The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 5

E >> Edward Gibbon >> The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 5

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[Footnote 14: M. D. Guignes (Hist. des Huns, tom. i. pref. p.
xix. xx.) has characterized, with truth and knowledge, the two
sorts of Arabian historians - the dry annalist, and the tumid and
flowery orator.]

[Footnote 15: Bibliotheque Orientale, par M. D'Herbelot, in
folio, Paris, 1697. For the character of the respectable author,
consult his friend Thevenot, (Voyages du Levant, part i. chap.
1.) His work is an agreeable miscellany, which must gratify every
taste; but I never can digest the alphabetical order; and I find
him more satisfactory in the Persian than the Arabic history.
The recent supplement from the papers of Mm. Visdelou, and
Galland, (in folio, La Haye, 1779,) is of a different cast, a
medley of tales, proverbs, and Chinese antiquities.]

I. In the first year of the first caliph, his lieutenant
Caled, the Sword of God, and the scourge of the infidels,
advanced to the banks of the Euphrates, and reduced the cities of
Anbar and Hira. Westward of the ruins of Babylon, a tribe of
sedentary Arabs had fixed themselves on the verge of the desert;
and Hira was the seat of a race of kings who had embraced the
Christian religion, and reigned above six hundred years under the
shadow of the throne of Persia. ^16 The last of the Mondars ^*
was defeated and slain by Caled; his son was sent a captive to
Medina; his nobles bowed before the successor of the prophet; the
people was tempted by the example and success of their
countrymen; and the caliph accepted as the first-fruits of
foreign conquest an annual tribute of seventy thousand pieces of
gold. The conquerors, and even their historians, were astonished
by the dawn of their future greatness: "In the same year," says
Elmacin, "Caled fought many signal battles: an immense multitude
of the infidels was slaughtered; and spoils infinite and
innumerable were acquired by the victorious Moslems." ^17 But the
invincible Caled was soon transferred to the Syrian war: the
invasion of the Persian frontier was conducted by less active or
less prudent commanders: the Saracens were repulsed with loss in
the passage of the Euphrates; and, though they chastised the
insolent pursuit of the Magians, their remaining forces still
hovered in the desert of Babylon. ^!

[Footnote 16: Pocock will explain the chronology, (Specimen Hist.
Arabum, p. 66 - 74,) and D'Anville the geography, (l'Euphrate, et
le Tigre, p. 125,) of the dynasty of the Almondars. The English
scholar understood more Arabic than the mufti of Aleppo, (Ockley,
vol. ii. p. 34: ) the French geographer is equally at home in
every age and every climate of the world.]

[Footnote *: Eichhorn and Silvestre de Sacy have written on the
obscure history of the Mondars. - M.]

[Footnote 17: Fecit et Chaled plurima in hoc anno praelia, in
quibus vicerunt Muslimi, et infidelium immensa multitudine occisa
spolia infinita et innumera sunt nacti, (Hist. Saracenica, p.
20.) The Christian annalist slides into the national and
compendious term of infidels, and I often adopt (I hope without
scandal) this characteristic mode of expression.]

[Footnote !: Compare throughout Malcolm, vol. ii. p. 136. - M.]

