more violent after he had entered that province. Finding himself, therefore, unable to pursue his journey, he resigned the command of the army to his son Al Mamun, retiring himself to Tus in Khorasan. We are told by Khondemir that, before the caliph departed from Rakka, he had a dream wherein he saw a hand over his head full of red earth, and at the same time heard a person pronouncing these words, see the earth where Harun is to be buried.' Upon this he asked where he was to be buried; and was instantly answered, at Tus.' This dream greatly discomposing him, he communicated it to his chief physician, who endeavoured to divert him, and advised him to pursue some amusement, to draw his attention another way. The caliph accordingly prepared a magnificent regale for his courtiers, which lasted several days. After this he put himself at the head of his forces, and advanced to the confines of Jordan. As his disorder increased, he retired to Tus, where he sent for his physician, and said to him, 'Gabriel, do you remember my dream at Rakka? We are now arrived at Tus, the place of my interment. Send one of my eunuchs to fetch me a handful of the earth of this city.' Upon this, Masrur, a favorite eunuch, was despatched to bring a little earth. He soon brought a handful of red earth, which he presented to the caliph with his arm half bare. At the sight of this, Harun cried out, 'in truth this is the earth, and this is the very arm, that I saw in my dream.' His spirits immediately failing, and his malady being greatly increased by the perturbation of mind ensuing upon this sight, he died three days after, and was buried in Tus. Bashir Ebn Al Leith, the archrebel's brother, was brought in chains to the caliph, when at the point of death. At the sight of him Harun declared that if he could speak only two words he would say kill him; and immediately ordered him to be cut in pieces in his presence. This being done, the caliph soon after expired, in the year of the Hegira 193, having reigned twenty-three years. The distemper that put an end to his days is said to have been the bloody flux.

Upon the arrival of a courier from Tus, with the news of Al Raschid's death, his son Al Amin was immediately proclaimed caliph; and was no sooner seated on the throne than he formed a design of excluding his brother Al Mamun from the succession. Accordingly he deprived him of the furniture of the imperial palace at Khorasan; and in open violation of his father's will, who had bestowed on Al Mamun the perpetual government of Khorasan, and of all the troops in that province, he ordered these forces to march directly to Bagdad. Upon the arrival of this order, Al Mamun expostulated with the general Al Fadl Ebn Rabi, who commanded his troops, and endeavoured to prevent his marching to Bagdad; but without effect, for he punctually obeyed the orders sent by the caliph. Al Mamun, however, took care not to be wanting in fidelity to his brother. He obliged the people of Khorasan to take an oath of fidelity to Al Amin, and reduced some who had actually excited a considerable body of the people to revolt, while the general Al Fadl having ingratiated himself

