FOUNDATION OF THE OMAYYADS

[1Sidenote: [661-750 A.D.]]

2With Moawiyah commenced the dynasty of the house of Omayyah, called the “Omayyads.” This caliph is said to have patronised literature; and during his reign many of the Greek sciences were first introduced into Arabia. Moawiyah succeeded in re-establishing peace in his dominions. One of his earliest appointments was the reinstatement of Amru in the government of Egypt; allotting him, in grateful recognition of his services, the whole revenue of that wealthy country for his life-time; but Amru was advanced in years, and only enjoyed his preferment for a short time, dying in 663.

3Moawiyah now turned his thoughts to foreign conquest; hoping to leave an illustrious name, together with the royal succession, to his son Yazid. Accordingly he sent him, at the head of a powerful force, to subdue that famous capital, which was destined in later years to become, as it now remains, the headquarters of Islamism and the seat of the Moslem rulers.

4Great preparations were afoot, and the troops were despatched both by land and sea to attack Constantinople. The Greek power was on the decline; their emperor, a grandson of Heraclius, indolent and unfitted for his high office; and the Moslems entertained sanguine hopes of success. Their fleet passed the Dardanelles, and the army landed within seven miles of Constantinople. The besieged had fortified the place, and repulsed the assault with the Greek fire--a new and terrible agent of destruction to the Moslems, who, after ravaging the neighbouring coasts, wintered about eight miles from Constantinople, at the island of Cyzicus. Through six long years they strove, but in vain; countless lives were lost, ships wrecked, and vast sums of money expended.

5Long practice and the necessary energy, revived in the Greeks a few sparks of that military ardour which had for years been slumbering. They even sallied forth and attacked the Moslems; punishing them so severely, that Moawiyah, now an old man, was glad to obtain a truce for thirty years, paying the emperor annually three thousand pieces of gold, fifty slaves, and fifty Arabian horses. Yazid is accused of having instigated the murder of the mild and virtuous Hassan, who had abdicated in his father’s favour, but who had stipulated to resume the caliphate after Moawiyah’s death. This act, which secured his own succession, was perpetrated in the year forty-seven of the Hegira, 669 A.D.

6[Sidenote: [669-680 A.D.]]

7Moawiyah sent Achbar ben Nafi al-Fahri, a competent general, to follow up the conquests so triumphantly commenced in Africa by Abdallah ben Saad. This man proceeded from Damascus with ten thousand horse, making good speed towards Africa; and, his force rapidly augmenting by the accession of barbarian troops, he retook the city of Cyrene; but during the siege many of its magnificent edifices were destroyed. Continuing westward, he traversed desolate wilds and jungles, and passed through places infested with lions, tigers, and serpents, until he beheld the domains of ancient Carthage, the present Tunisian provinces. Here he founded a stronghold--a kind of vast caravansary, where stores might be accumulated, and whose thick and lofty walls might prove a safeguard in case of defeat. This place eventually gave origin to the city called Carwahn, or Kairwan--literally signifying a lodgment for travellers and beasts.

8Meanwhile Aisha, who had caused so much discord and bloodshed, had, in the fifty-sixth year of the Hegira, numbered her years upon earth. One of her last acts of vengeance was the refusing sepulture to the body of Hassan, who had expressed a wish in his testament to be buried by the side of his grandsire, Mohammed, insisting that the mansion was hers, and carrying her malice even beyond the grave, so that Hassan was interred in the ordinary burial-ground.

9The sand of Moawiyah’s life was now rapidly running out. He was anxious, ere death, to render the caliphate hereditary, and to perpetuate it in his line. Accordingly he publicly named his son Yazid as his successor, and commanded the provinces to send deputies to do fealty to him. This was more than Mohammed himself or any of his successors had ventured to require. The delegates arrived from all parts to Damascus, and gave their hands to Yazid, in pledge of fealty; thus establishing the dynasty of Omayyah, which extended over nearly a hundred years. Fourteen of them were designated the Pharaohs of that line.

10With Moawiyah were introduced the luxury and splendour, so linked with all our notions of oriental pomp and proverbially designated the insignia of a caliphate, which had succeeded to the stern and frugal simplicity of the early Islams. The waters and the gardens of Damascus were irresistible persuasions to indolence--that peculiar luxury, known among the Orientals by the term _kaif_, and in the West by the expressive Italian phrase, _dolce far niente_. The seat of the caliphate was fixed at Damascus; for neither Medina nor Cufa was now considered a fit residence for the Moslem caliphs. Moawiyah, having provided for his son, gave up the ghost in 680 A.D.