A literary history of Persia

1Cf. Sir William Muir's very just remarks at p. 594 of his Calipliate.210 THE OMAYYAD PERIODthe Caliphate, as a historical actuality, ceased to exist, afterenduring 626 years, in A.D. I258. 1This period falls into three well-marked but very unequaldivisions, viz. :i. That of the Orthodox Caliphs (al-Khulafaitr-Rdshidini) AbuBakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, and 'All (632-661 A.D.), which may be brieflycharacterised as the Theocracy of Islam.for the2 - That of the Umayyad Caliphs (or Kings,spiritual rank of Caliph is often denied to them bylater Muslim historians), the.Z?a;m Umayya, who, fourteen in number,ruled from A.D. 661 to 749. This may be denned as the period ofArabian Imperialism and Pagan Reaction.3. That of the 'Abbasid Caliphs, the Banu'l-'Abbds, thirty-sevenin number, who held sway from A.D. 749, when, on October 3oth,Abu'l-'Abbas 'Abdu'llah, called" as-Saffdh, the Siiedder of Blood,"was proclaimed Caliph at Kufa, till the sack of Baghdad and murderof al-Musta'sim by Hulagii and his Mongols in A.D. 1258. This maybe denned as the period of Persian Ascendancy, and of Philosophicaland Cosmopolitan Islam.During the first period, Madma was the centre ot government; during the second, Damascus ; during the third,Baghdad. The Mongol Invasion of the thirteenthhenrn\astonUpfu*finat inthe politicalthl century, and the destruction of the CaliphatethT g in- which it entailed, put an end to the formal unityhistory of Islam. ,of the Muhammadan Empire in the East and thepalmy.days or r T i fIslam, and i is ibyrfarithe mostimportant event in the history of Asia since the time of theProphet Muhammad. Long before this catastrophe, indeed,the power of the Caliphate had been reduced to a mere shadowof what it was in what " Tennysoncalls the golden prime ofgood Haroun Alraschid " ; but, though the Empireof theCaliphs was for the most part portioned out amongst dynastiesand rulers whose allegiance, when yielded at all,was as a rulethe merest lip-service, Baghdad remained until that fatal dayits decline^ and Fall.