The indignation and fears of the Persians suspended for a
moment their intestine divisions. By the unanimous sentence of
the priests and nobles, their queen Arzema was deposed; the sixth
of the transient usurpers, who had arisen and vanished in three
or four years since the death of Chosroes, and the retreat of
Heraclius. Her tiara was placed on the head of Yezdegerd, the
grandson of Chosroes; and the same aera, which coincides with an
astronomical period, ^18 has recorded the fall of the Sassanian
dynasty and the religion of Zoroaster. ^19 The youth and
inexperience of the prince (he was only fifteen years of age)
declined a perilous encounter: the royal standard was delivered
into the hands of his general Rustam; and a remnant of thirty
thousand regular troops was swelled in truth, or in opinion, to
one hundred and twenty thousand subjects, or allies, of the great
king. The Moslems, whose numbers were reenforced from twelve to
thirty thousand, had pitched their camp in the plains of Cadesia:
^20 and their line, though it consisted of fewer men, could
produce more soldiers, than the unwieldy host of the infidels. I
shall here observe, what I must often repeat, that the charge of
the Arabs was not, like that of the Greeks and Romans, the effort
of a firm and compact infantry: their military force was chiefly
formed of cavalry and archers; and the engagement, which was
often interrupted and often renewed by single combats and flying
skirmishes, might be protracted without any decisive event to the
continuance of several days. The periods of the battle of
Cadesia were distinguished by their peculiar appellations. The
first, from the well- timed appearance of six thousand of the
Syrian brethren, was denominated the day of succor. The day of
concussion might express the disorder of one, or perhaps of both,
of the contending armies. The third, a nocturnal tumult,
received the whimsical name of the night of barking, from the
discordant clamors, which were compared to the inarticulate
sounds of the fiercest animals. The morning of the succeeding
day ^* determined the fate of Persia; and a seasonable whirlwind
drove a cloud of dust against the faces of the unbelievers. The
clangor of arms was reechoed to the tent of Rustam, who, far
unlike the ancient hero of his name, was gently reclining in a
cool and tranquil shade, amidst the baggage of his camp, and the
train of mules that were laden with gold and silver. On the
sound of danger he started from his couch; but his flight was
overtaken by a valiant Arab, who caught him by the foot, struck
off his head, hoisted it on a lance, and instantly returning to
the field of battle, carried slaughter and dismay among the
thickest ranks of the Persians. The Saracens confess a loss of
seven thousand five hundred men; ^! and the battle of Cadesia is
justly described by the epithets of obstinate and atrocious. ^21
The standard of the monarchy was overthrown and captured in the
field - a leathern apron of a blacksmith, who in ancient times
had arisen the deliverer of Persia; but this badge of heroic
poverty was disguised, and almost concealed, by a profusion of
precious gems. ^22 After this victory, the wealthy province of
Irak, or Assyria, submitted to the caliph, and his conquests were
firmly established by the speedy foundation of Bassora, ^23 a
place which ever commands the trade and navigation of the
Persians. As the distance of fourscore miles from the Gulf, the
Euphrates and Tigris unite in a broad and direct current, which
is aptly styled the river of the Arabs. In the midway, between
the junction and the mouth of these famous streams, the new
settlement was planted on the western bank: the first colony was
composed of eight hundred Moslems; but the influence of the
situation soon reared a flourishing and populous capital. The
air, though excessively hot, is pure and healthy: the meadows are
filled with palm- trees and cattle; and one of the adjacent
valleys has been celebrated among the four paradises or gardens
of Asia. Under the first caliphs the jurisdiction of this
Arabian colony extended over the southern provinces of Persia:
the city has been sanctified by the tombs of the companions and
martyrs; and the vessels of Europe still frequent the port of
Bassora, as a convenient station and passage of the Indian trade.

[Footnote 18: A cycle of 120 years, the end of which an
intercalary month of 30 days supplied the use of our Bissextile,
and restored the integrity of the solar year. In a great
revolution of 1440 years this intercalation was successively
removed from the first to the twelfth month; but Hyde and Freret
are involved in a profound controversy, whether the twelve, or
only eight of these changes were accomplished before the aera of
Yezdegerd, which is unanimously fixed to the 16th of June, A.D.
632. How laboriously does the curious spirit of Europe explore
the darkest and most distant antiquities! (Hyde de Religione
Persarum, c. 14 - 18, p. 181 - 211. Freret in the Mem. de
l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xvi. p. 233 - 267.)]

[Footnote 19: Nine days after the death of Mahomet (7th June,
A.D. 632) we find the aera of Yezdegerd, (16th June, A.D. 632,)
and his accession cannot be postponed beyond the end of the first
year. His predecessors could not therefore resist the arms of
the caliph Omar; and these unquestionable dates overthrow the
thoughtless chronology of Abulpharagius. See Ockley's Hist. of
the Saracens, vol. i. p. 130.

