u lta n s a lso ru le d a t D am ascu s.

B .— D A M A S C U S .

j

| ’’

{of Mesopotamia)

E s -S a lih I s m a ‘il (son o f ‘A dil) E l-K a m il

[of Egypt)

E l-‘A d il I I

„

E l-M u 'a z z a m

1230 — 1245

E .— H A M A H . El-M uzaffar I T akl-ed-dln 'O m ar (son of I Shahänshäh) 1 El-Man§Qr 1 M ohamm ad

1178

En-Nàgir ^ilij-A rsIän

1220

.

.

.

El-M uzaffar II M ahm üd (brother) 1 1 E l-M ansur 11 M ohamm ad 1 1 E l.M utaflor l n M ahm üd

.

1191

1229

.

1244 1284

1196

E I-M u‘ayyad A bü- 1-Fidä (the historiant cousin of the last) . . . .

1218

El-A fdal M oham m ad

.

.

.

1310

1332

.

—W

1227 1228

F .—E M E S A (H IM § ).

1237

E l-K äh ir M oham m ad (son of Shirkuh)

1178

.

.

.

.

1238

El-M ugähid Shirkuh 11 .

1185

.

.

.

.

1238

EI-M ansür Ibrahim

1239

1239

Ei-A shraf M ü s S ..........................................

E s-S a lib Is m a ‘il (re sto re d ) E 5 -§ 41ih ( o f Egypt)

El-A shraf Mil sä (son of ‘Adii, see Damascus) I2 t0 El-M uzaffar Ghazi (son 0 / ‘Ädil)

1 186

{see Egypt)

E n - N a s ir D i w i i d ............................................. E l-A s h ra f M u sa

1200?

— 1298 [ Governors under the Mamlük üulfäns. )

El-Af f Brienne at last plucked*up courage to m akefa descent Apr' upon Damietta. The king of Jerusalem was accom­ panied by the archduke of Aus'trH, Count W illiam of Holland, the Count of and the mastty's of the Temple, Hospital, and Teutonic order, and a large army w m o o n encamped on th e shore'of the delta. D am ietta May jj^H tepugly fortified by a triple bastioned wall, by a ¡¿reffrower planted on an island in the Nile, by chains stretched leross the river, and by the natural advantages 4 of its position on a peninsula partly defended by water. (

I.—Carved border of a she

*

n

the west bank-^nd their efforts were aBPBBfisa to captunng-fc'Wfcgreat toflSfl^t mid-stream. '.Ijn They" set tip siege-towers on their ships, with scaling ladders, but the fire and shot of the garrison, strongly ipported by Kamil’s army on the east bank, withstood JulA leir first assault. They then lashed vessels together and built a yet more powerful castle, with a drawbridge, and moored it alongside the river tc^ver ; and on St. a Bartholomew’s Dayvjjfter a tierce struggle, the defenders were forced to capitulate. The loss of this bul

220

C H A R A C T E R O F ‘A D IL

‘Adil died on 31 August, 1218, at th e age of seventy-three or seventy-five. H e had enjoyed a long and brilliant career from th e day, fifty years before, when he had entered E g y p t with S hirkuh. H e had served his famous brother loyally and with exceptional ability for nearly a q uarter of a century, and after his death he had spent another twenty-five years in laboriously restoring th e powerful em pire which Saladin’s jealous sons had broken up. H e had succeeded in all his plans. E very part of Saladin’s em pire, except n o rth ern Syria, was under his control and governed by one or o th er of his many sons. Cairo, Damascus, Edessa, H arran, G 'a‘bar, Mayyafarikln, even the Yemen, had each a son of th e g reat sultan for its governor, and his frequent jo u rn ey s from end to end of his em pire kept each and all in a high state of efficiency and preparedness :— A Monarch, whose majestic air Fills all the range of sight, whose care Fills all the regions everywhere ; W ho such a watch doth keep T h a t, save where he doth set his lance In rest to check the foe’s advance, H is eye with bright and piercing glance Knows neither rest noi sleep.

T he F ranks had been powerless against him ; th eir little raids had scarcely injured him ; and the few sacrifices of territo ry he had made— B eyrut, Jaffa, N azareth—were well repaid by long intervals of tranquillity, during which he was continually increasing his strength. H is personal character must have been attractive, for he won the adm iration and friendship of K ing Richard and m any oth er Crusaders. His oriental b io g rap h er2 describes him as a man of extraordinary prudence and foresight, arm ed w ith inform ation and fortified by experience, and th e re­ fore fortunate in all his undertakings. H e was endowed 1 Baha-ed-din Zuheyr, ii. 258, paraphrased by Palmer to preserve the play upon the Arabic word for slumber or rest. Baha-ed-din was a contemporary poet, who afterwards became the confidant and court poet of es-§alih Ayyub, ‘Adil’s grandson. 2 Ib n -K h a llik an , iii. 235 ff.

S IE G E O F D A M IE T T A

221

w ith rem arkable physical powers, sound health, and high spirits ; a great eater, who could finish off a roast lamb at a meal ; passionately fond of women : he indulged in pleasure w ith his whole soul, and, like oth er strong men, made the most of his enjoyments as he did of his work. H e left to his eldest son the difficult task of driving n ]g out th e Franks. E l-K am il1 inherited many of his father’s q u alities: he was a good soldier and a skilful diplom atist —too wily, indeed, for th e taste of his contemporaries. H e set to work at D am ietta w ith great energy, threw a bridge or pontoon over th e Nile to obstruct the Frankish vessels, and led repeated but fruitless assaults upon th e enem y’s position. W h en th e bridge was cut by the Crusaders, he sank ships to block th e passage. Camp fever and th e N ile inundation did th e Christians more dam age th an his onslaughts, but th e very unhealthiness of th eir camp compelled them to advance. T h ey de­ term ined to cross at all hazards, and w ith this object th ey deepened a large canal and thus brought th eir fleet up to a spot th irte en miles south of Dam ietta. T hough 1S!19 at th e first attem p t they were frustrated by th e solid array of K am il’s troops on th e opposite bank, a con­ spiracy am ong th e leading Muslim generals, which threatened th e sultan’s throne, if not his life, and forced him to fly by night up country, produced such confusion th a t th e Crusaders crossed almost unopposed, captured Feb 7 th e Saracen camp, and closed round D am ietta. B ut th eir difficulties were not yet over. Kamil, aided by his brother M u‘azzam of Damascus, raised a new army, harassed the besiegers n ig h t and day, b u rn t th eir bridges, and destroyed th eir siege*works and entrenchm ents. In spite of all his efforts, however, th e blockade was m ain­ tained, and starvation began to do its part. T h e weary Crusaders were constantly relieved and reinforced from Europe ; French and English knights and m en-at-arm s 1 El-Kam il’s coinage is dated Cairo, 616—35 (1219—38); Alexandria, 617— 3 4; Misr, 624; Damascus, 615— 19, 627; H arran, H e also is named as suzerain on coins of cl-'Aziz of Aleppo, 619 ; el-Ashraf of Diyar-Bekr, 615, and el-Mujaffar of Diyar-Bekr,

623, 635.

618, 63*.

222

PR O PO SA L S F O R PE A C E

under th e counts of N evers and M arche and th e earls of W inchester, A rundel, and Chester, came to th eir s u p p o rt; whilst th e still m ore exhausted garrison steadily dwindled, till of about 50,00x3 m en only 4000 rem ained able to stand to arms. T h e contest was too unequal to last much longer. Seeing this th e sultan asked for term s. H e offered to surrender th e whole of th e kingdom of Jerusalem as it was before Saladin’s conquest of 1187, if D am ietta were spared. Incredible as it appears, this amazingly profitable exchange was refused as inadequate : fu rth er concessions were demanded. T he Crusaders were in no hum our for term s of any kind. T h e papal legate, cardinal Pelagius, w ho had been elected commander-in-chief, filled w ith the exaltation of a pilgrim of th e cross, would have no traffic w ith th e “ infidels” ; others held th a t D am ietta was too valuable a commercial centre to be abandoned. T h e king of Jerusalem and th e n o rth ern knights in vain urged th e advantages of th e exchange. T he cardinal carried th e day, and it was resolved to press th e war to th e utterm ost. T h e greatest opportunity th a t th e Crusaders had ever been offered was irretrievably lost. W hen Philip A ugustus, who had known how th e Saracens could fight before ‘A k k a, heard th a t th e Crusaders had refused to take a kingdom in exchange for a city, he exclaimed, “ T h ey are fools and sim p leto n s! ” It is tru e Nov. s D am ietta fell by assault, th e rem nant of th e exhausted garrison was ruthlessly massacred, and th e alarm of the Muslims was such th a t they hastily dem olished th e walls of Jerusalem and oth er cities in Palestine, lest th ey m ight become strongholds of the enemy. B ut th e taking of D am ietta did not imply th e conquest of E gypt. W ith their usual incapacity th e F ran k s delayed action, and spent a year and a half at D am ietta quarrelling am ongst IJSI themselves. It was not till July, 1221, th at, again strongly reinforced from G erm any, th ey took th e field against the sultan. M oreover, th ey had chosen th e wrong route for th e conquest of E gypt. D am ietta was a valuable port, but it was not the base from which to advance upon Cairo, th e essential objective of attack.

