It was in the midst of these disorders that Abū Muslim, the virtual founder of the `Abbasid dynasty, raised the black banner in Khorāsān. The advent of the `Abbāsids to the Caliphate was an event of such moment for the future of Central Asia that it is necessary in this place to give a brief account of the rise of the new dynasty. The fall of the Umayyads was the death-knell of unity in Islām. In spite of numberless rebellions in all parts of their conquered provinces the Umayyads had never recognised independent rulers, but with the establishment of the house of `Abbās there set in a general dismemberment of the empire of the Caliphs. The origin of the dispute between the Hāshimites (or `Abbāsids) and the Umayyads dates back to a period anterior to the birth of Mohammed. It was a rivalry between the two chief stocks of the house of Koraysh.[172] We have seen above that, although Mohammed, on first declaring his mission, met with opposition from his own tribe, after the conquest of Mekka they temporarily reconciled the conflicting interests. So after the Prophet’s death discussions again arose between `Alī and the Caliph Mo`āwiya. The Khārijites, who demanded a purely theocratic rule, were also continually in a ferment. After the tragic death of Husayn, the son of `Alī, at Kerbelā, a party arose devoted to the house of `Alī, and claiming the succession of his family to the Caliphate, who called themselves the Shī`a (or faction), and who are known to Europeans as the Shi`ites.
In the reign of Hishām (A.H. 105), Mohammed, the great-grandson of the Prophet’s uncle, `Abbās, who was living in retreat in the south of Palestine, began to advance his claims to the Caliphate. Emissaries and secret deputations were sent to all the principal towns of Persia, `Irāk, and Khorāsān, and, in spite of the severe measures taken to check the movement, the cause of the Hāshimites began rapidly to spread. The Shi`ites and the Khārijites were induced to make common cause with the Hāshimites, on the plea that the only object of the movement was to secure the Caliphate for a member of the Prophet’s own family.
In the year A.H. 125 (742) Mohammed visited Mekka, and in the same year Abū Muslim was taken there on a pilgrimage by a party of the Hāshimite faction. This Abū Muslim, whose real name was `Abd er-Rahmān ibn Muslim, was a native of Khorāsān, and had been a saddler in the service of a distinguished Arabian family.[173] While residing at Mekka he attracted the attention of the `Abbāsid claimant, who at once singled him out as a youth of great promise,[174] and prophesied that Abū Muslim would be greatly instrumental in bringing the `Abbāsids to power. He spent the two following years in journeys between Khorāsān and Homayma, in order to promote the cause and report its progress. By means of an active propaganda the Hāshimites had been most successful in winning over large numbers of adherents, and Abū Muslim was only watching for a suitable moment to raise the flag of revolt. In A.H. 129 (746), on the death of Hārith ibn Surayj, Nasr ibn Sayyār sent a small force from Nīshāpūr against El-Kirmānī, which was repelled, and Nasr now moved on to Merv with all the troops he could command. Abū Muslim, deeming the moment favourable for his designs, unfurled the black standard[175] of the `Abbāsids. Ere a month had elapsed contingents began to pour in from all quarters. Nasr, finding himself unable to check the movement, implored reinforcements from Merwān, the governor of `Irāk, and pointed out that the loss of Khorāsān would be fatal to the house of Umayya.
But no help arrived, and Abū Muslim, conscious of his foe’s weakness, invited El-Kirmānī to join with him against Nasr; the latter, foreseeing this contingency, caused El-Kirmānī to be killed by one of his soldiers, and sent his head to the Caliph. The Yemenites and the two sons of El-Kirmānī attached themselves to Abū Muslim. In despair Nasr sent to Merwān a despatch in verse,[176] in which he pointed out the perils surrounding his situation, and asked whether the house of Umayya was asleep or awake.
In the year A.H. 130 (747) Abū Muslim made his entry into Merv, and ordered public prayers to be offered for the `Abbāsid claimant as Caliph. Nasr, who had abandoned the struggle for power and was living in retirement at Merv, withdrew on his approach to Nīshāpūr by way of Sarakhs.[177] In his flight he was joined by such of his troops as remained faithful, but near Nīshāpūr he was overtaken and defeated by Kahtaba ibn Shebīb, who had been despatched by Abū Muslim in pursuit. Nasr now fled farther westward, and on reaching Jurjān was joined by the Syrian troops from `Irāk; but they came too late. Kahtaba again overtook the fugitive and inflicted a final defeat. Nasr fled towards Hamadān, but he died worn out by years and toil at Sāva at the age of eighty-five. With this faithful viceroy perished the last hopes of the Umayyads, A.H. 131 (748).
CHAPTER XI
Khorāsān under the First `Abbāsids
The Umayyad Caliph at last recognised the gravity of the situation, and sent all the forces he could muster to oppose Kahtaba. But the Hāshimite troops carried all before them. They defeated a large Syrian army near Isfahān, and captured the important stronghold of Nahāvend, A.H. 132 (749). Then Kahtaba started for Kūfa, making a slight detour to avoid Ibn Hobayra, who was encamped at Jalūlā. On reaching the Euphrates, Ibn Hobayra came up with him, and a battle ensued at nightfall near Kerbelā. Kahtaba perished,[178] but his son Hasan continuing the fray defeated Ibn Hobayra, and drove him back on Wāsit. Meanwhile the Yemenites revolted in Kūfa, and on the arrival of the victorious Hāshimite forces[179] delivered up the town to them. On the entry of Hasan ibn Kahtaba into Kūfa the head of the `Abbāsid house, Abū-l-`Abbās, emerged from his hiding-place, and the town for the time became the seat of the `Abbāsids. Abū Sālama was provisionally recognised as the Vezīr of the house of Mohammed. Meanwhile the fate of the Umayyads had been decided by the battle of the Zāb in Mesopotamia, A.H. 132 (750), where Merwān himself, surrounded by his greatest generals, encountered the Hāshimites under `Abdullah, Abū-l-`Abbās’s uncle. Merwān suffered a crushing defeat, and fled, hotly pursued, to Egypt, where he was finally captured and slain.
At the beginning of this year Abū-l-`Abbās, called Es-Saffāh, or the “Shedder of Blood,” was proclaimed Caliph in the great mosque of Kūfa. The new Caliph’s first measure was to sweep the entire Umayyad race from the face of the earth. The traditions which have come down to us of his butcheries pass all belief.[180] Syria was soon reduced, and Ibn Hobayra surrendered his last retreat, Wāsit. But troubles continued throughout his reign. Abū Muslim’s attempts to put all the Umayyad faction to the sword led to a serious rising in Khorāsān. The partisans of the fallen dynasty, in Bokhārā, Soghdiana, and Farghāna, aided by the emperor of China, took the field in force, but were soon dispersed with great slaughter by Ziyād, governor of Samarkand. “It is plain,” says Vambéry,[181] “from the historical sources before us that the original Iranian population of the land, namely, the Tājiks, fought under the banner of Nasr, and long remained true to the cause of the Ommayades.”
“The resistance which Nasr ibn Sayyār offered not only to the superior force, but also to the allurements of Ebu Muslim, deserves our respect.”