Читать книгу The Heart of Asia - Sir E. Denison Ross - Страница 15

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The Umayyad Caliph at last recognised the gravity of the situation, and sent all the forces he could muster to oppose Kahtaba. But the Hāshimite troops carried all before them. They defeated a large Syrian army near Isfahān, and captured the important stronghold of Nahāvend, A.H. 132 (749). Then Kahtaba started for Kūfa, making a slight detour to avoid Ibn Hobayra, who was encamped at Jalūlā. On reaching the Euphrates, Ibn Hobayra came up with him, and a battle ensued at nightfall near Kerbelā. Kahtaba perished,178 but his son Hasan continuing the fray defeated Ibn Hobayra, and drove him back on Wāsit. Meanwhile the Yemenites revolted in Kūfa, and on the arrival of the victorious Hāshimite forces179 delivered up the town to them. On the entry of Hasan ibn Kahtaba into Kūfa the head of the `Abbāsid house, Abū-l-`Abbās, emerged from his hiding-place, and the town for the time became the seat of the `Abbāsids. Abū Sālama was provisionally recognised as the Vezīr of the house of Mohammed. Meanwhile the fate of the Umayyads had been decided by the battle of the Zāb in Mesopotamia, A.H. 132 (750), where Merwān himself, surrounded by his greatest generals, encountered the Hāshimites under `Abdullah, Abū-l-`Abbās’s uncle. Merwān suffered a crushing defeat, and fled, hotly pursued, to Egypt, where he was finally captured and slain.

At the beginning of this year Abū-l-`Abbās, called Es-Saffāh, or the “Shedder of Blood,” was proclaimed Caliph in the great mosque of Kūfa. The new Caliph’s first measure was to sweep the entire Umayyad race from the face of the earth. The traditions which have come down to us of his butcheries pass all belief.180 Syria was soon reduced, and Ibn Hobayra surrendered his last retreat, Wāsit. But troubles continued throughout his reign. Abū Muslim’s attempts to put all the Umayyad faction to the sword led to a serious rising in Khorāsān. The partisans of the fallen dynasty, in Bokhārā, Soghdiana, and Farghāna, aided by the emperor of China, took the field in force, but were soon dispersed with great slaughter by Ziyād, governor of Samarkand. “It is plain,” says Vambéry,181 “from the historical sources before us that the original Iranian population of the land, namely, the Tājiks, fought under the banner of Nasr, and long remained true to the cause of the Ommayades.”

“The resistance which Nasr ibn Sayyār offered not only to the superior force, but also to the allurements of Ebu Muslim, deserves our respect.”

“On the other hand, the adroitness of Ebu Muslim deserves our admiration, who in an astonishingly short space of time gained over to his side all the Turks of Transoxiana, and attached them to himself to such a degree that the myths which even now live in the mouths of the Ozbegs and Turcomans compare him to the Caliph Alī for valour and wondrous works. At all events the influential individuality of Ebu Muslim first made the warlike supremacy of the Turks, although only mediately, felt in Western Asia.”

About the year A.H. 134 (751) the new Caliph’s brother paid an official visit to Merv, in order to report on the state of the Eastern provinces. So much alarmed was he at the influence and independence of Abū Muslim that on his return to Kufa he recommended his brother to rid himself of the man to whom he owed his throne. In the following year Ziyād, the governor of Samarkand, probably at the instigation of the Caliph, rose against Abū Muslim; but the movement was quickly crushed, and Ziyād was deposed and put to death.

In the following year, A.H. 136 (753), while Abū Muslim and Abū Ja`far were returning from a pilgrimage to Mekka, the Caliph es-Saffāh died in Anbār. Abū Ja`far, who is well known in history as El-Mansūr, had been designated by his brother to succeed him,182 but he had a rival in the person of his uncle `Abdullah, who was at the head of a considerable army, including a contingent of 17,000 men of Khorāsān. Abū Muslim, compelled to choose between the pretenders, declared for Abū Ja`far, whereupon `Abdullah caused a massacre of the whole of his Khorāsān contingent,183 in the knowledge that they would refuse to draw the sword against the governor of their province. But the precaution was of no avail, for shortly afterwards his Syrian army was utterly defeated near Nisibis by a Persian force under Abū Muslim, and `Abdullah was compelled to abandon his claim. Hardly was this danger averted when the Caliph el-Mansūr again allowed his jealousy of Abū Muslim to get the better of him. Abū Muslim was warned of his ill-will, so resolved an immediate return to Khorāsān. In order to prevent this the Caliph appointed him to the governorship of Syria and Egypt, and invited him to an audience in Madā´in. The correspondence184 which followed between the Caliph and his too powerful lieutenant gives us a graphic picture of the times, and also possesses some historical importance. Abū Muslim was too wary to accept the Caliph’s invitation. “A certain king of the Sāsānides,” he replied, “once said: ‘There is no more dangerous time for a Vezīr than when complete tranquillity reigns in the kingdom.’ … I therefore deem it expedient to avoid the proximity of the Commander of the Faithful, without, however, ceasing on this account to be his faithful subject. Should the Commander of the Faithful allow me to do so I will be the most humble of his servants, but if he gives vent to his passions I shall be compelled for my own safety to recall my allegiance.”

To this the Caliph replied: “I have grasped the meaning of thy letter; but thy position is different from that of the bad Vezīrs of the Sāsānide kings, … a humble and faithful servant like thyself has nothing to fear during a state of peace. Although the conditions hinted at towards the close of thy letter do not bespeak an entire submission, thou wilt doubtless return with the bearer of this letter. I pray God that He may give thee strength to withstand the enticements of Satan, who hopes to frustrate thy good intentions, and opens for thee the gate which leads to destruction.”

Abū Muslim rejoined in the following remarkable letter: “I had a guide closely connected with the house of the Prophet whose business it was to instruct me in the teachings and duties prescribed by God. From him I had hoped to learn the sciences, but he led me into ignorance and error by means of the Koran itself, which, from love of worldly things, he misinterpreted. He ordered me, in God’s name, to draw the sword, to banish feelings of pity from my heart, to accept no excuses from my enemies, and to pardon no offence. I did everything to pave his way to dominion. Nothing now remains for me but to entreat God to pardon me for the sins I have committed.” Having despatched this letter, Abū Muslim set out for Khorāsān, but in the meanwhile El-Mansūr wrote privately to Abū Dā´ūd Khālid, whom Abū Muslim had left as his lieutenant in Khorāsān, appointing him to the governorship. He further pointed out that the army of Khorāsān had obeyed Abū Muslim because he had been fighting for the `Abbāsids; that he was now in open revolt, and ought to be put to death at the first opportunity. Abū Dā´ūd communicated this letter to the army and chiefs of Khorāsān, who at once recognised him as governor. He then sent news of this momentous occurrence to Abū Muslim, who, seeing that he could no longer count on the attachment of the Khorāsānīs, and deceived by the false assurances of his former friends, consented to wait upon the Caliph at Madā´in. On arriving there he was basely murdered at his master’s instigation by five hired assassins, A.H. 137 (754).

Abū Muslim was barely thirty-five years of age when he met his fall. It was certainly deserved, for, according to computations of Arabian historians, he was responsible for the slaughter of no less than 600,000 human beings. But though the monster richly merited punishment, his master, on whom he had bestowed the Empire of the East, should have been the last to inflict it; and the treachery with which Abū Muslim’s fate was compassed is an additional stain on El-Mansūr’s memory.