CHAPTER VIII. THE ABBASIDS
[750-1258 A.D.]
The revolution which had raised the Abbasids to the caliphate may be regarded as an uprising of eastern against western Asia; it was the populations of Khorasan and Irak who had brought it about, and it was they whom it chiefly benefited. Abul Abbas, who reigned but four years (750-754) transferred the royal residence from Syria to Babylonia and took up his abode at Anbar. His brother and successor Al-Mansur, desiring a more imposing dwelling-place, at first chose Cufa, but finding that popular feeling ran high there against his own family, and in favour of the Fatimites, he decided to build for himself a new city which should owe entire allegiance to him.
FOUNDING OF BAGHDAD (762 A.D.)
Thus he founded Baghdad (762), which was destined to eclipse all other cities of the Orient. A brick wall strengthened by about 160 towers defended it from attack, and immense sums were spent in its embellishment. The people of the East regarded with satisfaction this change of capital which brought the seat of government nearer to themselves; but the inhabitants of Spain and Maghreb, already discontented with their isolated situation which made them in a way mere tributary provinces, were only awaiting a favourable opportunity to declare their independence.
Upon learning of the downfall of the Omayyads and the ascension of the Abbasids, Spain immediately cut herself loose from the mother-country and proclaimed as caliph a member of the Omayyad family, who chanced to be in Maghreb. Africa, without going so far, appeared to approve the course of its governor, Abd ar-Rahman, who hesitated to recognise the sovereignty of Al-Mansur; and the people, equally unwilling to acknowledge the caliphate of Cordova, gradually broke up into distinct groups each having its own chief, until the fragile ties which still bound them to the Abbasid dynasty were completely severed (755-756 A.D.).
The period of the first Abbasid caliphs was also that of the greatest splendour in the history of the oriental Arabs; it marked the passing of the age of conquest and the dawning of the new glories of civilisation. Al-Mansur, brother of Abul Abbas, whose reign was short, in reality opens the series of those remarkable caliphs whose names, still popular in Arabia, have been made equally so in other lands by The Thousand and One Nights. He had fought when young under the chiefs of his family and merited the name “Victorious” which had been bestowed upon him; but his principal claim to glory lies in having created a system of government which attests the depth and soundness of his views. Throughout his vast empire the finance and military forces of the provinces were under the control of the different governors, who devoted the products of taxation to supplying the needs of their localities and sent to the caliphs only what was left over. Not daring to disturb a condition of things so favourable to the people, Al-Mansur instituted the method of frequently changing the representatives of the royal power in the provinces, and of debarring all members of distinguished families from taking part in the transaction of public affairs. His greatest error was an insufficient regard for the sanctity of his word, and a relentless abasement of any servant whose rising greatness seemed to involve a menace. Thus Abdallah, the overthrower of the Omayyads, Abu Muslim, and later the Barmecides, all fell victims to a policy as pitiless as it was suspicious.
Al-Mansur devoted a portion of his life to amassing wealth which some historians estimate to have reached a sum equivalent to £30,000,000, or $150,000,000, but this avidity did not prevent his displaying great liberality towards men of learning, and he himself gave the example of an enlightened interest in the arts and sciences.