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From the Isle of Sicily, the reader must transport himself
beyond the Caspian Sea, to the original seat of the Turks or
Turkmans, against whom the first crusade was principally
directed. Their Scythian empire of the sixth century was
long since dissolved; but the name was still famous among
the Greeks and Orientals; and the fragments of the nation,
each a powerful and independent people, were scattered over
the desert from China to the Oxus and the Danube: the colony
of Hungarians was admitted into the republic of Europe, and
the thrones of Asia were occupied by slaves and soldiers of
Turkish extraction. While Apulia and Sicily were subdued by
the Norman lance, a swarm of these northern shepherds
overspread the kingdoms of Persia; their princes of the race
of Seljuk erected a splendid and solid empire from Samarcand
to the confines of Greece and Egypt; and the Turks have
maintained their dominion in Asia Minor, till the victorious
crescent has been planted on the dome of St. Sophia.
One of the greatest of the Turkish princes was Mahmood or
Mahmud, (1) the Gaznevide, who reigned in the eastern
provinces of Persia, one thousand years after the birth of
Christ. His father Sebectagi was the slave of the slave of
the slave of the commander of the faithful. But in this
descent of servitude, the first degree was merely titular,
since it was filled by the sovereign of Transoxiana and
Chorasan, who still paid a nominal allegiance to the caliph
of Bagdad. The second rank was that of a minister of state,
a lieutenant of the Samanides, (2) who broke, by his revolt,
the bonds of political slavery. But the third step was a
state of real and domestic servitude in the family of that
rebel; from which Sebectagi, by his courage and dexterity,
ascended to the supreme command of the city and provinces of
Gazna, (3) as the son-in-law and successor of his grateful
master. The falling dynasty of the Samanides was at first
protected, and at last overthrown, by their servants; and,
in the public disorders, the fortune of Mahmud continually
increased. From him the title of Sultan (4) was first
invented; and his kingdom was enlarged from Transoxiana to
the neighborhood of Ispahan, from the shores of the Caspian
to the mouth of the Indus. But the principal source of his
fame and riches was the holy war which he waged against the
Gentoos of Hindostan. In this foreign narrative I may not
consume a page; and a volume would scarcely suffice to
recapitulate the battles and sieges of his twelve
expeditions. Never was the Mussulman hero dismayed by the
inclemency of the seasons, the height of the mountains, the
breadth of the rivers, the barrenness of the desert, the
multitudes of the enemy, or the formidable array of their
elephants of war. (5) The sultan of Gazna surpassed the
limits of the conquests of Alexander: after a march of three
months, over the hills of Cashmir and Thibet, he reached the
famous city of Kinnoge, (6) on the Upper Ganges; and, in a
naval combat on one of the branches of the Indus, he fought
and vanquished four thousand boats of the natives. Delhi,
Lahor, and Multan, were compelled to open their gates: the
fertile kingdom of Guzarat attracted his ambition and
tempted his stay; and his avarice indulged the fruitless
project of discovering the golden and aromatic isles of the
Southern Ocean. On the payment of a tribute, the rajahs
preserved their dominions; the people, their lives and
fortunes; but to the religion of Hindostan the zealous
Mussulman was cruel and inexorable: many hundred temples, or
pagodas, were levelled with the ground; many thousand idols
were demolished; and the servants of the prophet were
stimulated and rewarded by the precious materials of which
they were composed. The pagoda of Sumnat was situate on the
promontory of Guzarat, in the neighborhood of Diu, one of
the last remaining possessions of the Portuguese. (7) It was
endowed with the revenue of two thousand villages; two
thousand Brahmins were consecrated to the service of the
Deity, whom they washed each morning and evening in water
from the distant Ganges: the subordinate ministers consisted
of three hundred musicians, three hundred barbers, and five
hundred dancing girls, conspicuous for their birth or
beauty. Three sides of the temple were protected by the
ocean, the narrow isthmus was fortified by a natural or
artificial precipice; and the city and adjacent country were
peopled by a nation of fanatics. They confessed the sins
and the punishment of Kinnoge and Delhi; but if the impious
stranger should presume to approach their holy precincts, he
would surely be overwhelmed by a blast of the divine
vengeance. By this challenge, the faith of Mahmud was
animated to a personal trial of the strength of this Indian
deity. Fifty thousand of his worshippers were pierced by
the spear of the Moslems; the walls were scaled; the
sanctuary was profaned; and the conqueror aimed a blow of
his iron mace at the head of the idol. The trembling
Brahmins are said to have offered ten millions (A) sterling
for his ransom; and it was urged by the wisest counsellors,
that the destruction of a stone image would not change the
hearts of the Gentoos; and that such a sum might be
dedicated to the relief of the true believers. "Your
reasons," replied the sultan, "are specious and strong; but
never in the eyes of posterity shall Mahmud appear as a
merchant of idols." (B) He repeated his blows, and a treasure
of pearls and rubies, concealed in the belly of the statue,
explained in some degree the devout prodigality of the
Brahmins. The fragments of the idol were distributed to
Gazna, Mecca, and Medina. Bagdad listened to the edifying
tale; and Mahmud was saluted by the caliph with the title of
guardian of the fortune and faith of Mahomet.
From the paths of blood (and such is the history of nations)
I cannot refuse to turn aside to gather some flowers of
science or virtue. The name of Mahmud the Gaznevide is still
venerable in the East: his subjects enjoyed the blessings of
prosperity and peace; his vices were concealed by the veil
of religion; and two familiar examples will testify his
justice and magnanimity. I. As he sat in the Divan, an
unhappy subject bowed before the throne to accuse the
insolence of a Turkish soldier who had driven him from his
house and bed. "Suspend your clamors," said Mahmud; "inform
me of his next visit, and ourself in person will judge and
punish the offender." The sultan followed his guide,
invested the house with his guards, and extinguishing the
torches, pronounced the death of the criminal, who had been
seized in the act of rapine and adultery. After the
execution of his sentence, the lights were rekindled, Mahmud
fell prostrate in prayer, and rising from the ground,
demanded some homely fare, which he devoured with the
voraciousness of hunger. The poor man, whose injury he had
avenged, was unable to suppress his astonishment and
curiosity; and the courteous monarch condescended to explain
the motives of this singular behavior. "I had reason to
suspect that none, except one of my sons, could dare to
perpetrate such an outrage; and I extinguished the lights,
that my justice might be blind and inexorable. My prayer
was a thanksgiving on the discovery of the offender; and so
painful was my anxiety, that I had passed three days without
food since the first moment of your complaint." II. The
sultan of Gazna had declared war against the dynasty of the
Bowides, the sovereigns of the western Persia: he was
disarmed by an epistle of the sultana mother, and delayed
his invasion till the manhood of her son. (8) "During the
life of my husband," said the artful regent, "I was ever
apprehensive of your ambition: he was a prince and a soldier
worthy of your arms. He is now no more his sceptre has
passed to a woman and a child, and you dare not attack their
infancy and weakness. How inglorious would be your
conquest, how shameful your defeat! and yet the event of war
is in the hand of the Almighty." Avarice was the only defect
that tarnished the illustrious character of Mahmud; and
never has that passion been more richly satiated. (C) The
Orientals exceed the measure of credibility in the account
of millions of gold and silver, such as the avidity of man
has never accumulated; in the magnitude of pearls, diamonds,
and rubies, such as have never been produced by the
workmanship of nature. (9) Yet the soil of Hindostan is
impregnated with precious minerals: her trade, in every age,
has attracted the gold and silver of the world; and her
virgin spoils were rifled by the first of the Mahometan
conquerors. His behavior, in the last days of his life,
evinces the vanity of these possessions, so laboriously won,
so dangerously held, and so inevitably lost. He surveyed
the vast and various chambers of the treasury of Gazna,
burst into tears, and again closed the doors, without
bestowing any portion of the wealth which he could no longer
hope to preserve. The following day he reviewed the state of
his military force; one hundred thousand foot, fifty-five
thousand horse, and thirteen hundred elephants of battle.