Note: The Rezont Uzzuffa (Price, p. 105) has a strange
account of an embassy to Yezdegerd. The Oriental historians take
great delight in these embassies, which give them an opportunity
of displaying their Asiatic eloquence - M.]

[Footnote 20: Cadesia, says the Nubian geographer, (p. 121,) is
in margine solitudinis, 61 leagues from Bagdad, and two stations
from Cufa. Otter (Voyage, tom. i. p. 163) reckons 15 leagues,
and observes, that the place is supplied with dates and water.]

[Footnote *: The day of cormorants, or according to another
reading the day of reinforcements. It was the night which was
called the night of snarling. Price, p. 114. - M.]

[Footnote !: According to Malcolm's authorities, only three
thousand; but he adds "This is the report of Mahomedan
historians, who have a great disposition of the wonderful, in
relating the first actions of the faithful" Vol. i. p. 39. - M.]

[Footnote 21: Atrox, contumax, plus semel renovatum, are the
well-chosen expressions of the translator of Abulfeda, (Reiske,
p. 69.)]

[Footnote 22: D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 297, 348.]

[Footnote 23: The reader may satisfy himself on the subject of
Bassora by consulting the following writers: Geograph, Nubiens.
p. 121. D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 192. D'Anville,
l'Euphrate et le Tigre, p. 130, 133, 145. Raynal, Hist.
Philosophique des deux Indes, tom. ii. p. 92 - 100. Voyages di
Pietro della Valle, tom. iv. p. 370 - 391. De Tavernier, tom. i.
p. 240 - 247. De Thevenot, tom. ii. p. 545 - 584. D Otter, tom.
ii. p. 45 - 78. De Niebuhr, tom. ii. p. 172 - 199.]

Chapter LI: Conquests By The Arabs.

Part II.

After the defeat of Cadesia, a country intersected by rivers
and canals might have opposed an insuperable barrier to the
victorious cavalry; and the walls of Ctesiphon or Madayn, which
had resisted the battering-rams of the Romans, would not have
yielded to the darts of the Saracens. But the flying Persians
were overcome by the belief, that the last day of their religion
and empire was at hand; the strongest posts were abandoned by
treachery or cowardice; and the king, with a part of his family
and treasures, escaped to Holwan at the foot of the Median hills.