ADVANCE OF CRUSADERS

223

Any army marching on the capital of Egypt would naturally choose th e old road from Pelusium to Bilbeys. It had been used again and again by invaders, from the days of Cambyses and Alexander to the conquest of ‘Amr and the expeditions of Amalric I. Beyond the hardships of a desert march, it presented no obstacles to the advance upon Cairo. But between Damietta and the capital lay a network of canals and arms of the Nile, offering a dozen obvious positions of defence, and con­ stituting a series of traps to an invading army which was totally ignorant of th e geography of the country.1 By this time Kamil had built strong fortifications on the Nile, a little south of Damietta, at a village which he afterwards enlarged into the city of el-Mansura, “ the Victorious.” H e had also summoned his kinsmen, and one and all, laying aside their rivalries in face of the common danger, rallied to his support. Mu'azzam of Damascus had joined him from the first, and now the princes of Aleppo, Hamah, Hims, H arran, and every part of th e empire, led their contingents to th e rescue of their chief. Never since Saladin lay before ‘A kka had th e dynasty shown a more united front than when they lined the bank of the Nile to dispute the passage of the Crusaders. T he Franks had advanced southwards, but were July speedily brought to a stand by the obstacle of Mansura and its resolute garrison of hard}' Syrians and highlanders from the north, entrenched behind the “ canal of Ushmum,” the old T anitic arm of th e Nile. T he season was ill-chosen, for the river was rising ; a num ber of canals intersected the flat low-lying lands of the delta, impeded strategic movements, and enabled th e Muslims to bring up a fleet to their support. As soon as the inundation had risen high enough, bodies of Muslim troops spread over the plains behind and around the enemy, and cut the dams which restrained the Nile waters ; th e country became a lake, and th e Crusaders found themselves on a peninsula, surrounded by water and by watchful foes, 1 See Oman, Art of IVar in the Middle Agfs, 264-5.

224

R E TR EA T O F T H E FRANK S

and practically cut off alike from advance or retreat. th e n ig h t of 26 A ugust they made th eir desperate attem pt to escape to D am ietta by th e narrow causeway th a t still rem ained passable. H ardly were they in motion when th e enem y was upon them from every quarter. T he road to th e n orth was already occupied in force by th e Saracens. Struggling through th e inundated fields, enm eshed am ong th e deeper canals, th e knights fought th eir way w ith magnificent valour. F or two nights and days th e hopeless contest was m aintained, and then the Crusaders cried for quarter. T he more hot-headed Muslims were for exterm inating th e “ infidels” at one blow ; but Kamil, tru e to th e statesm anlike policy of his father, overruled them . H e perceived th a t generous term s would end th e war of th e creeds, at least for a tim e, whilst a butchery would infallibly lead to a crusade of revenge and probably nerve the garrison of D am ietta Aus- to resistance. H e allowed th e Crusaders to depart ; 3' they m ust evacuate E gypt, surrender D am ietta, and keep the peace for eight years. T h e proviso was added, however, th a t any crowned European king should have th e right to break the truce. A fresh reinforcem ent from G erm any about this tim e landed near D am ietta, and took th e news of th e treaty in very ill part ; but repudiation was out of the question, w hilst the main arm y and valuable hostages were still in th e power of Sept. the Saracens. In a week th e whole of th e crusading 7 host, which had begun th e campaign forty m onths before w ith high hopes and signal success, left th e shores of E gypt in shame. All this tim e th ere had been no attem p t to recover Jerusalem . T h e neglect was not due merely to strategical reasons. T he spirit of th e Crusaders had changed; zeal for th e faith had mellowed into worldly wisdom. T h e m en on th e spot, th e F ranks settled in Syria, preferred th eir wealthy coast cities, full of Italian traders and bordered by rich cultivated lands, to th e desolate interior of Palestine, laid waste by th e struggle with Saladin and th e systematic neglect of his successors, who had 110 wish to tem pt th e Christians to an occupation. T h e mera'°k- On

CRUSADE OE F R E D E R IC K II

225

chants, and especially the Venetians, seeing no com­ mercial advantages in arid plains, deserted villages, and waterless routes, had fixed their eyes on Damietta and Alexandria, which to them were w orth fifty Jerusalems. T he old craving for the city of C hrist’s passion had been quenched in the appetite for wealth. Yet the spirit was not dead: it still animated the indomitable bishops of Rome, and, despite his philosophical attitude towards religion, the call of Christendom compelled the young em peror Frederick II to undertake a new crusade. T he peace of 1221 had reserved to a “ European crowned head ” the right of rupture, and Frederick was clearly indicated in the proviso. H e had taken the cross as early as 1215; he had sent troops to reinforce the luckless army in E gypt at th e very tim e of its su rren d er; in 1225 he married the “ heiress of Jerusalem,” the daughter of King John of Brienne, and, though Yolande died three years later, he claimed and assumed her crown to the exclusion of her father. His crusade was delayed year after year on one pretext or another, and he brought upon himself the ban of th e im patient pope ; but at last, despite th e papal prohibition, he sailed for Syria, with only 600 knights, more “ like a pirate and ■ fune follower of Mohammad,” said Gregory IX, than as a king and a soldier of Christ. Frederick’s Crusade was unique in all its circumstances. He won Jerusalem against the will of th e church and without a single battle. His forces, in tru th , were too weak to risk an engagement with the powerful armies of th e Saracens. His contemptuous treatm ent of John of Brienne had alienated the sympathies of many of the settled C hristians; his contest with Rome lost him the support of zealous churchmen. The religious orders of the Temple and Hospital sullenly refused to follow a leader who was under the curse of the Holy See. No one in Syria seemed to care very much about the recovery of Jerusalem. B ut Frederick had an argum ent on his side that outweighed all these negations. Kamil had encountered a rival in his brother Mu‘azzam, th e lord of Damascus, who was suspected of taking advantage Q

226

F R E D E R IC K A ND K A M IL

of th e exhaustion after the siege of D am ietta, and of pre­ suming upon his own services in the war, to shake off th e sovereign powers 1 th at E gypt claimed over th e em pire of Saladin. A larm ed at this disaffection, Kamil had sent an embassy to Frederick, as sovereign of the Saracens of Sicily, offering him the kingdom of Jerusalem in exchange for his support. In retu rn bishop Bernard of Palerm o had come on a mission to Cairo, and costly presents had been exchanged. Frederick was on exceptionally good term s w ith th e Muslims, and his toleration gave rise to suspicions of his orthodoxy. T he pope, as we have seen, called him “ a follower of M ohammad,” and the correspondence which has been published between the em peror and th e Arab philosopher Ibn-Sabin,2 together w ith th e metaphysical discussions into which Frederick loved to draw Kamil’s envoys after his arrival in Syria, point at least to w hat we should now call em ancipated views, which in those days were apt, in the case of less distinguished advocates, to lead to th e stake. An Arab historian confesses th at “ the em peror was the most excellent among th e kings of th e Franks, devoted to science, philosophy and medicine, and well-disposed towards Muslims,” and tw enty years later Joinville found th a t his kinship to Frederick was th e best passport w ith th e mamlfiks. This toleration, probably shared by Kamil, who had associated w ith European nobles, doubtless led to a m utual appreciation. T h ere is no evidence that any treaty was signed, but some understanding was arrived at. M eantim e the situation was changed. Mu'azzam died in th e w inter of 1227; th e danger of Syrian rivalry was hardly critical enough to press Kámil to any great renunciation, and it says m uch for the em peror’s diplomacy th a t he was able to bring his 1229 E gyptian correspondent to the point of the treaty, signed on 11 Februaiy, 1229, and ratified on oath a week 1 This is denied by Abü- 1-F idl, who says that Mu‘a?zam was in­ variably deferential to Kamil, and always caused his name to be recited as sovereign in the public prayers. 8 Published by Prof. Mehren.

F R E D E R IC K ’S T R E A T Y

227

later by th e two sovereigns. Kamil was no doubt in some measure com m itted by his previous proposals, but his main motive is to be found in th e valuable counter­ guarantees of th e em peror. T h e treaty of 1229 was th e most rem arkable th a t was ever signed between a Christian and a Mohammadan power, before th e days of European engagem ents w ith th e T urkish empire. On his p art th e sultan of E g y p t surrendered Jerusalem (which was not to be fortified, however), to g eth er w ith Bethlehem , Nazareth, and the pilgrim road to Jaffa and thence to ‘Akka, into th e abso­ lute possession of the em peror, reserving only th e haram of Jerusalem , enclosing th e mosque of ‘Omar, for th e exclusive use and possession of unarm ed Muslims. H e also released all Christian prisoners, including m any of the unhappy victims of th e “ C hildren’s Crusade.’’ T he em peror in return engaged to defend the sultan against all enemies, even Christians, and guaranteed th a t th e northern Syrian princes of A ntioch, Tripolis, and various other places, should receive no assistance from any external power. These engagem ents were to hold good for ten years and a half. T here is 110 doubt that, if th e treaty were honestly observed, Kamil gained much more than he lost by it. T h e territory sacrificed was of little value, and th e only p art of Jerusalem specially sacred to th e Muslims was reserved ; whilst th e advantages of th e em peror’s defen­ sive alliance were overwhelming. H owever satisfactory the result may have appeared to th e two high contract­ ing parties, the treaty roused a storm of indignation among the zealots of both sides. T he Holy City was indeed once more Christian—save one p art—b u t at what a cost of honour ! Frederick, said th e papal party, had bargained w ith the “ infidels ’’ instead of slaying them. Most of th e old L atin kingdom was still in th e hands of the Saracens. And th e prince of A ntioch, and th e m ilitary orders who held m any castles in th e n o rth of Syria, deeply resented th e clause th a t cut them off from all succour from E urope ; it looked, indeed, very much like a spiteful revenue for th eir disaffection. T he