(10) He again wept the instability of human greatness; and
his grief was imbittered by the hostile progress of the
Turkmans, whom he had introduced into the heart of his
Persian kingdom.
In the modern depopulation of Asia, the regular operation of
government and agriculture is confined to the neighborhood
of cities; and the distant country is abandoned to the
pastoral tribes of Arabs, Curds, and Turkmans. (11) Of the
last-mentioned people, two considerable branches extend on
either side of the Caspian Sea: the western colony can
muster forty thousand soldiers; the eastern, less obvious to
the traveller, but more strong and populous, has increased
to the number of one hundred thousand families. In the
midst of civilized nations, they preserve the manners of the
Scythian desert, remove their encampments with a change of
seasons, and feed their cattle among the ruins of palaces
and temples. Their flocks and herds are their only riches;
their tents, either black or white, according to the color
of the banner, are covered with felt, and of a circular
form; their winter apparel is a sheep-skin; a robe of cloth
or cotton their summer garment: the features of the men are
harsh and ferocious; the countenance of their women is soft
and pleasing. Their wandering life maintains the spirit and
exercise of arms; they fight on horseback; and their courage
is displayed in frequent contests with each other and with
their neighbors. For the license of pasture they pay a
slight tribute to the sovereign of the land; but the
domestic jurisdiction is in the hands of the chiefs and
elders. The first emigration of the Eastern Turkmans, the
most ancient of the race, may be ascribed to the tenth
century of the Christian aera. (12) In the decline of the
caliphs, and the weakness of their lieutenants, the barrier
of the Jaxartes was often violated; in each invasion, after
the victory or retreat of their countrymen, some wandering
tribe, embracing the Mahometan faith, obtained a free
encampment in the spacious plains and pleasant climate of
Transoxiana and Carizme. The Turkish slaves who aspired to
the throne encouraged these emigrations which recruited
their armies, awed their subjects and rivals, and protected
the frontier against the wilder natives of Turkestan; and
this policy was abused by Mahmud the Gaznevide beyond the
example of former times. He was admonished of his error by
the chief of the race of Seljuk, who dwelt in the territory
of Bochara. The sultan had inquired what supply of men he
could furnish for military service. "If you send," replied
Ismael, "one of these arrows into our camp, fifty thousand
of your servants will mount on horseback." - "And if that
number," continued Mahmud, "should not be sufficient?" -
"Send this second arrow to the horde of Balik, and you will
find fifty thousand more." - "But," said the Gaznevide,
dissembling his anxiety, "if I should stand in need of the
whole force of your kindred tribes?" - "Despatch my bow,"
was the last reply of Ismael, "and as it is circulated
around, the summons will be obeyed by two hundred thousand
horse." The apprehension of such formidable friendship
induced Mahmud to transport the most obnoxious tribes into
the heart of Chorasan, where they would be separated from
their brethren of the River Oxus, and enclosed on all sides
by the walls of obedient cities. But the face of the
country was an object of temptation rather than terror; and
the vigor of government was relaxed by the absence and death
of the sultan of Gazna. The shepherds were converted into
robbers; the bands of robbers were collected into an army of
conquerors: as far as Ispahan and the Tigris, Persia was
afflicted by their predatory inroads; and the Turkmans were
not ashamed or afraid to measure their courage and numbers
with the proudest sovereigns of Asia. Massoud, the son and
successor of Mahmud, had too long neglected the advice of
his wisest Omrahs. "Your enemies," they repeatedly urged,
"were in their origin a swarm of ants; they are now little
snakes; and, unless they be instantly crushed, they will
acquire the venom and magnitude of serpents." After some
alternatives of truce and hostility, after the repulse or
partial success of his lieutenants, the sultan marched in
person against the Turkmans, who attacked him on all sides
with barbarous shouts and irregular onset. "Massoud," says
the Persian historian, (13) "plunged singly to oppose the
torrent of gleaming arms, exhibiting such acts of gigantic
force and valor as never king had before displayed. A few
of his friends, roused by his words and actions, and that
innate honor which inspires the brave, seconded their lord
so well, that wheresoever he turned his fatal sword, the
enemies were mowed down, or retreated before him. But now,
when victory seemed to blow on his standard, misfortune was
active behind it; for when he looked round, be beheld almost
his whole army, excepting that body he commanded in person,
devouring the paths of flight." The Gaznevide was abandoned
by the cowardice or treachery of some generals of Turkish
kings. (15)race; and this memorable day of Zendecan (14)
founded in Persia the dynasty of the shepherd
The victorious Turkmans immediately proceeded to the
election of a king; and, if the probable tale of a Latin
historian (16) deserves any credit, they determined by lot
the choice of their new master. A number of arrows were
successively inscribed with the name of a tribe, a family,
and a candidate; they were drawn from the bundle by the hand
of a child; and the important prize was obtained by Togrul
Beg, the son of Michael the son of Seljuk, whose surname was
immortalized in the greatness of his posterity. The sultan
Mahmud, who valued himself on his skill in national
genealogy, professed his ignorance of the family of Seljuk;
yet the father of that race appears to have been a chief of
power and renown. (17) For a daring intrusion into the harem
of his prince. Seljuk was banished from Turkestan: with a
numerous tribe of his friends and vassals, he passed the
Jaxartes, encamped in the neighborhood of Samarcand,
embraced the religion of Mahomet, and acquired the crown of
martyrdom in a war against the infidels. His age, of a
hundred and seven years, surpassed the life of his son, and
Seljuk adopted the care of his two grandsons, Togrul and
Jaafar; the eldest of whom, at the age of forty-five, was
invested with the title of Sultan, in the royal city of
Nishabur. The blind determination of chance was justified
by the virtues of the successful candidate. It would be
superfluous to praise the valor of a Turk; and the ambition
of Togrul (18) was equal to his valor. By his arms, the
Gasnevides were expelled from the eastern kingdoms of
Persia, and gradually driven to the banks of the Indus, in
search of a softer and more wealthy conquest. In the West
he annihilated the dynasty of the Bowides; and the sceptre
of Irak passed from the Persian to the Turkish nation. The
princes who had felt, or who feared, the Seljukian arrows,
bowed their heads in the dust; by the conquest of Aderbijan,
or Media, he approached the Roman confines; and the shepherd
presumed to despatch an ambassador, or herald, to demand the
tribute and obedience of the emperor of Constantinople. (19)
In his own dominions, Togrul was the father of his soldiers
and people; by a firm and equal administration, Persia was
relieved from the evils of anarchy; and the same hands which
had been imbrued in blood became the guardians of justice
and the public peace. The more rustic, perhaps the wisest,
portion of the Turkmans (20) continued to dwell in the tents
of their ancestors; and, from the Oxus to the Euphrates,
these military colonies were protected and propagated by
their native princes. But the Turks of the court and city
were refined by business and softened by pleasure: they
imitated the dress, language, and manners of Persia; and the
royal palaces of Nishabur and Rei displayed the order and
magnificence of a great monarchy. The most deserving of the
Arabians and Persians were promoted to the honors of the
state; and the whole body of the Turkish nation embraced,
with fervor and sincerity, the religion of Mahomet. The
northern swarms of Barbarians, who overspread both Europe
and Asia, have been irreconcilably separated by the
consequences of a similar conduct. Among the Moslems, as
among the Christians, their vague and local traditions have
yielded to the reason and authority of the prevailing
system, to the fame of antiquity, and the consent of
nations. But the triumph of the Koran is more pure and
meritorious, as it was not assisted by any visible splendor
of worship which might allure the Pagans by some resemblance
of idolatry. The first of the Seljukian sultans was
conspicuous by his zeal and faith: each day he repeated the
five prayers which are enjoined to the true believers; of
each week, the two first days were consecrated by an
extraordinary fast; and in every city a mosch was completed,
before Togrul presumed to lay the foundations of a palace.
