The Chaliphate - Muir - The Search For Mecca

^5'"^ AL-MAXSl'R [chap. i.xh.
A.H. 136- of the C'ho.srocs," lie artriied, " is one of the wonders of the
j-g '^
J
_^ world ; and there, too, 'Ah had his place of prater." " Ah
"
!
replied the unconvinced Caliph, " it is not but thine old love
for the Persians "
! The noble arch, however, hard as iron,
withstood the jMck-axe. " Now," said Khfdid, " I advised
thee against it ;
but as thou hast begun, go on, lest men
should upbraid thee, saying that the Caliph began but could
not pull down that which another had built up!" So the
work went on ; but it was of no use. And there on the
river's left bank still stands the grand monument in majesty,
while all around is now a bare and sandy plain. For the
portals, Al-Kufa, Wasit, and even Damascus were robbed
of their iron gates. The walls were built in a circle so that
none of the courtiers might be far from the palace, which
with the Great Mosque lay in the centre ;
while the ba/.aars
were thrust outside.^
Ba^d.id a/^ a Lying on the west bank of the Tigris, with deep canals
position.
^'"' I'ear, and ready access to the Persian Gulf,—as well as
to Arabia, Syria, Armenia, and the East,—Bagdad, besides
holding Al-Kufa, Wasit, and Al-Basra, in immediate check
was admirably situated as the heart of the Empire. The
eastern shore, more open to attack, was provided with
accommodation for a large force, which was thus further
cut off from the heated influence of Al-Kilfa and Al-Basra.
Separate cantonments were here also planted for the Yemen
and for the Modar clans, as well as for the Khorasfm levies.
While there was safety in the diverse interests of the three
it was to the Khorasan levies that Al-Mansur mainly looked
for his own protection ;
and also as a countervailing power
to lower the pretensions of the Arab soldier}', who still
lorded it over the nations as the flower and chivalry of Islam ;
and in this unwise design the 'Abbasids (as alread}- noticed)
Rusafa, too soon succccdcd, and too well. A few years later, a
151 A.H.
palace was built also on the eastern bank for Al-Mehdi,
'
769 A.D.
^
The iron gates from Wasit were cast by Al-Hajjaj, and those of
Al-Kufa by KhaHd ibn 'Abdallah. The Greek ambassador having been
taken round the city, said: "It is beautiful: but thine enemies are
with thee in the market-places." Whereupon the Caliph had all the
bazaars removed outside towards Karkh, saying that they invited attack
for plunder, and gave also lodgment for spies. The initial cost was
about ^200,000. An overseer (ustadh) got every day a klrat of silver,
and the common laljourer two pence fhabbas).