their command to Ṭāhir b. Hosain, who displayed remarkable abilities in the war that ensued. The two armies met under the walls of Rai (Shaaban 195, May 811). By a bold attack, in the manner of the Kharijites of yore, Ṭāhir penetrated into the centre of the hostile army and killed Ali. The frightened army fled, leaving the camp with all its treasures to Ṭāhir, who from that day was named “the man with the two right hands.” A courier was despatched immediately to Merv, who performed the journey, a distance of about 750 miles, in three days. On the very day of his arrival, Harthama b. Aʽyan had left Merv with reinforcements. Mamun now no longer hesitated to take the title of caliph.
When the news of Ali’s defeat came to Bagdad, Amīn sent Abdarrahmān b. Jabala to Hamadān with 20,000 men. Ṭāhir defeated him, forced Hamadān to surrender, and occupied all the strong places in Jabal (Media). The year after, Amīn placed in the field two new armies commanded respectively by Ahmad b. Mazyad and Abdallah b. Ḥomaid b. Qaḥṭaba. The skilful Ṭāhir succeeded in creating divisions among the troops of his adversaries, and obtained possession, without striking a blow, of the city of Holwān, an advantage which opened the way to the very gates of Bagdad. He was here reinforced by troops sent from Khorasan under the command of Harthama b. Aʽyan, who was appointed leader of the war against Amīn, with orders to send Ṭāhir to Ahwāz. Ṭāhir continued his victorious march, conquered Ahwāz, took Wāsit and Madāin, and pitched his camp near one of the gates of the capital, where he was rejoined by Harthama. One after the other the provinces fell away from Amīn, and he soon found himself in possession of Bagdad alone. The city, though blockaded on every side, made a desperate defence for nearly two years. Ultimately the eastern part of the city fell into the hands of Ṭāhir, and Amīn, deserted by his followers, was compelled to surrender. He resolved to treat with Harthama, as he was averse to Ṭāhir; but this step caused his ruin. Ṭāhir succeeded in intercepting him on his way to Harthama, and immediately ordered him to be put to death. His head was sent to Mamun (September 813). It was presented to him by his vizier, Faḍl b. Sahl, surnamed Dhuʽl-Riyāsatain, or “the man with two governments,” because his master had committed to him both the ministry of war and the general administration. Mamun hid his joy beneath a feigned display of sorrow.
Amīn was only twenty-eight years old. As a ruler he was wholly incompetent. He hardly comprehended the importance of the affairs with which he was called upon to deal. He acted invariably on the advice of those who for the time had his confidence, and occupied himself mainly with the affairs of his harem, with polo, fishing, wine and music. The five years of his reign were disastrous to the empire, and in particular to Bagdad which never entirely recovered its old splendour.
7. Reign of Mamun.—On the day following the death of Amīn Ṭāhir caused Mamun to be proclaimed at Bagdad, and promised in his name a general amnesty. The accession of this prince appeared likely to restore to the empire the order necessary for its prosperity. It was not so, however. The reign of Mamun—that reign in which art, science and letters, under the patronage of the caliph, threw so brilliant a lustre—had a very stormy beginning. Mamun was in no haste to remove to Bagdad, but continued to reside at Merv. In his gratitude to Faḍl b. Sahl, to whose service he owed his success, he not only chose him as prime minister of the empire, but also named his brother, Hasan b. Sahl, governor of Media, Fārs, Ahwāz, Arabia and Irak. The two generals to whom he owed still more were not treated as they deserved. Harthama was ordered to return to Khorasan; Ṭāhir was made governor of Mesopotamia and Syria, with the task of subduing Naṣr b. Shabath, who with numerous adherents refused submission to the caliph. The Alids seized on the elevation of Mamun as a pretext for fresh revolts. At Kufa a certain Ibn Ṭabāṭabā placed an army in the field under Abuʽl-Sarāyā, who had been a captain in the army of Harthama. An army sent by Hasan b. Sahl was defeated, and Abuʽl-Sarāyā, no longer content to play a second part, poisoned his chief, Ibn Ṭabāṭabā, and put in his place another of the family of Ali, Mahommed