contest. Besides these two grand factions, there are other subordinate sects among the Mahometans, which dispute with warmth concerning several points of religion, though without violating the rule of mutual toleration. 33. Several califs succeeded Mahomet, and ruied with powerful sway in different parts of Arabia, but their families were gradually extinguished: they were succeeded by various sovereigns, who made themselves masters of several districts, till at last the Turks overran almost every province in the country. About the year 1720, a shekh, named Abd-ul-Wehhab, was born in the district of Nedsjed, in the central part of Arabia, and studied there, or at Medina, those branches of science and learning which are usually cultivated in the country. Having travelled in several of the surrounding countries, he returned to his native place to propagate his opinions amongst his countrymen, and succeeded in converting several shekhs, whose subjects became followers of this new teacher. Abd-ul-Wehhab, whilst acknowledging fully the authority of the Koran, professed obedience only to the literal text of this book, rejecting all the additions of the imams and doctors of law, and condemning many superstitions which had gradually crept into the faith. He forbade all devotion to the person of the prophet, and pilgrimage to his tomb at Medina; regarding him simply as a man charged with a divine mission, which being completed, he became again an ordinary mortal. The story of Mahomet's ascent to Paradise, together with a host of miraculous events related in the life of the prophet, he wholly denied: he equally rejected the indirect worship of certain saints, who had been gradually insinuated into the Mussulman calendar, destroying the chapels and tombs consecrated to them. He prohibited not only the use of opium and tobacco, but that of silk and the precious metals, and ordained that their religious services should be performed underneath the open sky, rather than below the roofing of a mosque. The grand doctrine of this sect, and what they regard as the basis of true Islamism, is the unity of God: this forms their cry when they go to war, and justifies to themselves the violences they commit upon the corrupters of the faith. While forbidden to make some pilgrimages, others are permitted to them; they kiss the stone of the Kaaba, drink of the water of Zemzem, and throw stones against the pillar said to have been built by the devil at Mina. Notwithstanding these changes, however, and the general spirit of their doctrine, they still retain many superstitions common to all Mussulmans: their creed in general may be regarded as a reformed Mahometanism, stripped of many of those things which strike the senses, and to which, owing to the rude ignorance of the Arabs, the impostor of Mecca owed much of his success. The Shekhs, who first joined Abd-ul-Wehhab, had been previously in a state of hostility against one another, but they became reconciled by his mediation, and agreed for the future to undertake no enterprize without the advice of their new teacher. They were by degrees joined by many others, and became at last a very formidable body, assuming the name of Wehhabis or Wahabees, after that of the founder of their sect, and established the great seat of their power at Deriah, in the very heart of Arabia. They made themselves masters of the whole interior part of the country, and exacted a tribute for the purpose of carrying on war against the infidels: they obtained possession of Mecca and Medina, and extended their military excursions as far as the vicinity of Bagdad. The conquest of all Arabia was at last nearly completed, and the prince of the Wahabees became a very formidable neighbour to the surrounding pachas of Egypt, Damascus, and Bagdad. The first of these governors, however, at the commencement of the present century sent a strong army against them, in order to liberate the holy city and shrine from the power of these heretics, as well as to gain favour with the Sublime Porte, and reputation among all true Mussulmans. He succeeded in retaking Mecca, Medina, and Jiddah, but his victory was far from being complete, as were it's consequences from being permanent; and though the Wahabees retired for a time from the coast to their desert recesses in the interior of Arabia, they resumed by degrees their boldness and authority. 