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 139: For the Saracens of Sicily and Nocera, see the
Annals of Muratori, (tom. x. p. 149, and A.D. 1223, 1247,)
Giannone, (tom ii. p. 385,) and of the originals, in Muratori's
Collection, Richard de St. Germano, (tom. vii. p. 996,) Matteo
Spinelli de Giovenazzo, (tom. vii. p. 1064,) Nicholas de
Jamsilla, (tom. x. p. 494,) and Matreo Villani, (tom. xiv l. vii.
p. 103.) The last of these insinuates that, in reducing the
Saracens of Nocera, Charles II. of Anjou employed rather artifice
than violence.]

[Footnote *: It is remarkable that at the same time the tombs of
the Roman emperors, even of Constantine himself, were violated
and ransacked by their degenerate successor Alexius Comnenus, in
order to enable him to pay the "German" tribute exacted by the
menaces of the emperor Henry. See the end of the first book of
the Life of Alexius, in Nicetas, p. 632, edit. - M.]

[Footnote 140: Muratori quotes a passage from Arnold of Lubec,
(l. iv. c. 20:) Reperit thesauros absconditos, et omnem lapidum
pretiosorum et gemmarum gloriam, ita ut oneratis 160 somariis,
gloriose ad terram suam redierit. Roger de Hoveden, who mentions
the violation of the royal tombs and corpses, computes the spoil
of Salerno at 200,000 ounces of gold, (p. 746.) On these
occasions, I am almost tempted to exclaim with the listening maid
in La Fontaine, "Je voudrois bien avoir ce qui manque."]

Chapter LVII: The Turks.

Part I.

The Turks Of The House Of Seljuk. - Their Revolt Against
Mahmud Conqueror Of Hindostan. - Togrul Subdues Persia, And
Protects The Caliphs. - Defeat And Captivity Of The Emperor
Romanus Diogenes By Alp Arslan. - Power And Magnificence Of Malek
Shah. - Conquest Of Asia Minor And Syria. - State And Oppression
Of Jerusalem. - Pilgrimages To The Holy Sepulchre.

From the Isle of Sicily, the reader must transport himself
beyond the Caspian Sea, to the original seat of the Turks or
Turkmans, against whom the first crusade was principally
directed. Their Scythian empire of the sixth century was long
since dissolved; but the name was still famous among the Greeks
and Orientals; and the fragments of the nation, each a powerful
and independent people, were scattered over the desert from China
to the Oxus and the Danube: the colony of Hungarians was admitted
into the republic of Europe, and the thrones of Asia were
occupied by slaves and soldiers of Turkish extraction. While
Apulia and Sicily were subdued by the Norman lance, a swarm of
these northern shepherds overspread the kingdoms of Persia; their
princes of the race of Seljuk erected a splendid and solid empire
from Samarcand to the confines of Greece and Egypt; and the Turks
have maintained their dominion in Asia Minor, till the victorious
crescent has been planted on the dome of St. Sophia.

One of the greatest of the Turkish princes was Mahmood or
Mahmud, ^1 the Gaznevide, who reigned in the eastern provinces of
Persia, one thousand years after the birth of Christ. His father
Sebectagi was the slave of the slave of the slave of the
commander of the faithful. But in this descent of servitude, the
first degree was merely titular, since it was filled by the
sovereign of Transoxiana and Chorasan, who still paid a nominal
allegiance to the caliph of Bagdad. The second rank was that of
a minister of state, a lieutenant of the Samanides, ^2 who broke,
by his revolt, the bonds of political slavery. But the third
step was a state of real and domestic servitude in the family of
that rebel; from which Sebectagi, by his courage and dexterity,
ascended to the supreme command of the city and provinces of
Gazna, ^3 as the son-in-law and successor of his grateful master.