(21)
With the belief of the Koran, the son of Seljuk imbibed a
lively reverence for the successor of the prophet. But that
sublime character was still disputed by the caliphs of
Bagdad and Egypt, and each of the rivals was solicitous to
prove his title in the judgment of the strong, though
illiterate Barbarians. Mahmud the Gaznevide had declared
himself in favor of the line of Abbas; and had treated with
indignity the robe of honor which was presented by the
Fatimite ambassador. Yet the ungrateful Hashemite had
changed with the change of fortune; he applauded the victory
of Zendecan, and named the Seljukian sultan his temporal
vicegerent over the Moslem world. As Togrul executed and
enlarged this important trust, he was called to the
deliverance of the caliph Cayem, and obeyed the holy
summons, which gave a new kingdom to his arms. (22) In the
palace of Bagdad, the commander of the faithful still
slumbered, a venerable phantom. His servant or master, the
prince of the Bowides, could no longer protect him from the
insolence of meaner tyrants; and the Euphrates and Tigris
were oppressed by the revolt of the Turkish and Arabian
emirs. The presence of a conqueror was implored as a
blessing; and the transient mischiefs of fire and sword were
excused as the sharp but salutary remedies which alone could
restore the health of the republic. At the head of an
irresistible force, the sultan of Persia marched from
Hamadan: the proud were crushed, the prostrate were spared;
the prince of the Bowides disappeared; the heads of the most
obstinate rebels were laid at the feet of Togrul; and he
inflicted a lesson of obedience on the people of Mosul and
Bagdad. After the chastisement of the guilty, and the
restoration of peace, the royal shepherd accepted the reward
of his labors; and a solemn comedy represented the triumph
of religious prejudice over Barbarian power. (23) The Turkish
sultan embarked on the Tigris, landed at the gate of Racca,
and made his public entry on horseback. At the palace-gate
he respectfully dismounted, and walked on foot, preceded by
his emirs without arms. The caliph was seated behind his
black veil: the black garment of the Abbassides was cast
over his shoulders, and he held in his hand the staff of the
apostle of God. The conqueror of the East kissed the
ground, stood some time in a modest posture, and was led
towards the throne by the vizier and interpreter. After
Togrul had seated himself on another throne, his commission
was publicly read, which declared him the temporal
lieutenant of the vicar of the prophet. He was successively
invested with seven robes of honor, and presented with seven
slaves, the natives of the seven climates of the Arabian
empire. His mystic veil was perfumed with musk; two crowns
(D) were placed on his head; two cimeters were girded to his
side, as the symbols of a double reign over the East and
West. After this inauguration, the sultan was prevented
from prostrating himself a second time; but he twice kissed
the hand of the commander of the faithful, and his titles
were proclaimed by the voice of heralds and the applause of
the Moslems. In a second visit to Bagdad, the Seljukian
prince again rescued the caliph from his enemies and
devoutly, on foot, led the bridle of his mule from the
prison to the palace. Their alliance was cemented by the
marriage of Togrul's sister with the successor of the
prophet. Without reluctance he had introduced a Turkish
virgin into his harem; but Cayem proudly refused his
daughter to the sultan, disdained to mingle the blood of the
Hashemites with the blood of a Scythian shepherd; and
protracted the negotiation many months, till the gradual
diminution of his revenue admonished him that he was still
in the hands of a master. The royal nuptials were followed
by the death of Togrul himself; (24) (E) as he left no
children, his nephew Alp Arslan succeeded to the title and
prerogatives of sultan; and his name, after that of the
caliph, was pronounced in the public prayers of the Moslems.
Yet in this revolution, the Abbassides acquired a larger
measure of liberty and power. On the throne of Asia, the
Turkish monarchs were less jealous of the domestic
administration of Bagdad; and the commanders of the faithful
were relieved from the ignominious vexations to which they
had been exposed by the presence and poverty of the Persian
dynasty.
Since the fall of the caliphs, the discord and degeneracy of
the Saracens respected the Asiatic provinces of Rome; which,
by the victories of Nicephorus, Zimisces, and Basil, had
been extended as far as Antioch and the eastern boundaries
of Armenia. Twenty-five years after the death of Basil, his
successors were suddenly assaulted by an unknown race of
Barbarians, who united the Scythian valor with the
fanaticism of new proselytes, and the art and riches of a
powerful monarchy. (25) The myriads of Turkish horse
overspread a frontier of six hundred miles from Tauris to
Arzeroum, and the blood of one hundred and thirty thousand
Christians was a grateful sacrifice to the Arabian prophet.
Yet the arms of Togrul did not make any deep or lasting
impression on the Greek empire. The torrent rolled away
from the open country; the sultan retired without glory or
success from the siege of an Armenian city; the obscure
hostilities were continued or suspended with a vicissitude
of events; and the bravery of the Macedonian legions renewed
the fame of the conqueror of Asia. (26) The name of Alp
Arslan, the valiant lion, is expressive of the popular idea
of the perfection of man; and the successor of Togrul
displayed the fierceness and generosity of the royal animal.
He passed the Euphrates at the head of the Turkish cavalry,
and entered Caesarea, the metropolis of Cappadocia, to which
he had been attracted by the fame and wealth of the temple
of St. Basil. The solid structure resisted the destroyer:
but he carried away the doors of the shrine incrusted with
gold and pearls, and profaned the relics of the tutelar
saint, whose mortal frailties were now covered by the
venerable rust of antiquity. The final conquest of Armenia
and Georgia was achieved by Alp Arslan. In Armenia, the
title of a kingdom, and the spirit of a nation, were
annihilated: the artificial fortifications were yielded by
the mercenaries of Constantinople; by strangers without
faith, veterans without pay or arms, and recruits without
experience or discipline. The loss of this important
frontier was the news of a day; and the Catholics were
neither surprised nor displeased, that a people so deeply
infected with the Nestorian and Eutychian errors had been
delivered by Christ and his mother into the hands of the
infidels. (27) The woods and valleys of Mount Caucasus were
more strenuously defended by the native Georgians (28) or
Iberians; but the Turkish sultan and his son Malek were
indefatigable in this holy war: their captives were
compelled to promise a spiritual, as well as temporal,
obedience; and, instead of their collars and bracelets, an
iron horseshoe, a badge of ignominy, was imposed on the
infidels who still adhered to the worship of their fathers.