228

FR E D ER IC K . A T JE R U S A L E M

Muslims, for their part, regarded the whole transaction as a shameful betrayal of Tslam to the “ infidel.” TM9 Frederick entered Jerusalem w ithin a m onth of the M,“r" treaty, and, enthroning himself in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, set th e crown upon his own head. T he next day the archbishop of Caesarea placed th e H oly City under an interdict, to th e am azem ent and in digna­ tion of th e crowds of pilgrims : “ th e place w here Jesus Christ suffered and was buried,” they cried, “ is banned by a p o p e! ” Scared by the calamity, they hurriedly followed th e em peror to ‘A kka, whence, after ap­ pointing honest men to govern his new a c q u i s i t i o n s , and strengthening by all possible means the T eutonic order, he May, sailed for Italy. T he Crusade was over, and though it had procured th e re­ covery of Jerusalem, th e city was in the midst of a hostile country and could not be held against any attack in force. Fig. 52.—Eagle on Citadel of Cairo, Kamil religiously ob­ probably early 13th century. served th e treaty he had sworn (as did th e Christians by th e pope’s recon­ sidered order), but he could not always prevent bands of fanatical Muslims from ill-using the pilgrims and disturbing the peace of th e Holy City. T he em peror’s haughty treatm en t of many of th e Syrian and Cypriote nobles left unhealed wounds and led to a series of quarrels. T he gain to Christendom from th e Crusade was insignificant, but the fault lay m ore w ith the

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230

I

K A I L 'S A D M INISTRATION

an energetic a n d ^ A ^ b le jmmiiiistrator, who managed’ his- kingdom alofle. After the death of his fafher’s wezir,* Saf!-ed-dln, he employed no prime minister, but ‘ pertyrr>o0«all the business'1 of the state himself. Egypt prosp^Sfd exceedingly under his »re^gnj He laboured^to improve th ^ ir rig a tio n 'system,• pe!%on^ ^ ^ lly inspected the work of ¿.he engineers, ejttsu d e^an d improved the canals, dikes, and dan», ensured thegaiety of travellers, completed the ratification o^ the Gitai3el of C airo; and being a de\t>^t™ lu9lim ,he‘founded * institutions,* such as th e ^)ar-el-Hadith or Kamiltyaf , . college in the Beyn-el-Kasreyn. Like most of^his fam ily W . v he love^ le a rn in g 'a n d tile society oft scholars, and wife .1 ■ .g r a t i t u d e fo r h e r i & S ^ - ' •. . f o r m e r stat£sman-

1 The ^»nly coin known of .iSKget-ed-durr-Js in (he,British Mujejim (Lane-Poole Catalogue, i v . b i K r s the*e, lilies, together . with those of the contemporary ‘AWjfahd ralipli Murf:a‘sim, and th « ^ j‘J ^ date, Cairo, 4.11 648 ( w lrt'h . l*y.WT 5~april, 1250).. titles are thc^f ; i same as thfjjfeg*Krn in Makilzi. The colftLi[Mitfe.-Alejfcumismitie*' recoid »1 h eE h g to , whitlWbsted less iliattJ a S iT%>pmb-es-saltand) who ascended th e th ro n e with th e title of el-Melik el-Muzaffar.2 As he observed to his followers, this was no tim e for boy puppets, “ we w ant a fighting king.” T h e danger now was not from the legitimists, for K utuz had com pletely routed th e Ayyübid el-M ughith of Karak when he attem pted w ith th e support of the exiled Bahris to conquer E gypt. A far g reater peri! threatened th e whole M ohammadan east in th e advance of th e Mongols under Hülágü, who took Baghdad and m urdered th e caliph in Feb., 1258, conquered all Syria in 1260, and pushed on to Gaza,

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1 A gold coin of el-Man$iir Nfir-ed-din ‘AH hears ihe date Cairo, 656 (1258). 2 A gold coin of el-Mu?afifar Seyf-ed-din Kutuz has the date 658 (1259-60), but the mint is effaced, and a silver coin has the mint Damascus, but the year effaced,

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D E F E A T O F T H E M O NGOLS

harrying and destroying everything in th eir way. Húlagü sent an embassy to the sultan of E gypt, bearing a letter full of menace and requiring his abject submission. K utuz replied by executing th e ambassadors and h an g ­ ing up th e ir heads at th e gate Zawila. H e would have no parleying w ith th e enem y, lest some of th e fainterhearted emirs should be won over. A s it was, he had to u * adm inister a stern reproof to them before he could lead a united and determ ined arm y to the frontier. M urm urs were stifled, and courage raised, w hen Beybars w ith th e vanguard drove th e Mongol garrison out of Gaza ; and th e whole arm y of E gypt marched n o rth along the coast, secured th e neutrality of th e F ran k s of ‘A kka, and then w ent to encounter th e barbarians. T h ey found them near 3 Beysan at G oliath’s Spring ('Ayn G'alüd—a famous site in Crusading warfare), and th e trem endous shock of th e Mongol charge shattered th e E gyptian militia. B ut th e headlong flight led to victory ; for th e Mongols, dispersed in pursuit, lost formation, and were easily cut off by th e steady attack of th e unshaken mamlüks. T h e Mongol general, K etbugha, fell, and his arm y was soon Sept. 6 i n full retreat, joined by th e garrison of Damascus, where th e Muslims im m ediately rose and slew its Christian population, who had trium phed prem aturely over th e downfall of Islam. K utuz restorer! order th ro u g h o u t th e devastated cities, replaced the Ayyübid princes as tributaries in their old seats at Him? and H am ah, and the public prayers were recited in his name as far as Aleppo and th e E uphrates. As he was retu rn ­ ing in trium ph from th e brilliant campaign which had 0ct rescued E gypt and recovered Syria, he fell a victim to th e jealousies which are th e inevitable bane of a m ilitary dictatorship. Beybars, th e ablest of his generals, baulked of his desire for th e governm ent of Aleppo, conspired w ith other nobles, and Ku^uz was assassinated whilst retu rn in g from the chase w ithin th e E gyptian frontier. T he chief regicide was elected sultan on the spot. Beybars—or es-Sult5n el-Melik e ? -? á h ir1 Rukn-ed1 “ The Ascendant King, prop of church and state, Beybai s [mamlük] of the Arbalesteer [and] of es-$alih.” H e first chose the title el-

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dunya-wa-din Beybars el-BtSndukdari ei-.Salihi—was the real founder of the mamluk empire. Hi* predecessor^

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foes :• Beybars? made hi ms el f s u p r e me .. ovei all. He wak a native of Kipcfthk, Fig. 58.—Dinar of Bevhars, Alexandria, between the Caspian 1261. v and the UraJ;Moun* W ... '4 P j tains,—-a tall ruddy, fellow, with blue ey^s, one or wliich vvas djshgured byli cataract : hence he only fetched about £ 2 0 in the slave market. He had belonged to the emir -i§dekin elBundukdar, “ th e 1rarbalesteer,” whence his epithet elBundulcdiirij, which Marco Polo wrote “ Bendocqtiedar.” Afterwards ’he passed into the service of Salih Ayyub, and became one of the fttast conspicuous of the Salim o r^ Bahri mamluks, especially distinguishing him self.at th e »

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aste, just ro his ownTpeople, and even ’ristian subjects.” So well did he organize*, his wMeng proiaages th a t' no incapautyjior disunion? his su c c * o rs could "pu!l_down th^gporic he h ad _

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Hi>ut this was found to possess unlucky preiedenls, and w as' jfo for ez-Zaliir, “ tfie Ascendant.’’ "After rc-e&fafllslung t h e V ;. Siil caliphate at Cairo he added the title K ajliu -A m ltci-" inin, “ partner of the ConunSfttier of tb e jfa th fu g ? H islS ; age (like most of the mamluk curtefryiSs fftqitently sflAm>>bed as l>e illegible, but there are dated coins of .Cairo, 664, 665, 666, and 667

(1265-9) j A leuhdiki, 659, 661, 664. 667 (1260-9); and Damascus and Hamah, with ^E crlnin dates. 1IU coins bear his badge, a lion passant—a riotalK innovation in the Egyptian type of currency. T he name is usually written Beybars, but on the coins the y is not inserted, and the name would appear to be Bihar», as (¿uatrcmcre spells it.

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raised, until the wave of O ttom an conquest swept at last upon Egypt and Syria. To him is due the organization of the mamluk army, the rebuilding of a navy, the allot--* ment of fiefs to the lords and soldiers, the building of ¡eways and bridges, and digging of canals in various s of,Ekypt. He strengthened the fortresses of Syria and garrrfloned them with m am luks; he connected Damascus and Cairo by a postal service of four days, and used to play polo in both cities within the same week. His mosque still Stands without the north gates, and hi college once stood—only an angle remains—in the Bey el-Kasreyn. He founded an endowment for the burial poor Muslims. In respects he was a great ruler“ end his qualities m usjjftave been remarkable to have raised him from the l^rel of a one-eyed slave to be the co n so lid ato r^ an empire tlfet lasted for 250 years. Beybars was determined^ to be a second Saladin, to revive th e power and p restig e’of the Egyptian empire, a , and to wage war against the “ infidels "* who still lingered..-on the Meditere£|ft * ranean coast. Syria had indeed beefi . W 'Í ! 1 ^ r e c o v e r e d by his predecessor,—and • Beybars was careful to confirm his • Jr ™ local appointm ents and conciliate the governors,—but it was held on a ’i -y*i - * precarious tenure. A rival proclaimed imself king at Damascus, and.. „ „ >'267 peace by th e surrender of Derbesiik and th e country east is68 of th e G 'eyhun river. Jaffa was captured in 1268, and Mar,