with the caliph by his ready compliance with his orders, was chosen prime vizier, and governed with an absolute sway: Al Amin abandoning himself entirely to drunkenness. Al Fadl was a very able minister; though, fearing Al Mamun's resentment if ever he should ascend the throne, he gave Al Amin such advice as proved in the end the ruin of them both. He told him that his brother had gained the affection of the people of Khorasan by the good order and police he had established among them; that his unwearied application to the administration of justice had so attracted their esteem that the whole province was entirely at his devotion; that his own conduct was by no means relished by his subjects, whose minds were almost totally alienated from him; and therefore that he had but one part to act, which was to deprive Al Mamun of the right of succession that had been given him by his father, and transfer it to his own son Musa, though then but an infant. Agreeably to this pernicious advice, the caliph sent for his brother Al Kasem from Mesopotamia, and recalled Al Mamun from Khorasan, pretending he had occasion for him as an assistant in his councils. By this treatment Al Mamun was so much provoked that he resolved to come to an open rupture with his brother, in order if possible to frustrate his wicked designs. Instead, therefore, of going to Bagdad as he had been commanded, he cut off all communication between his own province and that capital; saying that, as his father Harun had assigned him the lieutenancy of Khorasan, he was responsible for all the disorders that might happen there during his absence. He also coined money, and would not suffer Al Amin's name to be impressed upon any of the dirhems or dinars struck in that province. Not content with this, he prevailed upon Rafe Ebn Al Leith, who had been for some time in rebellion, to join him with a body of troops; whose example was soon after followed by Harthema Ebn Aafan; which put him in possession of all the vast territory of Khorasan. Here he governed with an absolute sway, officiated in the mosque as Imam, and constantly harangued the people. In the 195th year of the Hegira, October 4th, 817, the caliph Al Amin, finding that his brother set him at defiance, declared war against him, and sent his general Ali Ebn Isa with an army of 60,000 men to invade Khorasan. Al Mamun, being informed that Ali was advancing against him with such a powerful army, put on foot all the troops he could raise, and gave the command to Thaher Ebn Hosein, one of the greatest generals of his age. Thaher, being a man of undaunted resolution, chose only 4000 men, whom he led against Al Amin's army. Ali, seeing so small a number of troops advancing against him, was transported with joy, and promised himself an easy victory. Despising his enemies, therefore, he behaved in a secure and careless manner; the consequence of which was that his army was entirely defeated, and himself killed, his head being afterwards sent as a present to Al Mamun, who amply rewarded Thaler and Harthema for their services. After this victory, Al Mamun assumed the title of caliph, and made all necessary preparations for carrying the war inte

the very heart of his brother's dominions. For this purpose he divided his forces into two bodies, and commanded them to march into Irak by different routes. One of them obeyed the orders of Thaher, and the other of Harthema. The first directed his march to Ahwas, and the other towards Holwan, both of them proposing to meet in the neigbourhood of Bagdad, and after their junction to besiege that city. In the 196th year of the Hegira, Thaher Eba Hosein made a most rapid progres with the troops under his command. Having advanced towards Ahwas, he there defeated a body of the caliph's forces; and, though the victory was by no means decisive, it so intimidated the commander of Ahwas, that he surrendered that fortress to him. This opened a way to Wafer on the Tigris, and facilitated the conquest of that place. After this he marched with his army to Al Madayen, the inhabitants of which immediately opened their gates to him. The rapidity of these conquests, and the infamous conduct of Al Amin, excited the people of Egypt, Syria, Hejaz, and Yemen, unanimously to declare for Al Mamun; who was accordingly proclaimed caliph in all these provinces. The next year Al Mamun's forces, under Thaher and Harthema, laid siege to Bagdad. As the caliph was shut up in that place, and it had a numerous garrison, the besieged made a vigorous defence, and destroyed a great number of their enemies. The besiegers, however, incessantly played upon the town with their catapults and other engines, though they were in their turn not a little annoyed by the garrison with the same sort of military machines. The latter likewise made continual sallies, and fought like men in despair, though they were always beaten back into the town with considerable loss. In short, the siege continued during the whole of this year, in which the greatest part of the eastern city, called the Camp of Al Mohdi, was demolished or reduced to ashes. The citizens, as well as the garrison, were reduced to the last extremity by the length and violence of the siege. In the beginning of the 198th year of the Hegira, Al Amin, finding himself deserted by his troops, as well as by the principal men of Bagdad, who had kept a private correspondence with Thaher, was obliged to retire to the old town on the west bank of the Tigris. He did not, however, take this step, before the inhabitants of the new town had formally deposed him, and proclaimed his brother Al Mamun caliph. Thaher, receiving advice of this, caused the old town to be invested, planted his engines against it, and at last starved it to a surrender. Al Amin, being thus reduced to the necessity of putting himself into the hands of one of the generals, chose to implore the protection of Harthema, whom he judged to be of a more humane disposition than Thaher. Having obtained this, he embarked in a small vessel in order to arrive at that part of the camp where Harthema was posted; but Thaher being informed of his design, which, if put in execution, he thought would eclipse the glory he had acquired, laid an ambush for him, which he had not the good fortune to escape. Upon his arrival in the neighbourhood of Harthema's tent, Thaher's soldiers rushed upon him,