34. Akaba, or Kalaat-el-Accaba, stands at the head of the G. of Akaba, which is the North Eastern arm of the Red Sea it occupies the site of the ancient lana, or Ailath, and is now rather a strong fort in the occupation of the Pacha of Egpt, but the garrison pay him little respect, as they generally take part with the Arabs. Medina lies in the midst of a fertile country, about 80 miles from the Red Sea, and on the banks of a little rivulet called the Wadi el Akik. It is surrounded by a slight wall, most of the houses are meanly built, and the place is of no importance except from it's containing the sepulchre of Mahomet. This tomb is not superior to those usually erected by the founders of mosques to perpetuate their own memory, and is placed between two others containing the remains of the first califs Aboubeker and Omar. It once possessed an immense treasure of pearls, precious stones, &c., accumulated during a series of ages by the contributions of rich Mussulmans, but they were carried off some years ago by the Wahabees, during one of their predatory excursions into this part of the country. These treasures were constantly guarded by forty eunuchs, whose chief duty, however, now consists in keeping off such of the populace as attempt to carry away relics from the place. The building enclosing the tomb is adorned with beautiful silk hangings, which are renewed every seven years. The mosque founded by the prophet is said to be very magnificent; it is supported by four hundred columns, and contains three hundred lamps, which are kept continually burning. The port of Medina is Yambo. About 200 miles to the S. of Medina lies the city of Mecca, nearly midway between Sues and the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, and at a distance of 40 miles from the sea: it was known to the ancients by the name of Macoraba, and is styled by the Mussulmans O Alcora, or Mother of Cities, from it's having been the birth-place of Mahomet. It is situated in a narrow valley enclosed by mountains, and in the midst of a dry, barren, and rocky country: the water is brackish, and every thing is unfavourable to the support of a large population, though the number of it's inhabitants is said to have once amounted to upwards of 100,000 souls, or more than five times as many as it at present contains. The city is about five miles in circuit; the streets are regular and rather handsome, though many of them are now merely heaps of ruins; and of the houses that remain, more than two-thirds are unoccupied. Mecca a city of the greatest celebrity amongst "the faithful;" it contains the three holiest things in the Mahometan world: the well Zemzem; the Kaaba, or house of God; and the Black Stone. Zemzem is believed, by the followers of Mahomet, to be the identical spring which gushed forth in the wilderness for the relief of Hagar and Ishmael; and wonderful efficacy is ascribed to it's water, in giving health to the sick, imparting strength of memory, and purifying from the effects of sin. The Kaaba is of great antiquity, and is supposed to have existed, in some rude form, above 700 years before the birth of Mahomet. It was then a kind of pantheon, devoted by the Arabs to the worship of 360 idols: it is now a spacious portico, or piazza, adorned with cupolas and minarets; in the centre of the area stands the most highly venerated part of the building, which is the Kaaba, properly so called, and is a quadrilateral tower of unequal sides, covered with a black cloth, which is annually renewed by the Turkish sultan. According to the Mahometan legend this temple was built by Abraham; but the stones were contributed by every mountain in the world, and came ready fitted for the place they were to occupy. The Black Stone, the principal wonder of the place, and now generally thought to be a meteoric stone, is said to have been brought by the angel Gabriel to form the foundation of the edifice, and to have been originally of a dazzling whiteness, though it's colour has since changed to black. The grand ceremony, through which the pilgrims pass, is that of going seven times round the Kaaba, repeating certain verses or psalms in honour of the prophet, and kissing the sacred stone each time. Mecca is entirely supported by pilgrims from every part of the Mahometan world; but their number is now much smaller than formerly, owing partly to the decay of religious zeal, and the gradual decline of the power and wealth of the Mahometan States; and partly to the dread of the Wahabees. No Christian is allowed to enter Mecca, and it's territory is regarded as sacred to a certain distance round the city, which is indicated by marks set up as a warning. The whole country in the neighbourhood of Mecca and Medina, is sometimes called Beled-el-Haram, or the holy land of the Mahometans. 