268

C O N Q U E S T O F A N T IO C H

razed to the foundations : 1 its fine marbles were used to decorate th e mosques of Cairo. Shekif A rnun (Belfort) iig8 surrendered in April, and the crow ning trium ph of the May campaign was th e storm ing of A ntioch, the head-quarters 19 of C hristianity in northern Syria. T he noble city was burnt to th e ground. Beybars took th e occasion of th e conquest of A ntioch to w rite to its prince, Boemond VI, one of those boast­ ful and sarcastic letters for which he was famous. A ddressing him as “ count,” since he had now lost his princedom, he reminds him th a t he has been “ looking on like a man in a m ortal swoon ” whilst piece after piece of his dominions has been taken from him. T hen the conqueror describes th e campaign which ended in th e storm ing of Boem ond’s capital, sparing him no details : “ H adst thou but seen,” he wrote, “ th y knights trodden under the hoofs of th e horses ! th y palaces invaded by plunderers and ransacked for b o o ty ! th y treasures weighed out by th e h u n d red w eig h t! thy ladies bought and sold w ith th in e own gear, at four for a d in a r! hadst thou but seen th y churches demolished, th y crosses sawn in sunder, th y garbled gospels' hawked about before the sun ; th e tombs of thy nobles cast to th e ground ; th e monk, th e priest, th e deacon slaughtered on th e altar ; th e rich abased to misery, princes of royal blood reduced to slavery ! could’st thou but have seen th e flames devouring th y halls ; th y dead cast into the fires tem poral, w ith th e fires eternal hard at hand ; the churches of Paul and of Cosmas rocking and going d o w n ! — then would’st thou have said, ‘W ould God th at I were d u s t T h i s letter holds happy tidings for thee : it tells thee th at God watches over th ee to prolong th y days, inasmuch as in these latter days thou wert not in A ntioch ! H adst thou been there, now wouldst thou be slain or a prisoner, wounded or disabled. A live man rejoiceth in his safety when he looketh on a field of * There had been a treaty between John of Ibelin, count of Jaffa, and the Ayyiihid sultan, en-Nasir, of Damascus, which Beybars confirmed in a personal interview with John in 1261. T he death of John of Ibelin, however, terminated the agreement.

fa ll

of

crusader

fortresses

269

slain . . . . As not a man hath escaped to tell thee the tale, we tell it thee ; as no soul could apprise thee th at thou art safe, while all the rest have perished, we apprise thee." 1 This loss so dispirited the Franks that they asked for peace, and Beybars himself accompanied his own ambas­ sadors into Tripolis, disguised as a groom, in order to spy out the place with a view to a future siege. T he Franks of ‘A kka also opened peace negotiations, which fell through. A raid upon the country near Tyre and ‘Akka in 1269 was followed by a more vigorous campaign in 1271, when the great castle of Crac des Chevaliers 1271 (Hisn-el-Akrad) was surrendered by the Hospitallers ; A7prTortosa and Markab won a truce by a sacrifice of May territory ; A kkar capitulated, and th e Teutonic knights 11 were unable to defend the fortress of Montfort (el- June Kureyn). “ Our yellow flag hath overcome thy red,” 12 wrote Beybars again to Boemond, “ and th y bells are silenced by Allahu A kbar,” the call to prayer. After further hostilities Tyre made terms by dividing its territory with Egypt ; and Hugh III of Cyprus, styling himself king of Jerusalem, succeeded in obtaining a treaty of peace for ‘Akka and Cyprus for ten years, I27J ten months, and ten days. This arrangem ent was partly £prdue to the arrival of reinforcements from England, under prince Edward Plantagenet, in May 1271, who inspired the ‘Akkans to renewed courage and even secured a couple of small successes; and partly to the threatening movements of the Mongols, who made incursions into northern Syria in 1271 and 1272. The Egyptian fleet, moreover, had been disastrously wrecked at Limasol in an attem pt to conquer C yprus—the main support of Boemond—and Beybars was busy repairing th e injury by the rapid construction of fresh vessels. On th e death of Boemond in 1 2 7 5 , peace was renewed with his successor, who agreed to pay an annual tribute of 2 0 ,0 0 0 D. The Franks were now harmless, and before this another 1 The letter is printed in Arabic (from Nuweyri) and French in Quatremere, Mamloitks, I., ii. 190-4 ; in German in Weil, iv. 63-7, and the spirited English version is by Sir H . Yule, Marco Polo, i. 25.

270

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A SSA SSIN S A N D T H E M O N G O LS

danger had been removed by the submission of th e “ Assassins.” These fanatics of the Ismá'ílian sect, secure in th eir nine rocky fortresses among th e A nsariya m ountains between Markab and H am ah, had been th e terro r of Syria since the beginning of th e twelfth century, and their fidaw is or emissaries had carried out the lethal orders of their sheykh in many a secret m urder. Saladin had vainly attem pted to suppress them , and since his failure they had been courted by m any Christian powers, and were under the special protection of the K nights Hospitallers. In 1267, however, by a treaty with th e knights, Beybars took over th e trib u te of th e Assassins, and having acquired an influence over th e m 1 he set about disarm ing their power. Between 1270 and 1273 he took th eir fortresses one by one, byforce or by capitulation, and induced th e most dreaded of all secret societies to take up its abode in Egypt, w here it gradually lost its fanatical character and became merged in the peaceful population. '»75 Meanwhile, relieved from hostilities 011 th e Syrian coast, Beybars turned his arm s northw ards ; once more he overran Cilicia, surprised and burnt el-Massisa and Sis, and raided up to Tarsus, where the prayers of Islam were recited in trium ph. H e had defeated th e Mongols near Bira early in 1273, after swimming the E uphrates a t th e head of his tro o p s; and in 1277 he waged his last campaign against the most powerful of his foes. T hey now ruled Asia M inor and th e young Selgük princes by means of a governor, or Perwana, M u'in-ed-din, and against him Beybars led th e yellow standards of his evervictorious army. N ear A bulusteyn he fell upon the I277 enemy, w ith his 11 ,ooo mamlüks, and inflicted so terrible APfir- a defeat th a t the Mongols left nearly 7000 dead upon the field. T h eir camp was taken and th e prisoners put to death. T h e sultan seated himself upon th e throne at Apr. Kaysariya (Caesarea) where the Selguk sultans of Rüm 23 had reigned for two centuries, and here he received th e 1 Beybars was reported to have urged the Assassins to the murderous assault upon Edward I'iantagenct, but he strenuously denied the charge.

BEYBARS A T C A E S A R E A

271

hom age of th e people, was prayed for in th e mosque, belauded by th e poets, hym ned by th e royal Selguk band ; and here he caused coins to be struck in his name, and divided th e P en v an a’s treasure am ong the troops. H ere too he received th e allegiance of th e T urkm an ruler of Karam àn, whose tribesm en proved a useful buffer on the northern frontier. It was but a tem porary occupation, for the Persian Ilkhan was already m ustering av ast arm y to recover his losses, and Beybars prudently returned to Syria, leaving Caesarea to the pitiless butchery of th e enraged Mongols : b u t th e glory of having sat on th e Selgiik throne was not the least am ong his trium phs. Nor was this northern expansion th e only side on which th e em pire of E gypt was enlarged. Slightly m ore perm anent was th e annexation of the Sudan. Dàvvùd, th e Christian king of Nubia, who should by ancient custom have paid an annual trib u te or baht of slaves to th e sultan (see above, p. 23), had sent various expeditions into th e E gyptian territory, and taken Muslims captive at Aswan on th e Nile and at Aydhàb on th e Red Sea coast. In retu rn the E gyptian governor of Kù8 had raided N ubia as far as Dongola in 1272-3; and in ■127 5 Beybars seized the opportunity of th e arrival of DàwQd’s nephew Shekenda in E g y p t to espouse his cause and set him up in opposition to his uncle. A fresh arm y was sent into th e Sudan, th e forts of Daw, Sfls and D ongola were taken, Dàwud defeated, and Shekenda set upon th e throne, after taking th e most solemn and 1275 trem endous oath by all he held sacred to be a tru e and loyal vassal to the sultan of E gypt, to render th e customary bakt of slaves, and to pay half th e revenue of th e kingdom, together w ith various elephants, giraffes, panthers, dromedaries, and oxen, as tribute, as well as a gold dinar for each adult male of th e population, who were also compelled to take an oath of allegiance. T h e conquest of the Sudan had been attem pted before in 652, and again by Saladin’s brother in 1173, but its dependence had been m erely nominal, and such it soon became again. Beyban, had now reached the goal of his aspirations.

272

E X T E N T O F BEYBARS’S

e m p ir e

T he slave had risen (by a twofold m urder of his leaders, it is true) to become th e greatest sultan of his century. His orders were obeyed from th e fourth cataract of the Nile to the river Pyram us, and on the east from Bira along th e E uphrates to Karkísiyá on th e Khábür. T he Bedawis of th e deserts were his auxiliaries, the sherifs of the holy cities of Arabia were under his control; all Syria was subject to him, save the few cities on the coast which th e Christians still held, and th e principality of H am ah. T he king of the Yemen courted his friend­ ship, and sent him costly g ifts; th e ruler of Abyssinia sought a patriarch at his hands. Sawákin on th e Red Sea was his, and th e chiefs of north Africa from Barka 1Í77 westwards paid him trib u te.1 A t th e height of his ,uly 1 renown he died, probably from a poisoned cup which he had prepared for another. T he greater part of his reign was spent in campaigns outside E gypt, but he generally passed the w inter m onths at Cairo, w hilst his troops rested and rains or snow hindered marching, and he devoted these intervals to im proving the country and th e capital. It was not only in founding and restoring mosques and colleges, or rebuilding th e Hall of Justice at the foot of the citadel, th at he showed his public interest. H e enlarged the irrigation canals and dug new ones, made roads and bridges, fortified Alexandria and repaired th e pharos, 1 Weil, iv. 96-97. Karkísiyá was taken from the Mongols in 1265 ; a year later the sberif of Medina received his appointment from Bey­ bars, who also nominated the sherif of Mekka Ham ah was the last vestige of the Ayyübid power, and its princes retained their title of king, though really subordinate to the mamlük sultans, until their extinction in 1341 ; the last king but one, Abü-1-Fidi, more famous as an historian and geographer, was born in 1273 at Damascus, whither his parents had fled in dread of a Mongol ¡nvaxion. H im s (Emesa), the penultimate possession of the Ayyübids, fell into Beybars’s hands on the death of its last king in 1263. The rest of their dominions was taken by the Mongols about 1260, and the Syrian part was recovered by Kutuz. In 1263, Beybars had treacherously entrapped Mughith, the Ayyübid piince of Karak, and probable claimant for the throne of his father ‘Adil II of Egypt, and shut him up in the citadel of Cairo. Karak then became a fortress of Egypt, as Shawbek had been since 12Ó1. Sawákin was taken in 1266.