The falling dynasty of the Samanides was at first protected, and
at last overthrown, by their servants; and, in the public
disorders, the fortune of Mahmud continually increased. From him
the title of Sultan ^4 was first invented; and his kingdom was
enlarged from Transoxiana to the neighborhood of Ispahan, from
the shores of the Caspian to the mouth of the Indus. But the
principal source of his fame and riches was the holy war which he
waged against the Gentoos of Hindostan. In this foreign
narrative I may not consume a page; and a volume would scarcely
suffice to recapitulate the battles and sieges of his twelve
expeditions. Never was the Mussulman hero dismayed by the
inclemency of the seasons, the height of the mountains, the
breadth of the rivers, the barrenness of the desert, the
multitudes of the enemy, or the formidable array of their
elephants of war. ^5 The sultan of Gazna surpassed the limits of
the conquests of Alexander: after a march of three months, over
the hills of Cashmir and Thibet, he reached the famous city of
Kinnoge, ^6 on the Upper Ganges; and, in a naval combat on one of
the branches of the Indus, he fought and vanquished four thousand
boats of the natives. Delhi, Lahor, and Multan, were compelled
to open their gates: the fertile kingdom of Guzarat attracted his
ambition and tempted his stay; and his avarice indulged the
fruitless project of discovering the golden and aromatic isles of
the Southern Ocean. On the payment of a tribute, the rajahs
preserved their dominions; the people, their lives and fortunes;
but to the religion of Hindostan the zealous Mussulman was cruel
and inexorable: many hundred temples, or pagodas, were levelled
with the ground; many thousand idols were demolished; and the
servants of the prophet were stimulated and rewarded by the
precious materials of which they were composed. The pagoda of
Sumnat was situate on the promontory of Guzarat, in the
neighborhood of Diu, one of the last remaining possessions of the
Portuguese. ^7 It was endowed with the revenue of two thousand
villages; two thousand Brahmins were consecrated to the service
of the Deity, whom they washed each morning and evening in water
from the distant Ganges: the subordinate ministers consisted of
three hundred musicians, three hundred barbers, and five hundred
dancing girls, conspicuous for their birth or beauty. Three
sides of the temple were protected by the ocean, the narrow
isthmus was fortified by a natural or artificial precipice; and
the city and adjacent country were peopled by a nation of
fanatics. They confessed the sins and the punishment of Kinnoge
and Delhi; but if the impious stranger should presume to approach
their holy precincts, he would surely be overwhelmed by a blast
of the divine vengeance. By this challenge, the faith of Mahmud
was animated to a personal trial of the strength of this Indian
deity. Fifty thousand of his worshippers were pierced by the
spear of the Moslems; the walls were scaled; the sanctuary was
profaned; and the conqueror aimed a blow of his iron mace at the
head of the idol. The trembling Brahmins are said to have
offered ten millions ^* sterling for his ransom; and it was urged
by the wisest counsellors, that the destruction of a stone image
would not change the hearts of the Gentoos; and that such a sum
might be dedicated to the relief of the true believers. "Your
reasons," replied the sultan, "are specious and strong; but never
in the eyes of posterity shall Mahmud appear as a merchant of
idols." ^* He repeated his blows, and a treasure of pearls and
rubies, concealed in the belly of the statue, explained in some
degree the devout prodigality of the Brahmins. The fragments of
the idol were distributed to Gazna, Mecca, and Medina. Bagdad
listened to the edifying tale; and Mahmud was saluted by the
caliph with the title of guardian of the fortune and faith of
Mahomet.

[Footnote 1: I am indebted for his character and history to
D'Herbelot, (Bibliotheque Orientale, Mahmud, p. 533 - 537,) M. De
Guignes, (Histoire des Huns, tom. iii. p. 155 - 173,) and our
countryman Colonel Alexander Dow, (vol. i. p. 23 - 83.) In the
two first volumes of his History of Hindostan, he styles himself
the translator of the Persian Ferishta; but in his florid text,
it is not easy to distinguish the version and the original.

Note: The European reader now possesses a more accurate
version of Ferishta, that of Col. Briggs. Of Col. Dow's work,
Col. Briggs observes, "that the author's name will be handed down
to posterity as one of the earliest and most indefatigable of our
Oriental scholars. Instead of confining himself, however, to
mere translation, he has filled his work with his own
observations, which have been so embodied in the text that Gibbon
declares it impossible to distinguish the translator from the
original author." Preface p. vii. - M.]

[Footnote 2: The dynasty of the Samanides continued 125 years,
A.D. 847 - 999, under ten princes. See their succession and
ruin, in the Tables of M. De Guignes, (Hist. des Huns, tom. i. p.
404 - 406.) They were followed by the Gaznevides, A.D. 999 -
1183, (see tom. i. p. 239, 240.) His divisions of nations often
disturbs the series of time and place.]