In the third month after the battle, Said, the lieutenant of
Omar, passed the Tigris without opposition; the capital was taken
by assault; and the disorderly resistance of the people gave a
keener edge to the sabres of the Moslems, who shouted with
religious transport, "This is the white palace of Chosroes; this
is the promise of the apostle of God!" The naked robbers of the
desert were suddenly enriched beyond the measure of their hope or
knowledge. Each chamber revealed a new treasure secreted with
art, or ostentatiously displayed; the gold and silver, the
various wardrobes and precious furniture, surpassed (says
Abulfeda) the estimate of fancy or numbers; and another historian
defines the untold and almost infinite mass, by the fabulous
computation of three thousands of thousands of thousands of
pieces of gold. ^24 Some minute though curious facts represent
the contrast of riches and ignorance. From the remote islands of
the Indian Ocean a large provision of camphire ^25 had been
imported, which is employed with a mixture of wax to illuminate
the palaces of the East. Strangers to the name and properties of
that odoriferous gum, the Saracens, mistaking it for salt,
mingled the camphire in their bread, and were astonished at the
bitterness of the taste. One of the apartments of the palace was
decorated with a carpet of silk, sixty cubits in length, and as
many in breadth: a paradise or garden was depictured on the
ground: the flowers, fruits, and shrubs, were imitated by the
figures of the gold embroidery, and the colors of the precious
stones; and the ample square was encircled by a variegated and
verdant border. ^! The Arabian general persuaded his soldiers to
relinquish their claim, in the reasonable hope that the eyes of
the caliph would be delighted with the splendid workmanship of
nature and industry. Regardless of the merit of art, and the pomp
of royalty, the rigid Omar divided the prize among his brethren
of Medina: the picture was destroyed; but such was the intrinsic
value of the materials, that the share of Ali alone was sold for
twenty thousand drams. A mule that carried away the tiara and
cuirass, the belt and bracelets of Chosroes, was overtaken by the
pursuers; the gorgeous trophy was presented to the commander of
the faithful; and the gravest of the companions condescended to
smile when they beheld the white beard, the hairy arms, and
uncouth figure of the veteran, who was invested with the spoils
of the Great King. ^26 The sack of Ctesiphon was followed by its
desertion and gradual decay. The Saracens disliked the air and
situation of the place, and Omar was advised by his general to
remove the seat of government to the western side of the
Euphrates. In every age, the foundation and ruin of the Assyrian
cities has been easy and rapid: the country is destitute of stone
and timber; and the most solid structures ^27 are composed of
bricks baked in the sun, and joined by a cement of the native
bitumen. The name of Cufa ^28 describes a habitation of reeds
and earth; but the importance of the new capital was supported by
the numbers, wealth, and spirit, of a colony of veterans; and
their licentiousness was indulged by the wisest caliphs, who were
apprehensive of provoking the revolt of a hundred thousand
swords: "Ye men of Cufa," said Ali, who solicited their aid, "you
have been always conspicuous by your valor. You conquered the
Persian king, and scattered his forces, till you had taken
possession of his inheritance." This mighty conquest was achieved
by the battles of Jalula and Nehavend. After the loss of the
former, Yezdegerd fled from Holwan, and concealed his shame and
despair in the mountains of Farsistan, from whence Cyrus had
descended with his equal and valiant companions. The courage of
the nation survived that of the monarch: among the hills to the
south of Ecbatana or Hamadan, one hundred and fifty thousand
Persians made a third and final stand for their religion and
country; and the decisive battle of Nehavend was styled by the
Arabs the victory of victories. If it be true that the flying
general of the Persians was stopped and overtaken in a crowd of
mules and camels laden with honey, the incident, however slight
and singular, will denote the luxurious impediments of an
Oriental army. ^29

[Footnote 24: Mente vix potest numerove comprehendi quanta spolia
nostris cesserint. Abulfeda, p. 69. Yet I still suspect, that
the extravagant numbers of Elmacin may be the error, not of the
text, but of the version. The best translators from the Greek,
for instance, I find to be very poor arithmeticians.

Note: Ockley (Hist. of Saracens, vol. i. p. 230) translates
in the same manner three thousand million of ducats. See
Forster's Mahometanism Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 462; who makes this
innocent doubt of Gibbon, in which, is to the amount of the
plunder, I venture to concur, a grave charge of inaccuracy and
disrespect to the memory of Erpenius.

The Persian authorities of Price (p. 122) make the booty
worth three hundred and thirty millions sterling! - M]

[Footnote 25: The camphire-tree grows in China and Japan; but
many hundred weight of those meaner sorts are exchanged for a
single pound of the more precious gum of Borneo and Sumatra,
(Raynal, Hist. Philosoph. tom. i. p. 362 - 365. Dictionnaire
d'Hist. Naturelle par Bomare Miller's Gardener's Dictionary.)
These may be the islands of the first climate from whence the
Arabians imported their camphire (Geograph. Nub. p. 34, 35.
D'Herbelot, p. 232.)]

[Footnote !: Compare Price, p. 122. - M.]

[Footnote 26: See Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, tom. i. p. 376, 377.
I may credit the fact, without believing the prophecy.]

[Footnote 27: The most considerable ruins of Assyria are the
tower of Belus, at Babylon, and the hall of Chosroes, at
Ctesiphon: they have been visited by that vain and curious
traveller Pietro della Valle, (tom. i. p. 713 - 718, 731 - 735.)

Note: The best modern account is that of Claudius Rich Esq.
Two Memoirs of Babylon. London, 1818. - M.]