drowned all his attendants, and put Al Amin him→ self in prison. Here he was soon after massacred by Thaher's servants, who carried his head in triumph to their master, by whose order it was afterwards exposed to view in the streets of Bagdad. Thaher afterwards sent it to Al Mamun in Khorasan, together with the ring or seal of the caliphate, the sceptre, and the imperial robe. At the sight of these Al Mamun fell down on his knees, and returned thanks to God for his success; making the courier who brought them a present of a million of dirhems, in value about £100,000 sterling. The same day that Al Amin was assassinated, his brother Al Mamun was proclaimed caliph at Bagdad. He had not been long seated on the throne, when he was alarmed by rebellions breaking out in different parts of the empire. These, however, were at last happily extinguished; after which Thaher Ebn Hosein had the government of Khorasan conferred upon him and his descendants with almost absolute and unlimited power. This happened in the 205th year of the Hegira, from which time we may date the dismemberment of that province from the empire of the caliphs. During the reign of this caliph nothing remarkable happened; only the African Saracens invaded the island of Sicily, where they made themselves masters of several places. He died of a surfeit, in the 218th year of the Hegira, having reigned twenty, and lived forty-eight or forty-nine years.

On the death of Al Mamun his brother Al Motasem, by some of the oriental historians surnamed Billah, was saluted caliph. He succeeded by virtue of Al Mamun s express nomination of him, to the exclusion of his own son Al Abbas, and his other brother Al Casem, who had been appointed by Harun Al Raschid. In the beginning of his reign he was obliged to employ the whole forces of his empire against one Babec, who had been for a considerable time in rebellion in Persia and Persian Irak. This Babec first appeared in the year of the Hegira 201, when he began to take upon him the title of a prophet. What his particular doctrine was is now unknown; but his religion is said to have differed from all others then known in Asia. He gained a great number of proselytes in Aderbijan and the Persian Irak, where he soon grew powerful enough to wage war with the caliph Al Mamun, whose troops he often beat, so that he was now become extremely formidable. The general sent by Al Motasem to reduce him was Heider Ebn Kans, surnamed Afshan, a Turk by nation, who had been brought a slave to the caliph's court, and, having been employed in disciplining the Turkish militia there, had acquired the reputation of a great captain. By him Babec was defeated with prodigious slaughter, no fewer than 60,000 men being killed in the first engagement. The next year, being the 220th of the Hegira, he received a still greater overthrow, losing 100,000 men, killed and taken prisoners. By this defeat he was obliged to retire into the Gordyæan mountains; where he fortified himself in such a manner that Afshin found it impossible to reduce him till the year of the Hegira 222. This commander, having reduced with invincible patience all Babec's castles, one after another, the impostor