H IS G O V E R N M EN T

273

and protected the m ouths of th e Nile from th e risk of foreign invasion. H e revived the E gyptian fleet, built forty war galleys, and m aintained 12,000 regular troops — not reckoning, one must assume, th e A rab and Egyptian militia or occasional levies. His heavy war expenses entailed heavy ta x a tio n ; and though w ith a view to popularity he began his reign by rem itting the oppressive taxes imposed by K utuz to th e am ount of 600,000 D . a year, he found himself compelled to increase th e fiscal burdens as his campaigns developed. Yet we read more often of old taxes repealed th an of fresh duties imposed, and his treasury was filled less by th e imposts of E g y p t than by the contributions from the conquered cities and districts of Syria, the trib u te of vassal states and tribes, and th e valuable custom-dues of th e ports. Some idea of his wealth may be gained from th e list of th e presents he sent to his ally, th e khan of th e Golden H orde. T h ere was a throne inlaid w ith carved ebony and ivory, a silver chest, choice prayercarpets, curtains, cushions innum erable, fine swordblades with silver hilts, saddles from Khwarizm, bows from Damascus, Arabian javelins, silver and enamelled lamps and chandeliers, a priceless K oran in a goldem broidered case, black eunuchs, cooks, Arab horses, dromedaries, mules, wild asses, giraffes, apes, parrots, etc. His governm ent was enlightened, ju st, and strict. H e m et the severe famine of 1264 by measures at once wise and generous, by regulating the sale of corn, and by undertaking, and compelling his officers and emirs to undertake, th e support of th e destitute for th ree m onths. H e allowed no wine (though th e tax on it used to pro­ duce 0000D. a year), beer, or hashish in his dom inions; he attem pted to eradicate contagious diseases by scientific isolation; he was strict w ith th e morals of his subjects, shut up taverns and brothels, and banished th e E uropean women of the town ; though, personally, he was addicted to th e T atar kumiz, and was suspected of oriental depravity. H e was no sybarite, whatever his vices ; no man was more full of energy and power of work. If his days were often given to hu n tin g or polo, lance-play or T

274

C H A R A C T E R O F BEYBARS

marksm anship, his nights were devoted to business. A courier who arrived at daybreak received th e answering despatches by the th ird hour, w ith invariable punctuality. W e have seen (p. 247) how once fifty-six docum ents were drawn up, signed, and sealed in one night. W ith th e people he was popular : th e Muslims always adm ired a fighting sultan, especially if he had an open hand, and Beybars was lavish in largesse, as well as in alms. H e was also approved by th e religious, not only 011 account of his pious endowments, b u t because he showed no favour to any one party in Islam. F or th e first tim e he appointed four kadis, one for each of th e four orthodox schools, and, by playing off one against another, contrived to get his own way in everything affecting law and religion. T h e nobles and officers of th e state and arm y stood in dread of his w rath. H e suspected every one, and constantly shifted his governors from post to post to prevent th eir acquiring local influence. If an em ir showed a trace of treason th ere was no mercy for h im ; on th e oth er hand, a loyal servant was sure of good pay, rapid prom otion, and a share of th e conquered lands. T h e sultan’s worst quality was his perfidy ; his word and his oath were worthless, and he prided himself upon tricking an enemy to his death. T h e insidious device by which he g o t rid of an A rm enian ecclesiastic, by sending him a compromising letter and causing it to be waylaid by an E gyptian agent and shown to th e Mongol governor, is but one of m any instances. B u t it is fair to rem em ber th a t he only m et like w ith like, and th a t th e court in which he was trained, supplem ented by th e experience of his own career, was not such as to encourage boundless confidence in his comrades or servants. By such steps as he had climbed, others m ight climb too, and it is not surprising th a t suspicion kept his dungeons in the Citadel constantly full. H is m istrust of his agents led tc various devices in order to watch them unseen ; he was supposed to be confined to his te n t by illness in Palestine when he had really ridden incognito ail th e way to Cairo, where he stayed several days concealed in th e

A H E R O O F ROM ANCE

27S

Citadel, studying the behaviour of his unsuspecting representatives. On another occasion he is said to have ventured in disguise into Asia Minor to spy out the land, and having left a ring in pledge at a cook-shop, he had the effrontery to write to the Mongol Ilkhan Abaga to request that it might be returned. His courage and daring, whether in battle or in dangerous exploration, were extraordinary. The heroic qualities of sultan Beybars have outlived his faults and pettinesses, and to the present century the audiences in the coffee-shops1 of Cairo have delighted in the story-tellers’ recital of the daring exploits and princely generosity of the king who has impressed the imagination of the Egyptians more than any other, scarcely excepting Alexander and Saladin. 1 See the account of the romance of Ej-Zahir (Edh-Dhahir) in Lane

Modern Egyptians, ch. xxi.

CHAPTER X T H E H O U SE O F K A L Â ‘ÜN

1279— 1382 Authorities,—Abü-1-Fidà, en-Nuweyrî, Ibn-Batüta, el-MaJcrizi, Abû-1-Mahâsin, el-IialVashandi, Ibn-I)âs ; modern : Quatremère’s Histoire des Sul fans Aîamlouks and Mémoires sur r Egypte ; Weil, Gesehichte der ChaIi f en, iv. ; Lane-Poole, A rt o f the Saracens and Cat. Or. Coins in B .M . ; Casanova, Hist, de la citadelle du Caire (A/cm. miss, archéol. franç. vi.). Principal Monuments in Egypt.—Mosque, mdristan, and kubba {viedfen) Kalfrün, 1284—1303; mosque emir Beydar ; tomb Khalil, in south Karafa, 1288; Lâgin*s restoration M. of Ibn-Tülïin, 1296; T. Zeyn-ed-din Yüsuf, 1298; Medr. en-Nâsir, 1299; restorations M. of el-Hakim, Azbar, Ibn-Ruzzik, etc., 1302—4 ; khânafcàh Beybars II, 1310 ; Medr. Taybars (in Azhar), 1309 ; aqueduct and buildings in Citadel, 1313, and M. en-Nâsir, 1318; M. emir Hoseyn, 1319 ; M. Àl-melik, 1319 ; Medr. Senear el-G'âwalï and Saltir, 1323 ; T. princess Ordutegin, 1324; M. Afcmad el-Mihmendar, 1325; part of M. lyüsün, 1329; M. Alraàs, 1330; Medr. Àfcbughà, 1334; T. of Tâshtimur, 1334; palace Beshtàk, c. 1335; T. and M. Altunbughâ el-Mâridânï, 1338—9 ; M. Sitta Miska, 1339; M. Aslam, 1346; M. Kuguk, 1346 ; M. AVsun^cur, 1347 ; M. Ari»hün el-Ismâ‘ïlî, 1348 ; M. Kutlübughâ, 1348; M. Mangak, 1350 ; M.» khûnakâh, and sebil Sheykhii, 1350—5 ; cistern of La£in, 1351; M. $arghitmish, 1357; M. and T. sultan Hasan, 1356 —62 ; restorations M. el-Hakim, 1359, and Azhar, 1360 ; Medr. princess Tatar el-Hi£aziya, 1360*; T. princess Tulbiya, 1364; T. Tinkiz, 1363; Medr. ebG'ai el-Yusufi, 1373; M. el-Ashraf Sha‘ban, 1368. Principal Inscriptions in Egypt.—On the mosques and tombs enumerated above, often with dates of commencement as well as of completion; Baraka Khân in mosque (disappeared), 1278; Bektimur in M. of Talai‘, 13CO; Be\bars II in M. Hâkim, 1303; Nâçir on Citadel, 1313, and in M. Kalâ ün, 1303. Principal Inscriptions in Syria,—Baraka (associated as prince with his father Beybars) on citadel of Damascus, and castle of Karak ; Çalà’ün on mausoleum built by him for Beybars and Baraka at Damascus, tablet commemorating conquest of Markab 1285, inscr. at