The change, however, was not sincere or universal; and,
through ages of servitude, the Georgians have maintained the
succession of their princes and bishops. But a race of men,
whom nature has cast in her most perfect mould, is degraded
by poverty, ignorance, and vice; their profession, and still
more their practice, of Christianity is an empty name; and
if they have emerged from heresy, it is only because they
are too illiterate to remember a metaphysical creed. (29)
The false or genuine magnanimity of Mahmud the Gaznevide was
not imitated by Alp Arslan; and he attacked without scruple
the Greek empress Eudocia and her children. His alarming
progress compelled her to give herself and her sceptre to
the hand of a soldier; and Romanus Diogenes was invested
with the Imperial purple. His patriotism, and perhaps his
pride, urged him from Constantinople within two months after
his accession; and the next campaign he most scandalously
took the field during the holy festival of Easter. In the
palace, Diogenes was no more than the husband of Eudocia: in
the camp, he was the emperor of the Romans, and he sustained
that character with feeble resources and invincible courage.
By his spirit and success the soldiers were taught to act,
the subjects to hope, and the enemies to fear. The Turks had
penetrated into the heart of Phrygia; but the sultan himself
had resigned to his emirs the prosecution of the war; and
their numerous detachments were scattered over Asia in the
security of conquest. Laden with spoil, and careless of
discipline, they were separately surprised and defeated by
the Greeks: the activity of the emperor seemed to multiply
his presence: and while they heard of his expedition to
Antioch, the enemy felt his sword on the hills of Trebizond.
In three laborious campaigns, the Turks were driven beyond
the Euphrates; in the fourth and last, Romanus undertook the
deliverance of Armenia. The desolation of the land obliged
him to transport a supply of two months' provisions; and he
marched forwards to the siege of Malazkerd, (30) an important
fortress in the midway between the modern cities of Arzeroum
and Van. His army amounted, at the least, to one hundred
thousand men. The troops of Constantinople were reenforced
by the disorderly multitudes of Phrygia and Cappadocia; but
the real strength was composed of the subjects and allies of
Europe, the legions of Macedonia, and the squadrons of
Bulgaria; the Uzi, a Moldavian horde, who were themselves of
the Turkish race; (31) and, above all, the mercenary and
adventurous bands of French and Normans. Their lances were
commanded by the valiant Ursel of Baliol, the kinsman or
father of the Scottish kings, (32) and were allowed to excel
in the exercise of arms, or, according to the Greek style,
in the practice of the Pyrrhic dance.
On the report of this bold invasion, which threatened his
hereditary dominions, Alp Arslan flew to the scene of action
at the head of forty thousand horse. (33) His rapid and
skilful evolutions distressed and dismayed the superior
numbers of the Greeks; and in the defeat of Basilacius, one
of their principal generals, he displayed the first example
of his valor and clemency. The imprudence of the emperor
had separated his forces after the reduction of Malazkerd.
It was in vain that he attempted to recall the mercenary
Franks: they refused to obey his summons; he disdained to
await their return: the desertion of the Uzi filled his mind
with anxiety and suspicion; and against the most salutary
advice he rushed forwards to speedy and decisive action. Had
he listened to the fair proposals of the sultan, Romanus
might have secured a retreat, perhaps a peace; but in these
overtures he supposed the fear or weakness of the enemy, and
his answer was conceived in the tone of insult and defiance.
"If the Barbarian wishes for peace, let him evacuate the
ground which he occupies for the encampment of the Romans,
and surrender his city and palace of Rei as a pledge of his
sincerity." Alp Arslan smiled at the vanity of the demand,
but he wept the death of so many faithful Moslems; and,
after a devout prayer, proclaimed a free permission to all
who were desirous of retiring from the field. With his own
hands he tied up his horse's tail, exchanged his bow and
arrows for a mace and cimeter, clothed himself in a white
garment, perfumed his body with musk, and declared that if
he were vanquished, that spot should be the place of his
burial. (34) The sultan himself had affected to cast away his
missile weapons: but his hopes of victory were placed in the
arrows of the Turkish cavalry, whose squadrons were loosely
distributed in the form of a crescent. Instead of the
successive lines and reserves of the Grecian tactics,
Romulus led his army in a single and solid phalanx, and
pressed with vigor and impatience the artful and yielding
resistance of the Barbarians. In this desultory and
fruitless combat he spent the greater part of a summer's
day, till prudence and fatigue compelled him to return to
his camp. But a retreat is always perilous in the face of
an active foe; and no sooner had the standard been turned to
the rear than the phalanx was broken by the base cowardice,
or the baser jealousy, of Andronicus, a rival prince, who
disgraced his birth and the purple of the Caesars. (35) The
Turkish squadrons poured a cloud of arrows on this moment of
confusion and lassitude; and the horns of their formidable
crescent were closed in the rear of the Greeks. In the
destruction of the army and pillage of the camp, it would be
needless to mention the number of the slain or captives. The
Byzantine writers deplore the loss of an inestimable pearl:
they forgot to mention, that in this fatal day the Asiatic
provinces of Rome were irretrievably sacrificed.
As long as a hope survived, Romanus attempted to rally and
save the relics of his army. When the centre, the Imperial
station, was left naked on all sides, and encompassed by the
victorious Turks, he still, with desperate courage,
maintained the fight till the close of day, at the head of
the brave and faithful subjects who adhered to his standard.
They fell around him; his horse was slain; the emperor was
wounded; yet he stood alone and intrepid, till he was
oppressed and bound by the strength of multitudes. The
glory of this illustrious prize was disputed by a slave and
a soldier; a slave who had seen him on the throne of
Constantinople, and a soldier whose extreme deformity had
been excused on the promise of some signal service.