was obliged to shut himself up in a strong for tress called Cashabad, which was now his last resource. Here he defended himself with great bravery for several months; but at last, finding he should be obliged to surrender, he made his escape into a neighbouring wood, whence he soon after came to Afshin upon that general promising him pardon. But Afshin no sooner had him in his power than he first caused his hands and feet, and afterwards his head, to be cut off. Babec had supported himself against the power of the caliphs for upwards of twenty years, during which time he had cruelly massacred 250,000 people; it being his custom to spare neither man, woman, nor child, of the Mahometans or their allies. Amongst the prisoners taken at Cashabad there was one Nud, who had been one of Babec's executioners, and who owned that, by his orders, he had destroyed 20,000 Saracens with his own hands; to which he added that vast numbers had also been executed by his companions. In the 223d year of the Hegira the Greek emperor Theophilus invaded the caliph's territories, where he behaved with the greatest cruelty, and by destroying Sozopetra, the place of Al Motasem's nativity, notwithstanding his earnest entreaties to the contrary, occasioned the terrible destruction of AMORIUM, mentioned under that article. The rest of this caliph's reign is remarkable for nothing but the execution of Afshin, who was accused of holding correspondence with the caliph's enemies. After his death a great number of idols were found in his house, which were immediately burned, as also several books said to contain impious and detestable opinions. In the 227th year of the Hegira died the caliph Al Motasem, in the forty-eighth or forty-ninth year of his age. He had reigned eight years eight months and eight days, was born in the eighth month of the year, fought eight battles, had 8000 slaves, and had 8,000,000 dinars and 80,000 dirhems in his treasury at his death; whence the oriental historians gave him the name Al Mothamen, or the Octonary. He is said to have been so robust that he once carried a burden of 1000 lbs. weight several paces. As the people of Bagdad disturbed him with frequent revolts and commotions, he took the resolution to abandon that city, and build another for his own residence. The new city he built was first called Samaria, and afterwards Sarra Manray, and stood in the Arabian Irak. He was attached to the opinion of the Moatazalites, who maintain the creation of the Koran; and both he and his predecessor cruelly persecuted those who believed it to be eternal.

Al Motazem was succeeded by Al Wathek Ballah, who the following year, being the 228th of the Hegira, invaded and conquered Sicily, Nothing remarkable happened during the rest of his reign; he died in the 232d year of the Hegira, and was succeeded by his brother Al Motawakkel. The new caliph began his reign with an act of the greatest cruelty. The late caliph's vizier, having treated Al Motawakkel ill in his brother's lifetime, and opposed his election to the caliphate, was on that account now sent to prison. Here the caliph ordered him to be kept awake for several days and nights together: after

this, being suffered to fall asleep, he slept a whole day and night; and after he awoke was thrown into an iron furnace lined with spikes or nails heated red hot, where he was miserably burnt to death. During this reign nothing remarkable happened, except wars with the Greeks, which were carried on with various success. In the year 867, too, being the 245th of the Hegira, violent earthquakes happened in many provinces of the Saracen dominions; and the springs at Mecca failed to such a degree that the celebrated well Zemzem was almost dried up, and the water sold for 100 dirhems a bottle. In the 247th year of the Hegira the caliph was assassinated at the instance of his son Al Montaser; who succeeded him, and died in six months after. He was succeeded by Al Mostain, who, in the year of the Hegira 252 was forced to abdicate the throne by his brother Al Motazz, who afterwards caused him to be privately murdered. He did not long enjoy the dignity of which he had so iniquitously possessed himself; being deposed by the Turkish militia (who now began to set up and depose caliphs as they pleased) in the 255th year of the Hegira. After his depo-, sition he was sent under an escort from Sarra Manray to Bagdad, where he died of thirst or hunger, after a reign of four years and about seven months. The fate of this caliph (however merited) was peculiarly hard: the Turkish troops had mutinied for their pay; and Al Motazz, not having money to satisfy their demands, applied to his mother, named Kabiha, for 50,000 dinars. This she refused, telling him that she had no money at all, although it afterwards appeared that she was possessed of immense treasures. After his deposition, however, she was obliged to discover them, and even deposit them in the hands of the new caliph Al Mokhtadi. They consisted of 1,000,000 dinars, a bushel of emeralds, and another of pearls, and three pounds and three quarters of rubies of the color of fire.

Al Mokhtadi, the new caliph, was the son of one of Al Wathek's concubines, named Korb, or Kark, said by some to have been a Christian. The beginning of his reign is remarkable for the irruption of the Zenjians, a people of Nubia, Ethiopia, and the country of Caffres, into Arabia, where they penetrated into the neighbourhood of Basra and Cufa. The chief of this gang of robbers, who, according to some of the Arab historians, differed but little from wild beasts, was Ali Ebn Mohammed Ebn Abdalrahman, who falsely gave himself out to be of the family of Ali Ebn Abu Taleb. This made such an impression upon the Shites in those parts that they flocked to him in great numbers; which enabled him to seize upon the cities of Basra and Ramla, and even to pass the Tigris at the head of a formidable army. He then took the title of prince of the Zenjians in order to ingratiate himself with those barbarians, of whom his army was principally composed. In the 256th year of the Hegira Al Mokhtada was barbarously murdered by the Turks, who had raised him to the throne; and was succeeded by Al Motamed the son of Al Motawakkel. This year the prince of the Zenjians, Ali, or Al Habib, made incursions to the very gates of Bagdad, doing prodi