[Footnote 28: Consult the article of Coufah in the Bibliotheque
of D'Herbelot ( p. 277, 278,) and the second volume of Ockley's
History, particularly p. 40 and 153.]

[Footnote 29: See the article of Nehavend, in D'Herbelot, p. 667,
668; and Voyages en Turquie et en Perse, par Otter, tom. i. 191.

Note: Malcolm vol. i. p. 141. - M.]

The geography of Persia is darkly delineated by the Greeks
and Latins; but the most illustrious of her cities appear to be
more ancient than the invasion of the Arabs. By the reduction of
Hamadan and Ispahan, of Caswin, Tauris, and Rei, they gradually
approached the shores of the Caspian Sea: and the orators of
Mecca might applaud the success and spirit of the faithful, who
had already lost sight of the northern bear, and had almost
transcended the bounds of the habitable world. ^30 Again, turning
towards the West and the Roman empire, they repassed the Tigris
over the bridge of Mosul, and, in the captive provinces of
Armenia and Mesopotamia, embraced their victorious brethren of
the Syrian army. From the palace of Madayn their Eastern
progress was not less rapid or extensive. They advanced along
the Tigris and the Gulf; penetrated through the passes of the
mountains into the valley of Estachar or Persepolis, and profaned
the last sanctuary of the Magian empire. The grandson of
Chosroes was nearly surprised among the falling columns and
mutilated figures; a sad emblem of the past and present fortune
of Persia: ^31 he fled with accelerated haste over the desert of
Kirman, implored the aid of the warlike Segestans, and sought an
humble refuge on the verge of the Turkish and Chinese power. But
a victorious army is insensible of fatigue: the Arabs divided
their forces in the pursuit of a timorous enemy; and the caliph
Othman promised the government of Chorasan to the first general
who should enter that large and populous country, the kingdom of
the ancient Bactrians. The condition was accepted; the prize was
deserved; the standard of Mahomet was planted on the walls of
Herat, Merou, and Balch; and the successful leader neither halted
nor reposed till his foaming cavalry had tasted the waters of the
Oxus. In the public anarchy, the independent governors of the
cities and castles obtained their separate capitulations: the
terms were granted or imposed by the esteem, the prudence, or the
compassion, of the victors; and a simple profession of faith
established the distinction between a brother and a slave. After
a noble defence, Harmozan, the prince or satrap of Ahwaz and
Susa, was compelled to surrender his person and his state to the
discretion of the caliph; and their interview exhibits a portrait
of the Arabian manners. In the presence, and by the command, of
Omar, the gay Barbarian was despoiled of his silken robes
embroidered with gold, and of his tiara bedecked with rubies and
emeralds: "Are you now sensible," said the conqueror to his naked
captive - "are you now sensible of the judgment of God, and of
the different rewards of infidelity and obedience?" "Alas!"
replied Harmozan, "I feel them too deeply. In the days of our
common ignorance, we fought with the weapons of the flesh, and my
nation was superior. God was then neuter: since he has espoused
your quarrel, you have subverted our kingdom and religion."
Oppressed by this painful dialogue, the Persian complained of
intolerable thirst, but discovered some apprehension lest he
should be killed whilst he was drinking a cup of water. "Be of
good courage," said the caliph; "your life is safe till you have
drunk this water: " the crafty satrap accepted the assurance, and
instantly dashed the vase against the ground. Omar would have
avenged the deceit, but his companions represented the sanctity
of an oath; and the speedy conversion of Harmozan entitled him
not only to a free pardon, but even to a stipend of two thousand
pieces of gold. The administration of Persia was regulated by an
actual survey of the people, the cattle, and the fruits of the
earth; ^32 and this monument, which attests the vigilance of the
caliphs, might have instructed the philosophers of every age. ^33

[Footnote 30: It is in such a style of ignorance and wonder that
the Athenian orator describes the Arctic conquests of Alexander,
who never advanced beyond the shores of the Caspian. Aeschines
contra Ctesiphontem, tom. iii. p. 554, edit. Graec. Orator.
Reiske. This memorable cause was pleaded at Athens, Olymp. cxii.
3, (before Christ 330,) in the autumn, (Taylor, praefat. p. 370,
&c.,) about a year after the battle of Arbela; and Alexander, in
the pursuit of Darius, was marching towards Hyrcania and
Bactriana.]