[Footnote 3: Gaznah hortos non habet: est emporium et domicilium
mercaturae Indicae. Abulfedae Geograph. Reiske, tab. xxiii. p.
349. D'Herbelot, p. 364. It has not been visited by any modern
traveller.]

[Footnote 4: By the ambassador of the caliph of Bagdad, who
employed an Arabian or Chaldaic word that signifies lord and
master, (D'Herbelot, p. 825.) It is interpreted by the Byzantine
writers of the eleventh century; and the name (Soldanus) is
familiarly employed in the Greek and Latin languages, after it
had passed from the Gaznevides to the Seljukides, and other emirs
of Asia and Egypt. Ducange (Dissertation xvi. sur Joinville, p.
238 - 240. Gloss. Graec. et Latin.) labors to find the title of
Sultan in the ancient kingdom of Persia: but his proofs are mere
shadows; a proper name in the Themes of Constantine, (ii. 11,) an
anticipation of Zonaras, &c., and a medal of Kai Khosrou, not (as
he believes) the Sassanide of the vith, but the Seljukide of
Iconium of the xiiith century, (De Guignes, Hist. des Huns, tom.
i. p. 246.)]

[Footnote 5: Ferishta (apud Dow, Hist. of Hindostan, vol. i. p.
49) mentions the report of a gun in the Indian army. But as I am
slow in believing this premature (A.D. 1008) use of artillery, I
must desire to scrutinize first the text, and then the authority
of Ferishta, who lived in the Mogul court in the last century.

Note: This passage is differently written in the various
manuscripts I have seen; and in some the word tope (gun) has been
written for nupth, (naphtha, and toofung (musket) for khudung,
(arrow.) But no Persian or Arabic history speaks of gunpowder
before the time usually assigned for its invention, (A.D. 1317;)
long after which, it was first applied to the purposes of war.
Briggs's Ferishta, vol. i. p. 47, note. - M.]

[Footnote 6: Kinnouge, or Canouge, (the old Palimbothra) is
marked in latitude 27 Degrees 3 Minutes, longitude 80 Degrees 13
Minutes. See D'Anville, (Antiquite de l'Inde, p. 60 - 62,)
corrected by the local knowledge of Major Rennel (in his
excellent Memoir on his Map of Hindostan, p. 37 - 43: ) 300
jewellers, 30,000 shops for the arreca nut, 60,000 bands of
musicians, &c. (Abulfed. Geograph. tab. xv. p. 274. Dow, vol. i.
p. 16,) will allow an ample deduction.

Note: Mr. Wilson (Hindu Drama, vol. iii. p. 12) and Schlegel
(Indische Bibliothek, vol. ii. p. 394) concur in identifying
Palimbothra with the Patalipara of the Indians; the Patna of the
moderns. - M.]

[Footnote 7: The idolaters of Europe, says Ferishta, (Dow, vol.
i. p. 66.) Consult Abulfeda, (p. 272,) and Rennel's Map of
Hindostan.]

[Footnote *: Ferishta says, some "crores of gold." Dow says, in a
note at the bottom of the page, "ten millions," which is the
explanation of the word "crore." Mr. Gibbon says rashly that the
sum offered by the Brahmins was ten millions sterling. Note to
Mill's India, vol. ii. p. 222. Col. Briggs's translation is "a
quantity of gold."

The treasure found in the temple, "perhaps in the image,"
according to Major Price's authorities, was twenty millions of
dinars of gold, above nine millions sterling; but this was a
hundred-fold the ransom offered by the Brahmins. Price, vol. ii.
p. 290. - M.]

[Footnote *: Rather than the idol broker, he chose to be called
Mahmud the idol breaker. Price, vol. ii. p. 289 - M]