gious mischief wherever he passed. The caliph therefore sent against him one Jolan with a considerable army; he was overthrown, however, with very great slaughter by the Zenjian, who made himself master of twenty-four of the caHiph's largest ships in the bay of Basra, put a vast number of the inhabitants of Obolla to the sword, seized upon the town, set fire to it, and soon reduced it to ashes, the houses mostly consisting of the wood of a certain plane-tree called by the Arabians saj. Thence he marched to Abadan, which likewise surrendered to him. Here he found an immense treasure, which enabled him to possess himself of the whole district of Ahwaz. In short, his forces being now increased to 80,000 strong, most of the adjacent territories, and even the caliph's court itself, were struck with horror. In the 257th year of the Hegira Al Habib continued victorious, defeated several armies sent against him by the caliph, reduced the city of Basra, and put 20,000 of the inhabitants to the sword. The following year the caliph, supported by his brother Al Mowaffek, had formed a design of circumscribing the power of the Turkish soldiery, who had for some time given law to the caliphs themselves. But this year the Zenjians made so rapid a progress in Persia, Arabia, and Irak, that he was obliged to suspend the execution of his design, and even to employ the Turkish troops to assist his brother Al Mowaffek in opposing these robbers. The first of the caliph's generals, who encountered Al Habib this year, was defeated in several engagements, and had his army at last entirely destroyed. After this Al Mowaffek and another general named Mosleh advanced against him. In the first engagement, Mosleh being killed by an arrow, the caliph's troops retired; but Al Mowaffek put them afterwards in such a posture of defence that the enemy durst not renew the attack. Several other sharp encounters happened this year, in which neither party gained great advantage; but at last, some contagious distempers breaking out in Al Mowaffek's army, he was obliged to conclude a truce, and retire to Waset to refresh his troops. In the 259th year of the Hegira, commencing November 7th, 881, the war between the caliph and Al Habib still continued. Al Mowaffek, upon his arrival at Bagdad, sent Mahommed, surnamed Al Mowalled, with a powerful army to act against the Zenjians but he could not hinder them from ravaging the province of Ahwaz, cutting off about 50,000 of the caliph's subjects, and dismantling the city of Ahwaz; and, notwithstanding the utmost efforts of all the caliph's generals, no considerable advantages could be gained either this or the following year. In the 261st year of the Hegira, beginning October 16th, 883, Mohammed Ebn Wasel, who had killed the caliph's governor of Fars, and afterwards made himself master of that province, had several engagements with Al Habib. The caliph, having been apprised of the state of affairs on that side, annexed the government of Fars, Ahwaz, and Basra to the prefecture he had given to Musa Ebn Boga, whom he looked upon as one of the best generals he had. Musa, soon after his nomination to that post, sent Abdalrahman Ebn Mosleh as his

