Arabic Authors | Page 6

to in the next chapter. Europe is also indebted to the Arabs for
the elements of many useful sciences, particularly that of chemistry.
Paper was first made in Europe by them, and their carpets and
manufactures in steel and leather were long unrivalled, while in the
Arabian schools of Cordova mathematics, astronomy, philosophy,
botany and medicine were taught with great success.
As Europe gradually emerged from darkness and ignorance, the Moors
in Spain became so weak and powerless that in A.D. 1526 Charles I of
Spain, and V. of Germany, ordered them to adopt the Spanish language.
In A.D. 1566 an edict of Philip II. forbade them to speak or write in
Arabic, and directed them to renounce all their traditional habits,
customs and ceremonies. Philip III. completed the work which his
father had left unfinished. In A.D. 1609 all the Moriscoes were ordered
to depart from the peninsula within three days, with a penalty of death
if they failed to obey the order, and from that time their existence as a
nation finally ceased in Europe, and Spain thus lost a million of
industrious inhabitants skilled in the useful arts. After their expulsion
Arabic literature more or less disappeared. Much of it was destroyed,
and a Spanish cardinal, it is said, once boasted that he had destroyed
with his own hands one hundred thousand Arabic manuscripts! It is
highly probable that the remnants of Andalusian libraries were brought
to light by Casiri (b. 1710, d. 1791) during the past, and by Gayangos
during the present century, and it is doubtful if much more will ever
now be discovered.
There are two buildings still extant in Spain which have survived the
Arabs, viz., their mosque at Cordova (now the Cathedral), and their
palace of the Alhambra at Granada, both well worth a visit, and well
described in Murray's and O'Shea's guides to Spain. During the reign of
Abd-ar-Rahman III. (A.D. 912-961) the city, palace, and gardens of

Medinatu-z-Ahra, three or four miles from Cordova, were constructed
in honour of his favourite wife or mistress, Az-zahra, and cost an
immense sum of money. At present no vestiges of them exist, and it is
supposed that not only these, but many other Arab mosques and
buildings, were intentionally destroyed by their conquerors, as the
hatred between the Christian and the Muslim in those days was of the
bitterest description.
And now to return to the Abbasides, established in the East on the
downfall of the Omaiyide dynasty there in A.D. 750, and thus continue
the main line of Arab history.
There were, in all, thirty-seven Abbaside Khalifs, of whom Abu Jaafar,
surnamed Al-Mansur, the Victorious (A.D. 754-775), Harun-ar-Rashid
(A.D. 786-809), and Al-Mamun (A.D. 812-833) were the most
celebrated. Of these, the first, who was the second Khalif, founded
Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasides, about A.D. 762; the second,
who was the fifth Khalif, has been rendered immortal by the frequent
illusions to him, and to members of the Barmeki family, in the 'Arabian
Nights'; while the third, who was the seventh Khalif, was a great patron
of literature and science.
As years rolled on the dynasty and its princes became weaker and
weaker, and finally came to an end under the thirty-seventh and last
Khalif Al-Mustaa 'sim Billah, with the capture of Baghdad in A.D.
1258 by Halaku Khan, the sovereign of the Mughals, and the grandson
of Jenghiz Khan.
Long before this, however, the empire which the first of the Abbasides
had conquered was already broken up. About A.D. 879, in Persia,
Amr-bin-Lais founded the Suffary or Braiser dynasty, still subject to
the Commander of the Faithful. But even this allegiance only lasted till
A.D. 901, when the Samani and Dailami dynasties were established in
the North and South of Persia respectively, and quite independent of
the Khalifs of Baghdad.
In A.D. 909, the Fatimites, so designated from one Obaid Allah, a real
or pretended descendant of Ali and Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad,

established themselves in the North of Africa, and consolidated their
power there. In A.D. 972 Al-Moizz, or Abu Tamim, a great-grandson
of Obaid Allah, the founder of the Fatimite dynasty at Tunis, sent his
general Jawhar with an army to invade Egypt. The country was
conquered, the city of Cairo built, the seat of government was
transferred there, and the title of Khalif assumed by the Fatimites.
There they remained as reigning Khalifs until A.D. 1171, when
Salah-ad-Din (Saladin) usurped the sovereignty, and founded the
Ayoobite dynasty of Kurds, till its last ruler, Melik-al-Ashraf, was
deposed in A.D. 1250 by the Mamlook El Moizz, who in that year
founded the Baharite Mamlook dynasty, which lasted with variations in
the families till A.D. 1377. But in A.D. 1260 Ez-Zahir Beybars, a
Mamlook slave, secured the throne, and brought the