THE SONS OF BEYBARS

277

Balätunus, Ba'albekk, Karak, Jerusalem, Hebron, Nabulus, and Sheyzar ; Khalil at Yubna, on mosque at Tripolis, cilade] of Aleppo ; Ketbughä on great mosque (church) of Ramla, and Hamäh; Lägin on great mosque (church) of Gaza, at Shawl>ak, and Munäkhir ; Na§ir Mohammad in haram of Jerusalem, M. el-A^esa, k. es-Sakhra, etc., in mosques of Gaza, G'ebela, Tripolis, Ramla, on tower of Ramla, wall and gate of Damascus, and G'isr Tora near by, on castle of Karak, at Latakia and on Mt. H o r; Kämil Sha'ban in M. el-Aksa at Jeru­ salem, on castles of Karak and Tripolis ; Hasan in M. el-Afcsä and in great mosque of Ba4albekk ; es-Salih in M. el-Aksä and niosque at Mu‘ta near Karak ; Naair Sha‘ban on citadel of Aleppo (MSS. notes of M. van Berchem). Coins (see under each reign), armorial badges, numerous bowls and other vessels, enamelled glass lamps, etc. in British, Victoria and Albert, Cairo, Paris, and other museums, and in private collections. O f the three sons of Beybars, the eldest, by a daughter of Baraka Khan of the Golden Horde, was raised to the throne with the titles el-Melik es-Sa’id Nasir-ed-din Baraka Khän. Beybars had proclaimed him his heir as early as 1264, and three years later had caused him to be saluted as “ sultan,” so anxious was he to secure the dynastic succession to his line. Unhappily he had not transmitted his great qualities to his sons. Es-Sa'Id was a weak pleasure-loving youth of nineteen, the tool of his Mongolian mother and of the gay young courtiers of his choice, upon whom he lavished the best appointments of the empire. The old emirs of his father’s wars were neglected ; some were imprisoned, or even poisoned by the queen-mother; their discontent grew into open rebellion, and Sa;Id, besieged in the citadel of Cairo, was forced to abdicate, and to retire to the fortress of Karak.1 The mamlüks begged Kalä'ün, one of the most l27q capable of the elder generals, to accept the throne; but Au^ the prudent emir foresaw opposition, and preferred to set up the youngest son of_ his master, Bedr-ed-din Selämish with the title of el-‘Adil. For a hundred days Kalä’ön acted as atäbeg or regent for the child of seven years, meanwhile placing his own supporters in all the 1 He died in March, 1280, and was buried beside Beybars at Damascus. His brother, el-Mes'ud Khidr, succeeded him as prince of Karak,

K A LA ’UN

offices of state, and thus preparing the way for the next Ñov? steP- Selátnish was then quietly deposed, and Kalá ün became sultan of E gypt. El-Melik el-Mansür Seyt-ed-din Kalá'ün el-Elfi esSalihl,1 a T urk of th e Burg Oghlu tribe of Kipchak, more fortunate in his progeny than Beybars, founded a princely house which lasted a hundred years, maintained and even increased the prestige and territorial extent of th e Egyptian empire, and filled the capital with noble monuments. He had, however, a stern fight to go through before he was settled on his throne. The mamluk system had this special weakness, th at on th e death of the sultan, whom they had elected from their number, the leading emirs were all possible candidates for the vacant place. T here was as yet no hereditary order of succession, though the tendency had been to prefer— pending party combinations—the temporary recognition of a late sultan’s son. T here were several of Beybars’s generals who felt that they had as good a claim to the throne as Kalá/ün, and one of them, Sunkur, proclaimed 1280 himself king of Syria with the style of el-Melik el-Kamil. Apr' H e had the support of several of the leading Záhiris or mamlüks of Beybars, together with that of the Bedawis of the desert, and the Ayyübid prince of Hamah. T heir united forces were defeated by Kulá'ün only after a June combat of many hours, aided by desertions, in a great battle at el-G'esüra, near Damascus; and partly by discriminating severity, partly by wise conciliation, the ia8, disaffection was brought to an end. Soon after, he M a y 3 renewed the truce which Beybars had made with the Hospitallers of Markab (in spite of their infractions), and 1 “ The victorious king, sword of ihe faith, K aluuu the milliary, [mam lük] of £ a lá ü n , so pronounced in Egypt, but written Kilfiwim in Turkish, means “ duck ” ; and the representation of a wild duck is very common upon bowls and other works in inlaid silver and brass bearing his name or his son’s. See my Ar/ o f the Saracens, pp. 164, 190, 194. The 1‘ milliary ” refers to his having been purchased for a thousand dinars He was a thorough Turk, and spoke very little Arabic. Very few of KalaTm’s coins have been preserved ; one has a date, Damascus, 68 1 (128.1-4).

M O NGOL IN V A SIO N

279

concluded treaties with th e prince of Tripolis (16 July, 1281), the Tem plars of Tortosa (15 A pril, 1282) and th e lord of A k k a (3 June, 1283). These treaties were nom in­ ally for ten years, and the most notable provisions they contained were freedom of access for E gyptian vessels to th e Christian ports, and ominous restrictions upon further fortifications. T h a t th e Christian states agreed to abandon measures of self-defence is evidence th a t they m ust have felt their helplessness against the armies of E gypt. T h eir end was not far off. These various treaties w ith th e Crusader cities were concluded under th e stress of a Mongol invasion. Kalá-ün wanted his hands free to engage his only formidable enemy, who, taking advantage of th e con­ fusion of the Syrian revolt, had crossed th e E uphrates, and sacked Aleppo. T he sultan raised every man he could, mamlüks and Turkm ans, troops from Hamáh and Karak, Bedawis of th e deserts, and Arabs from the Hij^az and from th e E uphrates.1 His total m uster was about 50,000. T he Mongols under M angütim ür, a brother of the Ilkhán Abághá, num bered according to different estimates from 50,000 to 80,000, of whom about a third were composed of contingents from Georgia, A rm enia, and the East Roman borders. T h e two armies m et near Hims, and th e decisive battle was i?8i fought on Thursday, 30 Oct., 1281. T he bewildering tactics of the Mongol horsemen, who doubtless em ployed th eir famous tulughma or tu rn in g movement, completely broke the Muslim left, which fled helter-skelter to the gates of Hims, hotly pursued by the swift archers of th e steppes. Some of th e Egyptians were th ere slaughtered ; some continued th eir flight towards Egypt, bearing lamentable tidings of th e sultan’s defeat; whilst th e victorious pursuers bivouacked outside H im s, and feasted upon th eir spoils. It occurred to n eith er party th at what had happened to the E gyptian left m ight not 1 MakrizI describes the contingent of 4000 Arabs of the tribe of Mura as all well mounted, armed with helmet and cuirass covered with silk, carrying sword and lance, and accompanied by a damsel who sang a war-song.

28o

D E F E A T O F T H E M O NGOLS

have happened to the right and centre. T h e steady old troops of the Ayyübid prince of H am ah were stationed here, w ith th e active and elusive Bedavvis, and these had not only stood the brunt of th e Mongols’ attack, and put th eir left to flight, but had wounded th eir general, and taking them in the m om ent of leaderless hesitation, had charged home and driven th e enem y to u tte r rout. Ju st as th e Mongol right had chased th e E gyptian left, so did th e E gyptian right pursue th e Mongol left, and th e extraordinary spectacle of the two halves of two large armies vehem ently h u n tin g each o th er in opposite directions was exhibited to th e amazed sultan of E g ypt, as, w ith a guard of only a thousand mamlüks, he stood deserted upon a hill ! T he feasting Mongols, however, soon learned th e disaster to th eir left, and hastened to join th eir retreating comrades. T h ey were in such a hurry th a t they did not even tu rn aside to cut up the sultan’s small brigade, though th ey passed so close to him th at he anxiously concealed his banners and silenced his drums. As soon as he saw their backs, however, he fell upon them , harassed th eir retreat, and sent orders by pigeon to his governors at th e E u p h rates to bar the fords. It was th e worst disaster the Mongols had met with in th eir attem pts upon S y ria : K utuz, Beybars, and now. K aláfm had defeated them , and th e greatest defeat was the last. 1282 T h e result was an arm ed truce for seventeen j ’ears. Ap,r' Both MangiUlmfir and A bághá died in th e following spring, and th e next Ilkhan of Persia, Ahmad, was a Mongol converted to Islam. H e did not on th a t account renounce the policy of his predecessors, and th e corre­ spondence with K alá'ün exchanged through his am ­ bassador hinted not obscurely at war ; but a rival in his 1284 own country m ended his manners, and a second embassy Aug' brought handsome presents and friendly assurances. T he ambassadors were received at Damascus by K alá'ün, who was surrounded by a guard of 1500 mamlüks, dressed in red atlas satin, w ith golden girdles, and turbans of cloth of gold, each holding a wax candle. But ^t this m om ent A hm ad was dead, and th e sultan of

F O R E IG N R E L A T IO N S

Egypt had no further trouble w ith the Mongols for the rest of his reign. W ith the rival Mongol of th e Golden H orde he preserved th e amicable relations established by Beybars, and also w ith th e em peror of Constantinople, the kings of France, and Castile, and Sicily, the republic of Genoa, and the em peror Rudolf of Habsburg. W ith Genoa he concluded a commercial treaty, whilst Alfonso of Castile and Jam es of Sicily actually made a defensive alliance with the Muslim sultan against all comers (1289). T h e king of th e Yemen sent him costly presents, and even the ruler of Ceylon despatched an embassy w ith a letter which no one at Cairo could read, and with a more intelligible oral com munication inviting trade w ith his rich country and offering th e aid of tw enty ships. Kala'un, like Beybars, was a far-sighted statesman, and did his utm ost to attract m erchants to Egypt. His pass­ ports, ensuring protection throughout his dominions to foreign traders, were current as far as India and China. W hen th e fear of the Mongols had abated, the sultan lost no tim e in reducing th e Crusader cities. His trea tie s1 were valid only so long as he found them convenient, and his oath was no more sacred than th at of Beybars. In spite of his ten years’ engagem ent with the Hospitallers, h e suddenly fell upon their great ,285 fortress of Markab, which was totally unprepared for a siege, and surrendered. T h e count of Tripolis was then forced to yield him Marakiya on th e coast, though its position defied a siege by land. M argaret of T yre purchased peace for ten years (on paper) by surrendering •' us. half her revenues and engaging never to renew her fortifications. T h e kingdom of L ittle A rm enia was raided and compelled to buy a ten years’ truce by a tribute of 1,000,000 dirhem s yearly, to release all Muslim prisoners, and also to desist from all measures of defence. In defiance of th e treaty w ith Tripolis, Latakia was ^8? seized; and after th e death of Boemond V II—th e death of a signatory was then held to void a treaty — 1 Some of these documents are printed in Arabic, with French translation, in the appendix to Quatremere's M aljrui, I I ., i. 166 ft

282

G O V E R N M E N T O F K A LA UN

the work of t i n s sultan (1; though popularly ascribea to Saladin. To carry out fus sph^mes, arid indulge his tastes, he needed imme revenues, and the money was not lackiqg. He married eleven of ' h i s daughters"-' tO _ ^ _ ,_ _ _ leading emirs, and ea c*_ wed3 ing%ost him 800,000 A T lusic alone. came to * ... the music — *|k io,opo D. for each fete. „He was a judge: 6f ho isf* ' J h d would g iv e^as m u c h '1-^ a million dirKems ( X ^oooj for a fine animal. R e .kept, d? ,urse, a proper stud Ixjok, "V > and knew tne name, age, •» price, and pedigree of every horse. » Tbroe thousand fillies annually foiled in his stables - were broken in by BeAt the visitafioii of*the plague irr Fig. 74.