Despoiled of his arms, his jewels, and his purple, Romanus
spent a dreary and perilous night on the field of battle,
amidst a disorderly crowd of the meaner Barbarians. In the
morning the royal captive was presented to Alp Arslan, who
doubted of his fortune, till the identity of the person was
ascertained by the report of his ambassadors, and by the
more pathetic evidence of Basilacius, who embraced with
tears the feet of his unhappy sovereign. The successor of
Constantine, in a plebeian habit, was led into the Turkish
divan, and commanded to kiss the ground before the lord of
Asia. He reluctantly obeyed; and Alp Arslan, starting from
his throne, is said to have planted his foot on the neck of
the Roman emperor. (36) But the fact is doubtful; and if, in
this moment of insolence, the sultan complied with the
national custom, the rest of his conduct has extorted the
praise of his bigoted foes, and may afford a lesson to the
most civilized ages. He instantly raised the royal captive
from the ground; and thrice clasping his hand with tender
sympathy, assured him, that his life and dignity should be
inviolate in the hands of a prince who had learned to
respect the majesty of his equals and the vicissitudes of
fortune. From the divan, Romanus was conducted to an
adjacent tent, where he was served with pomp and reverence
by the officers of the sultan, who, twice each day, seated
him in the place of honor at his own table. In a free and
familiar conversation of eight days, not a word, not a look,
of insult escaped from the conqueror; but he severely
censured the unworthy subjects who had deserted their
valiant prince in the hour of danger, and gently admonished
his antagonist of some errors which he had committed in the
management of the war. In the preliminaries of negotiation,
Alp Arslan asked him what treatment he expected to receive,
and the calm indifference of the emperor displays the
freedom of his mind. "If you are cruel," said he, "you will
take my life; if you listen to pride, you will drag me at
your chariot-wheels; if you consult your interest, you will
accept a ransom, and restore me to my country." "And what,"
continued the sultan, "would have been your own behavior,
had fortune smiled on your arms?" The reply of the Greek
betrays a sentiment, which prudence, and even gratitude,
should have taught him to suppress. "Had I vanquished," he
fiercely said, "I would have inflicted on thy body many a
stripe." The Turkish conqueror smiled at the insolence of
his captive observed that the Christian law inculcated the
love of enemies and forgiveness of injuries; and nobly
declared, that he would not imitate an example which he
condemned. After mature deliberation, Alp Arslan dictated
the terms of liberty and peace, a ransom of a million, (F) an
annual tribute of three hundred and sixty thousand pieces of
gold, (37) the marriage of the royal children, and the
deliverance of all the Moslems, who were in the power of the
Greeks. Romanus, with a sigh, subscribed this treaty, so
disgraceful to the majesty of the empire; he was immediately
invested with a Turkish robe of honor; his nobles and
patricians were restored to their sovereign; and the sultan,
after a courteous embrace, dismissed him with rich presents
and a military guard. No sooner did he reach the confines
of the empire, than he was informed that the palace and
provinces had disclaimed their allegiance to a captive: a
sum of two hundred thousand pieces was painfully collected;
and the fallen monarch transmitted this part of his ransom,
with a sad confession of his impotence and disgrace. The
generosity, or perhaps the ambition, of the sultan, prepared
to espouse the cause of his ally; but his designs were
prevented by the defeat, imprisonment, and death, of Romanus
Diogenes. (38)
gives 1,500,000. Wilken, Geschichte der Kreuz-zuge, vol. l.
p. 10. - M.]
In the treaty of peace, it does not appear that Alp Arslan
extorted any province or city from the captive emperor; and
his revenge was satisfied with the trophies of his victory,
and the spoils of Anatolia, from Antioch to the Black Sea.
The fairest part of Asia was subject to his laws: twelve
hundred princes, or the sons of princes, stood before his
throne; and two hundred thousand soldiers marched under his
banners. The sultan disdained to pursue the fugitive Greeks;
but he meditated the more glorious conquest of Turkestan,
the original seat of the house of Seljuk. He moved from
Bagdad to the banks of the Oxus; a bridge was thrown over
the river; and twenty days were consumed in the passage of
his troops. But the progress of the great king was retarded
by the governor of Berzem; and Joseph the Carizmian presumed
to defend his fortress against the powers of the East. When
he was produced a captive in the royal tent, the sultan,
instead of praising his valor, severely reproached his
obstinate folly: and the insolent replies of the rebel
provoked a sentence, that he should be fastened to four
stakes, and left to expire in that painful situation. At
this command, the desperate Carizmian, drawing a dagger,
rushed headlong towards the throne: the guards raised their
battle-axes; their zeal was checked by Alp Arslan, the most
skilful archer of the age: he drew his bow, but his foot
slipped, the arrow glanced aside, and he received in his
breast the dagger of Joseph, who was instantly cut in
pieces. The wound was mortal; and the Turkish prince
bequeathed a dying admonition to the pride of kings. "In my
youth," said Alp Arslan, "I was advised by a sage to humble
myself before God; to distrust my own strength; and never to
despise the most contemptible foe. I have neglected these
lessons; and my neglect has been deservedly punished.
Yesterday, as from an eminence I beheld the numbers, the
discipline, and the spirit, of my armies, the earth seemed
to tremble under my feet; and I said in my heart, Surely
thou art the king of the world, the greatest and most
invincible of warriors. These armies are no longer mine;
and, in the confidence of my personal strength, I now fall
by the hand of an assassin." (39) Alp Arslan possessed the
virtues of a Turk and a Mussulman; his voice and stature
commanded the reverence of mankind; his face was shaded with
long whiskers; and his ample turban was fashioned in the
shape of a crown. The remains of the sultan were deposited
in the tomb of the Seljukian dynasty; and the passenger
might read and meditate this useful inscription: (40) "O ye
who have seen the glory of Alp Arslan exalted to the
heavens, repair to Maru, and you will behold it buried in
the dust." The annihilation of the inscription, and the tomb
itself, more forcibly proclaims the instability of human
greatness.
During the life of Alp Arslan, his eldest son had been
acknowledged as the future sultan of the Turks. On his
father's death the inheritance was disputed by an uncle, a
cousin, and a brother: they drew their cimeters, and
assembled their followers; and the triple victory of Malek
Shah (41) established his own reputation and the right of
primogeniture. In every age, and more especially in Asia,
the thirst of power has inspired the same passions, and
occasioned the same disorders; but, from the long series of
civil war, it would not be easy to extract a sentiment more
pure and magnanimous than is contained in the saying of the
Turkish prince. On the eve of the battle, he performed his
devotions at Thous, before the tomb of the Imam Riza. As
the sultan rose from the ground, he asked his vizier Nizam,
who had knelt beside him, what had been the object of his
secret petition: "That your arms may be crowned with
victory," was the prudent, and most probably the sincere,
answer of the minister. "For my part," replied the generous
Malek, "I implored the Lord of Hosts that he would take from
me my life and crown, if my brother be more worthy than
myself to reign over the Moslems." The favorable judgment of
heaven was ratified by the caliph; and for the first time,
the sacred title of Commander of the Faithful was
communicated to a Barbarian. But this Barbarian, by his
personal merit, and the extent of his empire, was the
greatest prince of his age. After the settlement of Persia
and Syria, he marched at the head of innumerable armies to
achieve the conquest of Turkestan, which had been undertaken
by his father. In his passage of the Oxus, the boatmen, who
had been employed in transporting some troops, complained,
that their payment was assigned on the revenues of Antioch.
