The day of concussion might Lenominated the day of succor. express the disorder of one, or perhaps of both, of the contending armies. The third, a nocturnal tumult, received the whimsical name of the night of barking, from the discordant clamors, which were compared to the inarticulate sounds of the fiercest animals. The morning of the succeeding day* determined the fate of Persia; and a seasonable whirlwind drove a cloud of dust against the faces of the unbelievers. The clangor of arms was reëchoed to the tent of Rustam, who, far unlike the ancient hero of his name, was gently rec.ining in a cool and tranquil shade, amidst the baggage of his camp, and the train of mules that were laden with gold and silver. On the sound of danger he started from his couch; but his flight was overtaken by a valiant Arab, who caught him by the foot, struck off his head, hoisted it on a lance, and instantly returning to the field of battle, carried slaughter and disinay among the thickest ranks of the Persians. The Saracens confess a loss of seven thousand five hundred men ; and the battle of Cadesia is justly described by the epithets of obstinate and atrocious.11 The standard of the monarchy was overthrown and captured in the field-a leathern apron of a blacksmith, who in ancient times had arisen the deliverer of Persia; but this badge of heroic poverty was disguised, and almost concealed, by a profusion of precious gems." After this victory, the wealthy province of Irak, or Assyria, submitted to the caliph, and his conquests were firmly established by the speedy foundation of Bassora," a place which ever commands the trade and 21 Atrox, contumax, plus semel renovatum, are the well-chosen ex pressions of the translator of Abulfeda, (Reiske, p. 69.) 22 D'Herbelot, Bibliothèque Orientale, p. 297, 348. 23 The reader may satisfy himself on the subject of Bassora by con sulting the following writers: Geograph, Nubiens, p. 121. D'Herbe lot, Bibliothèque Orientale, p. 192. D'Anville, l'Euphrate et le Tigre, p. 130, 133, 145. Raynal, Hist. Philosophique des deux Indes, tom. i p. 92-100. Voyages di Pietro della Valle, tom. iv. p. 370 -391. Tavernier, tom. i. p. 240-247. De Thevenot, tom. ii. p. 545-584. DOtter, tom. ii. p. 45--78. De Niebuhr, tom. ii. p. 172—199. Be * I'ne day of cormorants, or according to another reading the day of rein Urcements. It was the night which was called the night of snarling Price, p. 114.-M. † According to Malcolm's authorities, only three thousand, but he adds This is the report of Mahomedan historians, who have a great dis; osition o the wonderful, in relating the first actions of the faithful" Vidis 89.-M. VOL. V.-7 navigation of the Persians. A the distance of fourscore miles from the Gulf, the Euphrates and Tigris unite in a broad and direct current, which is aptly styled the river of the Arabs. In the midway, between the junction and the mouth of these famous streams, the new settlement was planted on the western bank: the first colony was composed of eight hundred Moslems; but the influence of the situation soon reared a flourishing and populous capital. The air, though excessively hot, is pure and healthy: the meadows are filled with palm-trees and cattle; and one of the adjacent valleys has been celebrated among the four paradises or gardens of Asia. Under the first caliphs the jurisdiction of this Arabian colony extended over the southern provinces of Persia: the city has been sanctified by the tombs of the companions and martyrs; and the vessels of Europe still frequent the port of Bassora, as a convenient station and passage of the Indian trade. After the defeat of Cadesia, a country intersected by rivers and canals might have opposed an insuperable barrier to the victorious cavalry; and the walls of Ctesiphon or Madayn, which had resisted the battering-rams of the Romans, would not have yielded to the darts of the Saracens. But the flying Persians were overcome by the belief, that the last day of their religion and empire was at hand; the strongest posts were abandoned by treachery or cowardice; and the king, with a part of his family and treasures, escaped to Holwan at the foot of the Median hills. In the third month after the battle, Said, the lieutenant of