A literary history of Persia

240 THE VMAYYAD PERIODto Khurasan, with orders to be cautious and prudent, and todisclose nothing until they had put a binding oath on theinquirer. 1 During the reign of Hisham, while Khalid wasgovernor of 'Iraq, several strange and serious outbreaks otKharijites and Shi'ites occurred, the leaders of which were inseveral cases burned to death. 2 In Khurasan, on the otherhand, a somewhat unwise leniency was shown by the Caliph,in spite of the warnings of his governor, towards the 'Abbasidpropagandists^ whose movements were controlled and directedby a council of twelve naqibs and a Senate of seventy subordinatechiefs.4 Now and then, however, some dd^l wouldbreak loose from control and preach the wildest doctrines otthe extreme Shi'ites (al-Ghulat], as happened in the case ofal-Khaddash, who was put to death in A.D. 736. For furtherinformation concerning him and the Rawandis and Khurramiswe must refer the reader to Van Vloten's masterly study(pp. 47-51), and to ch. ix. infra.About A.D. 743, Muhammad b. c Ali the 'Abbasid died, afternominating as his successors first his son Ibrahim, and afterhim his other sons Abu'l-'Abbds and Abu Ja'far,Death ofH '*?*?*' of whom the first was put to death mad b. 'All.by Marwan/II,the lastUmayyad Caliph, about A.D. 747-748,while the two others lived to enjoy the fruits of the long andarduous labours of the 'Abbasidpropaganda, and to inauguratethe 'Abbasid Caliphate. About the same time, too, appearedon the scene that remarkable man, Abu Muslim who, havingAbu Muslim.contributed more than any one else to the over-/-ITT i i L r ithrow of the Umayyads and the victory or the'Abbasids, himself at last fell a victim to the jealousy otthose who owed him so great a debt of gratitude.Everything now portended that the final strugglewas athand. Marwan II, nicknamed " the Ass " (al-Himdr] onaccount of his endurance in battle, succeeded to thethrone in1Dinawarf, pp. 336-338. Muir, op. land., pp. 39 T ~39 23 Dinawari, p. 338. Van Vloten, op. laud., p. 47