The occupation of Hîra was the first definite step in the outward movement of Islam. Here Khâlid fixed his head-quarters, and remained for about a year. It was, in fact, the earliest Moslem capital beyond the limits of Arabia. The administration was left with the heads of the native municipality, who, together with the surrounding population, were, if not friendly, at the least neutral. Khâlid, indeed, expected that, being of Arab descent, and themselves long ruled by a native dynasty, the citizens of Hîra would actively have joined his cause. Adi, grandson of the poet of that name, was one of the deputation which concluded the peace. ‘Tell me,’ said Khâlid rallying him, ‘whether ye be of Persian blood?’ ‘Judge by our speech: doth that betray ignoble birth?’ ‘True,’ answered Khâlid; ‘then why do ye not join our faith, and cast in your lot with us?’ ‘Nay,’ answered the Christian, ‘that we shall never do; the faith of our fathers we shall not abjure, but shall pay tribute unto you.’ ‘Beshrew the fools!’ cried Khâlid; ‘Unbelief is as the trackless desert, and he that treadeth it the silliest of mankind. Here two guides are offered, an Arab and a Stranger; and of the two they choose the Stranger!’ The flux and reflux of Roman invasion had, no doubt, loosened their faith in Persia; but the court of Medâin was near at hand, and, though in the last stage of senility, sufficiently strong to command the allegiance of a small dependency like Hîra. The permanence of Arab conquest, too, was yet uncertain; the love of their ancestral faith was still predominant; and so the city chose to remain as tributary. And several centuries later we find the inhabitants of the neighbourhood in considerable numbers still attached to the Christian faith.[124]
Public prayer established. ‘The Service of Victory.’
Public prayer, outward symbol of the dominant faith, was now established; and the citizens might hear the cry of the Muedzzin, as, five times a day, beginning with the earliest dawn, the call to prayer resounded from the adjacent camp. Khâlid celebrated his success in a special Service of victory. The occasion was memorable. Clothed in a loose flowing robe girt about the neck, he turned, when the prayers were over, to the assembly, and thus extolled their bravery: ‘In the field of Mûta (where he had himself rallied the dispersed army) nine swords were broken in my hand.[125] But I met not there any foe to match those ye have encountered here; and of these none more valiant than the men of Allîs.’ It is, however, open to remark that the early campaign in Irâc is surrounded by tradition with a special halo; for the loss here on the Moslem side was not great, and, judged by this unerring test, the fighting could hardly compare with that of many a well-contested field in the Prophet’s time.[126]
Summary administration set up in the conquered province.
While the city of Hîra was left in the immediate hands of its chief men, summary rule was set up over the adjacent country. The Dihcâns—great landholders and imperial tax-gatherers—had been waiting upon fortune. Seeing now that, while the Court was inactive, Khâlid carried everything before him, many began to tender submission and enter into engagements with the conqueror for payment of the revenue. Abu Bekr had, in his wisdom, strenuously enjoined that the Fellaheen, or occupiers of the soil, should be maintained in possession, and their rights scrupulously respected. The Persian demand remained unchanged on these, with the addition only of a light poll-tax. In other respects, terms were granted corresponding with those given to Hîra. Holding their ancestral faith, the people became Zimmies, or protected dependents. Khâlid undertook to defend them, and they on their part pledged allegiance and bound themselves to give notice if danger threatened.[127] Garrisons were quartered in a few commanding places and the troops were organised into five moveable columns. By these the country was kept in check. In this manner Khâlid held all to the south of the Euphrates, and also the lower delta, stretching from Hîra eastward across the Great River to the banks of the lower Tigris. Throughout this region none were secure from rapine but such as had entered into engagements. Fifty days’ grace was allowed to bring in the revenue, and, till it was paid, hostages were kept; a formal discharge was given on payment.[128] The tribute, as well as the booty, was distributed among the army ‘for the strengthening of the same.’
Persia paralysed by internal trouble.
Persia was meanwhile hopelessly distracted. The massacre by Siroes and his jealous successors, of the male progeny near the throne, had been so ruthless and complete that no heir of the royal blood could anywhere be found, and a rapid succession of feeble claimants was set up by the princesses left to form the court. Thus paralysed, the Persians could do little more than protect the capital by holding in force the Nahr Shîr, an intervening stream that flowed down the peninsula.[129] This line was threatened by Mothanna; but Abu Bekr gave stringent orders that no advance should be made upon Medâin till all was secure behind. A.H. XII. A.D. 633.No tidings, moreover, had as yet been received from Iyâdh at Dûma, with whom (as before explained)[130] co-operation was imperative. Khâlid fretted at remaining thus inactive, ‘playing,’ as he called it, ‘for so many months the woman’s part.’ But he curbed his ardour, and contented himself with inditing two letters, in an imperious tone, one to ‘the Princes of Persia,’ the other to ‘the Satraps and the people.’ Towards the north and west, however, he employed his time more actively.
Khâlid takes Anbâr. Autumn, A.D. 633;
Persian detachments were posted in Mesopotamia and the outskirts of the desert at Anbâr, Ain Tamar, and other places, within easy distance of Hîra, and against these Khâlid now directed his steps. Leaving Cacâa, a warrior of the Beni Temîm, in command at Hîra, he laid siege to Anbâr, a fortress on the left bank of the Euphrates, some eighty miles above Babylon. The garrison, though galled by the Moslem archery, were secure behind their strong walls and the deep fosse by which it was surrounded, until Khâlid, by a stratagem, stormed an entrance. He slew the old and worn-out camels of his force, and casting their carcases into the ditch, thus forced his way across. and Ain Tamar.The Persian governor sued for terms, and was allowed to retire.[131] Anbâr and the richly-irrigated neighbourhood of Felûgia[132] thus secured, Khâlid went on to Ain Tamar, on the desert border, three days west of Anbâr. The Persian governor Mihrân had there, besides the imperial troops, a great following of nomad tribes, and among these the Beni Taghlib, who (a strange coincidence) were under command of Ackka, Hodzeil, and other chiefs, the captains of the prophetess Sajâh when she invaded Yemâma.[133] These, advancing to the attack, assailed Khâlid as he approached the citadel; but he repulsed them easily, taking Ackka prisoner with his own hand. Mihrân, seeing the rout from the ramparts, fled, and left the garrison and the fugitives to defend themselves as best they could. Refused terms and reduced to straits, they surrendered at discretion. Khâlid’s severity.Khâlid, angry at the persistent opposition of the Mesopotamian tribes, and also at his loss in the field (for though the victory was easy, a Companion of note and a Citizen of Medîna were among the slain), was betrayed into an unwise severity which embittered the Christian Bedouins against him.[134] Ackka was beheaded in front of the city walls; the garrison was then led forth, every adult male put to death, and the women, with the children, made over to the soldiers or sold into slavery. In a cloister, hard by the church, were forty youths, who, in their terror, barred the door upon the enemy. Forty Christian students taken captive.When their retreat was forced open, they gave themselves up, declaring that they were students, receiving there instruction in the Gospel. Their lives were spared, and, being of a superior class, they were distributed among the leaders. It is hard to record the fate of these youthful scholars snatched from the Nestorian Church to be brought up as captives in the Moslem faith. But the fate, though sad, could hardly have been singular in the rough and sanguinary tide of Saracen invasion. Special prominence has, no doubt, been given to it here because Sirîn, one of the youths, became the father of Mohammed, the famous Moslem doctor of Bussora, and Noseir, another, the father of Mûsa, the not less famous conqueror of Spain.[135]
Iyâdh hindered at Dûma.