BAGHDAD UNDER THE CALIPHS
[801-908 A.D.]
The Abbasids hoped, perhaps, that the divisions which could not fail to arise in Spain would bring the peninsula again under their dominion; and this anticipation will serve to explain their negotiations with the Frankish kings, the embassies and presents that passed back and forth between Harun ar-Rashid and Charlemagne. The Baghdad caliphate, meanwhile, did not once take up arms against that of Cordova, though Arabs from the peninsula had made incursions into their domains, and a fleet, manned by Andalusian pirates, had taken and burned Alexandria, putting the inhabitants to the sword. In thus abstaining from reprisals and warlike enterprises the Abbasids yielded to the spirit of the times. The Arabs of the East were beginning to appreciate the benefits of civilisation; and the Baghdad rulers responded to the wishes of their subjects by giving them an orderly system of administration, by establishing strict justice, by distributing far and wide the advantages of education, and by cementing the union between the different provinces of the empire by means of closer commercial and industrial relations.
A chamber of finance and a state chancery had originally been instituted, and for a time these had been deemed sufficient; but later the chamber of finance had been replaced by four diwans, one of which was charged specially with the payment of troops, another with the imposition of taxes, a third with the appointment of subordinate officials, and the fourth with the keeping of accounts. The Abbasids had added to this organisation the office of hajid, a sort of chamberlain whose mission was to introduce ambassadors, and that of a superior judge, who was to relieve them of the care of deciding important cases that were appealed from the judgment of the kadi.
[750-1258 A.D.]
Upon their accession to power the Abbasids had resolved to give more unity and force to the administration; and as the burden of affairs was really too heavy for one man to carry, they had attached to their persons a vizir (bearer of burdens) whose duty it was to perform all preliminary labours, and to fix the sum each province was to pay in taxes, so that the amount of the state revenues could be approximately estimated in advance. In imposing taxes the caliphs were guided by a verse in the Koran which ordained that every unbeliever residing in Moslem territory should be subject to dues; the rate per capita for the entire population was graded according to the fortune of the individual, the rich paying more than the poor. There were also certain ground-taxes and tithes, in the assessment of which great opportunities for extortion were open to provincial governors, and the need that the whole should be under the oversight of some vigilant head became plainly apparent.
The flourishing state of finances under their rule enabled the Abbasids to undertake many and important works. Al-Mahdi built caravansaries and had cisterns dug along the weary road from Baghdad to Mecca, cut a new route from Mecca to Medina, and established posting stations between Hedjaz and Yemen that communication might be easy between the two important provinces. From a period as early as that of Moawiyah, a courier service had existed between the various Arab capitals.
The Abbasids also permanently endowed a number of mosques and schools, which were thus enabled to subsist through all political revolutions. They collected the archives of the caliphate in Baghdad, and organised in that city an excellent police, which not only protected individuals but watched over property night and day. The merchants themselves were formed into syndicate bodies with the charge of guarding against commercial frauds, and a supervisor of market-places was appointed to verify the weights and measures used, and his soldiers dealt summary justice to all found guilty of trickery. In the desert districts, too, pillage and depredation had been again begun by the Bedouins, now that warlike expeditions had ceased, and miraje were appointed whose special office it was to protect pilgrims and caravans on their way to Mecca.
In this manner the Abbasid caliphs strove to insure the prosperity of their realm, and under them the Arabs rose to a high degree of civilisation. With the same ardour that had characterised them in their military undertakings, they now endeavoured to outstrip the Greeks in commerce, industry, and the arts, excelling in those very branches of letters and sciences in which the inhabitants of Constantinople, even in that city’s decadence, believed themselves to be supreme.
Agriculture was widely practised; by a skilful system of cultivation the merit and reputation of the fruits and flowers of Persia were greatly enhanced, and the wines of Shiraz, Yed, and Ispahan became staples of commerce throughout Asia. Mines of iron, lead, and other minerals were carefully exploited, beautiful fabrics were manufactured in the cities of Irak and Syria, and remarkable progress was made in every branch of mechanical art. The sciences, letters, and decorative art were actively cultivated, as were architecture and music; while, though a check was placed upon sculpture and painting in their highest form by the Koran, which forbade the reproduction of the human figure or that of the Godhead, a number of magnificent monuments were erected in the cities of Mesopotamia and Mawarannahar. The passion for letters displayed by Europeans during the Renaissance scarcely equalled that of the Arabs at this period. The best Greek writings brought from Constantinople were immediately translated, a school of interpreters was opened at Baghdad, and fifteen thousand dinars were devoted yearly to educational institutions. Libraries were founded, and enlarged from century to century by the ruling princes, and the Arab tongue became the universal language of Asia, gradually supplanting the more ancient idioms. There were hospitals, wherein physicians were obliged to submit to several examinations before being allowed to practise their profession, and laboratories for experiment with medicinal plants, of which several had been recently discovered. The Arabs were, in fact, the creators of modern chemistry, and though they erred in leaning too much toward alchemy and astrology, their very errors indirectly contributed to the progress of the science.
Great as was the contrast between the literary culture of the Arabs and the profound ignorance of Europe during the Middle Ages, the luxury and magnificence displayed by the Abbasid dynasty forms a no less curious spectacle. Sole depositaries of the natural wealth of many and vast provinces, and without a permanent army to support, they disposed freely of enormous revenues, which were expended in a truly fabulous manner. Gold and precious stones were fairly strewn through palaces, mosques, and gardens, and the gifts lavished on friends and favourites reached a stupendous amount. It is said that Al-Mahdi expended six millions of dinars during a single pilgrimage to Mecca, and that Zobaida, the wife of Harun, made use of no utensils save golden ones set with gems, and wore no stuffs save those woven with silver threads. In Al-Mamun’s palace were sixty thousand rugs and pieces of tapestry, many of which were embroidered in gold; and on the occasion of the reception of a Greek ambassador, he caused to be erected in the audience chamber a tree of solid gold bearing pearls to represent fruit. Mutasim’s stables in Samara were said to contain accommodation for a hundred thousand horses; and when he founded that city, he had the entire site artificially constructed without regard to the cost of so gigantic an undertaking.
GRADUAL DECLINE OF ARABIAN DOMINION IN THE EAST
[786-892 A.D.]
Charlemagne, having heard much of the power of the Baghdad sovereigns, determined to enter into relations with them, and despatched one Jewish deputy and two Franks to Irak with presents for the commander of the faithful. Harun, who feared an alliance between the Frankish king and the Omayyads of Spain, responded with alacrity to this advance, and sent ambassadors with splendid presents to Charlemagne in return. Not only in Europe, but in China and among the Hindus and the Tatars, the Arab potentates were looked upon as the richest princes in the world, and exaggerated ideas prevailed as to their power.