* ?

D inar o f su lta ffM lsa n , C airo, 1349.

6 1, Alexandria, 756 lur Holiam inad, Cait 762, 763, 764, Dam ascus, 763, ; el-A shraf S H a'ban, C airo, 764, 765, 766, 767. 767. 768, 76' 769. 770, 773. 774. 776, A lexandria, 7 D am ascus, 766, 771, 773, 774, 777, Alepp8r,: H am ah, T ripolis, w ithout legible d a le s ; el-M ansiir ‘Air, C airo, 779, 7 8 Î, Dam ascus, 778, 780, 78r, 782, A3eppu, 77S ; es-Saliti H aggi, Damascus, A leppo, w ithout dates ; Damascus, 792, witf- ‘L“ --------

-•>

M

.

■ " ar-WiL^ z., • T t e r.-A V ’i,. . m u M FOREIGN AFFAIRS , -■—n » -: - •■*- - » r 1348-g the same “ B lack Death that spread over Europe at this time -reduced the country to a desperate state: 10,000 to '20,000 people died in Cairo in a single d a y ; ; cattle murfain and fruit disease accompanied the plague, ,, _ the fish of the river .were poisoned, d y es were em; ‘L J and the land laid waste. Of external affairs there is little to record in the bri< reigns of Nasir’s descendants. >35° A little victory at 'Mekka over M il ' the king of the Yemen, another at Singar in Mesopotamia over a Kurdish band of brigands, a . temporary adhesion of a rebel governor at Baghdad, who struck coins as a vassal of E|fypt (1365}, a punitive expedition against the marauding Bedawis in Upper Egypt, and another (supplied by boats which “were carried over the first cataract) into Nubia with a similar object (1365), the customary attacks upon Little " rmenia (where Adhana, TaVsus, el-Massisa were taken, and first two garrisoned), were 65 of small importance. The descent of a hostile Europeatijtlcet upon Alexandria was a new' ex­ perience after more than a cenCrusading zeal. , king of Cythe knights the Genoese suddenly 1: seized Alexa plundered it, and sailed away with 5000 prisoners. Th™ Christians of Egypt vrtdefpmade to pay their ransoms an the regency of Bqrsrliey, etraedi.as usual in the ac c e ssio n ^ jB of (heyregem himself! «m •«« El.Aahraf B a rsJiey . ru -fpr ’over sixteen y e a r s , a n ^ f pr 1 although his govorptiji1424 within his dominions but even achieved an ex|ension of his. power by the* jo n q u e st of Cyprus.. V T h e pirates" who infested th e g p o re s of E gypt and Syr^a, >(l though not necessarily Cypriotes, iised the harbours ■r — of Cyprus as their base, and so long as they were AM .^sheltered th e re 1ft was impossible to capture' thi*m. In -*ythe summer of 1 4 2 4 a fe^ sh ip s from Bul;ilc, Damietta, X vt 37g»-md Trip5iiis, manned by Volunteers, s ^ led- to Cyprus, 'J. ^C sB cJted.'L rg^sol (Lemsun), and ''etjteied laden with SL»pi'V"!! o f the m erchants. IJn d ei (r-'jltmak we find rovdrnlBnopolies and heav v d tities still i y w c e , but t^ie In d S * impgy* d uty at G'idda was still L one-tenth. Inal attefiipted to reform the debased silver IT coinage, but hi> changes were :io t, popuJiu*^. T he f ^currency w ent from bad to worse, and 4s tlfegEj ^ f t i k Smpire decliflBS, and naa «Pfight for its bare existefliC, th e taxation became more and more onerous. •3j B ars-B evdied unregretted. H e had been a stern and oppressive" fruler, ail IT th e out ward* tran q u illity of the ir(ifealm was no proof of corresponding prosperity. His.

BARS-BEY, GAKM AK, K H U S H K A D A M

34I

conquest of C yprus had pleased his mamlüks, and his monopolies had enriched them ; but the people suffered. E gypt and Syria, says Makrizi, became deserts in his reign. O ne of his last acts was to order the execution of two doctors, because th ey could not cure him ; and this in face of the urgent rem onstrances of th e emirs, who revered the good men. Yet he bore the character of a devout Muslim, fasted twice a week, besides five special days in the m onth, and delighted to hear th e historian el-‘A vni reading to him in T urkish of an evening. H is son el-‘Azïz Yüsuf, aged fourteen, soon gave place to his regent (Nizâm-el-mulk) G'akma^:— once a slave of Bar- Scpl' 9 kük, a lieutenant under Mu ayyad, a colonel under Tatar, and a high m inister under Bars-Bey— whose governm ent was mild compared w ith his predecessor’s, and whose personal character was exemplary. H e observed the laws of th e K oran scrupulously, touched no forbidden food, prohibited wine, and suppressed profane music. His orthodoxy induced him to persecute Jew s and Christians, and to enforce th e old sum ptuary distinctions. U nlike Bars-Bey, he was as familiar w ith Arabic as w ith T urkish, studied Arabic theology, and was fond of th e society of learned men. H e died at the age of about 1453 eighty, and despite his simple life he left but a trifling pcbi fortune for his own son, th e child of a G reek m other. >3 This son, el-Mansür ‘O thm ân, who was proclaimed Feb. 1 sultan during his father’s last illness, was deposed in a Mar. m onth and a half, by el-Ashraf Inàl, an easy-going, 19 pliable old man, who could hardly w rite his own name, and whose reign was em bittered by the ceaseless rivalries and disorders of th e mamlüks. His son el-M u'ayyad ,46, Ahmad was totally unequal to his difficult position, and F'6bsoon abdicated in favour of his governor, th e G reek ez- june Zàhir Khüshkadam, whose rule was conspicuous for 58 successful corruption, and whose son ez-?ahir Yel-Bey, J4&7 known as tl-megnün or “ th e lunatic,” was as usual Oct. 9 dethroned in a couple of m onths by a faction of mamlüks to make room for th eir candidate, another elderly G reek, ez-Zàhir T im urbughâ. T he new sultan Dec.3 was a highly cultivated man, versed in philology, history,

342

K A IT -B E Y

theology, and he accepted the th ro n e w ith much diffi­ dence. H is first steps were to set free th e imprisoned emirs of various factions, as well as th e ex-sultans A hm ad and ‘O thm an, and to endeavour to conciliate all parties. m68 T he result of his good intentions was th a t he found himself w ith no friends, and 110 money to buy them . T he mamlüks, losing all patience w ith so incom pre­ hensible a chief, burst into th e citadel, locked up the learned sultan, and set up K heyr Bek w ith th e title of el-‘Adil. K heyr Bek, however, had only tim e to plunder his predecessor’s harim , when a still more powerful emir, Çâït-Bey, assembled his mamlüks, ousted th e usurper, and usurped th e throne himself. T im urbügha, twice deposed on th e same day, was treated w ith th e utm ost consideration, and perm itted to live in freedom and ease at D am ietta. ■468- El-A shraf K âït-B ey enjoyed the longest reign of any of th e m amlük sultans since en - Nâsir b. K alâ ün. H e reigned for nearly tw entynine years, and was th e most successful and warlike of all th e Circassian line. H e had F ig. 86.— Dinar of Kâït-Bey, worked his way up after th e 1468-96 m anner of th e mamlüks. Bars-Bey had bought him for twenty-five guineas (50D .)\ he had been resold to G 'akm ak, made a lieutenant by ïnâl, a captain, and eventually a colonel,1 by K hüshkadam , u n til he became 1 These terms are here used loosely to represent the mamlük ranks “ emir of 10,” “ emir of 40,” and “ emir o f looo ” horse. The ranks were not merely military, but carried with them the distinction of official nobility, like the Russian tchin. In K àït-B ey’s time there were but fourteen emirs of 1000 ; in the reign o f en-Nâsir b. Kalâ'ün there had been twenty-four. The pay of the army, on the other hand, had been constantly increasing, from 11,000 D . a month under Mu’ayvad, and 18,000 D. under Bars-Bey, to 28,000/). under G'akmalc, and 46,000 D. in the earlier part o f K âït-Bey’s reign. This sum, amounting to nearly ¿300,000 a year, was presently reduced by striking a great many inefficients or mere pensioners off the rolls. The soldiers’ rations were, of course, in addition to their pay.