Omar, passed the Tigris without, opposition; the capital was taken by assault; and the disor derly resistance of the people gave a keener edge to the sabres of the Moslems, who shouted with religious transport, "This is the white palace of Chosroes; this is the promise of the apostle of God!" The naked robbers of the desert were suddenly enriched beyond the measure of their hope or knowledge. Each chamber revealed a new treasure secreted with art, or ostentatiously displayed; the gold and silver, the vari ous wardrobes and precious furniture, surpassed (says Abulfeda) the estimate of fancy or numbers; and another historiar defines the untold and almost infinite mass, by the fabulcus computation of three thousands of thousands of thousands of pieces of gold. Some minute though curious facts represent "Mente vix potest numerove comprehendi quanta spolia the contrast of riches and ignorance. From the remote isl ands of the Indian Ocean a large provision of camphire" had been imported, which is employed with a mixture of wax to illuminate the palaces of the East. Strangers to the name and properties of that odoriferous gum, the Saracens, mistak ing it for salt, mingled the camphire in their bread, and were astonished at the bitterness of the taste. One of the apart ments of the palace was decorated with a carpet of silk, sixty cubits in length, and as many in breadth: a paradise or garden was depictured on the ground: the flowers, fruits, and shrubs, were imitated by the figures of the gold embroidery, and the colors of the precious stones; and the ample square was encircled by a variegated and verdant border.t The Arabian general persuaded his soldiers to relinquish their claim, in the reasonable hope that the eyes of the caliph would be delighted with the splendid workmanship of nature and industry. Regardless of the merit of art, and the pomp of royalty, the rigid Omar divided the prize among his brethren of Medina: the picture was destroyed; but such was the intrinsic value of the materials, that the share of Ali alone was sold for twenty thousand drams. A mule that carried away the tiara and cuirass, the belt and bracelets of Chosroes, was overtaken by the pursuers; the gorgeous trophy was presented to the commander of the faithful; and the gravest of the companions condescended to smile when they beheld the white beard, the hairy arms, and uncouth figure of the veteran, nostris cesserint. Abulfeda, p. 69. Yet I still suspect, that the extrav agant numbers of Elmacin may be the error, not of the text, but of the version. The best translators from the Greek, for instance, I find to be very poor arithmeticians.* 25 The camphire-tree grows in China and Japan; but many hundred weight of those meaner sorts are exchanged for a single pound of the more precious gum of Borneo and Sumatra, (Raynal, Hist. Philosoph. tom. i. p. 362-365. Dictionnaire d'Hist. Naturelle par Bomare Miller's Gardener's Dictionary.) These may be the islands of the first climate from whence the Arabians imported their camphire (Geograph. Nub. p. 34, 35. D'Herbelot, p. 232.) Ockley (Hist. of Saracens, vol. i. p. 230) translates in the same man ner three thousand million of ducats. See Forster's Mahometanism Un veiled, vol. ii. p. 462; who makes his innocent cubt of Gibbon, in which, to the amount of the plun ler, I venture to concur, a grave charge of aa curacy and disrespect to the memory of Erpeuius The Persian authorities of Price (p. 122) make the booty worth tro andred and thirty millions sterling !-M + Compare Price, p. 122.-M. who was in ested with the spoils of the Great King." The ack of Ctesiphon was followed by its desertion and gradual decay. The Saracens disliked the air and situation of the place, and Omar was advised by his general to remove the seat of government to the western side of the Euphrates. every age, the foundation and ruin of the Assyrian cities has been easy and rapid: the country is destitute of stone and timber; and the most solid structures "7 are composed of bricks baked in the sun, and joined by a cement of the native bit amen. The name of Cufa" describes a habitation of reeds and earth; but the importance of the new capital was supported by the numbers, wealth, and spirit, of a colony