Sykes' History of Persia Vol 2 (pdf) - Heritage Institute

74 HISTORY OF PERSIA CHAP.
and on Mamun," and thus the two most eminent and
most Persophile Caliphs of the Abbasid dynasty are
annually execrated by thousands who would otherwise
never have heard of their existence.
Tahir> Viceroy of the Easf, A.H. 204-207 (819-822).
The insurrection of Ibrahim speedily collapsed, and
Mamun showed mercy and an entire absence of vindictiveness
towards the rebels. Tahir was appointed Viceroy
of the East ;
but he showed signs of disloyalty and was
thereupon poisoned, probably by an agent of the Caliph.
But the influence he had acquired was so great that his
son Talha was allowed to succeed him ;
and by
this
appointment Khorasan achieved the status of a semiindependent
kingdom.
The Later Tears of Mamun and his Deaf/i y
A.H. 218
(833). After his power had been established at Baghdad
the position and prestige of Mamun rivalled that of his
father. At the same time there was little peace within
the Empire. An insurrection in Egypt took twelve years
to crush, and for twenty years a brigand named Babek,
who professed transmigration and other mystic doctrines,
terrorized the northern provinces, holding his own in
Azerbaijan, and defeating army after army sent against
him.
Mamun was of the same active habit as his father,
and the close of his reign found him taking the field in
person against the Greeks near Tarsus, where, like
Alexander the Great, he caught a chill from the cold
mountain water. Less fortunate than the great Greek,
however, he died from the effects of his imprudence.
The Arts^ Science^ and Literature under Mamun. A
mere recital of the chief events of Mamun's reign docs
not convey the impression of exceptional brilliance or
conspicuous success. Yet all writers agree that for
Islam this was the golden age of intellectual activity.
The arts, literature, science, the practice of medicine
were now seriously studied, and pursued with such
thoroughness that it was through the vehicle of Arabic
that benighted Europe became again aware of the glorious
heritage of Greek science and philosophy
of which it had