[689-692 A.D.]
Abdul-Malik hearing of his success invaded Babylonia himself; heading his army, and leaving his cousin Amru, who had been Merwan’s lieutenant in Egypt, to govern Syria during his absence. The kinsmen deeply hated each other; and the caliph had barely turned his back before Amru aspired to the caliphate. Abdul-Malik hearing this, hastened back; and a deadly conflict ensued between the two cousins and their adherents in the streets of Damascus. The women are said to have rushed between the combatants, holding up their children and imploring both sides to desist from so unnatural a combat. Amru laid down his arms, and articles of reconciliation were signed. The caliph broke his faith; and, getting his cousin into his power, he struck off his head with his own scimitar; then, banishing his family, he put all who had sided with Amru to death. On the departure of the exiles the caliph demanded the written contract of Amru’s widow, who replied that she had folded it in his winding sheet, to be produced at the day of judgment.
The Place of Worship, Mecca
Abdul-Malik now resumed his march to Babylonia, having sent trusty messengers before him to tamper with the fealty of Abdallah’s subjects. A battle took place near Tadmor (Palmyra), and the caliph possessed himself of Babylonia and Persian Irak. Abdul-Malik appointed his brother Besher ben Merwan governor of Babylonia; naming Musa ben Nosair, who had long enjoyed his father’s confidence, as vizir to the youthful governor. This man we shall find hereafter figuring as a noted character in the pages of Islam conquest. The caliph intrusted Musa with the military rolls of the province, holding him responsible; and the young governor confided to him the seal of office, intrusting to him the entire direction of the government. Having made all these arrangements, Abdul-Malik returned to Damascus. He was now undisputed sovereign of all the eastern part of the Moslem dominions, and further secured peace in other quarters by a shameful augmentation of tribute to the Christian emperor; but he did all this to enable him the better to carry out his scheme of attacking Abdallah, and bearding him in his very den at Mecca.
SIEGE OF MECCA
[692-698 A.D.]
Hajjaj ben Yusuf, appointed to command the expedition to Mecca, was joined by five thousand troops under Tarik ben Amru. The former general is celebrated in Moslem history as the ablest and most eloquent man of his day. Free pardon and protection were proclaimed to all who would join the standard of these generals. Abdallah sent troops to check their progress, but his precaution was unavailing. Hajjaj arrived at the city gates. Before commencing the assault, arrows, whereto proclamations and letters for the inhabitants were attached, were discharged over the walls, warning the inhabitants to desert Abdallah, who was so obstinate as to resist to the last, though their sacred city should crumble into ruins. The city was assailed with battering-rams, whilst flaming balls of pitch and naphtha were thrown over the walls and set fire to the houses.
Abdallah, though old and infirm, held out bravely against the besiegers. It is said that his mother displayed wonderful energy and courage during the siege, she being a granddaughter of Abu Bekr; ten thousand are said to have deserted to the camp of Hajjaj, and many supporters of Abdallah were slain. In this forlorn plight he was offered his own conditions of surrender; but, consulting his mother as usual, she reminded him that his father Zobair had died for the same cause, and advised him not to bend to the yoke of the line of Omayyah; saying that it were better to die honourably than live dishonoured for the few years that yet remained for him. Finally, after prodigies of valour, the poor old man was struck down by a brick, which hastened his death; and he sank exhausted, fighting to the last, dying, after a disastrous nine years’ reign, in the seventy-second year of his age and the seventieth year of the Hegira; so that in those climates, where girls are frequently mothers at fourteen and fifteen, the aged mother of Abdallah, who aided in the fight to the last, must have passed her eighty-sixth year. She died in a few hours after hearing of her son’s gallant conduct and death. Thus ended the rival caliphate.
The oath of fealty was administered to all the Arabs of those districts. Hajjaj remained governor of Mecca and Medina, as notorious for his cruelty as he was renowned for his valour.
In the year seventy-three of the Hegira peace was again restored throughout the Moslem dominions, which were now united, under the caliphdom of Abdul-Malik; and this caliph, being freed from the bonds of civil discord, now turned his thoughts to foreign conquest, hoping to revive in his name the early triumphs of Islam. First, he threw off the tribute to the Greek emperor, which, originating in the reign of Moawiyah I at 3000 dinars of gold annually, had now augmented to the yearly sum of 365,000. The Christian emperor Leontius had made himself unpopular; and the caliph, availing himself of the troubled state of his affairs, sent Ibn Walid on a depredatory expedition. Ibn Walid returned with much booty; and Lazuca and Baruncium were taken by the Moslems, through the treachery of Sergius, one of the Greek emperor’s generals. During the civil wars in the Moslem empire the Christians had retaken most of their African possessions, slaying Zohair, the commander of Barca; so that it was only in the interior that the Moslems yet held any strong positions. The caliph determined to recover all these. In the seventy-fourth year of the Hegira, Hassan ben Nohman was sent, with forty thousand picked men, to subjugate the northern coasts of Africa; and proceeded to Carthage, of which he after a time made himself master. Most of the inhabitants fell by the sword, but some escaped by sea to Sicily and Spain. The walls were demolished, the city given up to plunder, and several beautiful females were taken captives. But while rejoicing over their late victories, a fleet suddenly appeared in the offing, bringing troops from Constantinople and Sicily, reinforced by Goths from Spain; the expedition being under the command of the prefect John, an experienced and valiant soldier.
The Arab commander, finding himself unable to contend against overwhelming numbers, retired to Kairwan, where the Islams fortified themselves, patiently awaiting the reinforcements, which in due time arrived. With their combined forces the Moslems routed John and his adherents, besieged Carthage, and razed that noble city to the ground, giving the place up to flames. The imperial troops were rapidly expelled from the coast of Africa. But the Moslems had a formidable enemy to contend with in Kahina the sorceress, the mother of that Ibn Kahina who had so harassed the troops of the noble and gallant Achbar. Under this pseudo-prophetess and queen the Moors and Berbers made a valiant stand, and after several engagements Hassan was compelled to fall back upon the frontiers of Egypt. On this, Kahina is said to have addressed her troops, suggesting that they should lay waste the cities and countries intervening between her own possessions and the land of Egypt, saying that the wealth and the fruitfulness of these parts were the inducements which led these Islams continually to disturb their quiet and predicting that they would be sure, so long as these existed, to return again in greater numbers.