of veterans; and their licentiousness was indulged by the wisest caliphs, who were apprehensive of provoking the revolt of a hundred thousand swords: "Ye men of Cufa," said Ali, who solicited their aid, "you have been always conspicuous by your valor. You conquered the Persian king, and scattered his forces, till you had taken possession of his inheritance." This mighty conquest was achieved by the battles of Jalula and Nehavend. After the loss of, the former, Yezdegerd fled from Holwan, and concealed his shame and despair in the mountains of Farsistan, from whence Cyrus had descended with his equal and valiant companions. The courage of the nation survived that of the monarch: among the hills to the south of Ecbatana or Hamadan, one hundred and fifty thousand Persians made a third and final stand for their religion and country; and the decisive battle of Nehavend was styled by the Arabs the victory of victories. If it be true that the flying general of the Persians was stopped and overtaken in a crowd of mules and camels laden with honey, the incident. 26 See Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, tom. i. p. 376, 377. I may credit the fact, without believing the prophecy. 27 The most considerable ruins of Assyria are the tower of Belus, at Babylon, and the hall of Chosroes, at Ctesiphon: they have been visited by that vain and curious traveller Pietro della Valle, (tom. i. p 718-718, 731-735.)* 26 Consult the article of Coufah in the Bibliothèque of D'Herbelot (p. 77, 278,) and the second volume of Ockley's History, particularly p. 40 ard 158. * The best modern account is that of Claudius Rich, Esq Two Memoirs Babylon. London, 1818.-M however slight and singular, will denote the luxurious imped ments of an Oriental army. 80 The geography of Persia is darkly delineated by the Gre ks and Latins; but the most illustrious of her cities appear to be more ancient than the invasion of the Arabs. By the reduc tion of Hamadan and Ispahan, of Caswin, Tauris, and Rei, they gradually approached the shores of the Caspian Sea: and the orators of Mecca might applaud the success and spirit of the faithful, who had already lost sight of the northern bear, and had almost transcended the bounds of the habitable world. Again, turning towards the West and the Roman empire, they repassed the Tigris over the bridge of Mosul, and, in the captive provinces of Armenia and Mesopotamia, embraced their victorious brethren of the Syrian army. From the palace of Madayn their Eastern progress was not less rapid or extensive. They advanced along the Tigris and the Gulf; penetrated through the passes of the mountains into the valley of Estachar or Persepolis, and profaned the last sanctuary of the Magian empire. The grandson of Chosroes was nearly surprised among the falling columns and mutilated figures; a sad emblem of the past and present fortune of Persia: 31 he fled with accelerated haste over the desert of Kirman, implored the aid of the warlike Segestans, and sought an humble refuge on the verge of the Turkish and Chinese power. But a victorious army is insensible of fatigue: the Arabs divided their forces in the pursuit of a timorous enemy; and the caliph Othman promised the government of Chorasan 29 See the article of Nehavend, in D'Herbelot, p. 667, 668; and Voyages en Turquie et en Perse, par Otter, tom. i. 191.* 30 It is in such a style of ignorance and wonder that the Athenia ator describes the Arctic conquests of Alexander, who never ad vanced beyond the shores of the Caspian. 'Αλεξανδρος ἔξω τῆς ἄοκτου καὶ τῆς οἰκουμένης, ὀλίγου δεῖν, πάσης μεθειστήκει. Æschines contra Ctesphontem, tom. iii. p. 554, edit. Græc. Orator Reiske. This memorable cause was pleaded at Athens, Olymp. cxii. 3, (before Christ 330,) in the autumn, (Taylor, præfat. p. 370, &c.,) about a year after the battle of Arbela; and Alexander, in the pursuit of Darius, was marching towards Hyrcania and Bactriana. $1 We are indebted for this curious particular to the Dynasties of Abulpharagics, p. 116; but it is needless to prove the identity of Estachar and Persepolis, (D'Herbelot, p. 327;) and still more needless to copy the drawings and descriptions of Sir John Chardin, or Corneille ie Bruyn Malcolm vol. i. p. 141.-M. |