From the paths of blood (and such is the history of nations)
I cannot refuse to turn aside to gather some flowers of science
or virtue. The name of Mahmud the Gaznevide is still venerable in
the East: his subjects enjoyed the blessings of prosperity and
peace; his vices were concealed by the veil of religion; and two
familiar examples will testify his justice and magnanimity. I. As
he sat in the Divan, an unhappy subject bowed before the throne
to accuse the insolence of a Turkish soldier who had driven him
from his house and bed. "Suspend your clamors," said Mahmud;
"inform me of his next visit, and ourself in person will judge
and punish the offender." The sultan followed his guide, invested
the house with his guards, and extinguishing the torches,
pronounced the death of the criminal, who had been seized in the
act of rapine and adultery. After the execution of his sentence,
the lights were rekindled, Mahmud fell prostrate in prayer, and
rising from the ground, demanded some homely fare, which he
devoured with the voraciousness of hunger. The poor man, whose
injury he had avenged, was unable to suppress his astonishment
and curiosity; and the courteous monarch condescended to explain
the motives of this singular behavior. "I had reason to suspect
that none, except one of my sons, could dare to perpetrate such
an outrage; and I extinguished the lights, that my justice might
be blind and inexorable. My prayer was a thanksgiving on the
discovery of the offender; and so painful was my anxiety, that I
had passed three days without food since the first moment of your
complaint." II. The sultan of Gazna had declared war against the
dynasty of the Bowides, the sovereigns of the western Persia: he
was disarmed by an epistle of the sultana mother, and delayed his
invasion till the manhood of her son. ^8 "During the life of my
husband," said the artful regent, "I was ever apprehensive of
your ambition: he was a prince and a soldier worthy of your arms.

He is now no more his sceptre has passed to a woman and a child,
and you dare not attack their infancy and weakness. How
inglorious would be your conquest, how shameful your defeat! and
yet the event of war is in the hand of the Almighty." Avarice was
the only defect that tarnished the illustrious character of
Mahmud; and never has that passion been more richly satiated. ^*
The Orientals exceed the measure of credibility in the account of
millions of gold and silver, such as the avidity of man has never
accumulated; in the magnitude of pearls, diamonds, and rubies,
such as have never been produced by the workmanship of nature. ^9
Yet the soil of Hindostan is impregnated with precious minerals:
her trade, in every age, has attracted the gold and silver of the
world; and her virgin spoils were rifled by the first of the
Mahometan conquerors. His behavior, in the last days of his
life, evinces the vanity of these possessions, so laboriously
won, so dangerously held, and so inevitably lost. He surveyed
the vast and various chambers of the treasury of Gazna, burst
into tears, and again closed the doors, without bestowing any
portion of the wealth which he could no longer hope to preserve.
The following day he reviewed the state of his military force;
one hundred thousand foot, fifty-five thousand horse, and
thirteen hundred elephants of battle. ^10 He again wept the
instability of human greatness; and his grief was imbittered by
the hostile progress of the Turkmans, whom he had introduced into
the heart of his Persian kingdom.

[Footnote 8: D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 527. Yet
these letters apothegms, &c., are rarely the language of the
heart, or the motives of public action.]

[Footnote *: Compare Price, vol. ii. p. 295. - M]

[Footnote 9: For instance, a ruby of four hundred and fifty
miskals, (Dow, vol. i. p. 53,) or six pounds three ounces: the
largest in the treasury of Delhi weighed seventeen miskals,
(Voyages de Tavernier, partie ii. p. 280.) It is true, that in
the East all colored stones are calied rubies, (p. 355,) and that
Tavernier saw three larger and more precious among the jewels de
notre grand roi, le plus puissant et plus magnifique de tous les
rois de la terre, (p. 376.)]

[Footnote 10: Dow, vol. i. p. 65. The sovereign of Kinoge is
said to have possessed 2500 elephants, (Abulfed. Geograph. tab.
xv. p. 274.) From these Indian stories, the reader may correct a
note in my first volume, (p. 245;) or from that note he may
correct these stories.]