The sultan frowned at this preposterous choice; but he miled
at the artful flattery of his vizier. "It was not to
postpone their reward, that I selected those remote places,
but to leave a memorial to posterity, that, under your
reign, Antioch and the Oxus were subject to the same
sovereign." But this description of his limits was unjust
and parsimonious: beyond the Oxus, he reduced to his
obedience the cities of Bochara, Carizme, and Samarcand, and
crushed each rebellious slave, or independent savage, who
dared to resist. Malek passed the Sihon or Jaxartes, the
last boundary of Persian civilization: the hordes of
Turkestan yielded to his supremacy: his name was inserted on
the coins, and in the prayers of Cashgar, a Tartar kingdom
on the extreme borders of China. From the Chinese frontier,
he stretched his immediate jurisdiction or feudatory sway to
the west and south, as far as the mountains of Georgia, the
neighborhood of Constantinople, the holy city of Jerusalem,
and the spicy groves of Arabia Felix. Instead of resigning
himself to the luxury of his harem, the shepherd king, both
in peace and war, was in action and in the field. By the
perpetual motion of the royal camp, each province was
successively blessed with his presence; and he is said to
have perambulated twelve times the wide extent of his
dominions, which surpassed the Asiatic reign of Cyrus and
the caliphs. Of these expeditions, the most pious and
splendid was the pilgrimage of Mecca: the freedom and safety
of the caravans were protected by his arms; the citizens and
pilgrims were enriched by the profusion of his alms; and the
desert was cheered by the places of relief and refreshment,
which he instituted for the use of his brethren. Hunting was
the pleasure, and even the passion, of the sultan, and his
train consisted of forty-seven thousand horses; but after
the massacre of a Turkish chase, for each piece of game, he
bestowed a piece of gold on the poor, a slight atonement, at
the expense of the people, for the cost and mischief of the
amusement of kings. In the peaceful prosperity of his
reign, the cities of Asia were adorned with palaces and
hospitals with moschs and colleges; few departed from his
Divan without reward, and none without justice. The
language and literature of Persia revived under the house of
Seljuk; (42) and if Malek emulated the liberality of a Turk
less potent than himself, (43) his palace might resound with
the songs of a hundred poets. The sultan bestowed a more
serious and learned care on the reformation of the calendar,
which was effected by a general assembly of the astronomers
of the East. By a law of the prophet, the Moslems are
confined to the irregular course of the lunar months; in
Persia, since the age of Zoroaster, the revolution of the
sun has been known and celebrated as an annual festival; (44)
but after the fall of the Magian empire, the intercalation
had been neglected; the fractions of minutes and hours were
multiplied into days; and the date of the springs was
removed from the sign of Aries to that of Pisces. The reign
of Malek was illustrated by the Gelalaean aera; and all
errors, either past or future, were corrected by a
computation of time, which surpasses the Julian, and
approaches the accuracy of the Gregorian, style. (45)
In a period when Europe was plunged in the deepest
barbarism, the light and splendor of Asia may be ascribed to
the docility rather than the knowledge of the Turkish
conquerors. An ample share of their wisdom and virtue is
due to a Persian vizier, who ruled the empire under the
reigns of Alp Arslan and his son. Nizam, one of the most
illustrious ministers of the East, was honored by the caliph
as an oracle of religion and science; he was trusted by the
sultan as the faithful vicegerent of his power and justice.
After an administration of thirty years, the fame of the
vizier, his wealth, and even his services, were transformed
into crimes. He was overthrown by the insidious arts of a
woman and a rival; and his fall was hastened by a rash
declaration, that his cap and ink-horn, the badges of his
office, were connected by the divine decree with the throne
and diadem of the sultan. At the age of ninety-three years,
the venerable statesman was dismissed by his master, accused
by his enemies, and murdered by a fanatic: the last words
of Nizam attested his innocence, and the remainder of
Malek's life was short and inglorious. From Ispahan, the
scene of this disgraceful transaction, the sultan moved to
Bagdad, with the design of transplanting the caliph, and of
fixing his own residence in the capital of the Moslem world.
The feeble successor of Mahomet obtained a respite of ten
days; and before the expiration of the term, the Barbarian
was summoned by the angel of death. His ambassadors at
Constantinople had asked in marriage a Roman princess; but
the proposal was decently eluded; and the daughter of
Alexius, who might herself have been the victim, expresses
her abhorrence of his unnatural conjunction. (46) The
daughter of the sultan was bestowed on the caliph Moctadi,
with the imperious condition, that, renouncing the society
of his wives and concubines, he should forever confine
himself to this honorable alliance.
The greatness and unity of the Turkish empire expired in the
person of Malek Shah. His vacant throne was disputed by his
brother and his four sons; and, after a series of civil
wars, the treaty which reconciled the surviving candidates
confirmed a lasting separation in the Persian dynasty, the
eldest and principal branch of the house of Seljuk. The
three younger dynasties were those of Kerman, of Syria, and
of Roum: the first of these commanded an extensive, though
obscure, (47) dominion on the shores of the Indian Ocean: (48)
the second expelled the Arabian princes of Aleppo and
Damascus; and the third, our peculiar care, invaded the
Roman provinces of Asia Minor. The generous policy of Malek
contributed to their elevation: he allowed the princes of
his blood, even those whom he had vanquished in the field,
to seek new kingdoms worthy of their ambition; nor was he
displeased that they should draw away the more ardent
spirits, who might have disturbed the tranquillity of his
reign. As the supreme head of his family and nation, the
great sultan of Persia commanded the obedience and tribute
of his royal brethren: the thrones of Kerman and Nice, of
Aleppo and Damascus; the Atabeks, and emirs of Syria and
Mesopotamia, erected their standards under the shadow of his
sceptre: (49) and the hordes of Turkmans overspread the
plains of the Western Asia. After the death of Malek, the
bands of union and subordination were relaxed and finally
dissolved: the indulgence of the house of Seljuk invested
their slaves with the inheritance of kingdoms; and, in the
Oriental style, a crowd of princes arose from the dust of
their feet. (50) [Footnote !: See Von Hammer, Osmanische
Geschichte, vol. i. p. 16. The Seljukian dominions were for
a time reunited in the person of Sandjar, one of the sons of
Malek Shah, who ruled "from Kashgar to Antioch, from the
Caspian to the Straits of Babelmandel." - M.]
A prince of the royal line, Cutulmish, the son of Izrail,
the son of Seljuk, had fallen in a battle against Alp Arslan
and the humane victor had dropped a tear over his grave. His
five sons, strong in arms, ambitious of power, and eager for
revenge, unsheathed their cimeters against the son of Alp
Arslan. The two armies expected the signal when the caliph,
forgetful of the majesty which secluded him from vulgar
eyes, interposed his venerable mediation. "Instead of
shedding the blood of your brethren, your brethren both in
descent and faith, unite your forces in a holy war against
the Greeks, the enemies of God and his apostle." They
listened to his voice; the sultan embraced his rebellious
kinsmen; and the eldest, the valiant Soliman, accepted the
royal standard, which gave him the free conquest and
hereditary command of the provinces of the Roman empire,
from Arzeroum to Constantinople, and the unknown regions of
the West. (51) Accompanied by his four brothers, he passed
the Euphrates; the Turkish camp was soon seated in the
neighborhood of Kutaieh in Phrygia; and his flying cavalry
laid waste the country as far as the Hellespont and the
Black Sea. Since the decline of the empire, the peninsula
of Asia Minor had been exposed to the transient, though
destructive, inroads of the Persians and Saracens; but the
fruits of a lasting conquest were reserved for the Turkish
sultan; and his arms were introduced by the Greeks, who
aspired to reign on the ruins of their country. Since the
captivity of Romanus, six years the feeble son of Eudocia
had trembled under the weight of the Imperial crown, till
the provinces of the East and West were lost in the same
month by a double rebellion: of either chief Nicephorus was
the common name; but the surnames of Bryennius and
Botoniates distinguish the European and Asiatic candidates.
Their reasons, or rather their promises, were weighed in the
Divan; and, after some hesitation, Soliman declared himself
in favor of Botoniates, opened a free passage to his troops
in their march from Antioch to Nice, and joined the banner
of the Crescent to that of the Cross. After his ally had
ascended the throne of Constantinople, the sultan was
hospitably entertained in the suburb of Chrysopolis or
Scutari; and a body of two thousand Turks was transported
into Europe, to whose dexterity and courage the new emperor
was indebted for the defeat and captivity of his rival,
Bryennius. But the conquest of Europe was dearly purchased
by the sacrifice of Asia: Constantinople was deprived of the
obedience and revenue of the provinces beyond the Bosphorus
and Hellespont; and the regular progress of the Turks, who
fortified the passes of the rivers and mountains, left not a
hope of their retreat or expulsion. Another candidate
implored the aid of the sultan: Melissenus, in his purple
robes and red buskins, attended the motions of the Turkish
camp; and the desponding cities were tempted by the summons
of a Roman prince, who immediately surrendered them into the
hands of the Barbarians. These acquisitions were confirmed
by a treaty of peace with the emperor Alexius: his fear of
Robert compelled him to seek the friendship of Soliman; and
it was not till after the sultan's death that he extended as
far as Nicomedia, about sixty miles from Constantinople, the
eastern boundary of the Roman world. Trebizond alone,
defended on either side by the sea and mountains, preserved
at the extremity of the Euxine the ancient character of a
Greek colony, and the future destiny of a Christian empire.