[Footnote 31: We are indebted for this curious particular to the
Dynasties of Abulpharagius, p. 116; but it is needless to prove
the identity of Estachar and Persepolis, (D'Herbelot, p. 327;)
and still more needless to copy the drawings and descriptions of
Sir John Chardin, or Corneillo le Bruyn.]

[Footnote 32: After the conquest of Persia, Theophanes adds,
(Chronograph p. 283.]

[Footnote 33: Amidst our meagre relations, I must regret that
D'Herbelot has not found and used a Persian translation of
Tabari, enriched, as he says, with many extracts from the native
historians of the Ghebers or Magi, (Bibliotheque Orientale, p.
1014.)]

The flight of Yezdegerd had carried him beyond the Oxus, and
as far as the Jaxartes, two rivers ^34 of ancient and modern
renown, which descend from the mountains of India towards the
Caspian Sea. He was hospitably entertained by Takhan, prince of
Fargana, ^35 a fertile province on the Jaxartes: the king of
Samarcand, with the Turkish tribes of Sogdiana and Scythia, were
moved by the lamentations and promises of the fallen monarch; and
he solicited, by a suppliant embassy, the more solid and powerful
friendship of the emperor of China. ^36 The virtuous Taitsong,
^37 the first of the dynasty of the Tang may be justly compared
with the Antonines of Rome: his people enjoyed the blessings of
prosperity and peace; and his dominion was acknowledged by
forty-four hordes of the Barbarians of Tartary. His last
garrisons of Cashgar and Khoten maintained a frequent intercourse
with their neighbors of the Jaxartes and Oxus; a recent colony of
Persians had introduced into China the astronomy of the Magi; and
Taitsong might be alarmed by the rapid progress and dangerous
vicinity of the Arabs. The influence, and perhaps the supplies,
of China revived the hopes of Yezdegerd and the zeal of the
worshippers of fire; and he returned with an army of Turks to
conquer the inheritance of his fathers. The fortunate Moslems,
without unsheathing their swords, were the spectators of his ruin
and death. The grandson of Chosroes was betrayed by his servant,
insulted by the seditious inhabitants of Merou, and oppressed,
defeated, and pursued by his Barbarian allies. He reached the
banks of a river, and offered his rings and bracelets for an
instant passage in a miller's boat. Ignorant or insensible of
royal distress, the rustic replied, that four drams of silver
were the daily profit of his mill, and that he would not suspend
his work unless the loss were repaid. In this moment of
hesitation and delay, the last of the Sassanian kings was
overtaken and slaughtered by the Turkish cavalry, in the
nineteenth year of his unhappy reign. ^38 ^* His son Firuz, an
humble client of the Chinese emperor, accepted the station of
captain of his guards; and the Magian worship was long preserved
by a colony of loyal exiles in the province of Bucharia. ^! His
grandson inherited the regal name; but after a faint and
fruitless enterprise, he returned to China, and ended his days in
the palace of Sigan. The male line of the Sassanides was
extinct; but the female captives, the daughters of Persia, were
given to the conquerors in servitude, or marriage; and the race
of the caliphs and imams was ennobled by the blood of their royal
mothers. ^39

[Footnote 34: The most authentic accounts of the two rivers, the
Sihon (Jaxartes) and the Gihon, (Oxus,) may be found in Sherif al
Edrisi (Geograph. Nubiens. p. 138,) Abulfeda, (Descript.
Chorasan. in Hudson, tom. iii. p. 23,) Abulghazi Khan, who
reigned on their banks, (Hist. Genealogique des Tatars, p. 32,
57, 766,) and the Turkish Geographer, a MS. in the king of
France's library, (Examen Critique des Historiens d'Alexandre, p.
194 - 360.)]