344

K A IT -B E Y : A R C H IT E C T U R E

com mander-in-chief under T im urbughâ. H e was an expert swordsman, and an adept at th e javelin play. His career had given him experience and knowledge of the world ; he possessed courage, judgm ent, insight, energy, and decision. H is strong character dom inated his mamlüks, who were devoted to him , and overawed competitors. His physical energy was sometimes dis­ played in flogging the president of the council of state or other high officials w ith his own arm, w ith th e object of extorting money for th e treasury. Such contributions and extraordinary taxation were absolutely necessary for th e wars in which he was obliged to eng2ge. N ot only was th e land taxed to one-fifth of th e produce, but an additional te n th (half-a-dirhem per ardebb of corn) was dem anded. Rich Jews and Christians were rem orse­ lessly squeezed. T here was much barbarous inhum anity, innocent people were scourged, even to the death, and th e chemist ‘Ali b. el-Marshüshi was blinded and deprived of his tongue, because he could n o t tu rn dross into gold. T he sultan had th e reputation of miserliness, y et the lk t of his public works, not only in E gypt, but in Syria and Arabia, shows th a t he spent th e revenue on adm ir­ able objects. His two mosques .at Cairo, and his wekalas or caravanserais are am ong th e most exquisite examples of elaborate arabesque ornam ent applied to the purest Saracenic architecture. H e diligently restored and repaired th e crumbling m onum ents of his predecessors, as num erous inscriptions in the mosques, the schools, the Citadel, and oth er buildings of Cairo abundantly testify. H e was a frequent traveller, and journeyed in Syria, to th e E uphrates, in U pper and Low er E gypt, besides perform ing the pilgrimages to M ekka and Jerusalem ; and w herever he w ent he left traces of his progress in good roads, bridges, mosques, schools, fortifications, or other pious or necessary works. No reign, save th a t of en-Nâsir b. K alâ'ün, in th e long list of mamlük sultans, was m ore prolific in architectural construction or in the m inor industries of art. T he people suffered for th e cost of his many buildings, b u t a later age has recognized their matchless beauty.

"F R O N T IE R

W AHS

Kait-Bey, however had more serious m atters to deal with thaiwa*§bjtectvral achievements. T he nortf^“---frontier of S\Tria' had«tg{ig been a thorn in the.sjde of mamluk sultans, ndSWhly M M . . . insubordination or revolutions among their T urkr

4 Fig. 88.—Door of mosque of Kait-Bey, 1474.

^ n n a ls , but because these d istu rb a n ce sco n stan tly *Wi|ashed a pretext for intervention on the part of. their most dangerous neighbour, th e ‘Othmanli sultSBfchose power was soon „to be crowned by the cohouest^of

*

■ fi

C o n stan tin o p le. M u ayyad and lii^ sou had m ore t h a r t ^ once reduced th e trou b leso m e b o rd er sta te s to tem p o rary subm ission. Bars-Bey had w aged w ar w ith ih e T u rk : m ans of th e W h ite P e lt (>433), and even laid siege to th e ir city uf A m id in D iyar-B ekr, w ith o u t success. ’ m ak had cu ltiv ated th e friendship of th e b o rd er iftainSj married th e ir d a u g h ters, an d received th e ir om age, f?F least in fo rm ; and his co n ciliato ry policy tow ards th e b o rd er T u rk m a n s as well as tow ards th e , « ^ O thiiunihs had been c o n tin u e d by In a l, w ho d e c o r a te d ^ .

.

*>02

^ Fig.

5

f

T~> - 0

89.*- W ekala or caravanserai oi Kail.-Bey, 1477. in S^riigiya.

Cairo for several days in 1453, w hen a a em bassy frorr M oham m ad II b ro u g h t th e new s of th e conquest of *--»■ iC an staiitip o p le, and w ho .m a in ta in e d a friendly, if. n o rm n alg b v erlo rd sh ip o y er th e chief^of th e W h ite P e lt and th e D h u -l-K a d r prince df A b u lu stey h , th o u g h h e h a a to send an arm y (1456-7) to reopver T a rsu s a n d A d h a n a from Ib rah im , th e a m b itio u s p rin ce of K a ram a h . T h e vassalage o f th e chiefs o f th e W h ite P e lt, how ever, becam e m erely ludifijSjus w h en U zun H asalj ad o p te d "tfifc . ...

-_

,, „u .

IN T E R F E R E N C E O F ‘O T H M A N L Ib

347

device of capturing Egyptian cities and fortresses (such as K arkar and K hartbirt), and pretending th a t he made it all correct by sending the keys to Cairo ! T here were signs, moreover, th at th e ‘O thm ânlis were not anxious for the friendship of Egypt. A n embassy from Mohammad II in 1464 pointedly disregarded some of the customary etiquette. In a dispute over th e succession to the principality of K aratnàn, the P o rte and E gypt took opposite sides and nearly came to blows, and in another dispute between two brothers for th e state of D hü-1-K adr— which was technically tributary to E gypt—th e P o rte secretly supported Shah Siwâr, th e candidate whom E gypt opposed, and th e mamlüks were defeated ■«& w ith heavy loss at ‘Ayn-Tab, and later 011 near the river G 'eyhun. Eventually, deprived of T urkish support, the rebel was forced to surrender, brought to Cairo, and hanged ; but th e course of th e war had shown th e danger of ‘Othm anli intervention. Uzün H asan con­ tinued his policy of pretended vassalage to Kâït-Bey, sending him presents of camels and coats of mail and Circassian slaves; but so long as he persisted in keeping th e fortresses and giving his suzerain only the keys, his career of aggrandisem ent gave K âït-B ey no little anxiety, and the defeat of his “ vas­ sa l” by M ohammad II of T urkey was looked upon w ith some satisfaction. All these m inor contests proved th e growing power and interference of the O ttom an P orte, and, if occasion were needed for a rupture, it was certain th at it would easily be found in some border dispute. K âïtBey w ent out of his way to Fig. 90,-Arms of Kâït-Bey. invite a quarrel, however, when he welcomed th e ex­ iled prince G'em (Djem), brother and rival of th e new sultan of T urkey, Bâyezïd II, and not only treated him

OliM SU LT A N

34«

w ith royal honours at Cairo, b u t supplied him w ith means for a fruitless rising in Asia Minor. W h en th e unlucky exile was made th e cat’s-paw of th e E uropean powers, K âït-B ey played his part in th e ignoble tragedy, and negotiated w ith th e pope for th e surrender of so valuable a possession as th e heir to th e ‘O thm anli th ro n e,1 until finding it hopeless to extricate such a prize from Christian toils, he set about con­ ciliating the offended b rother at Constanti­ nople. Bâyezïd at first re­ jected all overtures, and invaded Cilicia, taking Tarsus and A dhana ; but, w hen in several en ­ gagem ents, th e mamlüks, under th e em ir Ezbek, had the b etter fortune, w hilst M atthias Corvinus was threatening in H u n ­ gary, and G'em, th e source of all these con­ Fig. 91.—Arms of Kâït-Bey, tests, was still alive at from a lamp. Rome, th e P o rte th o u g h t b etter of th e overtures of peace which Kâït-Bey, weary of these expensive campaigns, renewed. T h e first envoy, '491 Mamây, was imprisoned ; but the second, th e em ir G'ânbalât b. Yeshbek, managed to reach Bâyezid’s ear, and peace was concluded on th e T u rk s restoring th e keys of the fortresses they had seized. T he last years of Kâït-Bey’s reign were clouded, not only by th e heavy taxation and consequent discontent due to the war, but also by an exceptionally virulent >492 plague, which carried off 12,000 persons in a single day in Cairo, killed a third of th e mamlüks, and bereaved th e sultan himself of his only wife and a daughter on th e same day. T he plague was followed by scarcity and

I I I y

1 See Thuasne, Djem Sultan, ch. ii, and pp. 254, 281, e tc .; Weil, v. 345, note.

K A N S U H E L -G H U R I

349

cattle disease ; and to add to th e general misery, a fierce contest broke out between two great divisions of th e 149s mamlüks. T h e aged sultan displayed his standard at the Citadel gate, beat to quarters, and quelled th e riot for the

ilg.

illliw IJ J cil.il

A shraf G an-balât (30 June, 1500— 25 Jan ., 1501 ) ; and el-‘Adil Tümân-Bey (Jan.— 20 A pril, 1501), who were all at the mercy of the tu rb u len t mamlüks, elA shraf Kànsüh el-Ghüri, a vigorous old man of sixty, once a slave of K âït-B ey’s, was elected to th e throne, ,501 and quickly proved th a t age had not abated his natural APr> strength of character. H e restored order in th e distracted metropolis at once, placed men whom he could tru st in office, and set to work to replenish th e em pty treasury. Never had such drastic measures been known. H e levied ten m onths’ taxes at a stroke, laying not only the lands and shops and the other usual sources under contribu­ tion, but also the mills, water-wheels, boats, beasts of burden, Jews, Christians, palace servants, and even th e ■wakf or pious endowments. H e imposed heavy customs duties, and m ulcted th e next of kin of th e g reater part of th eir inheritance. H e still further debased the coin­ age for th e benefit of the treasury and to th e injury of th e m erchant. T he result was a handsome revenue at th e cost of th e im poverishm ent and discontent of the people. El-Ghüri spent his money on his mamlüks, whose num ber he increased by purchase ; on building on h is m osque, 1495.

«*•

350

K.'

H ’S PUBLIC WORKS

his mosqtie and college in the streeto f Cairo named after him the Ghuriya ; on iinproving^Bfe pilgrims’ road to Mekka, erecting rest-houses and digging ,«wells ; on' making canals, aqueducts, fortifications at_!®texandria and Rosetta, restoring the Citadel o££airo, ancrgenerally » improving the public works of the country. He also at courl • • horses, jewels, table -equipage, and* kitchen were sumptuous- and sojeiidid ; * and though he was niggard and hçartlSss en ougn^) cut" of^the pensions of orphans, he .couftfJj^princely in his presetits to poets and musicians. •«Beyond a few military efit^lftes and 'Bedawi risings,

i

Sfc-

R'g- 93-—Inscription of Tuman-Bey I in Citadel of Cairo, 1500.

ere few eyeni3to d is ^ fi^ th The. chief expeditions \veTe^f?r ih