Since the first conquests of the caliphs, the establishment
of the Turks in Anatolia or Asia Minor was the most
deplorable loss which the church and empire had sustained.
By the propagation of the Moslem faith, Soliman deserved the
name of Gazi, a holy champion; and his new kingdoms, of the
Romans, or of Roum, was added to the tables of Oriental
geography. It is described as extending from the Euphrates
to Constantinople, from the Black Sea to the confines of
Syria; pregnant with mines of silver and iron, of alum and
copper, fruitful in corn and wine, and productive of cattle
and excellent horses. (52) The wealth of Lydia, the arts of
the Greeks, the splendor of the Augustan age, existed only
in books and ruins, which were equally obscure in the eyes
of the Scythian conquerors. Yet, in the present decay,
Anatolia still contains some wealthy and populous cities;
and, under the Byzantine empire, they were far more
flourishing in numbers, size, and opulence. By the choice
of the sultan, Nice, the metropolis of Bithynia, was
preferred for his palace and fortress: the seat of the
Seljukian dynasty of Roum was planted one hundred miles from
Constantinople; and the divinity of Christ was denied and
derided in the same temple in which it had been pronounced
by the first general synod of the Catholics. The unity of
God, and the mission of Mahomet, were preached in the
moschs; the Arabian learning was taught in the schools; the
Cadhis judged according to the law of the Koran; the Turkish
manners and language prevailed in the cities; and Turkman
camps were scattered over the plains and mountains of
Anatolia. On the hard conditions of tribute and servitude,
the Greek Christians might enjoy the exercise of their
religion; but their most holy churches were profaned; their
priests and bishops were insulted; (53) they were compelled
to suffer the triumph of the Pagans, and the apostasy of
their brethren; many thousand children were marked by the
knife of circumcision; and many thousand captives were
devoted to the service or the pleasures of their masters.
(54) After the loss of Asia, Antioch still maintained her
primitive allegiance to Christ and Caesar; but the solitary
province was separated from all Roman aid, and surrounded on
all sides by the Mahometan powers. The despair of
Philaretus the governor prepared the sacrifice of his
religion and loyalty, had not his guilt been prevented by
his son, who hastened to the Nicene palace, and offered to
deliver this valuable prize into the hands of Soliman. The
ambitious sultan mounted on horseback, and in twelve nights
(for he reposed in the day) performed a march of six hundred
miles. Antioch was oppressed by the speed and secrecy of
his enterprise; and the dependent cities, as far as Laodicea
and the confines of Aleppo, (55) obeyed the example of the
metropolis. From Laodicea to the Thracian Bosphorus, or arm
of St. George, the conquests and reign of Soliman extended
thirty days' journey in length, and in breadth about ten or
fifteen, between the rocks of Lycia and the Black Sea. (56)
The Turkish ignorance of navigation protected, for a while,
the inglorious safety of the emperor; but no sooner had a
fleet of two hundred ships been constructed by the hands of
the captive Greeks, than Alexius trembled behind the walls
of his capital. His plaintive epistles were dispersed over
Europe, to excite the compassion of the Latins, and to paint
the danger, the weakness, and the riches of the city of
Constantine. (57)
But the most interesting conquest of the Seljukian Turks was
that of Jerusalem, (58) which soon became the theatre of
nations. In their capitulation with Omar, the inhabitants
had stipulated the assurance of their religion and property;
but the articles were interpreted by a master against whom
it was dangerous to dispute; and in the four hundred years
of the reign of the caliphs, the political climate of
Jerusalem was exposed to the vicissitudes of storm and
sunshine. (59) By the increase of proselytes and population,
the Mahometans might excuse the usurpation of three fourths
of the city: but a peculiar quarter was resolved for the
patriarch with his clergy and people; a tribute of two
pieces of gold was the price of protection; and the
sepulchre of Christ, with the church of the Resurrection,
was still left in the hands of his votaries. Of these
votaries, the most numerous and respectable portion were
strangers to Jerusalem: the pilgrimages to the Holy Land had
been stimulated, rather than suppressed, by the conquest of
the Arabs; and the enthusiasm which had always prompted
these perilous journeys, was nourished by the congenial
passions of grief and indignation. A crowd of pilgrims from
the East and West continued to visit the holy sepulchre, and
the adjacent sanctuaries, more especially at the festival of
Easter; and the Greeks and Latins, the Nestorians and
Jacobites, the Copts and Abyssinians, the Armenians and
Georgians, maintained the chapels, the clergy, and the poor
of their respective communions. The harmony of prayer in so
many various tongues, the worship of so many nations in the
common temple of their religion, might have afforded a
spectacle of edification and peace; but the zeal of the
Christian sects was imbittered by hatred and revenge; and in
the kingdom of a suffering Messiah, who had pardoned his
enemies, they aspired to command and persecute their
spiritual brethren. The preeminence was asserted by the
spirit and numbers of the Franks; and the greatness of
Charlemagne (60) protected both the Latin pilgrims and the
Catholics of the East. The poverty of Carthage, Alexandria,
and Jerusalem, was relieved by the alms of that pious
emperor; and many monasteries of Palestine were founded or
restored by his liberal devotion. Harun Alrashid, the
greatest of the Abbassides, esteemed in his Christian
brother a similar supremacy of genius and power: their
friendship was cemented by a frequent intercourse of gifts
and embassies; and the caliph, without resigning the
substantial dominion, presented the emperor with the keys of
the holy sepulchre, and perhaps of the city of Jerusalem. In
the decline of the Carlovingian monarchy, the republic of
Amalphi promoted the interest of trade and religion in the
East. Her vessels transported the Latin pilgrims to the
coasts of Egypt and Palestine, and deserved, by their useful
imports, the favor and alliance of the Fatimite caliphs: (61)
an annual fair was instituted on Mount Calvary: and the
Italian merchants founded the convent and hospital of St.
John of Jerusalem, the cradle of the monastic and military
order, which has since reigned in the isles of Rhodes and of
Malta. Had the Christian pilgrims been content to revere
the tomb of a prophet, the disciples of Mahomet, instead of
blaming, would have imitated, their piety: but these rigid
Unitarians were scandalized by a worship which represents
the birth, death, and resurrection, of a God; the Catholic
images were branded with the name of idols; and the Moslems
smiled with indignation (62) at the miraculous flame which
was kindled on the eve of Easter in the holy sepulchre. (63)
This pious fraud, first devised in the ninth century, (64)
was devoutly cherished by the Latin crusaders, and is
annually repeated by the clergy of the Greek, Armenian, and
Coptic sects, (65) who impose on the credulous spectators (66)
for their own benefit, and that of their tyrants. In every
age, a principle of toleration has been fortified by a sense
of interest: and the revenue of the prince and his emir was
increased each year, by the expense and tribute of so many
thousand strangers.
