Okba then planted his lance in the ground, and called out ‘Here is your Kerouan’ (caravan, or resting-place), thus giving the name to the new city. He himself traced out the foundation of the governor’s palace, and of the great mosque, the true position of the Kibla, or direction of Mecca, which was miraculously communicated to him by God. In most mosques the Imam, when leading the public prayers, turns ostentatiously a little on one side or the other, as if facing Mecca with even greater exactitude than the building itself; but here he invariably stands exactly in front of the people, thus recognising the miraculous correctness of the sacred niche or apse which indicates the direction of the great sanctuary.
The sacred character of this city has not exempted it from its full share of war and violence. Even the great mosque has more than once been almost totally destroyed by the Mohammedans themselves, but it has never actually been polluted by a Christian invader. According to Marmol, when Charles V. expelled Kheir-ed-din from Tunis the people of Kerouan elected the principal Fakih, or doctor of the mosque, to be their king, and he was reigning, and helped the Christians with provisions, when the Emperor was besieging Mehedia. He was actually recognised by the ruler of Tunis, and a matrimonial alliance was concluded between their children. In revenge for the aid thus rendered to his enemies, the Corsair Draguth conspired against him, and, having won over some of the other Ulemas of the mosque and the people of the town, to his side, he entered the place at night, made himself master of it, and slew the king.[141]
Until quite lately, the city was entirely sealed against all who did not profess the faith of El-Islam, and even now it is only by a special order of the Bey that a Christian is admitted within its walls. A Jew dare not even approach it, and it is said, that when on one occasion the heir presumptive paid a visit to it with a Jewish retainer in his suite, he was compelled to leave the latter at a day’s journey outside.
We were most kindly received in the house of the Ferik, Si M’hamed Merabet, Governor-General of Kerouan and the Djerid, who is universally admitted to be one of the most upright and distinguished officers in the service of the Bey, and has been entrusted with important political missions to France, both under the governments of Louis Philippe and Napoleon III. He was himself absent in the south collecting revenue; his next brother, Si Mohammed, had left the day before our arrival for Tunis; but his two younger brothers, Si Mahmoud and Si Hamouda, did the honours of his house with the utmost courtesy and hospitality. As the family to which these brothers belong is one of hereditary marabouts (Merabets, or men devoted to religion) each member of it bears a name derived from the same Arabic radical as that of the Prophet, hamada, to praise (God).
Here we made the acquaintance of a Frenchman of high education, who had lately embraced the Mohammedan religion, and who has been received by the Governor-General quite as one of his family, and has received a name similar to those of himself and of his brothers, Si Ahmed. We found him a most intelligent and instructive companion, and he gave us much information regarding the mosques that no Christian could obtain by his own means, and which the Mohammedans are usually too ignorant, or too unobservant, to be able to supply.
Si Mahmoud sent his principal chaouch and an escort to accompany us through the town; without this precaution it would be impossible for a Christian to stir abroad, and even their presence did not protect us from scowls, and averted looks, and abuse from children, wherever we passed. This rather spoilt the pleasure of our promenades, as it impressed us with the idea that our mere presence was an outrage to the religious feelings even of our hosts, though courtesy prevented them from showing it. We did not attempt to make any photographs of the city—we might not have been actually forbidden to do so, but we felt sure that so unusual a proceeding would have been displeasing to the people, and might have given rise to an outburst of fanaticism.
The great mosque was founded by Sidi Okba, but El-Bekri states that a century later Yezid ibn-Hatem, Governor of Africa, demolished it all, with the exception of the Mihrab, and rebuilt it. Ziadat-Ullah, the first emir of the Aghlabite dynasty bearing that name, demolished it a second time, and once more reconstructed it.[142]
Exteriorly it has no architectural pretensions, but in the interior there are nearly 500 marble columns, all derived from Roman buildings in various parts of the country; of these 256 are in the internal sanctuary itself, the remainder are in the courts of the building disposed in fifteen naves. On each side of the Mihrab are two columns of greater beauty than the rest, and in the central aisle in front of it are three more on each side, with smaller ones between, regarding which the Arabs have a superstition that only those whose salvation is assured are able to pass between them. Any person in mortal sin, whatever be his stature, however stout or however thin, would certainly find himself unable to squeeze through.
The beauty of the inside is much disfigured by the paint and whitewash which have been used to adorn it.
There is a curious collection of ancient armour lying uncleaned and uncared for, but still jealously preserved, in one of its chambers. Some of the pieces are said to be Roman or Byzantine; others belonged to the early Mohammedan invaders. If in course of time Mohammedan fanaticism should ever become sufficiently relaxed to permit the entrance of Christians to this sanctuary, this armour will form a most interesting study.