b. Mahommed, whom, on account of his extreme youth, he hoped to govern at his will. Abuʽl-Sarāyā’s success continued, and several cities of Irak—Basra, Wāsit and Madāin—fell into his hands. Mecca, Medina and Yemen also were mastered by the Alids, who committed all kinds of atrocities and sacrilege. Abuʽl-Sarāyā, who even struck money in Kufa, began to menace the capital, when Hasan b. Sahl hastily sent a messenger to Harthama b. Aʽyan, who was already at Holwān on his way back to Merv, entreating him to come to his aid. Harthama, who was deeply offended by his dismissal, refused at first, but at last consented, and at once checked the tide of disaster. The troops of the Alids were everywhere driven back, and the whole of Irak fell again into the hands of the Abbasids. Kufa opened its gates; Basra was taken by assault. Abuʽl-Sarāyā and Mahommed b. Mahommed fled to Mesopotamia, but were made prisoners. The former was decapitated, the latter was sent to Khorasan, the revolt in Arabia was quickly suppressed, and peace seemed within reach. This, however, was by no means the case. The disorder of civil war had caused a multitude of robbers and vagabonds to emerge from the purlieus of Bagdad. These ruffians proceeded to treat the capital as a conquered city, and it became necessary for all good citizens to organize themselves into a regular militia. Harthama, having vanquished Abuʽl-Sarāyā, did not go to Hasan b. Sahl, but proceeded towards Merv with the purpose of telling Mamun that the state of affairs was not as Fadl b. Sahl represented it to him, and urging him to come to Bagdad, where his presence was necessary. Fadl, informed of his intentions, filled the caliph’s mind with distrust against the old general, so that when Harthama arrived Mamun had him cast into prison, where he died shortly afterwards. When the tidings of his disgrace came to Bagdad, the people expelled the lieutenant of Hasan b. Sahl, called by them the Mājūzī (“the Zoroastrian”), who had chosen Madāin for his residence, and put at their head Mansūr, a son of Mahdi, who refused to assume the title of caliph, but consented to be Mamun’s vicegerent instead of Hasan b. Sahl.
Meanwhile, at Merv, Mamun was adopting a decision which fell like a thunderbolt on the Abbasids. In A.H. 201 (A.D. 817), under pretence of putting an end to the continual revolts of the partisans of Ali, and acting on the advice of his prime minister Faḍl, he publicly designated as his successor in the Caliphate Ali ar-Ridā, a son of that Mūsā al-Kāzim who perished in the prison of Mahdi, a direct descendant of Hosain, the son of Ali, and proscribed black, the colour of the Abbasids, in favour of that of the house of Ali, green. This step was well calculated to delight the followers of Ali, but it could not fail to exasperate the Abbasids and their partisans. The people of Bagdad refused to take the oath to Ali b. Mūsā, declared Mamun deposed, and elected his uncle, Ibrāhīm, son of Mahdi, to the Caliphate.[1] It was only indirectly that the news reached the caliph, who then saw that Faḍl had been treating him as a puppet. His anger was great, but he kept it carefully to himself. Faḍl was one day found murdered, and Ali b. Mūsā died suddenly. The historians bring no open accusation against Mamun, but it seems clear that the opportune removal of these men was not due to chance. Mamun affected the profoundest grief, and, in order to disarm suspicion, appointed as his prime minister the brother of Faḍl, Hasan b. Sahl, whose daughter Būrān he afterwards married. Soon after the news came to him that Hasan b. Sahl had become insane. Mamun appointed an officer to act as his lieutenant, and wrote that he was coming to Bagdad in a short time. From that moment the pseudo-caliph Ibrāhīm found himself deserted, and was obliged to seek safety in concealment. His precarious reign had, however, lasted nearly two years. Mamun had found out also that the general uneasiness was largely due to his treatment of Harthama and Ṭāhir, the latter having been put in a rebellious country without the men and the money to maintain his authority. The caliph therefore wrote to Ṭāhir to meet him at Nahrawān, where he was received with the greatest honour.
- ↑ On this event, see a remarkable essay by Barbier de Meynard in the Journal Asiatique for March–April, 1869.