35. Sana, the capital of Yemen and the residence of the Imam, is situated in the South Western corner of Arabia, about 90 miles from the shores of the Red Sea, and is probably the most populous place in the whole country: it is surrounded by a strong mud wall, and, owing to the number of it's fine edifices, and the regularity with which it is built, it is reckoned one of the handsomest cities of Asia. To the S. W. of it, about 50 miles from the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, stands Mocha, the principal port on the Red Sea, and the channel through which almost all the intercourse of Europe with this part of the world is carried on. It was founded about four centuries ago, in a most dreary situation, in a plain bounded by mountains, consisting entirely of arid sand. The climate is intensely hot, owing to a SouthEastern wind blowing for eight months in the year from over the burning sands of Africa. The town makes a handsome appearance from the sea, but on entering it, the streets are found to be dirty, the houses meanly built, and many of them decayed. It is inclosed by a wall, 16 feet high on the sea-side, and more than 30 towards the land. Mocha is famous for its coffee, which is it's chief article of export, and is of unrivalled excellence. It's population is estimated at about 6,000 souls. On the Southern coast of Arabia there are many considerable towns; such as Aden, Hargiah, Kesseen, Doan, and Hasec; but little is known concerning them. Muscat, or Mascat, on the Eastern coast at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, is the capital of Oman, and the residence of the Imam: it is a place of considerable strength, being walled round and well fortified, and possesses an excellent harbour formed by the mainland and the island of Muscat. The government of Oman is said to be more civilized and orderly than any other either in Arabia or Persia, though the people were formerly much dreaded on account of their piratical disposition. Muscat is the great rendezvous of all ships trading between Hindoostan and the ports of the Persian Gulf: it is said to contain 12,000 inhabitants. One of the chief places on the Arabian side of the Persian Gulf, is El-Katif, situated near the centre, and not far from the mouth of the R. Aftan. Some distance up this river stands Ul Ahsa, and towards it's source is Iemama, both of which are the capitals of the districts respectively so called. To the N. of the latter lies Deriah, the capital of the Wahabees, and a town of considerable strength and consequence; it is nearly in the centre of the whole country, and it's situation, in the midst of deserts, renders it a convenient place of refuge and legislation for the powerful sect to which it belongs. CHAPTER XXIV. IMPERIUM PERSICUM. 1. The province of PERSIS or PERSIA1 was bounded on the E. by Carmania, on the N. by Parthia and Media, on the W. by Susiana, and on the S. by the Persian Gulf; it contained 70,100 square miles, and corresponded generally with the modern province of Fars. It is called Elam in the Bible, prior to the time of Cyrus, after Elam, the son of Shem, who settled hereabouts2; under this name also parts of Susiana and Media appear to have been originally included, as the profane authors mention in these the district Elymais and the tribe Elymai: subsequent to the reign of Cyrus, the term of Persia, or Paras, may also be found in Holy Writ3. This was Persia in it's confined sense, or properly so called, and must not be confounded with the mighty Empire of Persia, founded by 1 Placat equo Persis radiis Hyperiona cinctum, Ovid. Fast. I. 385. 2 Gen. x. 22; xiv. 1. 2.-Isaiah, xxi. 2.-Jer. xlix. 34. et seq.-Ezek. xxxii. 24. Dan. viii. 2. 3 Ezra, i. 1. et seq.—Esther, i. 3.—Ezekiel, xxvii. 10; xxxviii. 5.—Daniel, x. 13. Nec Crosi fortuna unquam, nec Persica regna Sufficient animo, Juv. Sat. XIV. 328. Cyrus, which extended from the Indus to the Mediterranean, and from the Caspian and Euxine Seas to the Persian Gulf and the Ocean5: hence the pompous title, which it's sovereigns adopted, of King of kings. 2. The first king of Elam that is mentioned was Chedorlaomer, who extended his conquest over many parts of Asia, and after whose days nothing occurs of any con sequence in the history of Persia, till the reign of Cyrus. Three centuries before the time of Cyrus, the Elamites had been conquered and kept in subjection by the Medes; but this extraordinary man, whose real name was Agradates 16, determined upon liberating his countrymen from the yoke of their oppressors: he succeeded in defeating them in a great battle, near the Persian metropolis, on the banks of the little river Cores, or Cyrus, after which he first assumed the name of Cyrus. He soon reduced Media, and by degrees gained possession of the territories it had conquered from other nations; but from the acknowledged