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CHAPTER II.

THE BARMEKIDES.

A.D. 712-809.

THE stories in the " Arabian Nights" have made all the world familiar with the names of the khalif Haroun al Rashid, and his ministers, the Barmekides. Among the most zealous and able of the Persian missionaries who had worked with Abou Moslem for the overthrow of the Ommayas was Khaled ibn Barmek, His father was the Barmek or custodian of the celebrated Temple of Perpetual Spring, the most venerated shrine of the Zoroastrian faith, and accounted as one of the wonders of the world. According to Arab accounts, we read that in A.H. 93 or A.H. 94, the wife of this Barmek was captured by the Arabs in an expedition made by Kutaiba ibn Muslim into Balkh, the province in which the temple was situated. In the partition of booty, she became the concubine of Kutaiba's brother, Abdallah. Some months later, a treaty of peace was agreed upon between Kutaiba and the people of Balkh, and all prisoners taken by the Moslems were allowed to return to their homes. The Barmek's wife returned to her husband, and was shortly after delivered of a son, Khaled.

This story was evidently devised to relieve the Barmekides from the odium of a purely Persian origin; or, more probably still, it was an invention of later historians to account for the extraordinary power they enjoyed under a sovereign reputed so orthodox as the khalif Haroun al Rashid. Certain it is that Khaled was a Persian to his heart's core, and a bitter enemy of the Arabs. Concerning him, Masoudi, the historian, writes as follows:

"The height to which Khaled ibn Barmek attained in prudence, bravery, learning, generosity, and other noble qualities was never realized by any of his sons: Yahya did not equal him in judgment and intelligence; nor Fadhl, the son of Yahya, in liberality and disinterestedness; nor Jaafar, the son of Yahya, in bravery and energy. When Abou Moslem the Khorasani, sent Kahtaba to Tai against Yezid ibn Omar, who was governing the two Iraks, Khaled was one of those who accompanied him. They halted on the way at a village, and whilst they were breakfasting on the terrace of one of the houses, they saw several flocks of gazelles and other wild animals coming from the desert, and approaching so near that they got into the camp among the soldiers. 'Emir!' said Khaled, 'order the

men to saddle and bridle!' Kahtaba stood up in amazement, and seeing nothing to alarm him, said, 'What do you mean, Khaled, by this advice?' The other replied, 'The enemy are in march against you; do you not see that if these flocks of wild animals draw so near to us, they must be flying before a numerous body of men ? ' The troops were scarcely on horseback when the dust raised by the approaching army was perfectly visible. Had it not been for Khaled, they would have all perished."

Khaled was was not less skilful in the tortuous intrigues of the Oriental Court than in conducting the operations on a field of battle. He became the vizier of as Saffah, the first of the Abbaside khalifs, and was continued in that office by the successor of as Saffah, al Mansour.

When this

khalif resolved upon abandoning Damascus, and erecting a new capital-Baghdad-upon the banks of the Tigris, Khaled was entrusted with the conduct of the work. The chief cities of the empire were compelled to give up their most splendid ornaments to heighten the beauty of the new city. Wasit was called upon to surrender five of her iron gates; Koufa and Damascus, each of them, three. The magnificent palace of the Sassanian monarch still rose in unruined majesty from amid the deserted streets and uncultivated gardens of Madain. The splendid pile was beloved by the vanquished Persians as a fitting memento of their departed magnificence. Khaled received orders to level it with the ground, and convey the materials to Baghdad. Khaled strove hard to get this order rescinded. To have revealed his real motives would have been to incur death as a traitor and a heretic. He besought the khalif, therefore, to allow the palace to remain uninjured as a splendid monument of Arabian prowess and glory. The khalif persevered in his purpose notwithstanding, but was ultimately compelled to relinquish it by reason of the cost of destruction and transport. The defaced and mutilated structure was a sadder sight to Khaled than would have been its total disappearance. And he urged upon the khalif the need of prosecuting the undertaking to the end, lest it should be turned into a taunt against Islam, that what the Fire Worshippers had erected, the Faithful were unable to destroy.

But the means whereby Khaled attracted towards

himself the lasting good-will of the khalif, exhibit his character in a very different light.

He

As Saffah, when proclaiming his brother, Abou Jaafar, as his successor, had designated Isa ibn Mousa as inheritor to the throne after Abou Jaafar. And the people had taken the oath of allegiance to Isa as well as Abou Jaafar. This arrangement of the succession was profoundly displeasing displeasing to a Mansour. desired to transmit the khalifate to his son Mehdi, and year after year he had tried one device after another to rid himself of Isa. He nominated him to the command of all armies in the field, in the hope of getting him killed. But Isa bore a charmed life; and being, moreover, the bravest and ablest of the Abbasides, he returned victorious from every battle-field, and again and again redeemed the empire from ruin. The khalif then attempted to extract from him a resignation of his rights; but these Isa refused to yield. Driven almost to his wits' end, al Mansour resolved to remove the obstacle after his wonted fashion, and have the obstinate Isa murdered. The problem was how to accomplish this without arousing the indignation and wrath of the family of Abbas. The plan he hit upon is a good illustration of the unscrupulous methods of Oriental despots.

The khalif's uncle, Abdallah ibn Ali, who had rebelled on the death of as Saffah, and been defeated by Abou Moslem, was in prison at Baghdad. The khalif had lured him into his power by promises of pardon, which then, as his custom was, he had subsequently ignored. At the close of the year 147,

Mansour gave out that he was about to proceed upon pilgrimage to Mekka. He entrusted the care of Baghdad to Isa ibn Mousa; and gave him secret orders to put to death Abdallah ibn Ali on the very day the khalif left the capital. In order to ensure the execution of this order, he was careful to explain to Isa that by the execution of Abdallah he would benefit himself; for whether he (the khalif) or Isa ibn Mousa ruled over the Muhammadan world, neither could feel secure in his seat so long as Abdallah existed. The khalif hoped to have thus killed two birds with one stone. He would be rid of Abdallah ibn Ali, whom he feared and detested; but that being accomplished, he intended to disavow the orders he had given. Isa ibn Mousa would then appear to the House of Abbas as a man who had committed an unauthorized murder, requiring the prompt application of the law of retaliation. This, however deeply he might appear to regret it, the khalif would be compelled to concede as just; and thus he would be disencumbered of two formidable rivals at one and the same time.

But high station in an Oriental Court gives an extraordinary acuteness to the minds of those who enjoy it. Their lives depend upon a right understanding of the sovereign in whose service they are. To study and know that is the chief business of their lives And Isa ibn Mousa knew perfectly well that the khalif never acted, in reference to him, without some design on his life. Consequently he did not put Abdallah to death; he only pretended that he had done so.