The revolution which transferred the sceptre from the
Abbassides to the Fatimites was a benefit, rather than an
injury, to the Holy Land. A sovereign resident in Egypt was
more sensible of the importance of Christian trade; and the
emirs of Palestine were less remote from the justice and
power of the throne. But the third of these Fatimite
caliphs was the famous Hakem, (67) a frantic youth, who was
delivered by his impiety and despotism from the fear either
of God or man; and whose reign was a wild mixture of vice
and folly. Regardless of the most ancient customs of Egypt,
he imposed on the women an absolute confinement; the
restraint excited the clamors of both sexes; their clamors
provoked his fury; a part of Old Cairo was delivered to the
flames and the guards and citizens were engaged many days in
a bloody conflict. At first the caliph declared himself a
zealous Mussulman, the founder or benefactor of moschs and
colleges: twelve hundred and ninety copies of the Koran were
transcribed at his expense in letters of gold; and his edict
extirpated the vineyards of the Upper Egypt. But his vanity
was soon flattered by the hope of introducing a new
religion; he aspired above the fame of a prophet, and styled
himself the visible image of the Most High God, who, after
nine apparitions on earth, was at length manifest in his
royal person. At the name of Hakem, the lord of the living
and the dead, every knee was bent in religious adoration:
his mysteries were performed on a mountain near Cairo:
sixteen thousand converts had signed his profession of
faith; and at the present hour, a free and warlike people,
the Druses of Mount Libanus, are persuaded of the life and
divinity of a madman and tyrant. (68) In his divine
character, Hakem hated the Jews and Christians, as the
servants of his rivals; while some remains of prejudice or
prudence still pleaded in favor of the law of Mahomet. Both
in Egypt and Palestine, his cruel and wanton persecution
made some martyrs and many apostles: the common rights and
special privileges of the sectaries were equally
disregarded; and a general interdict was laid on the
devotion of strangers and natives. The temple of the
Christian world, the church of the Resurrection, was
demolished to its foundations; the luminous prodigy of
Easter was interrupted, and much profane labor was exhausted
to destroy the cave in the rock which properly constitutes
the holy sepulchre. At the report of this sacrilege, the
nations of Europe were astonished and afflicted: but instead
of arming in the defence of the Holy Land, they contented
themselves with burning, or banishing, the Jews, as the
secret advisers of the impious Barbarian. (69) Yet the
calamities of Jerusalem were in some measure alleviated by
the inconstancy or repentance of Hakem himself; and the
royal mandate was sealed for the restitution of the
churches, when the tyrant was assassinated by the emissaries
of his sister. The succeeding caliphs resumed the maxims of
religion and policy: a free toleration was again granted;
with the pious aid of the emperor of Constantinople, the
holy sepulchre arose from its ruins; and, after a short
abstinence, the pilgrims returned with an increase of
appetite to the spiritual feast. (70) In the sea-voyage of
Palestine, the dangers were frequent, and the opportunities
rare: but the conversion of Hungary opened a safe
communication between Germany and Greece. The charity of
St. Stephen, the apostle of his kingdom, relieved and
conducted his itinerant brethren; (71) and from Belgrade to
Antioch, they traversed fifteen hundred miles of a Christian
empire. Among the Franks, the zeal of pilgrimage prevailed
beyond the example of former times: and the roads were
covered with multitudes of either sex, and of every rank,
who professed their contempt of life, so soon as they should
have kissed the tomb of their Redeemer. Princes and prelates
abandoned the care of their dominions; and the numbers of
these pious caravans were a prelude to the armies which
marched in the ensuing age under the banner of the cross.
About thirty years before the first crusade, the arch bishop
of Mentz, with the bishops of Utrecht, Bamberg, and
Ratisbon, undertook this laborious journey from the Rhine to
the Jordan; and the multitude of their followers amounted to
seven thousand persons. At Constantinople, they were
hospitably entertained by the emperor; but the ostentation
of their wealth provoked the assault of the wild Arabs: they
drew their swords with scrupulous reluctance, and sustained
siege in the village of Capernaum, till they were rescued by
the venal protection of the Fatimite emir. After visiting
the holy places, they embarked for Italy, but only a remnant
of two thousand arrived in safety in their native land.
Ingulphus, a secretary of William the Conqueror, was a
companion of this pilgrimage: he observes that they sailed
from Normandy, thirty stout and well-appointed horsemen; but
that they repassed the Alps, twenty miserable palmers, with
the staff in their hand, and the wallet at their back. (72)
After the defeat of the Romans, the tranquillity of the
Fatimite caliphs was invaded by the Turks. (73) One of the
lieutenants of Malek Shah, Atsiz the Carizmian, marched into
Syria at the head of a powerful army, and reduced Damascus
by famine and the sword. Hems, and the other cities of the
province, acknowledged the caliph of Bagdad and the sultan
of Persia; and the victorious emir advanced without
resistance to the banks of the Nile: the Fatimite was
preparing to fly into the heart of Africa; but the negroes
of his guard and the inhabitants of Cairo made a desperate
sally, and repulsed the Turk from the confines of Egypt. In
his retreat he indulged the license of slaughter and rapine:
the judge and notaries of Jerusalem were invited to his
camp; and their execution was followed by the massacre of
three thousand citizens. The cruelty or the defeat of Atsiz
was soon punished by the sultan Toucush, the brother of
Malek Shah, who, with a higher title and more formidable
powers, asserted the dominion of Syria and Palestine. The
house of Seljuk reigned about twenty years in Jerusalem; (74)
but the hereditary command of the holy city and territory
was intrusted or abandoned to the emir Ortok, the chief of a
tribe of Turkmans, whose children, after their expulsion
from Palestine, formed two dynasties on the borders of
Armenia and Assyria. (75) The Oriental Christians and the
Latin pilgrims deplored a revolution, which, instead of the
regular government and old alliance of the caliphs, imposed
on their necks the iron yoke of the strangers of the North.
(76) In his court and camp the great sultan had adopted in
some degree the arts and manners of Persia; but the body of
the Turkish nation, and more especially the pastoral tribes,
still breathed the fierceness of the desert. From Nice to
Jerusalem, the western countries of Asia were a scene of
foreign and domestic hostility; and the shepherds of
Palestine, who held a precarious sway on a doubtful
frontier, had neither leisure nor capacity to await the slow
profits of commercial and religious freedom. The pilgrims,
who, through innumerable perils, had reached the gates of
Jerusalem, were the victims of private rapine or public
oppression, and often sunk under the pressure of famine and
disease, before they were permitted to salute the holy
sepulchre. A spirit of native barbarism, or recent zeal,
prompted the Turkmans to insult the clergy of every sect:
the patriarch was dragged by the hair along the pavement,
and cast into a dungeon, to extort a ransom from the
sympathy of his flock; and the divine worship in the church
of the Resurrection was often disturbed by the savage
rudeness of its masters. The pathetic tale excited the
millions of the West to march under the standard of the
cross to the relief of the Holy Land; and yet how trifling
is the sum of these accumulated evils, if compared with the
single act of the sacrilege of Hakem, which had been so
patiently endured by the Latin Christians! A slighter
provocation inflamed the more irascible temper of their
descendants: a new spirit had arisen of religious chivalry
and papal dominion; a nerve was touched of exquisite
feeling; and the sensation vibrated to the heart of Europe.