superiority in arts and civilization, which this rival country had over it's victors, as well as from the mili tary importance it contrived to maintain even in it's subjection, the two names were united together, and the dominions of Cyrus described as the kingdom of the Medes and Persians. He is said to have published an edict, importing that it should be esteemed mean and scandalous for any man in his dominions to go on foot, whether the journey were long or short, thus compelling, as it were, the inhabitants to become horsemen; and hence it is, from the word Paras, which, in the Oriental tongues, denotes a horseman, that the name of Persia, or Paras, has been thought to be derived. In the mythology of the Greeks, however, the Persians are said to have obtained their name from Perses, a son of Perseus and Andromeda, and to have been previously called Cephenes. Cyrus was succeeded on his throne by his son Cambyses, who reduced Egypt to subjection?. Darius Hystaspis divided the whole empire into twenty Satrapies, and appointed a governor over each, who was bound to render him an annual tribute: he marched against the Scythians, and having reduced the provinces of Thrace and Macedonia, conquered a great part of India. The Ionians at last revolted from him, and being assisted by the Athenians, took Sardes, and burnt it to the ground. Darius was provoked by this to send an enormous army to Greece: it was defeated at Marathon, shortly after which he died. Xerxes, his son and successor, made an unfortunate attempt to revenge ins father's cause, and invaded Greece with an immense body of men, amounting, as it has been estimated, to five millions of persons. He was gallantly, though unsuccess fully, opposed at Thermopylæ, but was subsequently gloriously beaten at the battle of Salamis, which obliged him to leave Europe with precipitation and disgrace. After this, his army, under the command of his general Mardonius, was routed at Platær, and another body of his forces was defeated on the same day by the Greeks, at Mycale in Asia Minor. After his death, Artaxerxes Longimanus ascended the throne, 464 years B. C.; this prince is supposed to be the same with the Ahasuerus of the Scriptures, who raised Esther to the throne, and so highly favoured the Jews. After some intermediate reigns, Artaxerxes Mnemon, or the Second, succeeded to the empire; but his brother Cyrus the Younger disputed the crown with him at Cunaxa, and lost his life in the battle: it was in this expedition that those 10,000 Greeks were engaged, whose retreat has been so beautifully described by Xenophon. Darius Codomanus, or the Third, was the last prince of this dynasty, and was defeated in a series of brilliant victories by Alexander the Great, who put an end at last to the Persian monarchy. Upon the death of Alexander, this country fell under the dominion of the Seleucidæ, but it was taken from them B. c. 141, by Mithridates, king of Parthia, who annexed it to his own empire. It remained subject to the Parthian princes till the reign of Artabanus, when Artaxerxes, a Persian of obscure $ Esther, i. 1. 6 Hos facis Armenios: hæc est Danaeia Persis: Urbs in Achæmeniis vallibus ista fuit. Ovid. de Ar. Am. I. 225. 7 An epitome of the chronological history of the Persian kings may be seen in the "Persæ" of Eschylus, v. 772, et seq. origin, roused his countrymen to recover their independence: having defeated the Parthians in a pitched battle, he was raised to the throne, A. D. 229, and thus founded the second Persian monarchy, after the people had been tributary to the Parthians for nearly 500 years. The name of this prince's father was Sassan, and hence his descendants are called Sassanides. Artaxerxes became involved in hostilities with the Romans, in consequence of his having laid claim to all the provinces which had once belonged to the Persian Empire, and a sanguinary warfare was kept up between the two empires for many years. The Persians are often confounded with the Parthians by the ancient poets; they were a luxurious and very superstitious people 10, paying the greatest veneration to the host of heaven and to fire". They were exceedingly good horsemen, and very dexterous with the bow and arrow 12. The Persian empire, confined within the limits of M'. Zagros on the West, and the R. Indus on the East, was composed of ten great provinces, the names and superficial extent of which may be seen in the following table: 3. There are two principal ranges of mountains in Persia, one in the Northern, and the other in the Southern part of the country, which are both connected by a third range on the frontiers of India. The Northern range is a continuation of |