In the modern depopulation of Asia, the regular operation of
government and agriculture is confined to the neighborhood of
cities; and the distant country is abandoned to the pastoral
tribes of Arabs, Curds, and Turkmans. ^11 Of the last-mentioned
people, two considerable branches extend on either side of the
Caspian Sea: the western colony can muster forty thousand
soldiers; the eastern, less obvious to the traveller, but more
strong and populous, has increased to the number of one hundred
thousand families. In the midst of civilized nations, they
preserve the manners of the Scythian desert, remove their
encampments with a change of seasons, and feed their cattle among
the ruins of palaces and temples. Their flocks and herds are
their only riches; their tents, either black or white, according
to the color of the banner, are covered with felt, and of a
circular form; their winter apparel is a sheep-skin; a robe of
cloth or cotton their summer garment: the features of the men are
harsh and ferocious; the countenance of their women is soft and
pleasing. Their wandering life maintains the spirit and exercise
of arms; they fight on horseback; and their courage is displayed
in frequent contests with each other and with their neighbors.
For the license of pasture they pay a slight tribute to the
sovereign of the land; but the domestic jurisdiction is in the
hands of the chiefs and elders. The first emigration of the
Eastern Turkmans, the most ancient of the race, may be ascribed
to the tenth century of the Christian aera. ^12 In the decline of
the caliphs, and the weakness of their lieutenants, the barrier
of the Jaxartes was often violated; in each invasion, after the
victory or retreat of their countrymen, some wandering tribe,
embracing the Mahometan faith, obtained a free encampment in the
spacious plains and pleasant climate of Transoxiana and Carizme.
The Turkish slaves who aspired to the throne encouraged these
emigrations which recruited their armies, awed their subjects and
rivals, and protected the frontier against the wilder natives of
Turkestan; and this policy was abused by Mahmud the Gaznevide
beyond the example of former times. He was admonished of his
error by the chief of the race of Seljuk, who dwelt in the
territory of Bochara. The sultan had inquired what supply of men
he could furnish for military service. "If you send," replied
Ismael, "one of these arrows into our camp, fifty thousand of
your servants will mount on horseback." - "And if that number,"
continued Mahmud, "should not be sufficient?" - "Send this second
arrow to the horde of Balik, and you will find fifty thousand
more." - "But," said the Gaznevide, dissembling his anxiety, "if
I should stand in need of the whole force of your kindred
tribes?" - "Despatch my bow," was the last reply of Ismael, "and
as it is circulated around, the summons will be obeyed by two
hundred thousand horse." The apprehension of such formidable
friendship induced Mahmud to transport the most obnoxious tribes
into the heart of Chorasan, where they would be separated from
their brethren of the River Oxus, and enclosed on all sides by
the walls of obedient cities. But the face of the country was an
object of temptation rather than terror; and the vigor of
government was relaxed by the absence and death of the sultan of
Gazna. The shepherds were converted into robbers; the bands of
robbers were collected into an army of conquerors: as far as
Ispahan and the Tigris, Persia was afflicted by their predatory
inroads; and the Turkmans were not ashamed or afraid to measure
their courage and numbers with the proudest sovereigns of Asia.
Massoud, the son and successor of Mahmud, had too long neglected
the advice of his wisest Omrahs. "Your enemies," they repeatedly
urged, "were in their origin a swarm of ants; they are now little
snakes; and, unless they be instantly crushed, they will acquire
the venom and magnitude of serpents." After some alternatives of
truce and hostility, after the repulse or partial success of his
lieutenants, the sultan marched in person against the Turkmans,
who attacked him on all sides with barbarous shouts and irregular
onset. "Massoud," says the Persian historian, ^13 "plunged singly
to oppose the torrent of gleaming arms, exhibiting such acts of
gigantic force and valor as never king had before displayed. A
few of his friends, roused by his words and actions, and that
innate honor which inspires the brave, seconded their lord so
well, that wheresoever he turned his fatal sword, the enemies
were mowed down, or retreated before him. But now, when victory
seemed to blow on his standard, misfortune was active behind it;
for when he looked round, be beheld almost his whole army,
excepting that body he commanded in person, devouring the paths
of flight." The Gaznevide was abandoned by the cowardice or
treachery of some generals of Turkish race; and this memorable
day of Zendecan ^14 founded in Persia the dynasty of the shepherd
kings. ^15

[Footnote 11: See a just and natural picture of these pastoral
manners, in the history of William archbishop of Tyre, (l. i. c.
vii. in the Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 633, 634,) and a valuable
note by the editor of the Histoire Genealogique des Tatars, p.
535 - 538.]

[Footnote 12: The first emigration of the Turkmans, and doubtful
origin of the Seljukians, may be traced in the laborious History
of the Huns, by M. De Guignes, (tom. i. Tables Chronologiques, l.
v. tom. iii. l. vii. ix. x.) and the Bibliotheque Orientale, of
D'Herbelot, (p. 799 - 802, 897 - 901,) Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen.
p. 321 - 333,) and Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. 221, 222.)]

[Footnote 13: Dow, Hist. of Hindostan, vol. i. p. 89, 95 - 98. I
have copied this passage as a specimen of the Persian manner; but
I suspect that, by some odd fatality, the style of Ferishta has
been improved by that of Ossian.