deputy to Ahwaz, giving him as a colleague and assistant one Tisam, a Turk. Mohammed Ebn Wasel, however, refusing to obey the orders of Abdalrahman and Tisam, a fierce conflict ensued, in which the latter were defeated, and Adbalrahman taken prisoner. After this victory Mahommed advanced against Musa Ebn Boga himself; but that general, finding he could not take possession of his new government without a vast effusion of blood, recalled the deputies from their provinces, and made the best of his way to Serra Manray. After this Yakub Ebn Al Leit, having taken Khorasan from the descendants of Thaher, attacked and defeated Mohammed Ebn Wasel, seizing on his palace, where he found a sum of money amounting to 40,000,000 dirhems. The next year Yakub being grown formidable by the acquisition of Ahwaz and a considerable portion of Fars, or at least the Persian Irak, declared war against the caliph. Against him Al Motamed despatched Al Mowaffek; who, having defeated him with prodigious slaughter, plundered his camp, and pursued him into Khorasan; where, meeting with no opposition, he entered Nisabur, and released Mahomet the Thaherian, whom Yakub had detained in prison three years. As for Yakub himself, he made his escape with great difficulty; though he and his family continued several years in possession of many of the conquests he had made. This war with Yakub proved a seasonable diversion in favor of Al Habib, who this year defeated all the forces sent against him, and ravaged the district of Waset. In the 263d of the Hegira, beginning September 24th, 885, the caliph's forces, under the command of Ahmed Ebn Lebuna, gained two considerable advantages over Al Habib; but, being at last drawn into an ambuscade, they were almost totally destroyed, their general himself making his escape with the utmost difficulty; nor were the caliph's forces able, during the course of the next year, to make the least impression upon these rebels. In the 265th year of the Hegira, beginning September 3d, 887, Ahmed Ebn Tolon rebelled against the caliph, and set up for himself in Egypt. Having assembled a considerable force, he marched to Antioch, and besieged Sima the governor of Aleppo, and all the provinces known among the Arabs by the name of Al Awasem in that city. As the besieged found that he was resolved to carry the place by assault, they thought fit, after a short defence, to submit, and to put Sima into his hands. Ahmed no sooner had that officer in his power than he caused him to be beheaded; after which he advanced to Aleppo, the gates of which were immediately opened unto him. Soon after he reduced Damascus, Hems, Hamath, Kinnisrin, and Al Rakka, situated upon the eastern bank of the Euphrates. This rebellion so exasperated Al Motamed that he caused Ahmed to be publicly cursed in all the mosques belonging to Bagdad and Irak; and Ahmed on his part ordered the same malediction to be thundered out against the caliph in all the mosques within his jurisdiction. This year also a detachment of Al Habib's troops penetrated into Irak, and made themselves masters of four of the caliph's ships laden with corn; they then advanced to Al Nomanic, laid

the greatest part of it in ashes, and carried off with them several of the inhabitants prisoners. After this they possessed themselves of Jarjaraya, where they found many more prisoners, and destroyed all the adjacent territory with fire and sword. This year there were four independent powers in the Saracen dominions, besides the house of Ommiyah in Spain: viz. the African Saracens, or Aglabites, who had for a long time acted independently; Ahmed in Syria and Egypt; Al Leit in Khorasan; and Al Habib in Arabia and Irak. In the 266th year of the Hegira, beginning August 23d, 888, Al Habib reduced Ramhormoz, burnt the stately mosque there to the ground, put a vast number of the inhabitants to the sword, and carried away great numbers, as well as a vast quantity of spoil.

