The Chaliphate - Muir - The Search For Mecca

566 AL-MUKTADIR [chap, lxxiii.
A.H. 295.
reign is the constant record of his thirteen Wazirs, one rising
_^ on the fall, or on the assassination, of another. Few weeks
elapsed before the first WazTr was murdered by conspirators
who placed Ibn al-Mo'tazz upon the throne. But Munis,
commander-in-chief, stood by his boyish Sovereign ; and the
Pretender, obtaining no support in the city, was with his
followers slain.
War with There had been war now for some years between the
Greeks, who
Muslims and the Greeks in Asia, with heavy loss for the
'
sought
J
_
armistice, most part on the side of the Muslims, of whom great numbers
Qi*7 ad'
were taken prisoners. The Byzantine frontier, however,
began to be threatened by Bulgarian hordes ; and so the
Empress Zoe sent two ambassadors to Bagdad with the
view of securing an armistice, and arranging for the ransom
of the Muslim prisoners. The embassy was graciously
received, and peace restored.^ Munis was deputed to
pacify the border, and carried with him a sum of 120,000
golden pieces for the freedom of the captives. All this only
added to the disorder of the city. The people, angry at the
success of the " Infidels" in Asia Minor and at similar losses
in Persia, cast it in the Caliph's teeth that he cared for
none of these things, but, instead of seeking to restore the
prestige of Islam, passed his days and nights with slave-girls
and musicians. Uttering such reproaches, they threw stones
at the Imam, as in the Friday service he named the Caliph
in the public prayers.
Disordeis in Some twelve years later, Al-Muktadir was a second time
717 Th
subjected to the indignity of deposition. The leading
courtiers having conspired against him, he was forced to
317 A.H.
abdicate in favour of his brother Al-Kahir ;
but, after a scene
of rioting and plunder, and loss of thousands of lives, the
conspirators found that they were not supported by the
^ There are traditional accounts of the marvellous grandeur of the
reception, and fairy-tales of its surrounding ;— curtains of gold, gorgeous
carpets, thousands of eunuchs, pages, elephants, lions, etc. The
description also of a marvellous tree, with branches of gold, and birds
of silver. "The leaves of various colours move as the wind blows, while
the birds pipe and sing." Of course there is fancy in the tale, but it
also shows that in proportion as the ruler and his retinue fell from
virtue into depravity and vice, the surroundings would rise into every
kind of wanton grandeur and excess.—See R. Asiatic Societys Journal^
January 1S97, pp. 35-45.