Note: Gibbon's conjecture was well founded. Compare the
more sober and genuine version of Col. Briggs, vol. i. p. 110. -
M.]

[Footnote 14: The Zendekan of D'Herbelot, (p. 1028,) the Dindaka
of Dow (vol. i. p. 97,) is probably the Dandanekan of Abulfeda,
(Geograph. p. 345, Reiske,) a small town of Chorasan, two days'
journey from Maru, and renowned through the East for the
production and manufacture of cotton.]

[Footnote 15: The Byzantine historians (Cedrenus, tom. ii. p.
766, 766, Zonaras tom. ii. p. 255, Nicephorus Bryennius, p. 21)
have confounded, in this revolution, the truth of time and place,
of names and persons, of causes and events. The ignorance and
errors of these Greeks (which I shall not stop to unravel) may
inspire some distrust of the story of Cyaxares and Cyrus, as it
is told by their most eloquent predecessor.]

The victorious Turkmans immediately proceeded to the
election of a king; and, if the probable tale of a Latin
historian ^16 deserves any credit, they determined by lot the
choice of their new master. A number of arrows were successively
inscribed with the name of a tribe, a family, and a candidate;
they were drawn from the bundle by the hand of a child; and the
important prize was obtained by Togrul Beg, the son of Michael
the son of Seljuk, whose surname was immortalized in the
greatness of his posterity. The sultan Mahmud, who valued
himself on his skill in national genealogy, professed his
ignorance of the family of Seljuk; yet the father of that race
appears to have been a chief of power and renown. ^17 For a
daring intrusion into the harem of his prince. Seljuk was
banished from Turkestan: with a numerous tribe of his friends and
vassals, he passed the Jaxartes, encamped in the neighborhood of
Samarcand, embraced the religion of Mahomet, and acquired the
crown of martyrdom in a war against the infidels. His age, of a
hundred and seven years, surpassed the life of his son, and
Seljuk adopted the care of his two grandsons, Togrul and Jaafar;
the eldest of whom, at the age of forty-five, was invested with
the title of Sultan, in the royal city of Nishabur. The blind
determination of chance was justified by the virtues of the
successful candidate. It would be superfluous to praise the
valor of a Turk; and the ambition of Togrul ^18 was equal to his
valor. By his arms, the Gasnevides were expelled from the
eastern kingdoms of Persia, and gradually driven to the banks of
the Indus, in search of a softer and more wealthy conquest. In
the West he annihilated the dynasty of the Bowides; and the
sceptre of Irak passed from the Persian to the Turkish nation.
The princes who had felt, or who feared, the Seljukian arrows,
bowed their heads in the dust; by the conquest of Aderbijan, or
Media, he approached the Roman confines; and the shepherd
presumed to despatch an ambassador, or herald, to demand the
tribute and obedience of the emperor of Constantinople. ^19 In
his own dominions, Togrul was the father of his soldiers and
people; by a firm and equal administration, Persia was relieved
from the evils of anarchy; and the same hands which had been
imbrued in blood became the guardians of justice and the public
peace. The more rustic, perhaps the wisest, portion of the
Turkmans ^20 continued to dwell in the tents of their ancestors;
and, from the Oxus to the Euphrates, these military colonies were
protected and propagated by their native princes. But the Turks
of the court and city were refined by business and softened by
pleasure: they imitated the dress, language, and manners of
Persia; and the royal palaces of Nishabur and Rei displayed the
order and magnificence of a great monarchy. The most deserving
of the Arabians and Persians were promoted to the honors of the
state; and the whole body of the Turkish nation embraced, with
fervor and sincerity, the religion of Mahomet. The northern
swarms of Barbarians, who overspread both Europe and Asia, have
been irreconcilably separated by the consequences of a similar
conduct. Among the Moslems, as among the Christians, their vague
and local traditions have yielded to the reason and authority of
the prevailing system, to the fame of antiquity, and the consent
of nations. But the triumph of the Koran is more pure and
meritorious, as it was not assisted by any visible splendor of
worship which might allure the Pagans by some resemblance of
idolatry. The first of the Seljukian sultans was conspicuous by
his zeal and faith: each day he repeated the five prayers which
are enjoined to the true believers; of each week, the two first
days were consecrated by an extraordinary fast; and in every city
a mosch was completed, before Togrul presumed to lay the
foundations of a palace. ^21