This was his last successful campaign; for the year following Al Mowaffek, attended by his son Abul Abbas, having attacked him with a body of 10,000 horse and a few infantry, notwithstanding the vast disparity of numbers (Al Habib's army amounting to 100,000 men), defeated him in several battles, recovered most of the towns he had taken, together with an immense quantity of spoil, and released 5000, women who had been thrown into prison by these barbarians. After these victories Al Mowaffek took post before the city of Al Mabiya, built by Al Habib, and the palace of his residence; burnt all the ships in the harbour; thoroughly pillaged the town; and then entirely dismantled it. After the reduction of this place, in which he found immense treasures, Al Mowaffek pursued the flying Zenjians, put several of their chiefs to the sword, and advanced to Al Mokhtara, a city built by Al Habib. As the place was strongly fortified, and Al Habib was posted in its neighbourhood with an army, according to Abn Jaafer Al Tabari, of 300,000 men, Al Mowaffek perceived that the reduction of it would be a matter of some difficulty. He therefore built a fortress opposite to it, where he erected a mosque, and coined money. The new city, from its founder, was called by the Arabs Al Mowaffekkia, and soon rendered considerable by the settlement of several wealthy merchants there. The city of Al Mokhtara, being reduced to great straits, was at last taken by storm, and given up to be plundered by the caliph's troops; after which Al Mowaffek defeated the numerous forces of Al Habib in such a manner that they could no more be rallied during that campaign. In the year 268 of the Hegira Al Mowaffek penetrated again into Al Mabiya, and demolished the fortifications which had been raised since its former reduction, though the rebels disputed every inch of ground. Next year he again attacked Al Habib with great bravery; and would have entirely defeated him, had he not been wounded in the breast with an arrow, which obliged him to retreat. However, as soon as he was cured of his wound, Al Mowaffek advanced a third time to Al Mabiya, made himself master of that metropolis, threw down the walls that had been raised, put many of the inhabitants to the sword, and carried a vast number of them into captivity. The year 270 of the Hegira, commencing July 11th, 892, proved fatal to the rebel Al Habib. Al Mowaffek

made himself a fourth time master of Al Mabiya, burnt Al Habib's palace, seized upon his family, and sent them to Sarra Manray. As for the usurper himself he escaped; but being closely pursued by Al Mowaffek into the province of Ahwaz, where the shattered remains of his forces were entirely defeated, he at last fell into the hands of the victor, who ordered his head to be cut off, and carried through a great part of that region which he had so long disturbed. By this complete victory Al Mowaffek obtained the title of Al Nasir Lidmalbah, that is, the protector of Mahometanism. This year also died Ahmed Ebn Tolun, who had seized upon Egypt and Syria, and was succeeded by his son Khamarawiyah. The next year a bloody engagement happened between the caliph's forces commanded by Al Mowaffek's son and those of Khamarawiyah, who had made an irruption into the caliph's territories. The battle was fought between Al Ramla and Damascus. In the beginning Khamarawiyah found himself so hard pressed that his men were obliged to give way; upon which, taking for granted that all was lost, he fled with great precipitation, even to the borders of Egypt; but in the mean time his troops, being ignorant of the flight of their general, returned to the charge and gained a complete victory. After this Khamarawiyah, by his just and mild administration, so gained the affections of his subjects that the caliph found it impossible to gain the least advantage over him. In the year of the Hegira 276 he overthrew one of the caliph's generals, named Abul Saj, at Al Bathnia, near the city of Damascus; after which he advanced to Al Rakka on the Euphrates, and made himself master of that place. Having annexed several large provinces to his former dominions, and left some of his friends in whom he could confide to govern them, he then returned into Egypt, the principal part of his empire, which now extended from the Euphrates to the borders of Nubia and Ethiopia. The following year, the 278th of the Hegira, was remarkable for the death of Al Mowaffek. He died of the elephantiasis or leprosy ; and, while in his last illness, said that, of 100,000 men whom he commanded, there was not one so miserable as himself. This year was also remarkable for the first disturbances raised in the Saracen empire by the Karmatians. The origin of this sect is uncertain; but the most common opinion is that a poor fellow, by some called Karmata, came from Khuzestan to the villages near Cufa, and there pretended great sanctity, and that God had enjoined him to pray fifty times a day, inviting people to the obedience of a certain imam of the family of Mahomet; and this way of life he continued till he had made a very great party, out of whom he chose twelve as his apostles to govern the rest, and to propagate his doctrines. He also assumed the title of prince, and obliged every one of his earlier followers to pay him a dinar a year. But Al Haidam, the governor of that province, finding that men neglected their work, to say those fifty prayers a day, seized the fellow, and, having put him in prison, swore that he should die. This being overheard by a girl, belonging to the governor, she, out of compassion, took the key of the dungeon at night from